A worker’s dream of building a house he had saved for since he was 15 years old turns into a disaster after the construction company demands an additional $125,000
- Abishek Mahajan says A1A Homes agreed to build for $675k
- Dream of owning a house turned into a nightmare when A1A asked for an extra $125,000
- He couldn’t raise the money and canceled the contract.
A young migrant who began saving for a home while working at Subway at age 15 saw his dream of homeownership collapse when the builder demanded an additional $125,000.
Abishek Mahajan, 27, attended a site meeting with A1A Homes, in Melbourne in August 2022, where he was told “rising costs” meant the original price of $675,000 on his property had risen to $800,000 .
Mr. Mahajan, a planner for the National Disability Insurance Agency, did not have the money and could not obtain an additional loan for that amount.
Personal loans were typically $5,000 or $10,000, he noted, while $125,000 was the size of a deposit on a home.
“Mentally I was so damn sick inside,” he said. news corporation.
‘I was having trouble breathing when I spoke to (the builder). I was having a mini heart attack because you lost everything in that split second.
After a dispute with his builder over extra costs, Abishek Mahajan has a concrete slab, land taxes and council bills, but he doesn’t have the house where his dream home was supposed to be.
Mr. Mahajan began saving for his dream home with his first job at age 15, working part-time at Subway.
Mr. Mahajan stated that he had no choice but to cancel the contract with the builder after the meeting.
His parents immigrated to Australia from India when he was 15, and the industrious teenager took to studying and working part-time.
His first job was at Subway fast food in Melbourne, from which he parted with everything he could with the dream of one day building his own home.
He recently got married in his adopted homeland, an experience he describes as ‘a migrant’s dream’. Building his own house was supposed to complete that with the Great Australian Dream: owning a property.
Instead, he has a concrete slab where his house should be and is paying property tax and council bills and describes the whole experience as “a disaster”.
Mr. Mahajan, a planner for the National Disability Insurance Agency, did not have the money to pay the additional $125,000 his builder requested and was unable to raise an additional loan for that amount.
“I’ve been working so hard to have my own house and they have ruined all the years of hard work for us,” he told news.com.au.
He claimed he is owed a refund of $8740 and has been looking for it for months, as well as certificates of compliance for the plumbing and termites.
Although he feels exhausted by the saga, he still hopes to buy another house or continue building on his site at some point.
In a statement, A1A Homes disputed Mr Mahajan’s version of events, warning that some of the allegations were “totally false”, but did not respond to questions.
‘As you know, posting false defamatory statements will have consequences. We will seek compensation if there is damage to A1A Homes’ reputation.’
