Meet Rick Adlam about your next home
Meet Rick Adlam at your block of land
Suggestion: Meet Rick Adlam
In your quest to build your next new home you basically have two options.
- You can wonder around the hundreds of display homes, speak to the countless and ever changing sales consultants and home builders out there and hopefully cobble together a land and new home building package that meets your needs.
- Alternative you can choose to:
- Meet up with Rick Adlam,
- Discuss your needs and budget
- Look at the displayed options available
- Tweak and customise the plans available
Most people would agree that this is a more comfortable, easy and cost effective way to have their home built.
The Purpose of the display [show] home.
Most people assume that the purpose of the display home is for the builder to display and sell that particular home.
The Display homes show off our ability, build quality and innovation.
Whilst most home consultants have a similar view, Rick Adlam feels that the Display home is merely to give the builder credibility and shows what they capable of, not just limited to the design shown. So if you like the quality of what you see, but have something different in mind, let’s talk about it.
For instance a display home proves that the builder has been chosen by the Land Developer of House building Association [such as the Master Builders or the Housing Industry Associations, as being financially capable of building and staffing a display home. I am sure that you would agree that this in itself suggests that the builder is making a financial and time commitment to the home plan, the land estate, and the customers they serve.
Home Builders don't always show the perfect plan for the estate.
Home builders sometimes build great new home designs that are not consistent with the estate or the customer's perspective. That's OK and perfectly normal. After all many people visiting the display home will have land to build on elsewhere.
This can make it difficult for both the home buyers and the new home consultant. Home builders choose to display homes that are the best examples of what they are doing in house plans for the future, in their eyes. They are not always best for that house block, or the right home to show in that housing estate, or the perfect home for the person looking for that ideal floor plan that will suit their particular needs.
Many home builders don't think like their customers about their home designs
When selecting a home for construction as a display home, its impossible for the builder to know that you will be one of the visitors, with your particular needs, budget and shopping list. So its understandable to the experienced new home consultant that his or her home will not meet all of your needs, without some modifications and changes. These modifications can include mirror reversing the plan, flipping rooms or modules of rooms, and various extensions, additions and work a-rounds. This is the benefit afterall of building a new home with HomeMate for instance. You get the exact home you want, in the manner that you want it.
Its like walking into a shoe sale and all the shoes on sale are too big or too small. You want to buy, you have a hole in your shoes stuffed with paper even, but nothing will fit! Well home builders do this all the time, because they could not pre measure you for the home before it was built.
So whilst most volume builders are guilty of selecting the wrong home design for the residential estate they build in at some stage, most problems can be overcome, and the customer needs satisfied.
So its good for you the home buyer to remember that the plans we show, whilst they are beautiful, efficient and space effetive, they may not be a perfect plan for you and your needs or your lot. Rick Adlam understands this and will listen to your needs before suggesting a solution, and plan. And then select a plan that he can modify to meet your needs exactly.
As an example:
- You want to buy a block of land that would preclude the Display home plans as suitable.
- You may have an old home in a heritage suburb and you wish to knock down and rebuild. We can help with facade modelling.
- You may have an older style of house plan in mind. We have hundreds of modifications to the originals that may be perfect for you.
- You may own a land lot size that precludes the home you are viewing. We may be able to modify the home to suit the block of land you have or are thinking of owning.
- You may be caught between deciding two blocks. I was with my last house. I got Andrew Wong, my Chinese friend to have a look, and he told me to buy the one I was leaning towards. It had better Feng Shui. NOw I have lived in the home, I better understand why this was a better choice.
I can help you choose the right block and the right home plan for you, if you are stuck. Otherwise I can work to enhance your lifestyle with the land you have already chosen.
- Solar and internal aspect. Most people discover that the home they fall in love with will be a nightmare to live in, all due to the aspect of the land. If you have ever been to homes for sale and thought, "gee this home is hot and stuffy", you know what I mean. The home may have a great floor plan, but was not tweaked for the land it was placed on, its direction and the how it could catch breezes. These things are ignored by most new home consultants, but Rick Adlam views them as crucial to creating value and a pleasant living experience.
- I mentioned Internal aspect. A lot of women say to me, "don't show me plans, I want to see the home". What they are really sayng saying, is I believe they need to feel the space, and how it connects with the elements of the house to make it "feel right". So I have come to a belief that "Men can see [visualise] a space” whilst most “women need to feel the space, and the impact of the connecting elements. I call this internal aspect. It is:
- The feeling that you get internally to the space.
- When you view the home through your eyes in that space.
I have never heard this or read it anywhere. It is just something that I have discovered about how the genders go about evaluating a home.
What is the best aspect for a home?
I often get asked what is the best aspect for choosing a building block of land. It used to be that a “northerly aspect” was the way to go. But is that still true? I believe that the nature of homes have changed to teh extent that this longer holds true for most home building blocks today.
In fact I am going to let you know an important secret that I discovered many years ago. The secret is:
All home building allotments have a northerly side, and the home design should take advantage of that. So facing the home North can be a bad idea if the house plan is wrong for that, and most are today, because home plans have changed to reflect land dimension changes!
How to turn a good house plan into a Great Home Plan
When I built a home for myself, I understood that my wife is good with plans, but when I add internal aspects, and build for solar and Feng Shui aspects, she loved the result. Its the kind of thing that makes you stare in awe as the visual aspects of the home internally I can do the same for you! [Even my dog loves it, she she stares into space in bliss, or out into the garden spaces I have created.]
I was shocked to see my plans still selling eight years later, but then the house plan changes work so well in the mind.
By the way this last home I built for myself for another builder, has become a best seller, using the internal tweaks to the home that I have incorporated to our home. At the time the construction supervisor was so taken that he got the Director of the company to have a look at the fine tuning I had done within the plan. These changes by the way, added a total of few hundred dollars, but increased the livability of the home immensely.
So what makes the Perfect House Plan?
I understand that this might be another shock revelation to you, but in my view there is not such thing as the perfect home design.
Here’s the evidence. If there was a perfect home design, we would all have the same home design and you would not need me to help you decide. [By the way I have known successful volume home builders who have had one core plan and built size variations for that one plan theme. Other builders I have worked with have several sets of themed houses, for different sized lots. That also works. But one size, or one floor plan will not work, because every block of land is different and families needs are different.]
What I can do for you is help you build the best home for your needs, your budget and the aspect and Feng Shui of your land. If I can do that for you, you will love the home and your family will be happy in it.
You can call Rick Adlam on 0413 268 166. If I am busy or otherwise unavailable, please leave your message, because our meeting is important.
