Michelle & Mark's DIY KIT HOMES Mackay
We would like to congratulate our customer Michelle and Mark for selecting the Kit Homes Mackay design for his project near Medowie, NSW.
Why Michelle & Mark Chose iBuild’s Mackay Kit Home
When Michelle and Mark Sansom-Sherwill set out to build a new home for Michelle’s mother in Medowie, NSW, they were looking for more than just a supplier — they needed a partner who could simplify the process and deliver genuine value. Their goal was to build a beautiful, functional home on their family property for dual occupancy — and iBuild’s Mackay design stood out as the perfect fit.
Michelle’s mother has designed several homes before and is known for her discerning taste. As Michelle said, “She should have been an architect. She’s designed so many of our houses. So for her to find a design and go, ‘this is an amazing design’ tells you what a great plan it is.” That endorsement alone gave the family the confidence to proceed with iBuild.
Video Transcript
At the moment, my parents have got a granny cottage in our backyard that we also built for them, but we’ve just on such a tiny block, we just have no space. We want veggie patches and chickens and yeah, we just need more space. And both my dad and Mark are very handy, they like being in the garage and building and fixing and so they just like, you know, all their boy’s space.
Google searching, kit homes, lots of looking, yeah we were looking at modular homes. We actually went to go look at a whole lot, but my mom loves designing, she actually spent half her life, she should have been an architect actually, and so she’s designed so many of our houses, because we’ve built in the past. And she’s designed her own houses and so for her to find a design and go, this is an amazing design, tells you what a great planet it is.
I think a lot had to do with the actual costs to start, because we’re really trying to, we’ve got a, you know, we’re subdividing here and we’ve got X amount of money and we’ve got to be careful how we spend it. And for that kind of money, if you look around, the product you offer is really good value and it’s different, it’s unique, it’s not, you know, standard little four square walls and you know, so for us that was quite a difference and then the actual costing was very good, plus the fact that you’re quite happy for us to do a few changes, which made mom happy to be able to just move a few things around, just to tweak it the way she likes it. I think for me, what I’ve been so impressed about your company, because we’re trying to talk our son, he’s also building, we’re trying to talk him into using you.
Is that the communication, the follow-up, I feel safe using your company because they’re so good at getting back, because it’s a lot of money to pay people online and you don’t know where it’s going and also the online things that we’ve seen on TV and the reviews and just your backup support has been so impressive and I absolutely love your Basecamp platform. In fact, our one son is a software engineer and he specializes in AI and we showed him what we were doing and he said this is the best building platform he’s ever seen, your Basecamp, he was so impressed. We built my mom and dad’s granny cottage in our backyard about, I think in 2017, so maybe seven years ago.
You cannot believe, it’s like the amount of certificates and engineering reports and everything has doubled again. Don’t do it every day, you don’t even understand the order or the different names and terminologies for the different things and what they want, it’s all too hard, it’s so confusing, I don’t know how the man in the street actually gets it done. The red tape and bureaucracy and the things, oh my gosh, it’s just too hard to get your head around.
When we were doing that, I was like, I never want to do this again and now we’re doing a subdivision and it’s just been a nightmare and I’m like, I do not want to deal with all of that, so I’m so happy Mark can do it for us. That is so huge that you do that for your clients and also that you have a vested interest because we’ve paid somebody to do our surveying, but we phone them all the time, we can never get hold of them, it’s taken nearly two years and because it’s not, they have got no vested interest in us getting this done quickly, we’ve just one of their thousands of jobs whereas because it’s our build actually once their product done, it’s made such a huge difference. It just gives us even more faith in you, thank you so much and makes us feel like we can do this.
Affordability was a key factor. “We’ve got to be careful how we spend it. And for that kind of money, the product you offer is really good value. It’s different. It’s unique,” Michelle noted. The ability to make small tweaks to the design made her mum even happier, and iBuild’s willingness to accommodate those changes was a standout.
What truly sealed the decision, though, was iBuild’s support with the approval process. Michelle, a high school English teacher, shared how overwhelming it was to deal with the paperwork: “You don’t do it every day. You don’t even understand the order or the different names and terminologies… It’s all too hard. I don’t know how the man in the street actually gets it done.” That’s where iBuild stepped in — assisting with the council paperwork, organising consultants, and coordinating submissions to ensure nothing was missed.
The couple also praised iBuild’s responsiveness and communication. “The communication, the follow-up… I feel safe using your company because they’re so good at getting back,” Michelle said. They were especially impressed with iBuild’s customer service platform, with their son even calling it “the best building platform we’ve seen.”
Now, with iBuild’s trusted team guiding them, Michelle and Mark are confidently moving forward — creating a home that reflects their family’s needs and aspirations. With space for Michelle’s mum to continue her love of gardening and backyard farming, they are building more than a home — they’re shaping a lifestyle, backed by Australia’s Most Trusted and Awarded Kit Home Supplier.
We looked at many suppliers and designs. Mum’s designed homes before and can be quite particular – so when she chose the Mackay design, we knew iBuild was right. Their help with approvals, paperwork, and communication made things easy. We were also impressed by their customer service platform — it’s one of the best my son has come across. The value, flexibility, and strong reputation – including TV features – gave us real confidence.
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