Hi All, Anyone with experience building with Dual Occ Advisors (https://www.dualoccadvisors.com.au)? We are looking to build a luxury side-by-side in Box Hill. They have a great fixed design that they build with some options, and are using this strategy to keep building costs down. Their app is quoting $800K for dual 31sq houses. Thanks
So I met the guy, they say they are an adviser who works for us as a project manager, but they have their own design that they implement and because of this they have already pre-negotiated to get great discounts cos they only implement their design. They then get every thing sorted on our behalf, BUT, they get their commission from the builder.
And the builder has costed their commission into your build cost. Their service may be good, I have no idea. But be clear that the commision they receive, you are paying for.
Have you done due diligence on the builder or do they have a few builders that they use? What's the builder's capabilities for several projects simultaneously or are they a one man band?
Project managers. You contract at the end of the process will be with the builder. The project managers will have/take no responsibility. They are basically consultants, but using a different label.
If they're paid for by the builder, you won't have any leverage over the PM to work in your interest. They're not your consultant but the builder's subby, who do you think will be calling the shots? How much independence do you think that they're going to demonstrate (other than during the sales process)? Have you done any due diligence on the builder and separately on the project managers? Past clients, check that they are/were owners of the property that they'd engaged the PM ie PPOR.
Agree wth others above re doing DD on the builders they recommend. Just consider: if they get paid by the commission from the builder, that not only limits them to working with builders who are willing to pay them a commission, it also potentially makes them biased towards the builder who will offer them the biggest commission; rather than the builder who will provide you the best price or who will deliver the best product.
I know the guy at dual occ advisors uses masterpiece builders. They are a subsidiary company of Simmonds homes. Masterpiece Dual Occupancy - luxury duplex home builders in Melbourne. The guy sells the fact that volume builders like master piece is able to provide a fixed price product at a budget price. If you were to go architect then quote from builders, he claims it will take a year before you know the costs and by that time the build costs would have gone up a fair bit more than fixing the price a year prior with a volume builder. Irrespective of whether the stuff he claims is true or not I have to say, I'm not sure what is the quality of the product they deliver and whether they do in fact offer a cheaper build than most.
