Hotondo Homes - Ballarat

We built through Hotondo Ballarat recently and have been put off volume builders for good. The initial process was excellent. Brett did his job very well. Once it came to the build however, things changed very quickly. Our supervisor was okay to begin with, but as the build progressed he became more difficult to contact - often ignoring my wife’s emails and texts with her concerns. (And there were many). The quality of the build was and still is sub-par. The brickwork is terrible, particularly in the alfresco where it should be at its best! There was skirting missing in the kitchen upon “completion”. Within our contract we were granted a kitchen upgrade with a sink package that was delivered, but didn’t fit the kitchen sink they supplied. This was never rectified. We had to repaint entire walls due to the finish, even after maintenance had come through and fixed a number of the issues we were left with. There are many, many more examples. The standard of the finished product was just so poor, even for a volume builder!In hindsight, we wish we never built with Hotondo. Our advice to those reading, and to the many friends and extended family we have currently looking to build, is to avoid this company. Spend a little more on a private builder or go with a company with a better reputation that uses quality tradesmen.

hi guys,just noticed one of your building next to my friend house at grainger parade,lucas at the end of road is at frame stage for almost two months specially in this rainy,windy,gusty environment.i just feel this is not good workmanship as it should have at least been covered to save the framing member from this extreme weather conditions. feel sorry for the owner...

We have had our first home built by Hotondo Ballarat. We moved in late June 2021Our initial consultations and contacts were brilliant and we thought our building process would be fluet and exciting.Unfortunately, it was not.Poor communication, poor quality, poor finishes, poor follow-up and an overall headache to get anything rectified.They are a volume building company and expect them to act like one. One that is to busy to to care.

Absolutely disgusting and disgraceful service, they can’t build to Australian standards , they threaten you, they lock you out of your rural property, they leave your gates open letting livestock out onto the road, they urinate all over your property even though a builders toilet was required for hygiene reasons, they threw building rubbish everywhere, leaving cattle to eat the plastic, they Damaged other areas of the rural property even though it wasn’t in the build site, there tradies used the driveway to do burn outs costing the property owner money, they upset both neighbours on each side of the property, they were quite happy to take your hard earned money, when it came to fixing and rectifying any and all defects they were rude, threatening, intimidating and just incompetent, I would never recommend anyone else to build with them after what they have done to the home owner,they are great at selling dream houses but they deliver only nightmares. Your warranty is not worth the paper it is written on.

So far fantastic. Brett in sales has been great. Patient will a delay for knock down. Got temp fence up on time. Will keep people posted. So far a great local company.

These guys are the worst builder out there. They built my neighbours house and have taken 1.5 years to built it and left reo bars wrecking my lawn mower and rubbish everywhere with foam going all over everyones front lawns cause they didnt tie it down when there was a storm. Im in the industry and leaving exposed frames for over a year, not flashing windows properly are just a few of the things ive noticed as they have been building. Avoid them at all costs!!!!

Please do not engage with this company on any level. We engaged them to carry out repair and renovation works to our home, with costs estimated to be around 300k. We paid our intial deposit of 18K in good faith, and yet 8 months passed before we learnt that their submissions to Council had been rejected. They told us they require further finanical support of 20K which we refused. They then terminated our contract. We have lost close to $18,000 and from media reports online, it seems that nationally (especailly in Tassie) they have destroyed the lives of so many would-be homeowners.

After a terrible customer service experience with a different builder and losing my deposit, I can honestly say that I wouldn't be in my new home if it wasn't for Brett and the team at Hotondo Homes, Ballarat.Brett worked wonders to meet my concerns, budget, and specifications, yet he maintained all inclusions and upon moving in I couldn't be happier! Other than two small hiccups - site supervisor changed half-way through, and build time went one week over - the end result is a high-quality (and overly customised) build for a sensational price. We moved in just before Christmas, which ensured the perfect end to 2019!Hotondo might not ever want to deal with me again, as I'm super OCD, but I'd definitely build with them every time.

Like many reviews, I had an awful experience with Hotondo Homes here in Ballarat and especially Brenton who runs the place here. There does seem to be a consistent issue with their professionalism and people losing so much money to them, especially in Tasmania. We used their Ballarat office for a House and Land package for 500k and after paying $50k upfront as a deposit; they came back 10 months later (January 2021) and told us that we would have to pay another 15k or they would sell it to someone else. My husband and I were devastated; furthermore, they only gave us back 10k so we LOST 35k to these people. Brenton had no compassion and just told us to speak to a laywer if we weren't happy. Do Not Trust them, they steal so much money from people. They are all smiles until they get your money and then turn on you. Google this company and you realise that so many others around Australia have had issues. So sad.

Physically and mentally intimidating company with no consideration of the Australian Building Standards. Hotondo Business Owners and the corporate office do not in any way care about their customers and will treat you with the utmost disrespect, threaten you and stop your build completely if their emotions feel the need to.Put simply, we had our very first build go over a year. 6 weeks over in fact. We asked for liquidated damages and they refused. They would not fix things that were not up to the Australian Building Standards, Threatened us with late payment interest (ANZ held us up, I never withheld a payment). We organised several inspections and they claimed this as time allowance, all at the very end of our build, not as they went along the way. An absolute nightmare with site supervisors, no contact, no updates and completely impossible to get answers from any members of management.Did we mention the four reinspection's we had to conduct just for the Frame and base stage? You think a frame hanging 35mm over the slab would cause alarm...but hey...I'm no builder.The threats made to us about payments, builds, inspections, the physical intimidation when meeting in person, the stress financially and emotionally on our family was unbearable. And they knew that. Threats and comments were being made from both parties about half way through the build – don’t get me wrong- we were mad!!! But as a company, the manner in which we were treated by them, still to this day blows my mind.A disgusting experience from our first inspection until the finish. But hey, a great sales team.