If you're looking to move away from the city and into the countryside, your dream home may just be an acreage home. While the majority of builders offer some acreage designs, Avondale Homes, also known and Avondale Design and Build, specialise in acreage homes, custom homes and knockdown rebuilds in South East Queensland, especially in the Brisbane and Gold Coast areas.
Today, we'll have a look at what people are saying online. Avondale heavily promotes that they put clients as well as provides you with some details about what Avondale offers, in designs, inclusions, and services.
What we like ✅
- Flexible with design changes and won't charge for most alterations.
- Fixed-priced contracts. Quick turn around on contracts.
- Offer Knockdown rebuilds.
- Generous standard inclusions.
What we didn't like⛔️
- Limits in what they build - they do advise acreage homes specialist so it is hard to hold that against them.
- Not all options appear available at all locations.
- Limited display homes.
- Custom homes take longer to build.
Avondale Homes House & Land Packages
Avondale Homes do offer a house and land package. This is often promoted as a less stressful option or a good entry-level house, but land and house design have their own drawbacks.
Avondale Home Designs & Prices
Single Storey Homes:
The single-storey house design is the most common type of house you’ll see. Unlike multi-storey designs, a single-storey home can be more flexible with its floor plan. A lot of Avondale's range are single-storey homes.
Two-Storey Homes:
Avondale has some two-Storey Homes on offer. These are luxurious homes like the The Riverview with 4 bedrooms and 6 bathrooms.
Acreage Homes
As you've gathered by now, Acreage Homes is Avondale's speciality. Ideal for rural living, especially for families, it's a design associated with rural living.
Pros:
- Spacious - great for families and get-togethers
- They have a rural feel. If you're building on the property, an acreage house just fits the bill. It's literally what they're designed for.
- No stairs - you have loads of house area on one floor. Great if you have older or very young family members.
Cons:
- The extra space is a double-edged sword. Acreage houses have very large footprints and you'll need to land to accommodate that.
- If this is your forever home, consider whether all that space will be too much once the kids, move out.
Custom Homes
Can't find a pre-existing design or have a specific vision for your dream home? A bespoke, or custom home might be the way to go for you. Avondale Homes specialise in custom acreage homes and are very flexible with their pre-existing designs. A big plus is they don't charge extra for these alterations (provided they're made during the planning stages, not once construction has begun). Whether you want to change a few dimensions or want to create a plan from scratch.
Hampton Style House
Australian Hamptons Style does differ from the American originals. While the style is associated with the rich and famous, it can be recreated at a reasonable price, meaning you can have the luxury feel without blowing your budget. In Australia, the Hamptons look has transcended its coastal origins and can be found in many different locations including the suburbs and in rural areas.
Knockdown Rebuild
With land becoming less readily available, knockdown rebuilds are becoming more popular with new homebuyers. While it sounds like a big step, there's actually less risk of cost blowouts than with renovations and extensions. For those who love the location of where they live but want a new home, this is the option for you. If you're looking to end up with an acreage home, an Avondale Homes knockdown rebuild is for you. If not, the good news is most builders offer knockdown rebuilds nowadays.
A quick tip: Most builders won't do the demolition themselves. While they will recommend trusted demolition companies, it'll be up to you to organise it. Best to prepare and be on top of this will help avoid delays in your building plans.
Avondale Home Reviews
You don't need to be a detective to figure out that the reviews on a builder's website are probably skewed in their favour. That's why it's best to look for impartial sites to get all the info to make an informed decision.
There aren't a lot of reviews on Product Review, only fifteen. Even less helpful, only one of these is written post-build which is where we like to get our reviews when possible. While this review is positive, it doesn't have a lot of details.
Positive reviews:
Some reviews are incredibly positive, with customers being extremely happy with the service provided, saying choosing Avondale as their home builder was the best decision they've made. A few positive aspects more than one review has mentioned are:
- Avondale is quick to draw up contracts.
- Offer fixed-price contracts. Upfront with pricing.
- Are flexible with changes.
- The team is constantly meeting expectations.
The major issue though is the vast majority of these reviews are written pre-build, which leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to weighing up a builder. The below review looks great at a glance but as soon as you finish reading it, you feel like you haven't come away with much. Really it's a review of how nice the Avondale Team is, which is important but doesn't give you a whole picture.
Negative Reviews:
The negative reviews we could find focused on poor communication during the initial stages with the builder. You want to be confident in your builders' expertise. In the limited amounts of reviews we could find, the main complaint was poor communication between customer and builder and amongst the company itself.
Need help finding a Builder?
How We Can Help You
Building a home can be a daunting process. At Buildi, we work with you throughout the entire build process to avoid any pitfalls and make sure your house build stays on time and on budget by following these simple steps…
- Free Consultation – We will sit with you to understand what you are looking to accomplish.
- Due Diligence – We work with you to ensure you’re buying the right block of land at the right price without hidden problems.
- Builders tender – We will take your requirements out to the market of builders and they will bid to win your business.
- Present solutions – We will compile the top 3 options and present you with a comprehensive proposal on builders’ strengths & weaknesses along with prices and specifications.
- Contract Signing – We will work with you and your selected builder to ensure there is full transparency in what you are entering into.
- Building your home – We work closely with the builder to ensure all service levels are met and your project is on schedule.
Tips when building with Avondale Homes
- Avondale Homes is a specialist builder which means they excel in a particular area. No matter what rave reviews a builder gets, it doesn't mean their skills will transfer to all projects (if they advertise as a speciality builder, they're unlikely to take on projects outside their wheelhouse anyway).
- Avondale Homes are more suited to regional house design and properties with a bit of space. While they probably could build something for an inner-city block, we'd suggest you look for a builder specialising in your needs.
- Avondale Homes doesn’t operate traditional permanent display homes like many volume builders. Instead, they mainly offer open home tours of completed or nearly finished homes so potential clients can see the quality of their builds in real projects.
Avondale Homes Locations
Avondale Homes’ head office is located at 3 Avalon Parade, Miami QLD 4220, where their team manages the design, planning, and construction of their custom homes. From this base on the Gold Coast, Avondale Homes builds across South East Queensland, including Brisbane, the Gold Coast, and surrounding regions.
