Seven questions to ask before you buy

Most of an expandable home is built before you see it in person, so it is worth knowing what you can check, what you will pay for on site and who will do the work. These seven questions cover what matters once the home arrives. If you are still at the start, read 10 things to know before buying first.

It should, and you can check before you have paid in full. The display homes at our Pukekohe showroom are built to the same Deluxe specification as the homes we deliver, so what you walk through is what we build.

Our payment plan is 30% deposit, 40% when your home is built and 30% before delivery. Before the second payment we send photos and video of your own finished unit, so you approve the actual home, not a catalogue image.

Every model we sell is the current-generation design.

Every unit ships with the installation manual for that exact model and version, and the factory has an installation video for it as well.

Ask us for the manual before you order. You, or the builder you are thinking of using, can see exactly what the job involves before you commit.

Internal walls, the kitchen, bathroom and toilet, internal plumbing, electrical wiring, lighting and power points are all installed in the factory. You will not be putting up walls or running cable on install day.

On site there are three jobs: unfolding and setting up the home, fitting the roof and deck, and interior finishing, which means trims, sealing and adjustment. The final connections to water, power and drainage are made by your local registered plumber and electrician, as New Zealand law requires.

Not with us. Installation is priced in three stages, about $3,500 each and about $10,500 for all three, and every stage is optional.

Many customers do part of the work themselves, with family or with a local builder, and ask us for the rest.

You do not have to fly anyone in. A local builder can install the home using the manual for your model and the factory installation video.

If you would rather have our team on site, we quote their travel up front, as its own line, before you order. You can compare it with a local tradesperson and decide.

The home unfolds in about an hour. Setting it up, fitting the roof and deck and finishing the interior takes one to three days, and the plumber and electrician typically have the services connected within about a week.

Getting it onto your section depends on the site. Where a crane is needed to set the home in place, it is quoted separately, before delivery.

Usually not. A foundation that will not settle needs enough timber piles, set deep enough and properly levelled, and for a 20ft home on an ordinary site that typically comes to around $10,000. The timber for the piles alone costs $3,000 to $4,000, so a quote near that figure leaves almost nothing for the labour, concrete and levelling.

What gets cut is what you cannot see once the home is sitting on it: fewer piles, shallower holes, lighter timber. When a foundation settles, the home goes with it. Floors go out of level, doors and windows start to stick, and putting it right means lifting the home off again, which costs far more than was saved.

So compare foundation quotes line by line. Ask each one how many piles, how deep, what treatment the timber has (in-ground piles should be H5), and whether concrete, levelling and labour are included. A quote that cannot answer those is not comparable with one that can.

Send us your address and photos of the site and we will tell you what foundation it needs and quote it for that site. Preparing it while your home is in production and shipping means it is ready the day the home arrives.