Three quotes come back. Two are within a hair of each other. The third is a hundred grand cheaper. Easy decision, right? Not so fast.
I've seen it more times than I'd like. Folks pick the cheapest quote, and twelve months later they've paid more than the dearer one would have cost them — and they've had a rougher year doing it. It's not always dishonest. Sometimes the bloke putting in the low number genuinely doesn't know what the job costs. Sometimes he's hoping he can squeeze a margin out of corners. And sometimes he's just trying to win the work, knowing variations and provisional sums will land the final price somewhere very different.
So when you're comparing quotes for a custom new home, here's what I tell people to look at. First, are the inclusions the same? One quote might list a four thousand dollar kitchen allowance and another twenty thousand. They are not the same kitchen. Second, what's actually been priced versus what's hiding behind a "provisional sum"? Provisional sums can be useful, but a good MidCoast builder uses as few as possible because they're the spots a final bill can balloon at. Third, has the builder actually visited the site, looked at the soil, the slope, the access? Or are they pricing off a square-metre rate from their phone?
A best practice home builder will give you a detailed bill of quantities. You'll see what's been priced, where, and at what assumed cost. That's not boring paperwork — that's the document that tells you whether the number on the front page is honest.
Here on the MidCoast, with our climate, our soils and our blocks, the difference between a careful price and a hopeful price can be huge. A coastal style home deserves a coastal-style quote: detailed, honest and built on what's actually in front of us.
