Building a home is one of the biggest milestones you may face in your lifetime — so how do you know you’ve chosen a builder that you can trust to do the job?
One of the simplest ways to sort the good apples from the bad is by finding a builder whose values align with yours.
For more than 20 years, Geelong Homes has built itself a name for being the Geelong region’s trusted local builder. And over that time we have come to truly understand what is most important to our clients when building a home.
We know you want upfront costs, quality standard inclusions, personalised service, a team who knows the region, and trades and suppliers who are local, and a business that cares about our community. And Geelong Homes is that, plus more!
At Geelong Homes, we follow a very simple philosophy: we treat every home like it’s our own.
Here is what we value most at Geelong Homes:
Transparency
Let’s be frank, everyone wants a builder that doesn’t beat around the bush! You want to know how much your new home will cost and how soon you can start building.
When it comes to discussing costs, Geelong Homes is upfront from day one about how much your new home will cost.
“Geelong Homes is like an open book,” says Geelong Homes new home consultant Ash Afshar.
“You don’t sign the contract until all the planning work is done. We don’t get you to commit without you knowing everything within the contact.
“It’s honesty. You have to be honest from start to finish. There’s no guess work in our costs, it’s all based on actual costs and we’re always transparent.”
Quality
There’s one thing we don’t compromise on in our homes and that’s quality.
“One of the value adds to building a home with us, is that we only put good quality products in our homes, and these products are supplied by local businesses,” Geelong Homes general manager Andrew Carroll says.
“We understand the investment, both emotionally and financially, our clients put into building a new home.
“That is why quality is one thing we won’t compromise on. We actively source the very best quality products and materials at an affordable price, so you can enjoy your home for years to come.
“Many builders will say they put the best products in their homes but you’ll find these builders have a maintenance team who are there to complete the ongoing maintenance that their homes require. For us, we don’t need a team of maintenance specialists, we just have one person who can complete the work if it’s needed.”
A home built by Geelong Homes comes standard with: Colorbond Steel roof; Haymes paint; Gainsborough hardware; Artusi appliances; GWA taps and bathware; designer tiles; Godfrey Hirst carpet and underlay; and a professional colour consultation.
At Geelong Homes, we also strictly follow our Quality Assurance checklists at every step of the construction process. This means a build is required to pass a number of checks before it can progress to the next stage.
Local trades and suppliers
We know many of you consider supporting local business as an important factor when choosing your builder. For us, we want to stay true to the Geelong part of our name by only using local trades and suppliers, some of which have been working with us for more than 20 years! Backed by this local team, our clients can be confident that the Geelong Homes’ supply chain will get the right products and materials to their home.
“I personally know every one of our subbies, which is one of the biggest advantages of our business compared to volume builders,” Andrew says.
“It means that I can give a 100 percent commitment to our clients that we only employ trades that will work on our client’s homes like it’s their own.
“Our trades know that if you wouldn’t want it in your own home, you wouldn’t construct it in someone else’s.”
Our site teams are led by our Construction Manager Cory Bauer, who knows and loves the Geelong region.
“Our site team is made up of an eclectic mix of experience and unbridled enthusiasm,” Cory says.
“The team are extremely proud of what they do, extremely proud of the homes they deliver and are passionate about those around them.”
Personalised service
We understand what a major milestone building your home is! It can be an all consuming process — so you don’t want to just be another number in a long line of clients. At Geelong Homes, we like to get to know you so we can provide you with a personalised service.
The Geelong Homes team are friendly, approachable, knowledgeable and most importantly passionate about what they do. They offer you one-on-one service, meaning you’ll deal with the same person throughout your build.
Firstly, you’ll deal with one of our new home consultants. Geelong Homes new home consultants provide you advice and knowledge to match you with the right home, and will be your point of contact throughout your entire build.
But to help you find your dream home, they need to get to know you first, and will ask you a range of questions to work out your exact needs. Together you will look through a range of homes that we believe would suit you and your needs to find the perfect floorplan for you.
Geelong Homes new home consultants can also help you discover the right location and the right block for you.
Your second point of contact will be your site manager. Before construction starts, you’ll meet your site manager and discuss all aspects of the build.
Your site manager will also provide you with weekly updates on how your new home is progressing. They also provide you with regular emails and access to our client portal so that you can keep track of the progress. And once each stage is completed, your site manager will invite you to the site to see the progress!
Community
We love supporting local trades and suppliers but more importantly we love supporting community groups. As passionate advocates for our region, we understand the important role that businesses can play in strengthening communities.
Geelong Homes supports a number of community groups, including Bannockburn Football Club and the Colac Tigers Netball Club.
Our biggest community initiative is our Pledge to River’s Gift. Geelong Homes made its pledge to raise the much-needed funds for the Geelong-based Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) charity, River’s Gift, after General Manager Andrew Carroll was reacquainted with an old friend Karl Waddell, the Director of River’s Gift. Together they realised that their organisations both shared passions for family and the Greater Geelong region, and a fundraising partnership was formed. Geelong Homes built its first charity home for River’s Gift in 2016, raising $130,000. We now have another charity home in the pipeline, set to be built next year in the new River’s Edge estate in Winchelsea.
Andrew is also passionate about helping disadvantaged young people into trades and has built ongoing partnerships with the community initiatives; Grow (a joint initiative between Give Where You Live Foundation and G21 — Geelong Region Alliance), Northern Futures, Geelong Community Foundation and the award-winning Regional Industry Sector Employment program (RISE).
Andrew sits on the steering committee of RISE as the Geelong Master Builders representative. RISE is led by the City of Greater Geelong and funded by Gforce. A solution to Geelong’s industry skills shortage and youth unemployment, it’s designed to connect people to skills and jobs — something that the local construction industry is in much need of. Since it started in July 2018, it has supported 79 participants and resulted in 43 graduates and 33 work placements. That equals 76 young people who now have employment opportunities that they may not have had access to otherwise.
In Summary
The simplest way to find a builder for your new home is to find one whose values align with your own.
For more than 20 years, Geelong Homes has built itself a name for being the Geelong region’s trusted local builder. And over that time we have come to truly understand what is most important to our clients when building a home.
At Geelong Homes, we treat every home like it’s our own, and what we value most is:
- Transparency
- Quality
- Personalised Service
- Local trades and suppliers
- Community
Do you value these aspects, too? If so, let’s get building!
