Jaimi Tarbotton: Welcome to Home Building Like a Boss, the podcast dedicated to helping first home buyers in Perth build their dream home with ease and excitement. I'm Jamie, your host and go to building broker. Are you ready to feel empowered, in control and excited about your building journey? I'll help guide you with expert advice, insider tips and tricks and real life stories to help you navigate the confusing world of home building.
Tune in as I take you on the journey to building your home like a boss.
Hello, and welcome back to another episode of the podcast. I'm your host, Jamie, as always. And today I am joined by Maddie. Hi. Maddie has been working with BOSS and alongside me for the, which we just discovered the last six months, which has gone so quickly. So we're podcast to chat about. Pre start and what the best way is to start to prepare and all her tips and tricks to share with you guys So I will introduce you to Maddie.
Maddie Stott: Hi guys So yes, I was a in another lifetime an interior designer and a ex pre start consultant So it's been good to be in this sort of section of pre start actually helping people get through it unscathed So yeah, really really passionate about this And just love priest. I in general, so good. And it's been
Jaimi Tarbotton: amazing having you here and like having the clients leverage off your knowledge and experience as
Maddie Stott: well.
So definitely like helps when you're passionate about it. I feel like being in the industry sometimes and just recently going through the build and the boom and everything like that. That you can kind of zap the energy out and then you might come across a person who's just not all that in it. Whereas I'm in now a space with boss building where it's just so, so good.
So yeah, I love being able to bring that forward into people's builds now. And yeah, I just love it so much. Amazing.
Jaimi Tarbotton: All right, let's kick it off. First off, can you explain the pre start
Maddie Stott: process? Yeah, so pre construction is basically the first phase of your building before you go into construction. So this will include all your like variations, your pre start plans, choosing all your colors, your fixtures, your fittings.
And then behind the scenes, the builder will be doing all your final changes to your final plans. They'll be going through your building permits. All that sort of niche stuff that you don't really tend to see or know about. So it can be quite an overwhelming process, but your client liaison or your pre start consultant will be there to help you from point A to point B.
Cool. And
Jaimi Tarbotton: what do you think is
Maddie Stott: one of the biggest
Jaimi Tarbotton: challenges of
Maddie Stott: the pre start meeting? Oh gosh, so much. It's, it can be a really, really challenging meeting, especially if you don't know what. To do or what's going on or what to upgrade. So I think that was probably the first hard one is people can often go into these meetings having no idea what to do or what to ask or even what to think.
So they're going in really, really blind. So an unprepared, totally unprepared. And that makes it quite challenging, not only for the client, but the pre start consultant. And that's where. Stuff can kind of go a bit unhinged down the track and then that's where people can feel, you know, a bit daunted or just in general, just not enjoying the process, which we don't want.
Yeah. So that would be, I would say the first biggest challenge is not knowing. Yeah. Yeah. Cool.
Jaimi Tarbotton: And now off the back of that, what are your top tips to prepare for a
Maddie Stott: pre start meeting? I've got so many and this is the problem. I could just go on for days. I think the biggest one is coming to, I guess, a ultimate in terms of your budget.
So your budget is going to depend and really constrain you with how many items you're going to upgrade to, what you can upgrade on, and just in general sort of keep you in line a bit and you must have that other, it's very easy to spend money at pre start. Oh god, yeah. I've seen people go, Oh, I just think I'm going to do like 10 K.
And the next thing, you know, they've got a 90, 000 variation for their pre start. And I'm going, what on earth? Everything adds up so quickly. So quickly. And you know, I hate it when I send the emails and I go, hi, here's your pre start variation. Like I'm so excited. And then they come back and go. What the hell has happened?
And I'm like, Oh dear, we've hit a sore point. So it's a big misconception is it's the pre start person doing the pricing. No, we're just the middleman. Or as I like to call myself, Maddie in the middle, half the time with my clients. So having a budget, it's going to be the best thing to help you guide yourself through pre start and making sure you don't.
Go OTT, because let's be honest, it's very easy to do so. So easy. And
Jaimi Tarbotton: how do people control their budgets? And like, do you have any advice in that area to be able to help people realistically with their budgets and what they should or shouldn't
Maddie Stott: upgrade? Yeah, definitely. So I guess one of the first thing that will probably help you is actually knowing when the pre start variations are going to get paid.
So with some builders, I like to do them right at the end of the build towards first PCI. This will give you. Well, 10 to 12 months, I'd be sleep to be able to save that. But then some builders don't like to do this and we'll do them over for nine installments or in certain phases. So understanding when they're due will help you go, right.
