Getting your hands on a block of land anywhere across the Geelong and Surf Coast region is becoming a difficult task. However, for those people out there who were lucky enough to snap up land in the more recent (and sold-out) releases in estates such as Warralily Grange, Gen Fyansford and Armstrong – Mt Duneed, it is time to nail down your builder.
Choosing the right builder is the most important decision you will make when building your home. Your builder influences every aspect of your building journey from the look and feel of your home, the timing of the build and most importantly your stress levels during this pivotal time!
So how do you find a builder to build your home and what should you look out for?
Here are our top three tips for finding the right builder to build your dream home.
1. Find a builder who is a great communicator.
At Hamlan, we believe communication is the absolute key to building a home.
The very first person you’ll meet is one of our new home consultants. Hamlan new home consultants are friendly, approachable, knowledgeable and most importantly passionate about what they do. They offer you one-on-one service and will be your only contact during the first part of your building journey – and will remain available to help you through to handover. Part of their job is to get to know you and find out what your exact needs are to match you with the right home. There’s no way they could achieve this without great communication.
Before the build starts, you’ll also meet our Style Studio coordinator at a colours appointment. This is another integral point of contact as it is in this appointment where you’ll be guided through the selection of your internal and external fixtures and finishes to achieve the look you’ve always wanted. Here the team will also review your electrical plan and recommend functional placements for powerpoints and light fittings to make your home uniquely yours.
Thirdly, you’ll make contact with your Hamlan site manager. Before construction starts, you’ll meet your site manager and discuss all aspects of the build. This is an important meeting that opens up the dialogue between you and your site manager.
Once construction of your home begins, your site manager will also provide you with weekly updates on how your new home is progressing. They also provide you with regular emails so that you can keep track of the progress of your new home. And once each stage is completed, your site manager will invite you to the site to see the progress!
2. Choose a local builder who supports local trades and suppliers.
We know many people consider supporting a local business as an important factor when choosing your builder.
Hamlan has been building architecturally designed homes for the Geelong and Surf Coast region for almost 40 years. But being distinctively local is more than just being from the region. Hamlan has built strong connections to the region’s people, trades and suppliers.
And these connections influence many aspects of the business from the construction of Hamlan’s homes through to its personalised customer experience.
It is a priority for Hamlan to create long-lasting, respectful relationships with our local suppliers and subcontractors — some who have worked with Hamlan for 20 years.
Backed by this local team, you can feel confident that the Hamlan’s reliable supply chain will deliver the products and materials for your home.
“I personally know every one of our subbies, which is one of the biggest advantages of our business compared to larger builders,” Hamlan Building and Operations Manager Josh Liston says.
“It means that I can give a 100 percent commitment to our clients that we only employ trades that will work on our client’s homes like it’s their own.
“Our trades know that if you wouldn’t want it in your own home, you wouldn’t construct it in someone else’s.
“One of the value adds to building a home with us, is that we only put good quality products in our homes, and these products are supplied by local businesses.
“We understand the investment, both emotionally and financially, our clients put into building a new home.”
3. Learn from the experiences of those who have built before.
Hamlan’s blog features a range of testimonials from our clients – a great resource that can help you gain a better understanding of the building process.
Katie and Steven Reaper built their home during the beginning of the pandemic – but that didn’t harm their experience.
“Right from the start our brief was literally, ‘you need to communicate with us,” Katie says.
“That’s how we like to operate and every step of the way that was met.”
The pressure of building during a pandemic may seem like a stressful experience but Katie and Steven say the process was an easy one.
“Every decision we made was over FaceTime,” Katie says. “We never went on site to Hamlan. So we trusted the Hamlan team and their suggestions.
“The brief we made, we felt along the journey, was nailed every time, especially with the interior and colour selections.”
Jac Radcliffe’s family rebuilt their family holiday home in Barwon Heads last year and says they were also drawn to the idea of using a bigger building company opposed to a more boutique builder as they wanted an easy, streamlined building process.
She says choosing a builder like Hamlan allowed them to get their head out of the logistical details and concentrate on the bigger, and more enjoyable, decisions such as design and colour selections.
“For Hamlan, you’ve got your set budget, you’ve got your timeline … everything is very structured,” she says.
“It worked. It was on time. It was on budget. Nothing untoward happened. There were no surprises.”
Liz and George built their dream off grid home with Hamlan back in 2020 and say Hamlan’s great communication and personalised service really made the building experience a positive one.
“Hamlan’s excitement matched ours,” says Liz. “They were happy to take on the challenge to build a big off grid house in a rural area. We’ve had no complaints!
“Hamlan is a flexible builder and they have good onsite designers so you don’t have to worry about paying for an architect. And they have some great floorplans.”
George says Hamlan’s attention to detail was a standout for him.
“We’ve found them great to work with,” he says. “The Hamlan team have really taken care of us and I’d encourage anyone to go through Hamlan for any sort of build.”
In Summary
If you have a block of land, your next step is finding a builder. With blocks of land in many of the newer estates such as Warralily Grange, Fyansford and Armstrong, being titled now is the time to lock in your builder.
Our top three tips for finding a builder to build your dream home are:
- Find a builder who is a great communicator.
- Choose a local builder who supports local trades and suppliers.
- Learn from the experiences of those who have built before.
