Opening lines to conversations you might avoid by purchasing used:
- “Tell me again about expansive soil”
- “I thought the deck was going to be larger … smaller … drain away from the house.”
- “When does normal settling stop?”
- “I know I sound like I’m whining, but…..”
- “What do you mean that this brand of fixture is just as good as the one I picked out? “
- “What is a bad batch of concrete?
- “Sump pump? When did we talk about sump pump?” and my personal favorite,
- “You never mentioned there would be a fireplug in my front yard (really happened).”
Conflict with a builder, can be a frustrating, unproductive process. When you buy from a builder you invariably buy from a corporation. There is no individual liability. Additionally if the builder creates a new corporation for each house, his liability is limited to the assets of that single corporation. Minor problems may not be worth going to court over. With major problems, the builder points to the engineer, the engineer points to the builder and everybody points to the real estate broker. But nobody wants to pay you.
If you still want your new dream home, carefully look for a really good builder. Forget about his list of references to satisfied customers in homes already completed. The builder can pick and choose those. Ask for a list of the names and phone numbers of buyers for all of his homes currently under construction, or that have closed in the last six months. See what those folks have to say. Otherwise, consider buying your new home used.