Okay. I can save 20, 000 in six months or okay. I'm really limited to five. So that's what I have to work with. And then another thing that can potentially help you is making sure, all right. Having that list of going, I really want that. But if that's too expensive, I'm going to do this instead. Yeah. So it's having sort of a clear direction in terms of what you're willing to spend the money on and what you think you can do later.
Yeah. You're non negotiables and I can do that later. Yeah. And which is all what we do here, which is great. And I think that really can help people navigate what they're willing to do later or what they're willing to do now with the builder. And it's just about seeing what you're comfortable doing. What I might be comfortable doing might not be what you're comfortable doing.
Yeah, exactly. So yeah, it's definitely something that I can't tell people. I can't say to this person, Oh, just do the paving because they might go and go, Oh no, screw that. Yeah. Whereas I myself took my paving out of my build. And now that I'm sitting here, I'm a year and a bit into my house and I still haven't done it yet.
So there's definitely things that I will give advice on. But it's ultimately up to you. Yeah. Yeah. Cool.
Jaimi Tarbotton: What are some mistakes people make that usually cost them
Maddie Stott: extra money? Oh no, I would say the biggest mistake I've often seen is being undecisive. So again, not being prepared, I can have a client mulling over two laminate colors for four hours and they finally would assign on one and I get that niggling feeling in the back of my head going, this is not the last I've heard of this or when we continue going with the next phase and Like the selection process, and then they come back to this and you're going, okay, you haven't registered anything that I've just said in the last three hours.
Cause you're still focused on this laminate color. Yeah. I would say that's probably the biggest mistake. And that's the one can cost a lot of money. What you'll find sometimes with some builders is once you sign up on the variation, that's it. You can't go back. And to then create more variations, you'd be charged with variation fees.
Which is just money down the toilet. I would rather you spend the extra 500 bucks and do it in the first place than come to me later and go, Oh Maddie, I want this. And I'm here going, I'm so sorry. Like, this is going to cost you 10 times more than what it was before. So I guess that's definitely the biggest thing, being unprepared and just indecisive.
So that's where your research. Come into play and making sure that you guys have got everything in place before you go to prestart and going, right, I'm going to nail this slide and be, be good, like limit your options. There is such a thing as too many options and like, yeah, especially with this particular woman, I won't name her, but she was gorgeous, gorgeous lady, but the colors that she was deciding are about these two laminate colors.
were, oh my gosh, a drop in the ocean in terms of difference. Yeah. Different shades of white. Different shades of white. And we all know there's 50 different shades of white, but she ended up changing that same to the other color that she had was tossing over in pre start at final plan stage. And at that point I had to charge her a 450 variation fee just to change a standard color.
And it doesn't sit right with me, but unfortunately it's the build a standard process. So it's there to help limit these changes. So that really does mean you need to be on top of your A game straight away. Yep. Yeah. And
Jaimi Tarbotton: it also helps in the pre start meeting knowing, like, don't spend four hours picking two laminate colors because you've got so much other stuff to go through that you need to get through that you will probably also need help with.
You're wasting time on that too. So having a general and good idea going into pre start, definitely
Maddie Stott: being prepared is always key. Yep. Such. Yeah. It's the key to making sure you've actually nailed the process. Yeah. So I've had, when people come into Presto, I'm like, you're excited. You prepare, like, have you got some research behind you?
And they're going, no. And I go, Oh God. Okay. How
Jaimi Tarbotton: often do you see that? Like when you're working for these builders and stuff, how often do you see clients? Coming in and they're not
Maddie Stott: preparation. I would say a solid 50 to 60%. Yeah. That's crazy crazy. That is wild. Or like they come in and they haven't obviously known what they've signed up for, like their specs.
So they come in and I go, Oh, hi, like he is your standard shower. And then they go, what the hell no. I thought that this was included and I'm going. Oh God. Okay. Let's rewind and clarify. And not only does that take time out of your day and out of your decisions, and that means it's something that's disrupted you, so you can be put into a bit of like a phase where you're just getting a bit frazzled.
Yeah. And then things start to become unhinged and things get forgotten. Yeah. And you're so focused on this one thing that you haven't gotten or you misunderstood. It can really just ruin the rest of the meeting. Yeah. So yeah, definitely doing like studying your standard spec that you signed on and this will be in your contract paperwork is the best thing.
Save that prior to your life for something else. Study, study, study. Yeah. And that all
Jaimi Tarbotton: comes down to as well. Having that relationship with your sales rep to nine times out of 10, they should have told you what's included in the spec. And if you don't understand, you need to have the relationship with them to ask that, which is obviously what we go through with all of our clients.
