Boutique Homes Questions & Answers (page 7 of 7)

Not long at all, about 4 or 5 weeks - I think the team actually surprised themselves . It seemed really quick we were renting and needed to give notice it worked out perfectly . We had an amazing team and if your Supervisor is fab he will keep you in the loop . They always give themselves plenty of 'time' but they are onto their workers to do it right.they usually can give you a date 4 to 5 weeks out - happy packing

Ps - we were a front flip on the Barcelona - it's amazing flips open the house, you can see right through from the front door to the back, feels huge, looks airy n fresh . To anyone thing about it - do it it was an unexpected bonus - Lyn

Not long at all... they could never really put a time on this sort of this as every house could have different problems occur, however the house all up only took 3 months and we were in! I can't exactly remember how long the lock up stage was.. but I was in before I knew it!!!

Mine was the flute

Hi, Ebby!
We are currently building the Oslo 29 in Fyansford on the outskirts of Geelong and couldn't be happier with the build.
We make regular posts on our blog and on Facebook "Boutique Oslo 29, Fyansford". This will link through to the blog/web-page.
We are downsizing and so the house takes up as much of the block as possible.
All the best...
John & Mary

Hi we have about the same area of yard and we find it ok when the grand kids are over . Not sure about your taste with bedrooms but we had the big walk in robe, a good size TV wall mounted, no door to the bathroom, just an archway and a half width glass on the shower so it's big and open . All the best Barry

Thank you Barry

Hi Vee, I have just built the Oslo 24, I put a window as my splashback instead of the standard coloured glass as it lets so much more light in the room. That living/dining and kitchen area is quite large and it is such a nice space when light comes in as my backyard faces north so the sun is always in those rooms. I have a queen bed in my master which so much room round that I could fit an armchair in the corner and still have room, and in my spare bedroom I have a queen bed which has heaps of room to walk around.

Anything else let me know!

Thanks for the advice Cassandra.

Hi Vee, sorry it's taken me so long to reply, we've just had our internet connected. I'm not familiar with the Oslo floor plan but there is a wall behind my stove, I find I have sufficient light. What you really need to consider is which way you orient your house on the block of land itself. We have a east/west facing block and have placed the house to optimize the sun and light into the living areas during the day - this makes for a brighter house and your living spaces are warmer in winter. We we're going to flip it the other way to have a better shaped yard but were advised against this due to light and I'm glad we listened! Things to think about with colors... Do not pick high gloss flat finish floor tiles like we did - I have a love/hate relationship with them, there beautiful but they always look dirty as they streak when you mop them..very frustrating. I'd change them if I could. We picked a porous floor tile for our shower bases which should have been suitable and I've nearly fallen in the shower twice as they are slippery. Pick something with a texture to it. Upgrade the paint if you can because what they use is rubbish. You basically look at it and it will mark! And don't forget a power point on your island bench. A 3x3 meter room would be large enough for a queen bed but probably not a lot of furniture. Our spare rooms are a tad larger than that and I have doubles set up - there is plenty of walking space but not much room for chests of draws. Hope that's helpful

Have you chosen to build the Riviera? We are looking at building it too and wanted to know if you made any changes to the floor plan? We are finding the kids bedrooms smaller then what we would prefer apart from that we like the plan. I am looking at reviews on boutique before making a decision to go with them.

Yes we chose to build the Rivera 33 and added a half a metre to each of the kids bedrooms as we too found they were a little small. Unfortunately we didn't move the ensuite toilet as it was too pricey and we didn't want a bath in there either.
We swapped the fridge to the side wall and also put the sink in the back bench so we could have more bench space so we can cook with our kids

I would like to answer your question however we did not build the "Capri" so I am unable to comment on the advantages or disadvantages on that particular design.
I am sure Boutique will be able to put you in touch with someone who has though.

Thanks, G&CSmith. Your own posting is very encouraging. How did you go with ongoing access to the work-site while your house was being built?

Our daughter is looking to build a Boutique home and it doesn't fit by 30mm. The consultant told her that it would be no problem to shave 30mm off the side of the house.

We are thinking of building in Bayside as well with Boutique, and we have the same issue, the house is a bit too big, so we need to ask planning council for dispensation on the front 0.5m and one side 0.5m. I would like to know if anyone were able to get approval for dispensation from bayside council. if not were boutique able to make changes to the house?

@Daiz33, we had this issue too. Had about 3x3m concrete dumped plus general rubbish. Bought a sledge hammer from Bunnings to had a go at the concrete so it didn't work out, epic faliure. Hired a bobcat (with the driver who came with a truck) and cleared everything in 4 hours. Dumping concrete in the Epping area was free (some business who recycles it) but general rubbish was about $150 a ton, ours was 1 tonne although the truck was full with it. I had to work with the driver in sorting out the concrete from the general rubbish by hands otherwise we dumped it mix that would have cost a fortune to get rid of. Total cost was about $550 inc the dumping charges. Let me know if you details of the bobcat hire, they're pretty good and I would highly recommend.

It is common practice that the owner clears the site ready for the building to commence. We have built 3 times now and we were required under the terms of our building contract, to clear the site to the satisfaction of the builder, before they would commence building.

Their choice of words (advising to clear to "virtually nothing") can be a little intimidating. I thought I had to clear it back to the point where there shouldn't even be any grass but my partner (who used to work for a builder) insisted that the excavator will remove it all. And he was right.
As long as there is no rubbish on site & grass is at a reasonable length, the excavator will remove it all.

