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My house is getting closed to finished in 2 months. The contract says I get a New Home Orientation AKA walk-through.
I get to note any items needing correction which are apparent at the time of inspection, signed by me and the homebuilder.
This list the contract says is NOT a basis to delay the closing date.
Later, it says I will let the builder reasonable access to home during normal business hours after closing for work on the new homeowner orientation list. It also says it says it shall not be construed as an agreement by Seller to perform any corrective, additional, remedial or other work and that it's specifically enforceable.
What legal rights do I have to make sure I get a quality product before closing? Do I have to cite specific building code?
If it's something minor like shoddy paintwork, and they won't fix before close, what can I do?
Last edited by jhtrico1850; 07-07-2017 at 12:05 PM..
You can't close until you sign off on the house. You don't sign off on the house until you're happy with the house. You need to remember that humans built the house and no two pieces of wood are cut the exact same, so you're going to have imperfections within the house.
Paint is cosmetic. Would you really hold up the closing for paint? If your cabinets are all scratched up, you can hold up the closing for new cabinets if they are not repairable with a scratch kit... but again, cosmetic. Would you hold it up waiting for the new cabinet door?
Structural things is what you hold a closing up for. A window is completely out of whack and the framing needs to be redone. The carpet seams aren't meshed up properly and it's best to replace/repair that before furniture is put into place.
You need to figure out what is important to you and what can be done during the builder's warranty period. Paint is not a good reason to hold up closing, unless the entire house is a splotchy mess.
I just don't feel comfortable that on the 1 hand, they ask for permission to visit the house after closing to fix things, yet they say they don't agree to fix anything, and vaguely say they'll specifically decide what to fix...
The contract also only says I don't get to delay closing, regardless of the severity of whatever I note.
I do agree that paint is minor though, but 2 big things I have flagged so far is that they framed the ice water line like 6 feet from the fridge, into the dining room, have 1 window that looks completely off from others.
I have 2 months to go. Cabinets, granite are installed, and they just started painting the walls and trim yesterday.
I just don't feel comfortable that on the 1 hand, they ask for permission to visit the house after closing to fix things, yet they say they don't agree to fix anything, and vaguely say they'll specifically decide what to fix...
The contract also only says I don't get to delay closing, regardless of the severity of whatever I note.
I do agree that paint is minor though, but 2 big things I have flagged so far is that they framed the ice water line like 6 feet from the fridge, into the dining room, have 1 window that looks completely off from others.
I have 2 months to go. Cabinets, granite are installed, and they just started painting the walls and trim yesterday.
This is very common with new home construction! I have had 2 homes built from the ground up and have also purchased a builders model. Most home builders do a walk through 2 weeks before closing. This is when you can inspect the home or have a professional inspection done. Anything that might need fixing should be fixed in those 2 weeks so that a final walk through will be done either the day before or the day of closing to show the work was complete. These can be very minor things such as a scuff mark on the wall, caulking, etc.
Youthen typically have a 30 day after closing walk through to again fix anything that might need fixing as things don't always show up right away. Just because the home is new doesn't mean things can't go wrong.
Finally, most builders give a one year warranty on anything. This would include fixing anything from nail pops to creaky floors (this happens when the house settles), paint touch ups, caulking, etc, etc.
We also received (on all the home we built and the spec home) a 10 year structural warranty and 5 year warranty on the roof.
Trust me, things will come up. Doesn't matter how good the builder is and you WILL want them to fix it! Our home settled and therefore our master bedroom door would not close. They had to replace the entire door casing and trim to fix it. Also nail pops are common as I stated above and creaky floors. These are common as the home settles. We also had the motor in our sump pump go out after just a year. They fixed that as well!
Bottom line, this is very common and you should want them to fix anything that may come up or you would need to pay for it! If you don't have these types of warranties than you picked the wrong builder. It should be in your contract that they need to fix anything that comes up before closing otherwise you could refuse to close!
[b]It should be in your contract that they need to fix anything that comes up before closing otherwise you could refuse to close!
Unfortunately, I just walked to the builder's office without a realtor. Definitely something to include next time. For now, my contract says more or less, the list I come up with can't delay closing, unless they agree to delay it or the county doesn't give the certificate of occupancy.
Wondering if people have experience on the things the builder won't fix? For example, tiny dents in cabinets, or a small missing piece of caulk?
As others have said, this is all very common with new construction. Hopefully, before you signed your contract, you chose a builder who does decent work and you talked with previous customers to determine that they stand behind their product. So, assuming you did that and you were satisfied with what you found out, relax and let them do what they do. Be vigilant, let them know about the things you notice all along before closing, and put it in writing so you can show a documented chain of events. Every builder I've ever dealt with worked hard right up to the last day to get the known issues resolved before the walk thru so that the punch list created before closing amounts to only very minor things. In fact, much of the walk thru is spent getting you familiarized with the home.
Now, if you discover major things like cracked granite counters or the wrong cabinets, those things are probably going to delay your closing.
The framers put my dining light like a foot from the wall, and in the left corner. I noticed it once drywall was up, told my sales person, and the day after, the dining light cutout was better centered, so I am giving them periodic feedback (trying to keep it twice a month to be frequent, but not annoying).
The drywall is up, and they are blazing now on the inside, adding cabinets, granite, trim, and just recently, spray painted the house...
so I guess they don't want to pause everything to fix a few critical issues, maybe until it's substantially complete. I figured fixing the ice water line location early on so that the painters wouldn't have to paint twice made sense, but they painted anyway yesterday.
That's what happens. The construction supervisor can't be everywhere and attentive to all the details even though that's what they are supposed to do. As an agent, I place myself (as much as my buyer allows me) as a go between so things don't get too heated but I view it as we (buyer & I) are there as a second or third pair of eyes. Human nature tells me that a the supervisor can't be on top of every detail to the same degree that the buyer can because the buyer knows what he/she bought. I do expect the supervisor to be responsive though.
It's tough getting good, reliable, and quality minded subs sometimes, too. I think supervisors often feel like they are simultaneously jugglers and cat herders.
Unfortunately, I just walked to the builder's office without a realtor. Definitely something to include next time. For now, my contract says more or less, the list I come up with can't delay closing, unless they agree to delay it or the county doesn't give the certificate of occupancy.
Wondering if people have experience on the things the builder won't fix? For example, tiny dents in cabinets, or a small missing piece of caulk?
We never used a realtor when we purchased new construction either. However, you're paying for a home to be completed at closing and that means a home that has anything that is wrong should be fixed. If you see things you don't like tell the builder now so that they can be fixed before close. Let them know if certain things are unacceptable. A good builder will not hesitate to fix these items. When we built we stopped by every week while the home was being built to make sure things were done correctly. And I didn't care how annoying I was. I was paying for a product and I wanted it done correctly!
It's ok if closing is not delayed as long as they are willing to put in writing that they will in fact fix them after if they can't get to them beforehand. Did they give you any type of warranty to fix things the first year? Or even a structural warranty? If not I have never heard of this before and you'll definitely want to discuss that with them! It is common place among builders to give these basic warranties.
I'm supposed to be provided a warranty either before or at close per the contract. I have stopped by the sales office and they say they don't know anything about it... I stopped pestering them about it for now (this was months ago).
Since the house is supposed to be closing in 2 months, I'll find out more about the warranty, so I know what to look for before closing.
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