New Home Builders Tampa Bay Area in 2016-2018 (Starke: appointed, sales)

[Moshaholic]

Anyone have any horror stories or decent luck? I'm building a new home with a builder in Tampa Florida and I hate these people the more I work with them. I have 2 friends looking to build that will never use this builder because of what I'm going through. I have no faith or trust either in ANYTHING they tell me anymore. Mostly they try not to tell you anything and avoid talking to you.

My scorecard is - Sloppy subs, poor workmanship, terrible communication, etc. they even argued the county building inspector was WRONG when he pointed out work he said he would fail inspections on the home.

Sad part is this builder was supped to be pretty decent, but not anymore in my book.

[MortonR]

Welcome to Tampa, and much of Florida.

Subs are whomever is the low bidder for the week. There is no loyalty or long term relationships, it's all about who will do it for the least amount of money. There is no pride of workmanship, it's just a matter of banging everything out and moving on to the next job.

I could tell you stories for hours about local builders and the BS they pull.

"Decent" is a relative term. By local standards they might be decent.

RM

[Moshaholic]

Originally Posted by MortonR

Welcome to Tampa, and much of Florida.

Subs are whomever is the low bidder for the week. There is no loyalty or long term relationships, it's all about who will do it for the least amount of money. There is no pride of workmanship, it's just a matter of banging everything out and moving on to the next job.

I could tell you stories for hours about local builders and the BS they pull.

"Decent" is a relative term. By local standards they might be decent.

RM

I think I might have gone with one of the local BS artists. There has not been one time I have not been disappointed when looking at the results.

[KPB]

Originally Posted by Moshaholic

I think I might have gone with one of the local BS artists. There has not been one time I have not been disappointed when looking at the results.

At least they're letting you on-site, a lot of builders don't.

[MortonR]

The last house we built, through Morrison, had them banning us from the site the last few weeks. It was an empty threat, as there was no security or oversight to speak of at the job site, so as long as we showed up dressed as contractors not a soul around ever challenged us.

We inspected the property daily, and had we not I can’t count the number of issues we would have had, both with workmanship as well as compliance with the contract documents and specs they provided.

When we started out the sales rep gave us some little forms we could fill out and turn in when we found a discrepancy. By the time we were under construction a month or two in, they just gave us a box of the forms.

There was no lying or misrepresentation on the builder’s part for the most part - they simply didn’t oversee the subs, who, not bothering to look at the prints or specs for the house, would just go in and do what they had done on every Morrison Home before that. Problem was, we made a lot of little changes, like screws instead of nails for the drywall, that would have otherwise been overlooked and no one would have known it.

When it was all said and done, we pointed out to them that we weren’t being jerks, we were merely holding them to the terms of their contract.

RM

[Stewabby]

We had good luck with Homes by Westbay for our current house. We had an independent inspector come in and give a full report before we closed though. Worth every penny.

[Moshaholic]

Originally Posted by Stewabby

We had good luck with Homes by Westbay for our current house. We had an independent inspector come in and give a full report before we closed though. Worth every penny.

What independent inspector company did you use?

[bentlebee]

Recent experience with Westbay in Starkey was very bad and for our client we had to get the County involved. The buyer was able to get all down payment back and that was a week prior to closing and a house in the same street was bought from different builder.

There is right not one builder I can say that there will not be an issue. The main problem is the construction manager and the construction manager capability to oversee and make sure that good work is delivered.

Shortage of plumbers and good workers is another problem.

Builders not conducting final walk through a is another issue and they conveniently now call it an orientation and fix items after closing. Good luck getting item fixed in decent time frame after closing.

Builders contract are written in huge favor of the builder and no other option for buyer.

Better have good professionals on your side!

[Moshaholic]

Originally Posted by bentlebee

Recent experience with Westbay in Starkey was very bad and for our client we had to get the County involved. The buyer was able to get all down payment back and that was a week prior to closing and a house in the same street was bought from different builder.

There is right not one builder I can say that there will not be an issue. The main problem is the construction manager and the construction manager capability to oversee and make sure that good work is delivered.

Shortage of plumbers and good workers is another problem.

Builders not conducting final walk through a is another issue and they conveniently now call it an orientation and fix items after closing. Good luck getting item fixed in decent time frame after closing.

Builders contract are written in huge favor of the builder and no other option for buyer.

Better have good professionals on your side!

Hi, thank you for your reply, is there are way I can privately get in touch with you? I would really appreciate it!

[mcharas]

Originally Posted by Moshaholic

Anyone have any horror stories or decent luck? I'm building a new home with a builder in Tampa Florida and I hate these people the more I work with them. I have 2 friends looking to build that will never use this builder because of what I'm going through. I have no faith or trust either in ANYTHING they tell me anymore. Mostly they try not to tell you anything and avoid talking to you.

My scorecard is - Sloppy subs, poor workmanship, terrible communication, etc. they even argued the county building inspector was WRONG when he pointed out work he said he would fail inspections on the home.

Sad part is this builder was supped to be pretty decent, but not anymore in my book.

Ours was a nightmare. If you want to PM me, I can tell you if you've got the same builder... Very big in the area, lots of communities. In any event, I can tell you our experience with FL new construction and then maybe you can take it or leave it, if anything similar applies to you with regard to the process. But in general, when it's mentioned that oversight is slim to none- that was our case with big and little things and yeah, subs are inconsistent... The site manager might not even manage the site frequently if at all.