Smart Homes For Living

Worst ever experience – Smart home for living is the worst ever company and I totally regret choosing them to build our small 3x2 home in Golden Bay. After 2.5 years and still waiting, we still get the same old excuse of shortage of tradies and hard to get products. But the fact is they still sign up new customers back logging their work and delaying the completion of… Read more

people’s homes. There are houses in our block built by other companies that started building way after ours and they were finished last year. To many stuff ups, unorganised handling and unprofessional people who are not worried about their customers.

Samuel Tauloa

DO NOT BUILD WITH SMART HOMES!!!! – My experience with Smart Homes for Living or BGC has been nothing short of a nightmare. From the beginning, promises were made but never kept, leaving me in financial strain with interest piling up due to delays. We signed our contracts in April 2022 and received mortgage approval, expecting to move forward smoothly. However, that was not the… Read more

case.

In August 2022 we were told construction was supposed to take 14-18 months according to their estimates, but it's been nothing but a series of delays. The slab wasn't even laid until October 2022, and bricks weren't completed until May 2023.

To add insult to injury, an extension of 129 days was tacked onto our build time, pushing the original completion date of November 28, 2023, further into the future. Even as recently as February 2024, we were hit with another extension letter, this time for 155 days.

The excuse of industry-wide shortages is wearing thin, especially when it seems like scheduling isn't even being considered until after each stage is completed. We're constantly given minimum wait times only to have tasks delayed by months, leaving us in limbo and frustration.

I would strongly advise against building with Smart Homes for Living or BGC to anyone considering it. The stress, financial strain, and endless delays make it an experience I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.

Thinking of building? choose Smart Homes – Our experience with Smart Homes For Living has been nothing but incredible. We have had nothing but positive things to say about Smart Homes and the incredible service Jason has given us so far. No ask is to big or small with Jason and the work is always done straight away. Its a delight to be building through Smart Homes. This is our second… Read more ·  1

build and by far the better of the two, we have pulled out all the stops with the build with the help of Jason. The quality of the products are just fantastic and the variety is more than we could have imagined. The cost is also very affordable for building considering the rise in cost. We look forward to continuing our experience with Smart Homes and with Jason, we cant wait to see the final result!

Amazing Company and Amazing Team – I started my building with Smart Homes with one of the best sales reps Omar Khirzad. From the get go Omar was amazing support and guided me through the whole proccess efficiently and effictively. No request was too big or small for Omar, he always replies quickly and with the answers to any question. It has been a joy and pleasure to be building with Smart Homes and Omar. Show details ·  1

Stay away – Signed in Dec 2020 and yet to reach PCI. Was advised Aug 2023! Errors after errors in our house build and addenda, double charged for planning fees and slab upgrade etc. Smart didn’t want to pay our nominated bricklayer for his work and he had to go for arbitration to get paid. Bricklayer was bullied and threaten with legal action also. Show details

Warning for current clients – Beware current Smart Home for Living clients. Please ensure your build has been entirely completed to your satisfaction before you make your final payment. We were in a rush to move in to our new property as our rental lease was expiring (and we'd been waiting almost 2 years for this day), so we agreed that some items on our PCI checklist could… Read more

be completed after handover. BIG MISTAKE. As soon as this company has your final payment they will not take any notice of your communication and will shun you like a leper.

Our front door handle is not the one we paid for, and it has been incorrectly installed so it is practically falling off the door. Every time we try and raise the issue with Smart Homes through either our building supervisor or client liason, they apologise - and say they will get right on it, then we don't hear anything from them. I can understand there being a bit of a hold up and delay on materials or labour, but we've been waiting 3 months now. For a door handle. Which is in stock at my local Bunnings...

Our rear sliding doors were also incorrectly installed and despite being told during PCI that someone would be out the following week to rectify the issue, we are still waiting 3 months later. They are so stiff that they can't be opened by my children or my mother. Hopefully there's not a fire in the house and we need to exit through them in a hurry - we'd be stuffed!

Our garage was handed over to us with no deadbolt, so everything in there is up for grabs as soon as someone decides to jump the fence and gains access. 3 months later we are still waiting for the deadbolt. Again, in stock at my local Bunnings...

UPDATE: Been living in the house for 10 months now. Still waiting for issues we identified over 10 months ago to be seen to by Smart Homes FL contractors. Nothing niche, just a plumber, plasterer, painter, and door contractor. Email communication is useless. They wait two weeks before replying then just ask for your job number again each time. Smart Homes for Living should move into roundabout construction - they are experts at going in circles!!

TL:DR - Don't make your final payment to this company until everything is fixed up 100%. Don't believe their bs about coming back to fix it the following week, because once they have your money, you are nothing to them.

