who has built a house before?

we built last year. One of the most enjoyable and stressful things we have ever done!

My advice- nail your company down for a start and completion date before you sign any contracts- you NEED the completion date and if a company can't supply you with a realistic one then I would avoid them. Our house is 220sqm and took 6 months from slab going down to us moving in & everything is finish to a high standard so that gives you an idea of an average completion time... for more basic or smaller homes it should be quicker and for architectural homes it will be much longer.
You also need to know what is included in the cost of the contract and what isn't- some companies use alot of misleading & unrealistic PC sums and then you end up blowing out your budget.

Build a good relationship with the builders- scones, sammies, coffee's, piklets, beers... they all go down a treat.

plan, plan, plan, plan. Choose everything you possibly can at the start- carpet, colours, vanities, tapwear, baths, showers etc that way you won't have to choose too much stuff at the end when you are well and truly over choosing stuff.

Try not to change anything major during the build- any changes should be made at the planning stage. Changes during the build will only cost you extra and delay the build.

Research- find out about products, ask people who have just built for their opinions on things, look through show homes to see what you do and don't like. Be prepared to compromise- you cannot have everything you want unless the budget is unlimited. Decide what is important to you and what isn't- eg a tiled shower costs double an acrylic one- is it a MUST have or can you live without it. and most importantly- try to stick to your budget as close as possible.

Who are you building with?

I have been emailing a friend about our experience building about a year ago (went with GJ Gardner and it was totally stress-free and I would recommend them without hesitation).

Anyway, I am happy to forward you some of these emails if you like, just PM me your email address.

Agree regarding extra lights and powerpoints, we did both.

Awesome thread, will have to sit down later and take notes hoping to start building in the next few months so this is all very helpful. Pretty sure i will be going with Versatile (would have loved to go with GJ but as i'm on my own with 4 kids money is tight) Versatile so far has agrred to make the changes i want with the plan, but after this i will need to add a few more things and change a few other things.

also if you can put phone jacks and tv ariels into each of the bedrooms this helps heaps with resale this is something we found out the hard way!