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Hello, we are moving along with the process of relocating to the Triangle in the next year or two. We are most likely looking to purchase a newly constructed home or purchasing a newer house that was built in the last few years. I have lived in three houses in my life, all of which were built in the earlier part of the 20th century, so I have no experience dealing with builders or purchasing a new/newer home. I have read horror stories concerning the quality of some of the newer homes that have been built. With the rapid expansion of the suburbs around Raleigh-Durham have any of you who have bought a new home have regrets? How was the quality of the home you bought? Was dealing with a builder a good or bad experience? I'm just looking for some general feedback and tips from anyone who has gone through the process. Thanks.
We just closed on our semi custom home in January. This was the first time we built, but all of our prior homes were no older than 8 years when we purchased them.
We are very satisfied, and find that most of our neighbors are satisified. The people with complaints seem to fall into three categories:
* Those that have built full custom homes before
* Those that were in the very first phase of the construction of the community
* Those that complain about everything regardless of reality.
The biggest things I learned are these:
* It's never finished on time. Add 1-2 months to whatever they estimate and save yourself the grief.
* Add 20-25% to the base price to cover your upgrades. Trust me, you'll spend every cent of it.
* It's never 100% perfect. Nothing ever is.
* Living in the area and visiting the home site frequently (2-3/week) produces a far better result, primarily because any 'mistakes' or changes can be taken care of quickly - long before the problems are so major that they may be unresolvable.
* Get a professional pre-drywall and pre-closing inspection.
* Use a realtor to represent you.
* Don't expect them to negotiate the price of the house. Decreases in price will come from incentives towards upgrades or reducing the price of a lot premium.
* Many things are cheaper to get done after closing, using a vendor who is not affiliated with the builder. For example, window treatments, interior painting, additional landscaping, enclosing patios, pavers, built in closets. Yes, it's a hassle this way, but the money you save can be significant. And the quality of the work is often superior.
We're delighted with the results, but I'd prefer to buy a newer resale rather than go through this again. It would have been cheaper, too.
One more, and perhaps the single most important bit:
All communication between you and the builder (including sales people, construction, designers, mortgage officers) and YOUR realtor should be in writing. Email is fine - but keep them and back them up somehow. If you have a verbal conversation, follow it up with an email saying "this details our conversation today about XXX. Please confirm that these details are accurate by replying your confirmation to this email."
It must sound like we hated and distrusted our builder! Quite the contrary, and we are well satisfied with thr quality and end result. We have also found their response to dealing with the minimal warranty work they needed to perform after closing has been acceptable. But again, I get all of it in writing, including deadlines forccompletion.
I have relocated and have been in the Triangle area for 13 years not and we are actually on our 3rd home!
We first purchased in Cary back in 2001, a nice 1600 sf home that was built in the 80s. It was a nice home to start the homeowner process. I was ridiculously young (23) at the time so I had no clue what I was doing.
In 2007 we decided to take a risk on an unknown builder named Jim Garman and Garman Homes. We purchased the first Garman home in Fairfield in SW Durham back in 2007. This was a spec home so luckily we did not have to choose anything. The 'standard' or 'base' offerings were perfect!
Fast forward to 2012. As luck would have it a lot at the end of the Cul-De-Sac was available and it was on a lot that was sloppy and had the ability for a walk out basement. We decided to work with Jim and his team again because we had such an amazing experience with the rockstars over at Garman Home. Of course this time we had the 'luxury' of picking every single little detail.
That being said, I do know alittle about the new home buying experience and if you had any questions on Garman / Fairfield / Durham or new homes in general, feel free to send me a Direct Message (DM) and I will do my best to answer them.
We just closed on our semi custom home in January. This was the first time we built, but all of our prior homes were no older than 8 years when we purchased them.
We are very satisfied, and find that most of our neighbors are satisified. The people with complaints seem to fall into three categories:
* Those that have built full custom homes before
* Those that were in the very first phase of the construction of the community
* Those that complain about everything regardless of reality.
The biggest things I learned are these:
* It's never finished on time. Add 1-2 months to whatever they estimate and save yourself the grief.
* Add 20-25% to the base price to cover your upgrades. Trust me, you'll spend every cent of it.
* It's never 100% perfect. Nothing ever is.
* Living in the area and visiting the home site frequently (2-3/week) produces a far better result, primarily because any 'mistakes' or changes can be taken care of quickly - long before the problems are so major that they may be unresolvable.
* Get a professional pre-drywall and pre-closing inspection.
* Use a realtor to represent you.
* Don't expect them to negotiate the price of the house. Decreases in price will come from incentives towards upgrades or reducing the price of a lot premium.
* Many things are cheaper to get done after closing, using a vendor who is not affiliated with the builder. For example, window treatments, interior painting, additional landscaping, enclosing patios, pavers, built in closets. Yes, it's a hassle this way, but the money you save can be significant. And the quality of the work is often superior.
We're delighted with the results, but I'd prefer to buy a newer resale rather than go through this again. It would have been cheaper, too.
This is key. May sure the joists aren't to far apart for flooring or ask for an extra layer of subfloor. I have a neighbor who has a home that was built 2 years ago and the house sounds like it was built 70 years ago with all the creaking.
I know that creaking sound! My current house was built in 1920 and has the original tounge in groove wood floors, which are beautiful by the way. We had them refinished in 2004 and the contractor said that it would be the last time they could be sanded down. The next time would require a complete rip out and new floors. Thanks for the tips. It is a shame that some of the newly constructed homes are being built shabbily. There is plenty of that going on up here too. I guess you have to be careful these days and get everything in writing.
Choosing a good builder is critical. Get your own references from other homeowners, realtors, BBB or any others you can find.
I had a home built about 20 years ago, and had all sorts of problems. It turned out OK, on budget but months longer than expected ONLY because I visited the site every single day. I am sure I was a pain to the builder, but I would have ended up with (just some examples):
no insulation in the walls (I actually caught the drywall contractor nailing to bare perimeter wall studs and stopped him cold, probably a schedule issue with insulation contractor, but I never would have known until too late if ever had I not been there),
large areas with no felt under the shingles on my roof,
a shower head through a glass block wall and
tan walls instead of off-white
if I hadn't watched the project like a hawk.
Do your due diligence before you sign a contract, and not until you are completely comfortable. Building a home can be a wonderful experience, a nightmare, or something in between.
Has anyone ever used an architect? If so how much did it add? I'm thinking an architect can help you with the design of the house you really want and will oversee the construction and take care of all inspections for you. You would never have to deal with the builder at all because the architect would do all that. Not sure if that's how it works with architects but I think so and it would save a lot of hassle. Not sure what the fee would be either, but the house would be any shape or design you wanted!
Yes, one of the services most residential architects offer is acting as an owners agent during construction, along with helping you interview and select a contractor. The exact nature should be spelled out in the initial contract you sign with the architect. You will still need some level of interaction with the builder, but there's a big chunk an architect can take on.
Fees vary quite a bit depending on the services requested and the nature of the house you want. Want to, say, hit net-zero energy use, or get an impeccably detailed traditional style? That's a lot more work than is typically involved, and will have higher fees (and fewer architects capable of pulling it off). Ballpark for a new home, I would assume 10% of the cost of construction for fees. But I've seen as low as 5% and as high as 20%.
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