Awful Build Times and Excuses – I am the SLOWEST progressing home on the subdivision. I've emailed numerous times about progression and receive the same response of what's next and "labour and supply shortage" but everyone else on the subdivision seems to be building much quicker than mine. I've stopped driving past the property because all I see is the same thing - an empty… Read more

house shell

If you want to build with smarthomes the sales and support team are excellent but everything else is excuses and longer wait times than anyone else

Not happy

P.S 95% of these reviews get a voucher for Westfield for submitting a good review

BGC and Smart Homes ripped me off – My job number is 2114634. We started our journey with smart homes in July 2021. We were hopeful that we will get our house within one year. For one and a half years, I did not even send them a single email about the update on my house. I completely trusted smart homes and BGC. Unfortunately, they are taking way longer to build the house, suddenly… Read more

I got an email saying that my house expected date of completion is FEBRUARY 2024. I feel like I am going to faint after reading that email.

There were so many housing groups in the market, I fought with my husband to choose the smart homes group. Now, I have been taunted by my husband each and every day. I feel like I better die and leave everything behind. I got enough things on my plate and on top of that this stress. I am really not in a position to take all the stress.

My husband is the only one who is financially supporting us. What should I do now? I am mentally and financially empty. I sent more than 30 emails to BGC to help me, but nobody cared for me. Life sucks what should I do. Please provide a house for my family on time even if I commit suicide. I can not take the blame on my head forever that I chose the worst housing company and ruined my husband's money. My head is spinning while writing this.

What is more valuable my life or my house ? Feeling worthless

What an absolute nightmare!! – The start was absolutely fantastic! Our rep did absolutely everything he could for us! Pre start our consultant wasn’t great had to be corrected on a number of occasions! Then came construction…. Slab laid fantastic! 1/2/22 Apart from the mega crack! Bricks delivered April/may from first to last brick took 4 months!!! Had brick meeting… Read more

mentioned the slab to be told we will watch it if it gets bigger when the front of the houses brick work is added then they will deal with it we are still waiting for this. Timber started December. Colourbond went on in feb 2023 we have just hit lock up. I never would have imagined this would be so draining and stressful. We moved in with family hoping it would be 10 month build. As a family of 5 this has become draining we need our own space. We want our house and to be told another 6 months!!! Keep as far away from everything to do with Bgc unless your enjoy disappointment!!!! Not to mention communication is slim to none or if you contact the portal they reply with no answers to your questions.

Worst builder group BGC – I had a very disappointing experience with Smart Homes, and I would not recommend them to anyone looking to build a new home. Despite signing the contract in December 2021, we are still only at the high plate stage 18 months later. We had to outsource our own bricklayer and roof carpenter, which resulted in extra costs and delays. The lack of… Read more

communication was a major issue, and we did not meet the site supervisor for 18 months. We were not kept informed about the progress of our home, which made it difficult for us to plan and manage our finances. Additionally, the builder did not provide a schedule for completing the work, and this caused a great deal of frustration.

Furthermore, we were struggling to pay rent and the mortgage at the same time due to the builder's delays, which made the whole experience even more stressful. In contrast, our friends who chose different builders have already moved into their homes in the same suburb, which suggests that Smart Homes is significantly behind schedule compared to their competitors.

Overall, Smart Homes failed to deliver on their promises and was not responsive to our concerns. I hope this review helps others make an informed decision about their choice of builder.

Very disappointed and appalled with the experience – Started with smart homes not providing all variations to finance broker , signed contract dec 2020 only are at plate height, no schedule or timeline, communication from office very poor , only solution provided to supply own trades to complete house , price increases and extension of time issued reflects 3/4 of original build duration. Show details

Save yourself – BGC say they are the biggest builder in WA and that they supply their own material to reduce your timeframe. Don’t be fooled, they have been the one taking longest as they had to outsource everything and no one wants to work for them anymore. Worst experience of my life. Please don’t put yourself through this nightmare and choose literally any… Read more

other builders except BGC.

It has been over 2 years for me and I am now without a rental and I still have no clue when the build will be done or if they will ever get a roof on.

Living nightmare! – Signing to build with Smart Homes for living has been our biggest mistake! We signed in December 2020 and we were told we would be in our house within a year. It’s now October 2022 and we only have bricks completed with an extension of works until 30/10/2023! That’s almost 3 years from signing the contract, we initially started the process with… Read more

Smart Homes in June 2020. We have watched many people sign on a year after us and have moved into their homes. For those looking to build, please do more research than what we did, we got sucked in with all the “promises” and “guarantees”. Those looking to build a house join SHONKY BUILDERS on Facebook, we wish we were aware of this page prior to signing a contract with Smart Homes for Living and would encourage all home builders to search this page and hear from others who are building within Perth. We would never ever build with Smart Homes for Living (BGC) again and will continue to share our BAD experience with this builder to others. We want nothing more than to be done with this nightmare and never have to listen to any more NONSENSE from this company.