Cause by the way, Maddie's not
Maddie Stott: talking about any of our boss clients right now. So we do things very differently, but the normal thing in
Jaimi Tarbotton: the industries, that's exactly what people do. 50 to 60 percent of people go in unprepared. They don't know what they've signed. The sales rep hasn't signed up. The deal's been done.
It's thrown in admin and now it's someone else's problem. And it's like,
Maddie Stott: what? Yeah. And then they go, Oh, I haven't heard from my sales rep, this person. I'm going, Oh, now you're with me. And that's the thing about. The building industry, you often get passed through so many people that you don't know who your person is.
So with a couple of builders that I know, you've got your, obviously your sales consultant, then you go into your pre start consultant, then you go into client liaisons. So there's three different people already that you're working with. So the lines can get very, very blurred. And I can understand how people feel alone and like, really like.
daunting going into this process, going, you don't have that one person to go, or, Hey, quick question. Or I don't know if you're right for this, but let me ask you anyway, we're just so good about boss because we are those people that are constantly constant point A to point B. Yeah. Sorry. Yeah. Oftentimes the client's going to pre start and then that's the last time they'll speak to their sales consultant.
Yeah. Sorry. It can be so daunting, especially when you haven't got all that information. in the first place. And then all of a sudden this new chick's coming up to you and going, blah, here's your stuff. Yeah. And you've got no clue. It's horrible. Yeah. Yeah. Not great. No. How do you
Jaimi Tarbotton: avoid these mistakes? Which I think we
Maddie Stott: kind of touched on
Jaimi Tarbotton: before with the preparation and stuff, but is there anything else?
to help people avoid these
Maddie Stott: things. I would say it's being a bit having that sort of realistic approach coming into pre starts. So maybe lots of people suggest going to display homes, looking on Pinterest. And yes, that is great. And that's part of the key here, but what you don't often realize is that.
These display homes have 150, 000 of upgrades chucked on the standard spec. So by going to these homes. Is it not standard? No, not standard. And the main point of where I stand from a pre start consultant is I don't want to suggest the world to you to then have you come crashing down when the variation comes through because I've given you everything that you've wanted but you can't afford.
So setting realistic expectations for yourself with what you can afford with your budget knowing what upgrades you may want to consider or not. So again, going back to that negotiables and your wishlists and also just preparing. So knowing where you want your PowerPoints, knowing where you might want a ceiling ventilator in life, knowing, Oh, I don't use my microwave.
So I'll put it in the pantry instead. So these are the things that are going to help you go through the process and be realistic in terms of what you're going to be going into. Yeah. Lots of people go into display homes and go, Oh my gosh, this is amazing. This is what I'm getting. And you go, those linear air vents that you say are like 2, 000 a pop, like, no, sorry.
It's. It's being realistic and don't compare apples with oranges. Your house is not going to be the same as old mate on Instagram who is currently going through the process. And that's another thing to be mindful of is comparison. Yeah. Just because you're seeing somebody else's highlight reel does not mean that yours is going to be the same.
It's about going on your own journey and being your own person. doing this for you because this house is for you. Yeah. Sorry. Yeah. That's my biggest tip. Yeah. And it's, I guess it's the same with, yeah, comparing
Jaimi Tarbotton: different builders and quotes and pre starts and variations. It's apples and oranges and builders don't quote the same stuff for pre start upgrades and pricing.
And, you know, so it's hard to compare. Yeah. Things like that, but it's very easy to fall
Maddie Stott: in the comparison trap. Oh God, yeah. Even I was doing that when I was building. I'd log on to Instagram after me be at a stage before me. Yeah. I would see people with certain upgrades and I'd go, Oh my God, why didn't I think of that?
And you think I'm in the industry, I should surely know this. But, you know, it's coming back to myself. I had to go, well, Madison, you couldn't afford that at the time, so circumstances will change in life where you would look back on this process and might think, Oh, I wish you did that. But I think one thing to be really proud of is to be in this process in general.
It's very hard to be building at the moment. And it's a challenge, but it's so like, it's such a worthwhile thing doing, and it can be tough, but it's so rewarding. So yeah, definitely like, yeah, celebrate those wins. So if you didn't get your skylight now, it doesn't mean you won't get one later. Yeah. So yeah, it's about being super realistic, but also about being proud of where you're at and what you're able to afford.
That's great. What
Jaimi Tarbotton: is your favorite pre start upgrade?
Maddie Stott: I would have to be torn between hobbler showers, or I would have to say, this might seem really dumb, but finger grip, like fingerless handles, like the finger grips throughout the house. It's again, these things might not matter to somebody else, but for me, being able to walk into my shower and not have.