We looked at many builders... we almost signed with burbank! we were going through our final sit down with them and picking all our upgrades like ceiling hight ect before we signed up with them. We had put down a initial deposit but came away feeling very disheartened. This is because the house we walked into and liked was costing us almost 30k extra to get it to look even close to what the display was. We where at a point where we had hit our budget and if we had of signed with them we where not getting the house we wanted.. and that was even before we had our colour selection. . the ceilings in the display were not the size they include.. or the door hight... and we were going to have to settle for that as to raise them both was going to cost almost 20k. Being first home buyers we were a little lost.. my mother inlaw then asked us if we had seen any other display homes and we were like. ummm no just burbank ones lol.

She was quite shocked and told us too really do research and to look into almost every builder before making a decision like that... and thank god... boutique was probably our 30th builder we had looked at..and we of course loved the displays but what was best is they were uo front and honest.. instead of burbank who walked us through the home touching areas of the house saying this is a upgrade ect... the man that helped us at boutique said it was all standard. Yes you pay for the inclusions. .. but in the long run it is worth it. Much better quality look and feel of the homes... and our ceiling hights and door hights are what we wanted and it didnt cost more to get it.

Honestly. .. I look back and think.. I almost build with burbank. . With short ceilings. .. laminate bench tops... tiney alfresco. .. single shower and basin ensuite.. and it makes me laugh. We are litterly building a luxury house with boutique homes... high ceilings, stone bench and splash, huge outdoor living, double shower and basin..its everything we could want and more. To sum it up if you want to build a house to rent out go burbank. . If you want to build a house to live in and love boutique is the one. Ps sorry I wrote so much but I am jist very happy we chose boutique. You hear so many horror stories

Our home was only 23sq. We found that Boutique had a great range of inclusions that came as 'standard' This helped us to decide which way to go! We thought that the 'base' price was what suited us and came with all the inclusions. In which case we did not have to add many more inclusions to keep it within our price range and yet have a good quality built home!!

I priced a similarly spec'd home with Metricon, Long Island & Carlisle and Boutique was by far the best value for money. We were lucky as we liked the standard floor plan so there were no major structural changes but I don't think Boutique are that pricey on that front either as a lot of people seem to do it. I am glad I didn't build with any of the other builders (Carlisle excluded) as I think our experience would have been vastly different to what we had with Boutique.

When you finish your build Boutique ask you to complete a survey on your experience. You can elect to tick a box stating that they can use your comments in promotional material. The only incentives I saw were free movie tickets :) I was sceptical about reviews on these web pages however the process I had to go through to submit my review was thorough. I had to provide my building permit info and additional proof of dealings with the company. We have met quite a few people who have built through boutique and aside from on the internet I have not met one person who has been disappointed with them.

Hi pippa87. Come and look at my Boutique home. Poor quality through out. it continues to fall apart through normal use. It's shocking.

The review posting criteria you outline is monitored by this website not Boutique Homes. Theoretically a builder can post multiple reviews claiming to be an owner as they have all the permit numbers. All they need to do is submit from a different IP # each time under a different email address.

If product review actually searched all permit numbers and then contacted the owners of each homethen they could verify that the review is genuine. This is not done and anyone with a building permit number (which is posted outside all build sites for everyone to see) can write a review.

Companies such as Boutique Homes use their Product Review rating on their website and use the reviews in their testimonials in their display homes. Product Review is a very important marketing tool for companies like Boutique homes.

Also ticking a box to allow a company to use your info in marketing is very different from an incentivised review. It simply means that they can include information you have provided to them in marketing material. It is very different from allowing a company to write a review under your building permit and give a five star review.

You also have included additional info in your reply that is unnecessary and serves only to provide a positive marketing statement for Boutique Homes in a potentially awkward situation.

The reality of the Internet is that people use it to complain. With so many 5 star reviews (at least 3 every month) and some written on the same day you have to question the reality of the situation.

Hi Andrew. We signed our contracts on the same day that we chose our colors. Our process may have been different to other people's though because our land had been significantly delayed. I also found that we sometimes had to wait for answers. We also had 3 pre start consultants which didn't help. We are at frame stage now. When I put my original complaint on product review I got a message from someone higher up within the company who seemed interested in resolving my complaint. Good luck :-)

Hi Andrew, we signed out contracts on colour selection meeting. I am sure all circumstances are different, don't be shy to give them a call as suggested by Mark. You may have made some changes that can take a bit of time to work through? I am sure they will give you a turnaround time and reason for the delay. I would suggest also setting your expectations pretty quickly. As per my review the service we got was pretty good I thought, maybe the odd slow response but nothing that bothered me.

Hi Gary, we are only at the start of the process but will keep you posted as it unfolds. Check what happens if your sales person leaves, as ours has, who can you speak with and how long will it take for them to get back to you. Good luck.

Hi Gary, Boutique Homes use basic HIA contracts, just look out for provisional allowance clauses for rock blasting and get a fixed price. Building commenced approx 2 months after contracts were signed, and will be a total of approx 5 months to completion.The building process to date has been hassle free, and we have been kept up to date with the progress at all times. We are also happy with the quality of the inclusions compared to other builders.
Hope this helps with your decision.