Builders Standard Plan - Hamptons Style

On our 2yr journey of searching for our forever home, we decided to take the plunge and build. Not an easy feat to undertake given all the stories out there (some good and some not so good!), however, we knew it was going to be the only way we were able to get what we wanted. Having scoured all the display homes (and finding out what they show is “not “what you get) and spending endless chats with builders, it was time to reassess our decision.

What we found after all these chats was that a lot of them were just “sales” people and there is nothing wrong with that, except when they are trying to get you to fit their product. Not taking anything away from the people that spend endless weekends trying to sell the dream but the problem we found is that they didn’t quite get ours. 

In assessing our decision of where to go from here it was my husband who thought a building broker might be the way to go (yes, it was his idea) I was totally sitting on the fence with this one as I wasn’t quite sure how it all worked and if he had some “secret” deal with certain builders that he would steer us towards (I’m very skeptical) so needless to say I let my husband take the lead on this one. 

Lucky for me the style of home we were looking at, was one my husband didn’t mind and that was a Hamptons style home (I think that word has been used to death, sometimes not in the right context!) What we wanted was something more along the lines of the upscale new England-type homes, mainly seen in the Southampton area on Long Island using the traditional colours of grey/whites and blacks …basically, something timeless J Who doesn’t love those American movies with these homes, right?

Anyway, as any self-respecting stalker of house design etc will attest to, these homes were beginning to look way out of reach! So with that in mind, and not wanting to get the dream crushed just yet, we met with NHBB.

Our meeting with NHBB was fairly casual, which was great as it was nice to finally meet someone that was actually listening to what we were looking for and taking notes as we chatted (something I don’t see often…I’m very observant!!) One of the things that struck me the most was the level of transparency & honesty regarding the building broking process (fees etc ) Still unsure, as this was our first meeting my husband was happy to give it a go and see how things progressed as there was really no risk to us, and so we had a few more appts and the rest, as they say, is history. 

Within a few weeks, NHBB had a sketch drawn up and lined up a builder that he thought would fit our budget and who would be able to accommodate our somewhat detailed design. After a few backwards and forwards with design (and this was the fun bit!) we were pretty happy with it. The building journey was definitely one of learning and as our negotiations with the Perth builder progressed NHBB was there to oversee everything. Nothing was too difficult or too much trouble and any questions we had that we couldn’t quite articulate to the builder NHBB would step in and smooth it all out for us.

Having the flexibility to choose our own finishes (tapware etc which was not builders standard )to compliment our home design was one of the key factors which NHBB helped facilitate in order to maintain the integrity Hampton's design aesthetic. At the moment we are well on our way through this exciting time and we love seeing the hard work pay off, knowing that we have NHBB to lean on.

So with all that said, kudos to my husband whose decision it was to have NHBB involved, and a huge thank you to NHBB for streamlining what could have been an absolute nightmare into something we may look into doing again…just saying J We have no hesitation in spreading the word of this invaluable service to all who are interested in building…and a million thanks for helping us keep and make our dream a reality.