[Driller1]

Originally Posted by JeepMom

Well I have to say the only company right now who has the best reputation in building new homes is Greystone Homes. They do excellent work and every home they've done has been sold before even being completed. I've seen many of their homes and the workers are great. They have people coming back and asking them to bild homes elsewhere in MI for them also. If this does not say they are happy with their service I don't know what does.

By no means am I affiliated with Greystone Homes. I just have seen their work compared to other companies out there and every home I've seen has been beautiful! They have even used the owners plans for the homes.

If you're looking to buy an older home, you may get some good deals with the way the market it. Just be sure you want to fix anything that may come up. Could be a good investment!

Good luck in your home search!

IMO, they put in the cheapest water wells they can sorry but, I can PROVE this to you. Look at the well logs.

[Driller1]

About building a home. Never let the contractor handle the septic and well, NEVER!!!! This is why we rarely work for contractors. They want the cheapest materials possible, to get the lower cost. Then they want a 10% kick back paid to them in cash from the job. The mobile home companies are the worse. I have told many contractors we do not need a pimp to get us jobs.

[Coldjensens]

When we purchased our previous home, our home inspection report read like this:

"Electrical system is old. Some parts are knob and tube. You should have an electrician look at it.

Plumbing is old. Parts are copper parts are galvanized. Water pressure at the tap in some bathrooms is very low. You should have a plumber look at the plumbing.

Foundations shows some signs of settlement. This could be ordinary differential settlement or it could be a problem. Condition of the post and beam system is unknown. The crawlspace was too dirty to allow access. You should have a structural engineer look at this.

Roof is old and shows signs of wear. No sign of leakage in the house. You shloud have a roofer look at the roof.

The house does not seem to have an HVAC system. A floor furnace was visible on the first floor, but it was too dirty underneath the house to allow access to determine the condition of this furnace.

One cabinet in the kitchen is missing a knob."


That was very useful. We spent $250 for a "registered" inspector to tell us that we had a missing knob on a kitchen cabinet. Everything else was obvious, and he did not tell us anything anyway. It is not rocket science to turn on a bathroom tap and realize that water trickling out means that you need a plumber. God forbid that he actually get dirty by crawling under the house.

It turned out that everything except the plumbing was fine (and we already knew that the plumbing needed to be re-done and put it in the purchase agreement). The missing kitchen cabinet knob was in a drawer below the cabinet and only needed a screw, but the "inspector" missed that. The furnace was completely rebuilt the year before and had a tag stating this on the inside. Our report was about 50 pages long and all said and done, all it said is what was set out above. It contained a lot of fluff about how to take care of a house (most of which was inapplicable to our house becuase the house was over 100 years old). It had about four pages on how to properly clean gutters - oh wait, this house does not have any gutters, perhaps you did not notice. After all the sun might get in your eyes if you actually went outside and looked up at the roof.

If you hire a home inspector, get references and get copies of prior reports that he has done. Do not be impressed by a long multicolored booklet that tells you about general maintenance. They all have those. What you want to look at is the real information where they fill in the blanks in the booklet. Does the inspector do real analysis or just fluff? You are probably better off getting a real contractor to inspect the house, or better yet just starts with the tradesmen (plumber, carpenter, electrician). You may need to get multiple opinions. One elctrician told us that we needed to completely re-wire the house at a cost of $25,000. Another said that the wiring was just fine except one small problem that cost $75 to repair. He also told us that we should put in GFCI outlets since there was no ground, but told us that we could easily do that ourselves. When you have people inspect, you have to be careful to ensure that they are no just trying to get work. Your best bet may be to hire a retried electrician, plumber etc. That way you know that they are not just trying to get a job out of you. It is hard and you do nto ever know who you can trust. Get some good books so you can learn as much as you can and figure out who is talking sense, and who just wants your money. Good luck.

[darstar]

In general , where ever you are , taking the final word of the home inspector , on anything is problematic. The worst are those that are " hired " by your real estate agent. ( you pay always ).
The problem is worse these days , as the agent , honest as he or she might be , wants to sell you the house at all costs. They will gloss over the bad points of the inspection , even to the degree , that some inspectors , are reporting to the Agent , his results , before writing the report.
When it comes to well and septic , well , ( pun intended ) , driller1 is right on. I have had personal experience with this , and , it was a nightmare. Most Home Inspectors are worthless !

[Driller1]

Originally Posted by darstar

In general , where ever you are , taking the final word of the home inspector , on anything is problematic. The worst are those that are " hired " by your real estate agent. ( you pay always ).
The problem is worse these days , as the agent , honest as he or she might be , wants to sell you the house at all costs. They will gloss over the bad points of the inspection , even to the degree , that some inspectors , are reporting to the Agent , his results , before writing the report.
When it comes to well and septic , well , ( pun intended ) , driller1 is right on. I have had personal experience with this , and , it was a nightmare. Most Home Inspectors are worthless !

Thank you. Home inspectors don't have a clue on how to check a well. With the right address, I can sit right here and tell you more about a system.

[Huckleberry3911948]

dont know your area but if we get a real housing drop, when bailout fails, you will be able to buy for less than you can build.
been there done that.

[Driller1]

Originally Posted by Huckleberry3911948

dont know your area but if we get a real housing drop, when bailout fails, you will be able to buy for less than you can build.
been there done that.

Mid-Michigan and Midland was not hit as hard as the rest of the country.

[wanderer74]

Chiming in to agree that most home inspectors are worthless. Ours completely missed the fact that our basement had flooded previously and had substantial mold under the pretty carpet that was used to cover over it. We've had many problems with our house that the inspector completely missed. However, I wouldn't think that buying new would be the way to go either...when we first moved back here from TX we rented a new construction house and it too had its share of problems. A lot of the construction seemed cheap and shoddy even though it looked pretty.

FYI though the housing market here never got quite as over-inflated as other parts of the country, we HAVE been affected by it. Our house is worth about 10% less than what we paid for it when we bought it 3 years ago (not counting any of the damages we've incurred). With Dow layoffs still happening I think it's likely that housing prices will continue to go a bit lower yet.

[Driller1]

Originally Posted by wanderer74

Chiming in to agree that most home inspectors are worthless. Ours completely missed the fact that our basement had flooded previously and had substantial mold under the pretty carpet that was used to cover over it. We've had many problems with our house that the inspector completely missed. However, I wouldn't think that buying new would be the way to go either...when we first moved back here from TX we rented a new construction house and it too had its share of problems. A lot of the construction seemed cheap and shoddy even though it looked pretty.

FYI though the housing market here never got quite as over-inflated as other parts of the country, we HAVE been affected by it. Our house is worth about 10% less than what we paid for it when we bought it 3 years ago (not counting any of the damages we've incurred). With Dow layoffs still happening I think it's likely that housing prices will continue to go a bit lower yet.

I do not disagree with that. I should have said, "at this time".

[darstar]

The problem with building a new house these days , is , for now , labor and materials do not cost any less than 2 years ago. When you buy an already built place , new or old , you can take advantage of the discount in the market.
On the other hand building new , should cover all the surprises , the cover ups , and endless remodel expenses. I have yet to see a house that fits all , and , is in just the right local. If you build , be savvy , ruthless , in choosing subs and general contractors , . shop around for materials also. In this market , its best to be your own GC , where you have choices. Its a buyers market , take advantage of it.