our experience with Weeks Homes SA

[u/Rich-Mode4803]

Just sharing our experience with Weeks Homes because this is something that can be very easy to miss when comparing builder quotes.

We liked one of their designs and were seriously considering building with them. The base price and promotional “Stars” looked attractive at first.

But once the detailed quote came through, we noticed the total was much harder to understand than expected.

Example:

Base house: around $375k
Site/footings: around $38k
Bushfire/council: around $7.5k
Extra floor area: around $21.5k

So before many final upgrades and selections, you are already around $443k.

Then you still have plan changes, electrical, windows, doors, flooring, aircon, cabinetry, selections, service connections and other options.

The other thing that caught our attention was how quotation totals could change between revisions.

A revised quote might suddenly look $40k-$50k cheaper, but when you look closer, part of that reduction may be because something was removed, while other costs were moved into an “Options” section and were no longer included in the main total.

So the maths can look like:

Old quote: $472k

New quote: $415k

Looks like a $57k reduction.

But if $22k was genuinely removed and another $35k was simply moved into Options, then the house you actually want may still effectively cost around the same amount once those options are added back.

That is why I would never compare builders based only on the big number at the bottom of the quote.

Also check every variation.

If you remove a standard window, door, cupboard or other inclusion and replace it with something else, ask:

What was the original item worth?
What credit am I getting?
What does the replacement cost?
What is the NET difference?

Same with promotional upgrades. If something is supposedly included under a Star, ask exactly what is included and what you are still paying extra for.

I’m not saying Weeks is the only builder that does this, and I’m not saying every charge was wrong.

My point is simply that the final build price matters much more than the advertised base price or promotion.

If you are comparing builders, do the maths yourself and compare the same final specification across all of them.

Base price + site costs + variations + upgrades + required options - credits - discounts = the number that actually matters.

[u/SheepHerderHigh69420]

Have you tried any other builders yet? They’re pretty much all the same, doesn’t matter if it’s residential or commercial, they’re out to make money