I want to talk about something that gets people's hackles up, and that's paying for a quotation. The standard reaction is, "Why should I pay just to find out what something costs? Other builders give me a free quote." Fair question. Here's the honest answer.
A genuinely accurate quote on a custom new home isn't a fifteen-minute napkin sketch. Behind a proper quotation sits a full bill of quantities — every length of timber, every metre of cable, every brick, every fitting, every hour of labour, individually priced. That's days, sometimes weeks, of work by experienced people. A builder who gives you that for nothing has to either absorb the cost (which means they're putting it back into the price somewhere) or skip the detail entirely and slap a square-metre rate on the job.
That square-metre approach is where the trouble starts. If three builders all quote you using rough rates, you might get $650,000, $700,000 and $800,000. Sounds like the cheapest builder is the bargain. In reality, the $800,000 quote is often the only one that actually adds up, and the $650,000 builder either knows full well their number is short by $100,000 or hasn't thought hard enough to know.
When the work is half-built and you find out the real cost, you have two options — pay up or watch the project stall. Both end badly.
That's why best-practice builders charge for a proper quote. The fee covers the cost of doing the work properly, and what you get back is a document you can actually trust to take to the bank, plan your finances against, and sign a contract for. It's also why I always tell clients — never, ever take a bill of quantities from one builder and shop it around to another. That's not just bad form, it's a copyright breach, and the builder who put in the hard work has every right to be filthy about it.
If you'd rather start with a real number than a wishful one, get in touch through inh.com.au/Inverell.
