{"id":4774,"date":"2015-06-18T01:00:06","date_gmt":"2015-06-17T15:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/realestatetalk.com.au\/?p=4774"},"modified":"2015-06-18T01:00:06","modified_gmt":"2015-06-17T15:00:06","slug":"how-do-i-get-a-decent-builder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/channels.realty.com.au\/realtytalk\/how-do-i-get-a-decent-builder\/","title":{"rendered":"How do I get a decent builder? – Nhan Nguyen"},"content":{"rendered":"

 
\nIt\u2019s a conversation that comes up reasonably often in Real Estate Talk, and that is, \u201cHow do I get a decent builder?\u201d and even, \u201cHow do I get a decent tradie?\u201d In today’s show we talk with Nhan Nguyen<\/strong> from Advanced Property Strategies.
\n <\/p>\n

Transcript:<\/h4>\n

Kevin:\u00a0 <\/b>It\u2019s a conversation that comes up reasonably often in Real Estate Talk, and that is, \u201cHow do I get a decent builder?\u201d and even, \u201cHow do I get a decent tradie?\u201d Nhan Nguyen from Advanced Property Strategies joins me. This is something, I guess, you confront quite often. Do you also have to help some of your clients with this, as well, Nhan?
\nNhan:\u00a0 <\/b>Yes, I do. I\u2019ve built over 20 houses or so as a developer \u2013 not as a builder, but organized houses. Yes, often my clients who want to build a house ask me those questions, and I help them through the process of choosing the right builder.
\nKevin:\u00a0 <\/b>Let\u2019s learn from your bitter experience. Tell me what tips you have for us.
\nNhan:\u00a0 <\/b>Yes, there\u2019s been a lot of good experience and a lot of bad experience, as well, like you said. The main thing, firstly, to start off with is trying to fit the builder to what you\u2019re wanting to do, because there\u2019s obviously a handful of projects you could do.
\nYou could do what\u2019s called a project home, which is a basic type of build, and there are what are called project home builders who build 300 or 400 homes a year. The other type of builder is what we call an executive builder. They do more of an up-market, up-spec type building. Then there\u2019s the high-end, and there are the units and townhouses type builders. There are about three or four types of builders, and firstly you need to choose what type of builder suits your project.
\nKevin:\u00a0 <\/b>It seems to me one of the major concerns with people is their builder is either not going to go out of business or is not going to misuse the funds. Would I be right in assuming that some of those big builders, those project builders, are probably going to be more reliable, Nhan?
\nNhan:\u00a0 <\/b>Yes and no. I agree with you. The things that concern me when I\u2019m talking to a client or an investor about choosing a builder is definitely, one, going broke, or two, mismanaging the funds. That\u2019s not to be really negative as such; it\u2019s more so to deal with reality. There are many builders out there, and a small portion of them don\u2019t know how to run a business, and as a result, that affects you as a client.
\nKevin:\u00a0 <\/b>Great builders but poor businesspeople.
\nNhan:\u00a0 <\/b>Exactly. Just because you know how to build a house and use a nail gun doesn\u2019t mean you know how to manage cash flow, staff, approvals, and juggle it all at the same time.
\nKevin:\u00a0 <\/b>Let\u2019s move on to a couple of the other tips then.
\nNhan:\u00a0 <\/b>One would be that ideally the builder has been around for a reasonable amount of time \u2013 five, ten, 20 years \u2013 and doesn\u2019t have a lot of debt in their business. It\u2019s hard to know whether they have a lot of debt, but you can watch them over a period of time or at least know that they\u2019ve been around for at least five to ten years.
\nAnother thing that you want to watch \u2013 if you can, if you find this information out \u2013 is to make sure their growth hasn\u2019t been too erratic.\u00a0 When any business grows, as you might know, there are constraints. You have to put more staff on, more office, more expenses.
\nOn some websites \u2013 in Queensland, we used to call it the Building Services Authority, the BSA; they\u2019ve changed their name now \u2013 you can search the builder\u2019s history and find out if they\u2019ve had complaints, as well. That\u2019s another way to do research. Find out if they\u2019ve had complaints and been served notices of complaint for bad construction practices.
\nKevin:\u00a0 <\/b>I believe there are similar sites in the other states, as well, where you can check the stability of the builder.
\nNhan:\u00a0 <\/b>Exactly. It comes down to customer service. At the end of the day, it is a business. Whether you own a restaurant or a building business, it\u2019s customer service. If people complain, there\u2019s a reason for that. People don\u2019t just complain for the sake of it.
\nErratic growth is definitely something I\u2019d check out, and turnover. If a builder is growing too fast in a short period of time, especially in the first one to five years, it can be very detrimental to you, especially if they\u2019re using your money to pay for projects they did one to two years ago.
\nAnother way I suggest with any business is to go and get referrals and references from people who built one, two, three years ago with them. When you finish a building, there\u2019s generally a six- to 12-month warranty period, and the builder gets called back to finish any things, like leaking taps, or materials that have been used improperly, or render falling off. If you speak to customers who have used the builder before, then you get a realistic idea of do they answer the phone, do they return your phone calls, and do they give good advice?
\nKevin:\u00a0 <\/b>Just getting back to an earlier point you made there about the BSA in Queensland \u2013 the Building Services Authority or whatever they\u2019re called now \u2013 on its own, that\u2019s not a good enough check. I\u2019d suggest you should be doing all the checks you\u2019re talking about. Because on that site, I\u2019ve actually seen builders who have a very bad reputation, and they\u2019ve remained on that site. You shouldn\u2019t just take it at face value.
\nNhan:\u00a0 <\/b>Correct. I absolutely agree. These things are all-encompassing. You need to do everything you can to do that research. A big part of it doing your research before you actually go out and buy a block of land, and doing that part-and-parcel. Rather than just buying a block of land, and saying, \u201cYes, I\u2019m going to go build a house,\u201d you have to do the research on the house builder during the process that you do the land acquisition and business planning, as well.
\nKevin:\u00a0 <\/b>Very good advice, Nhan. Thank you very much for your time. Nhan Nguyen from Advanced Property Strategies. Thanks, mate. We\u2019ll catch you again soon.
\nNhan:\u00a0 <\/b>Thanks, Kevin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  It\u2019s a conversation that comes up reasonably often in Real Estate Talk, and that is, \u201cHow do I get a decent builder?\u201d and even, \u201cHow do I get a decent tradie?\u201d In today’s show we talk with Nhan Nguyen from Advanced Property Strategies.  …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176692471,"featured_media":4775,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[10,13,25],"tags":[101],"class_list":["post-4774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kevin-turner-sponsored-channels","category-latest-story","category-sponsored-channels","tag-podcast"],"yoast_head":"\nHow do I get a decent builder? 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