I Am Shocked, Devastated, Heartbroken, Numb
Scott,
After becoming Barefoot about five years ago now, my husband and I got our finances in order, saved a nice little nest egg, and decided it was time to upsize our modest little home. We bought a block of land pre-COVID to build our ‘Forever Home’, with a group called Porter Davis. Now I am one of the more than 1,500 families that were building when Porter Davis went bust. I am shocked, devastated, heartbroken, numb. We are currently waiting to hear further from the liquidators and have filed an insurance claim. But I am so anxious about where this leaves us and what to expect next. Please help.
Colleen
Hi Colleen,
I’m so sorry.
You have every right to feel totally betrayed: you gave your life savings to a builder who promised they’d create your forever home, and they dudded you.
So what you deserve now is honesty.
You want to know what to expect?
Expect it to suck for a good year, and possibly longer.
You’ll be hit with increased rent, increased debt repayments, and increased costs to complete your home. And it’s going to take way too much time: it’ll take a few months to process your insurance warranty claim, but the real time-killer will be finding another builder to take over your project.
All of this is outside of your control.
So, focus on the things you can control: your income, your expenses, and the most important thing of all – your relationship – in what is going to be a very tough year for the both of you.
Sadly, you’re not alone.
I read an article this week which shocked me:
Hutchinson is Australia’s largest private builder and the country’s third-largest residential builder. The group’s chairman, Scott Hutchinson, candidly told News Corp:
“Current conditions are terrible. It’s ridiculous. I have never seen it like this. There will be more builders going broke. There’s nothing governments can do. People simply should not build … I don’t think there should be any private building.”
That’s a bloody big call!
Buyer (and builder) beware!
Scott.