There are builders out there with genuine integrity and getting houses done in 6-8months! RESEARCH RESEARCH!

Can’t wait to move in – Working with smart homes to build my house has been an absolutely amazing journey. I can’t thank the team at smart homes and BGC for all their efforts. I can’t thank the team enough. It’s been a pleasure dealing with you all. Show details ·  1

My first home made easy – I have been in my new home for 9 months and thanks to Jason Schaal from Smart Homes for making this a great experience for me. Jason has always been there from the beginning to offer support and answer any questions (and there were many) that I had as a first home builder. I highly recommend Jason for any future new home builders. Show details ·  1

Exceptional service even in the high of the Covid housing boom – When I started my house build with Omar Khirzad it was the hight of the Covid housing boom and we never expected the delays to be so long. It was well worth the wait and the whole team at Smart Homes made the process so smooth and so the end product is beautiful and exactly what I have dreamed about for the longest time. Would definitely recommend reaching out to Omar and the team at Smart Homes to build your new home. Show details ·  1

They say one thing and do the other. Don't ever use smart homes or BGC – We signed up at the end of 2020 and the site works were done in July. The slab went down relatively quickly and was completed in Sept. This is when the delays and the pain started. ONE YEAR LATER the brickworks were FINALLY done. Then there's more delays. They add another 400 days (work days, not including the weekend) for a total of over 600 days… Read more

of delays (effectively added 2 extra years to construction). I've also only got 4 months left on my construction loan and I will have to apply for a new loan to cover the remaining costs - more expenses from me thanks to Smart Homes. They claim industry wide delays, yet other homes in my area have progresses faster and further than mine.

They also claim to provide monthly updates, I've received three calls since January.

Home Buying Process – I have not gone through the full process yet but to date, everything has been very much excellent. The staff are knowledgeable, professional and have a good understanding of the Market. Show details ·  1

Worst Construction time – RUN AWAY! We started the journey with Smart Homes in September 2021. It took almost 1 year to get the slab done, which was completed in August 2022. After slab, they provided a time frame of 6-8 months to start the brickwork. I have seen people also waiting over 6 months to get the roof done, and they keep saying it is because of the shortage,… Read more

but all other builders are progressing much faster than that. We have already spent thousand of dollars paying for the interest rates since December. My advice to you ( hope it is not too late): RUN AWAY from this builder. I will do all I can to let people know what is really happening before they get locked in with BGC. Unfortunately I can’t do it. The only positive things we have experienced are the Sales person, Simon, he was decent and professional , and Karen who did our pre start consultancy- She was great. Apart from that it has been just WAITING over what it is considered reasonable.

DONT SIGN A CONTRACT WITH SMART HOMES!! – DONT SIGN A CONTRACT WITH SMART HOMES UNTIL THEY FINISH THE 100S of homes that are sitting out there with no work done on them for months and months ( actually years). They are misleading people by getting clients at the start of the build journey to come and post 5 star reviews to try and balance the negative ones from those of us crippled… Read more

financially, emotionally etc etc.

I signed a build contract nov 2020. Slab down August 2021. And then brickies turned up in JUNE 2022. it's now been almost 2 years, and no hope at all of getting a roof on at all. Don't get sucked in by the lies. Do not build. Do not end up homeless like me because rent and mortgage interest rates have risen.

I budgeted for rent and mortgage, but not for 3 years, which will be the time smart homes have estimated they will finish.

Dont believe the lies that there is a material and labour shortage. Every single house on my street that sold at the same time is complete. Only the 2 x Smart Home are lying unfinished. Don't get burned like me. Build with anyone BUT BGC.

Preconstruction Journey: so far so good! – Dan Costello has been really respectful of where we've been at every step of the way. We've wanted lots of information and he's been able to answer question after question with patience and a smile. He's very enthusiastic and he's made us feel excited for the process ahead. Prestart has had some minor hiccups, but our consultant Belinda Burgess is extremely helpful and very upfront with us. So far, so good! Show details ·  1

Minor hiccups but no major surprises – Overall our experience with SHFL has been a positive one, with fair and open communication about the challenges of building at the moment and the likely timeframes. (Note: We are fortunate to already own a property and be able to absorb any delays with little to no impact so appreciate that others with similar stories may have a more negative… Read more ·  1

view.)

Our only ‘disagreements’ have come from some changes we requested to the design/materials but these have all been resolved satisfactorily (albeit with some delay).

Like the portal as a tool for tracking and pre-start selections but it needs to include more instructions/options e.g. paint colours are not shown so we didn’t know the options in advance of our pre-start to be able to see them in person.

Also found the multiple contact points to be very confusing initially - we had 3 different people emailing us (and our broker separately) about the same queries at one point. There needs to be some introduction/handover communication when being moved through the teams.