Kimball Hill Homes Latest Information (Sugar Grove, Time: for sale, insurance, credit)

[dblsae]

[SIZE=3]I have recently bought a Kimball Hill house and wanted to start a forum location so that we can all stay in the loop with their financial situation. We bough our house in the Settlers Ridge subdivision of Sugar Grove. We are hoping for the best with Kimball not only for us but their employees, and the trades/venders that rely on their business. If anybody is in the same boat as me please post.[/SIZE]

[sgresident]

i did reply under your sugar grove post, but i will include some info here..the village officials are continuing to work with kimball hill on various fees, how their credits for work done etc. are posted to their balance sheet. they do plan to discontinue the traditional neighborhood design, with the alleys etc. they will be going back to "regular" housing styles. hope this helps.

[sbd78]

Originally Posted by dblsae

I have recently bought a Kimball Hill house and wanted to start a forum location so that we can all stay in the loop with their financial situation. We bough our house in the Settlers Ridge subdivision of Sugar Grove. We are hoping for the best with Kimball not only for us but their employees, and the trades/venders that rely on their business. If anybody is in the same boat as me please post.

Is your home currently under construction? Are the contractors still working on it? Did you give them a large deposit? I wish you the best of luck, I recently bought a new Neumann Home and got in right before their bankruptcy was announced, so I know how frustrating this can be. I wish you the best of luck and hope you get into your new home soon.

[dblsae]

Originally Posted by sgresident

i did reply under your sugar grove post, but i will include some info here..the village officials are continuing to work with kimball hill on various fees, how their credits for work done etc. are posted to their balance sheet. they do plan to discontinue the traditional neighborhood design, with the alleys etc. they will be going back to "regular" housing styles. hope this helps.

[SIZE=3]Sgresident,[/SIZE][SIZE=3]I too noticed that they discontinued the traditional style. They have those models up for sale right now. I like the regular houses better anyway and that is what I purchased. They probably could benefit from the liquid cash that they get for the models too.[/SIZE]

[dblsae]

Originally Posted by sbd78

Is your home currently under construction? Are the contractors still working on it? Did you give them a large deposit? I wish you the best of luck, I recently bought a new Neumann Home and got in right before their bankruptcy was announced, so I know how frustrating this can be. I wish you the best of luck and hope you get into your new home soon.

[SIZE=3]Sbd78, [/SIZE][SIZE=3]They have not started on the house yet but that is not because of the financial situation. It has been extremely cold which has delayed things about 2 weeks. They plan to start digging on Monday. I have about 10K down right now with another 5K due over the next three months. Supposedly they are setting up a special fund not in their name for the escrow money to protect the buyers in the event they do file for bankruptcy. Im glad they finished your house just before the Neumann bankruptcy. I hope I get that lucky. Did you still get a warrantee?[/SIZE]

[sbd78]

Originally Posted by dblsae

[SIZE=3]Sbd78, [/SIZE][SIZE=3]They have not started on the house yet but that is not because of the financial situation. It has been extremely cold which has delayed things about 2 weeks. They plan to start digging on Monday. I have about 10K down right now with another 5K due over the next three months. Supposedly they are setting up a special fund not in their name for the escrow money to protect the buyers in the event they do file for bankruptcy. Im glad they finished your house just before the Neumann bankruptcy. I hope I get that lucky. Did you still get a warrantee?[/SIZE]

We had a 1-year warranty through Neumann that covered everything-That was gone with the bankruptcy. We also have a 10-year structural warranty that is through an outside company, so that one is still good. Also, make sure you get title insurance when you close on your home. (I think title insurance is standard, but make sure you have it anyway.) We have been getting liens filed on our home by the contractors Neumann never paid. Title insurance protects us so we are not responsible for them.

[dblsae]

Great tip. Who do you think I should talk to about the title insureance? Should I just bring that up to my lawyer?

[sbd78]

Originally Posted by dblsae

Great tip. Who do you think I should talk to about the title insureance? Should I just bring that up to my lawyer?

Talk to your lawyer about it. We automatically got title insurance when we closed on our home (we didn't specifically ask for it), so I'm not sure if it is standard with all closings or not. When I closed on my home, I was pretty clueless. I didn't know Neumann was about to go bankrupt and I didn't know what title insurance was for, but I was very glad I had it when I started getting liens on my home!

[dblsae]

Well I’m not sure how to take this article from the Tribune but I would say it is more positive than negative. In case anybody out there is looking for the latest and greatest on Kimball Hill, here is an article about how they amended their agreement with their lenders.

Struggling home builder Kimball Hill amends agreements with lenders -- chicagotribune.com

[irish setter girl]

Lenders require title insurance when you take out a mortgage. You will have title insurance but read the fine print and make sure any liens placed on your home due to BK are covered. Another issue with the builders who are going under is what happens to the development that is left behind. Who will complete the project, will roads be maintained, will the parks that were on the original plans be established by a new builder who comes in, will the style of the new builder match the proposed environmment. As someone else mentioned, quite often the original builder's warranties become void during a BK situation. Best of luck to all the Kimball Hill buyers out there, please keep us updated!