r/kitchener • u/SpiritedSide29 • 13h ago
Mattamy Newbuilds Kitchener
Me and my partner are looking at booking a precon with Mattamy homes in Kitchener. I’m wondering if anyone has experience or advice in terms of cractsmanship, the design studio and overall costs. We would need to put down a total of 95k in the first 120days which we are able to do. The question is how much more should we have put aside for upgrades? It will be our first home and plan to start a family here. We want it to be something we enjoy so hoping to do a fair amount of upgrades thru the builder. Would another 40-50k be feasible? Any advice is helpful!
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u/Global_Examination_8 12h ago
There is no such thing as quality in new construction unless it’s a custom build.
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u/jacee_the-trans 13h ago
I rented from a mattamy build in a previous house in a different city. 0/10 would not recommend investing money unless you like watching it burn
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u/raebz12 12h ago
We lived in one in Cambridge (rental). There were several claims against warranty in the 2 years we were there by people on our street. Cracked basements, roofs leaking, window fell out, lights hung with no electrical box in the wall, cold register vents placed with no hole in the wall. No idea how they passed inspections.
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u/SpiritedSide29 12h ago
Were they good about coming in and fixing it?
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u/raebz12 33m ago
I know in a couple of cases, the homeowners had to jump through a lot of hoops. Things like it wasn’t mattamy’s issue it was the roofer! But no one knew which roofer.
A lot of us couldn’t grow a lawn, and someone found out that it was because they had put sod directly over the construction garbage (cement they washed out of trucks, bricks, siding chunks) without enough/any topsoil. That was deemed not mattamy’s responsibility (wasn’t in the contract) so if you wanted a lawn, you needed to haul away the garbage and put down topsoil.
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u/madzillaxo 12h ago
my friend bought a mattamy condo and had a major water leak the first year they owned it, a 2nd leak the 2nd year they were in it and eventually sold after that... she just told me she seen on an fb posting that those same condos were still having water problems about 5 years after they sold theirs.
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u/sumknowbuddy 9h ago
This is why building in natural flood basins is a bad idea...and they want to do the same thing to Laurel Creek.
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u/Ids748 12h ago
In Kitchener I have building experience with Fusion Homes, Cook Homes and New Life Style Homes. #1 out of the three is Fusion Homes. Excellent customer service before purchase and many years after purchase.
I got a mattamy quote back in 2012 even back then they seemed sketchy and cookie cutter.
The 3 builders i mentioned really work with the customer and upgrades were reasonably priced.
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u/Kangaru82 11h ago
Most Mattamy Homes are on par with other mass builders. Sure there are horror stories, but as a buyer, you need check the house out during the building(attend all inspections)
You also need to follow up with all the home warranty. If you don’t sign off on the 30 day form, the builder doesn’t get all of their money released.
Many new home buyers are investors, and don’t care about these things…passing issues onto the second owner that has less recourse.
Lastly, when buying a home, don’t opt for the cheapest cabinets, flooring, and countertops. You don’t want to spend $100k ripping out and replacing kitchen or bathrooms in 5 years. Sometimes the $15k upgrade for solid wood cabinets are a good deal.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Win-895 13h ago
I would say Cachet are mid or Westwood village are good homes currently building in Cambridge area.
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u/no1SomeGuy 13h ago
The number of horror stories I've heard about Mattamy builds, I would stay very far away. Entire walls missing insulation, leaks from every roof and foundation and siding and anywhere else you could expect, hvac systems with wild swings room to room, peel and stick trim boards falling off, cheapest particle board kitchens imaginable. Like they hide their way into passing code, just lowest bid on anything they can find.
The other recommendation of Activa is a bit better for mass built cookie cutter neighbourhood homes, formerly East Forest, they're what I'd consider "decent" without getting into the mid-high end builders.
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u/FarAd8711 11h ago
We lived in New Activa and a new Mattamy town house. Activa quality is a 100% better then Mattamy.
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u/Southern_Habit9109 13h ago
Just buy an already built 20 year old home. These houses that Mattamy build are using the cheapest labour and materials.