Are all Austin Builders POO POO HEADS!? (hardwood floors, sales)

[kittenhead]

Hello Austin friends!

Loving this community! Thank you for all the wonderful resources.

My husband and I are relocating to Austin to escape the cold Chicago winters. We both work from home.

After decades of living in "vintage rehabs" in the city of Chicago, we are very excited by a brand new home. Oh the smell of new. No more squeaky hardwood floors!

We wrote a contract with Dress in Rough Hollow back in March and they fired us 2 weeks ago... (apparently I asked too many questions and demanded better information).

My questions are:

1. Are all the builders pretty awful and shady? I haven't met one yet I trust.
As someone who likes to research companies I do biz with, I don't see any builders with good, trustworthy reviews. I know all things come with headaches but are some better than others?

(I know it has everything to do with the super that is overseeing the project but incompetent sales people make the process painful and makes me give hardcore side eye)

2. Do you NOT have say in the price of a new build? Most realtors are telling me to shut up and take whatever they say. That doesn't seem very smart either. Maybe not get the price you want but I am sure you could negotiate upgrades, right?

I guess the market is so good, builders don't care about you as a customer, just shut up and pay and you get what you get. That's my perception anyway (and the exact words my attorney used when he read our last build contract)

Thank you for any insight.

[cBach]

In short, yes.

I'd much rather take an older house that has the architecture I somewhat like, then remodel it, than deal with new builds.

[kittenhead]

Originally Posted by cBach

In short, yes.

I'd much rather take an older house that has the architecture I somewhat like, then remodel it, than deal with new builds.

HA! Right!?

but is there ANYTHING you can do with a 90's spec home! LOL!

Thank you for your response.

[centralaustinite]

big production builders like Drees operate at scale and in large master planned communities, you are buying a product from them, there is little room to negotiate. Their profit is fairly small on each individual house, they need to move fast and keep to a schedule and established procedures, they can always find another buyer as you found out.

You are thinking that the production build process is like a custom build project but there you find the land, purchase the land, develop plans with an architect, select a general contractor, AND fund the construction with regular draws from the bank with a construction loan which is contingent on your sign off -- ideally after your personal inspector gives you a report. THEN you have tons of leverage and call the shots and you have assumed the financial risk as well.

Buying a new house from a production builder is nothing like that, you are buying a house "off the rack" not couture.

[Texyn]

Were they potty trained?

[escanlan]

"Are all Austin Builders POO POO HEADS!?"



No I would bet some are Pee Pee Heads.

[77030]

At least they are not Kitten Heads...

[cBach]

Many are "Richard" heads

[El Senor]

Originally Posted by kittenhead

Hello Austin friends!

Loving this community! Thank you for all the wonderful resources.

My husband and I are relocating to Austin to escape the cold Chicago winters. We both work from home.

After decades of living in "vintage rehabs" in the city of Chicago, we are very excited by a brand new home. Oh the smell of new. No more squeaky hardwood floors!

We wrote a contract with Dress in Rough Hollow back in March and they fired us 2 weeks ago... (apparently I asked too many questions and demanded better information).

My questions are:

1. Are all the builders pretty awful and shady? I haven't met one yet I trust.
As someone who likes to research companies I do biz with, I don't see any builders with good, trustworthy reviews. I know all things come with headaches but are some better than others?

(I know it has everything to do with the super that is overseeing the project but incompetent sales people make the process painful and makes me give hardcore side eye)

2. Do you NOT have say in the price of a new build? Most realtors are telling me to shut up and take whatever they say. That doesn't seem very smart either. Maybe not get the price you want but I am sure you could negotiate upgrades, right?

I guess the market is so good, builders don't care about you as a customer, just shut up and pay and you get what you get. That's my perception anyway (and the exact words my attorney used when he read our last build contract)

Thank you for any insight.

What did your realtor say about why Drees terminated the contract?

Why would you have a say in the price of someone else’s product? You have a CHOICE to purchase or not.

Online reviews of builders only come from people like you. The tens of thousands that have a perfectly seamless experience don’t say anything.

Good luck. Buy a resale home and rehab it.

[Mimmyu]

Originally Posted by kittenhead

2. Do you NOT have say in the price of a new build? Most realtors are telling me to shut up and take whatever they say. That doesn't seem very smart either. Maybe not get the price you want but I am sure you could negotiate upgrades, right?

You can negotiate up until the contract is signed. We specified specific options/modifications we wanted and the price we wanted to pay for all of that (17k under list) before we signed the contract. Everything after that from the design center was list price.