HomeStart Questions & Answers

Yes how long does settlement take after recieving formal approval

What is your current lead time of pre-approval? Thanks

10 months...from the date of settlement to the handing of house keys.

About a week, if they don't contact you tomorrow then give them a buzz!

We got our Conditional Approval yesterday, thanks Sammy...Subject to Valuation due to delay on land developer

Yes you can use the fhog to cover part of your deposit but you will need about 1% genuine savings. Definitely talk to someone from homestart about your situation as I'm sure they can help you out!

We chose their Cape Promo but for planning restrictions, we had to have the garage on the side. This actually suited us as our front overlooks a future landscaped stream. We moved many things around in our design, some cost more, some removed cost and some costs remained the same. It is possible to alter designs to your liking but ensure you have accurate costings of the work.

Hi Moi stick with Homestart you won't regret it. Keystart is a different mob I think. Homestart with my build are up to plastering stage and I am very satisfied with the service workmanship and communication. So If Homestart said you qualify then go ahead. I had Brent for the loan side with hOMESTART.

Also once your loan with bank is approved each month you will pay just the interest on your loan then after your move in go to bank and change payment to interest/principle payments. So yes you do have to pay during build. Cheers Errol

Keystart is the financial institution for the home loan, not a building company. Go elsewhere plenty of homebuilders out there and they'll be upfront with you.

I'm not aware if there any civil proceeding against them. I'm only sharing my experience building with them and Im really satisfied with thier service.

We've been building with Homestart and are between completion inspections. [Name Removed] is our current contact at Homestart she is nice enough but I find her very slow to respond to emails and keep us up to date as she has a lot of time off sick.

Hello dear! we are also building with Homestart and [Name Removed] is also our CA. Yes she is like that with us too. She is always on leave and unwell whenever we contact her through email. But she is nice and responds to our query quite enough.

[Name Removed] is my main contact and I haven't had any dramas, always receive a reply within a couple of hours

You can request it and they will charge you for doing so!
If I was you, I would cut my losses with the deposit you put down and get out of there now!!!!

Yes you will be probably charged for alteration depending on what it is as any changes were meant to be made up to and at pre-start. My advice is don't run away they will give you a great home I have very happy with my build they have done an excellent job cheers Errol

I'm not sure exactly what you're asking. If you're after information on house and land packages, probably best to contact Homestart.

Reiwa

what do you mean cancel everything? like not take the house ? if they haven't done something right that's in the addenda and plan you can make them fix it, or if it's something that you don't like now it will be off your own back

I will hire building inspector to check! They haven't done few things what we ask! I'll see on inspection, thanks

Hi again, do you know what can I do?? on preestatrt I ask agent to upgrade taps in the sinks in toilets and in the shower but they did only in shower and they saying is not on papers! I was thinking it is But agent didn't put on papers. She forgot and I was asking her few time did she upgrade and when we was signing I was asking her did she put everything! What can I do now because they don't care!! I'm really disappointed with this company ! On first interview was great and after signing first contract everything went wrong!! Agent on prestart should help clients!!

Hey xSalty. They are a disastrous company, just go to REIWA and formalize a complaint just to be on a safer side and they dont' give lame excuses.

That was the same with me, the end part took the longest, and was just small jobs.
We were close to the 250 but they ended up finishing before that, I'm not sure what they do when that time is up, I cant remember, it should be outlined in the contract.

Thanks guys.
Rohan do you know whether Homestart is a member of Reiwa? Neveragain, passed by the house over the weekend and saw that they have done more than they have done in 6wks. Maybe they feel their time is up.

I would suggest you to be very frequent with questions, just stay in touch with your property manager, try to get them to keep in touch with you, building your knew home should be a learning process try to get them to communicate with you every step. Once you are apart of the process then if anything was to happen, touch wood it wont, you can be on top of it as soon as possible. I would also suggest that unless you desperately need the house by December urge them to not rush with all building processes as that's how mistakes happen, if done properly by December its a win win process, but if not then you've just got a bad review like the most of us.

Stay in touch with your client liaison officer. Use email to contact them so you have written evidence. All builders have good & bad. A brickie shortage caused delays for us, it was industry wide & not necessarily their fault, but communication would have helped. I have found them to be very informative on the building process but we have built 3 houses so we now know what we are doing. If you have someone who can help you through the process use them. If possible keep up to date with what stage your house is at & inspect it regularly. Patience is a good thing to have when building a house but don't let builders get away with anything because most will walk all over you if they get the chance. HomeStart are the second builder we have built with and they are head and shoulders above the other one we used so I'm happy with them.

I did my pre start on 16 January 2014. They didn't put my pad down until June 2014. It is still under construction and I was told yesterday that it is still 3 months until likely hand over. Good luck, and have low expectations.

Tell them now so they can fix it before hand over, once hand over happens they really don't care.
we went in and put post it notes all over the tiling telling them to fix certain things.
contact the supervisor as well and say that you have left notes and your not happy and you want it fixed