Meeting with builder what are your top "must ask" questions? (house, plumbing)

[loves2read]

check out the gardenweb.com building a house forum
great info, informed posters, very willing to share info

and I would be very surprised if either of those companies allowed you to bring in an outside inspector to judge their work...
they will tell you that the city inspectors and their on-site foremen do that and to save your money

[seh0041]

I can verify some of the earlier posts; we bought a new construction home, had a REALTOR, and the builder paid her fee (3%). She was extremely helpful in the decision of where to look, and what builders to consider.
As for the inspection, our builder is allowing us to bring in our own inspector (a friend who happens to be a city inspector).

[Malditha]

Hello! Will there be a 3d or 4d view of the house to be built in thr computer or laptop during this meeting?

[jdallas]

Originally Posted by Malditha

Hello! Will there be a 3d or 4d view of the house to be built in thr computer or laptop during this meeting?

Given this thread is from 2009, probably not.

[Dad0118]

Originally Posted by Malditha

Hello! Will there be a 3d or 4d view of the house to be built in thr computer or laptop during this meeting?

I'm curious as to what a 4d view of a house entails??

[jdallas]

Originally Posted by Dad0118

I'm curious as to what a 4d view of a house entails??

when they show you renderings of the kitchen, they spray cookie scented spray in your face.

[Malditha]

I mean like the layout with the colors in it, forgive me not sure what it is called like if 3d or 4d...

[BongoBungo]

Biggest mistake I made when going through the new home construction process last time was not bringing a realtor or professional designer with me to the design appointment, and not figuring out what I wanted before going to the design appointment. That new design center off 121 kind of close to Nebraska Furniture Mart that many builders in the DFW are using is awful, and the "designers" there all seemed incompetent and overly stressed. If you have to go to that design center, figure out ahead of time what your builder's options at the design center will be and what you want in your house, like the cabinets, countertops, tile, backsplash, carpet, wood floors, etc. They literally gave me about 3 minutes to decide some major decisions, and there was so little time that they didn't even show me all the options. I should have figured out what all the options were BEFORE I went to the design center.

[turf3]

Do not sign a contract until you have the complete price for the house as you want it with the options you want.

Read the whole damn contract, every word, and make sure you understand every word before you sign it. This applies whether or not you have other people such as a real estate agent working with you. Remember, if you sign a bad contract, you, not the RE agent, will be responsible for making the payments. The sales people will try to get you to shortchange this step by implying that you're dumb if you don't get something right away - don't fall for that, just ask as many questions as you need to.

An honestly written contract for an honestly built house should be understandable by a reasonably attentive eighth grader of normal intelligence. If it is so convoluted that you can't understand it even after attempting to get explanations, there's a high chance that someone's trying to put something over on you.

Walk the site frequently, make notes, and call them on everything that doesn't look right. I found numerous egregious errors that would have been pasted over had I not been attentive. Taking pictures is a good idea. When they put windows in the wrong place, or the laundry room is 8" narrower at one end than the other, do not allow them to put you off with BS excuses. (This is where the copy of the complete signed contract and floor plan with all relevant features marked and initialled is helpful - you did make sure you have that, didn't you?)

[turf3]

Originally Posted by Dad0118

I'm curious as to what a 4d view of a house entails??

It allows you to see how the house and its surroundings will change with the passage of time. Trees and bushes will grow, the paint will gradually fade and be renewed, the cars in the driveway will gradually get older and shabbier and then be replaced, the unfinished room over the garage will be finished out and filled with furniture, etc., etc.