Getting ready to Inspect/Close on new home - Recommendations/Suggestions/Tips?

[SteveArmy]

typical pressure tactic. they wont do anything within the next few days and they will follow you with a paint brush on closing date. it happened to me and i didnt close on the first and 2nd round. on the 3rd round they brought the "tall manager" giving me the smooth talk. I f'ing yelled at him (i bet he never met a NY'er before) telling them about this BS chasing me with that brush. after that they were grabbing doors and other small materials from another house just to finish mine. A good thing is that the builder's inspector had his own list - a very good one too. my private inspector put made a good list and I also spent nights in that house climbing ladders making sure i check 16ft high windows (one was not finished), crawl spaces, making sure closet shelves are built to hold weight, etc.
put a foot down, THEY need to close to get money to work on other houses.

[escanlan]

Originally Posted by tdhg566

Your ONLY leverage with the builder is walking away from closing. I don't care who the builder is, what they've done in the past, or what great things your mother said about them. No builder, no company, is guaranteed to succeed in these difficult times for the housing industry. If you choose to trust the builder, if your worldview is that people on the other side of the table will treat you like you might treat them, then more power to you. Personally I verify everything. We just closed on a dirt build house from a highly regarded builder that we've been personally walking through every two days since last Oct. Nevertheless we still had an inspector walk through it with us a week before closing. And I have no reason to question or suspect this builder's financial stability or competence or integrity. I even became friends with the construction manager and will have him over for dinner. You on the other hand have "heard a few horror stories" about your builder and you're still unsure whether you need an inspector? I can't believe we're having this conversation.

The problem with this equation is something almost everyone misunderstands about risk: the upside risk is small, but the downside risk is huge. The value of the inspection isn't to make the house more valuable, it's to help protect you against the Black Swan, the "fat tail" that causes your house to be the poster child for "things I wished I'd caught before closing".

Good luck.

Excellent words of advice!! I really like that analogy of the "Black Swan" as well!!

[nicoleh2525]

Actually this just happened to us. We built our home 8 yrs ago and are now selling it. The inspector for the buyer reported that there was no inulation over half of our upstairs! Sure enough, we had an insulation company come out to fix it. He was shocked that this happened. No insulation for 8 yrs.

[Point man]

That's a lot of dollars wasted over the years....

[ethanw]

If the house is completed is hard to catch some of the potential issues (small or big) and that's the truth. No matter how reputable the builder is it all boils down to the cheap labor from south, no offense to anyone. They cut corners the same way in a 200K house or a 4Mill. What really makes a difference is either having your own foreman during the building or you staying on top of it, but you have to be there when the house is being built.

After the house was built you really need a good and seasoned home inspector that can look at big ticket items but also quality and details. But the inspector will be as good as you are knowledgeable and demanding. Even "good" inspectors can mislead you for a quick buck.. Trust but VERIFY mate...

And lastly, what differentiate one builder from other is the warranty and their desire to always satisfy the customer. This is my second David Weekly home and I can tell you that in my first house they came back after 9 years to fix some plumbing hardware quality issues that resulted in a major water leak. I was pissed but tell you what, when they said they will be right there to fix the issues it just felt great. Even in my new house after a year they're still coming back and touching various small things. No other builder that I know does this....

[Txgal33]

Originally Posted by desertsun41

I would like to know who your builder is. If it is one of the larger builders or any small reputable builder, you get a walk through with the builder's customer service rep. before the closing. You make a punch list and the CSR makes notes of what you find that you want fixed. They sign this and with that comes a promise to fix it within a given time. Usually immediately.

Nearly every builder I know and those who I don't know (and I know almost all of them) also provide a 6 month and a 12 month walk through as part of buying their homes. These later walk throughs mostly are for house settling that does not normally happen in your first several months living there.

Spending $400 on your own home inspector is a waste of your money. If it makes you sleep better then go for it. If something goes wrong later and it is within the first year and your builder goes belly up like most of them are doing today, you should still be able to be covered under HOW or some other consumer affairs office who collects insurance from these builders.

I feel certain your builder participates the proper way builders do business and has no intent to cheat you. Perhaps they just have a terrible way of explaining the process to their customers.

Telling a future home buyer that an inspection on a new home purchase is a waste of money is a HUGE falsehood!! NO matter what you should ALWAYS find a top notch inspector and have your home inspected! Trust me even if they find nothing wrong at least you do have that peace of mind. We have purchased several homes all new and we have ALWAYS had our homes inspected. The first one we built and I would say that if the OP is just now bringing in an inspector I ask why they did not have one in there before the drywall was up. Builders can hide many things behind drywall. The first plan we were building the inspector actually told us NOT to purchase the home and to move on and we did.
Most builders will say just sign the papers and they will come back and take care of everything. Have the list signed though stating they will do so. Make sure your builder is not a fly by. We had our project manager actually come in two weeks after we moved in and they explained the warranty and asked if we were having any issues.

[Houston321]

Get an Inspection. Your timeframe is way off. Your final walk should be 7-10 days prior to closing. Your inspector should come a week before your final walk, so the builder can address the inspection report during your walk. You should then have a re-walk a day or two before closing.