Problems When Building a Home

Let's dispense with the idea that building a home is an exciting and carefree event, far from it. Home buyers are naive when it comes to building a home, the vast majority have never done it and have absolutely no idea what they are in for. Problems when building a home are all but certain to happen, how they are resolved is another matter. A major point - the agent on site is LEGALLY BOUND to represent the builder's interest, not the buyer. Buyer's that go in unrepresented have no advocate when problems occur - and they will.

The issues in the video were resolved.  However sometimes it gets to the point where you literally have to dig in and start making it clear that the shoddy and poor work will not be tolerated. This is an example of such a case, a $600K+ build by a well known local builder that we ultimately extricated our buyer from. Emails and notice went out early as problems started right way, as they continued so did our pressure. It was elevated to the highest levels, on site walks with senior leadership. Ultimately they insisted that the work was "within industry standards" but decided (correctly) that giving the buyer the option to terminate with a full refund was the best move. That was done immediately.

If you're building a home, use an experienced new construction buyer's agent to represent your interests. Everything is great sitting in the model sipping a coke, but things change once the contract is signed. The site agents represent only the builder and are paid to sell, not manage or handle the build. Not being represented is unwise and could end up being very very costly.

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• new construction (9)
• building a home (3)