Kit Homes

[Wassy]

Has anybody had any experience with kitomes?

Cheers,
Mat

[silentC]

You mean the company Kitome, or kit homes in general?

[Wassy]

You mean the company Kitome, or kit homes in general?

Sorry, I meant the company Kitome, I guess that could have been taken as a typo.

Cheers,
Mat

[silentC]

We looked into a Kitome kit. Here are my observations:

- Sales guy in Emu Plains is very helpful and will go out of his way.
- They are very flexible on the floor plan. You can use one of theirs, modify it, or create your own entirely.
- They will give you break down prices so you know how much everything is costing: frame, windows, roof, etc. You can buy some or all from them. They also do floor kits if you are building on stumps or piers.
- If you get local quotes you will probably find that you will get a much cheaper price. For example, we looked at a kit which they quoted at $130,000 (first stage lockup + floors and verandahs). We obtained quotes locally and got to something like $80,000 for the same thing.

I also got on to someone who had recently built one of their houses. She told me the following:

- They were good to deal with up front but after-sales was ordinary. Sometimes took weeks to get back to them.
- The kit had a 'feature' gable missing. They didn't bother chasing it up because they decided they didn't like it. I guess they paid for it though.
- Things like tiles, kitchens etc. they only have a small range and 'looked' cheap so they opted to supply their own.
- She would buy from them again but be prepared for poor service from the factory.

In short, I would not buy from them because I know I can do it a lot cheaper. With the kit you get instructions and support during building, which may be worth something to you but not to me. This is not a reflection on Kitome but on kit homes in general.

I would say the best kit home supplier around would be PAAL but they only do steel frame and the floor plans are much less flexible. You have to take one of theirs and you can only modify some things. They are a fair bit more expensive - Kitome is by far the cheaper.

The nicest kits I've seen are the Harkaway Homes ones. These are not really a kit, in that they do lockup only. They come out and erect the frame for you, you do the rest.

I'd recommend you get a design done and get a quote from Kitome and also from local suppliers. Then you can make a decision. We paid a designer $1,500 to do plans for the DA. We gave him a rough idea and he designed something around that. It's worth doing, even if you go with Kitome - unless you go for one of their standard designs. Not necessary with PAAL or Harkaway though.