Looking for info on Richmond American Builder/ good or bad

[altus2006]

In this housing slowdown now it is ludicrous for a company to tell you that it may take a year to build the house. If anything they should be able to get it done in a few months.

altus2006

[azquadgrrl]

Richmond isnt the only 1 having problems.

They all are.

The housing market jumped way up.

The builders built houses w/ contracts.

The builders built houses With Out Contracts. & now are paying the price.

The banks are demanding payment and the builders are panicked.

The Other Issue is that the price of Concrete just went Up.

So yeah I can see them asking you for more money. But they shouldnt be.

Why? because the builders dont have the money to cover the difference between the price of Concrete when U got the permits & what the price of concrete is now.
They gave U a price total for what it all would cost including the amount of all the concrete that would have to be poured at that time.
The builder was too crazed by the banks to get moving on what they should have been.

We just spent $1200 on a Permit for Concrete for our garage. & it's not nearly close to the amount of concrete poured for a house.

So if U were to pull out now, you'd loose the money that was spent on the Permit. You cant go to the county & ask for a refund.

I cant say how I know all this but, I know alot of people as I have a finger in the housing construction market.

[altus2006]

There are a lot of spec houses showing up on MLS sites. I would check out those houses. I would think that builders have a max credit limit with banks and until they can sell down inventory, they cannot get financed to build another one.

There are some great deals on many of the new spec homes now.

altus2006

[sonoranjerseygirl]

Originally Posted by OctoberMoon

The problem is, we've had the building permit for months now. Everything is all set to go in that area. They just keep giving us the run around and will NOT give us any kind of straight answer as to why they haven't started building.

The thing that pissed me off the most was that they asked us for more of an earnest deposit so we could "prove" we weren't going to walk away. I'm sorry, but if you want a higher earnest deposit, ask for it to begin with. They only require $2000, so that's all they are going to get from us.

And yes, it does say in the contract they have a year. We were TOLD it doesn't take that long, ever, though and that our home would be done in February. We were lied to and then never told otherwise until we started asking. Our rep never calls us back, we have to keep calling until he is finally in the office. Had we known it would take this long we might not have gone with them. We now have to rent come February because my husband is going to start the police academy in Phoenix and we're in California right now. So we have to move and rent again, instead of moving into our home that was SUPPOSED to be done.

I think I can guess which property you're building at...probably the same one as me. I also had to move apts for another 6 months because we thought the house was going to be done by now.

I re-read the contract awhile ago, and apparently they have one year from the date their lender approves you, even if you aren't going with their lender. At least thats what my contract said. So even though we signed in Sept, we technically didn't get approved by their lender (even though we had 2 other offers from banks) until Nov because our loan processor was a drunk who got fired (seriously.) We've had our permit from the end of Dec, and we got word today that they are finally going to start prepping the foundation this week. We've been calling the office constantly and always stop by the office at least every other week.

[OctoberMoon]

Originally Posted by sonoranjerseygirl

I think I can guess which property you're building at...probably the same one as me. I also had to move apts for another 6 months because we thought the house was going to be done by now.

I re-read the contract awhile ago, and apparently they have one year from the date their lender approves you, even if you aren't going with their lender. At least thats what my contract said. So even though we signed in Sept, we technically didn't get approved by their lender (even though we had 2 other offers from banks) until Nov because our loan processor was a drunk who got fired (seriously.) We've had our permit from the end of Dec, and we got word today that they are finally going to start prepping the foundation this week. We've been calling the office constantly and always stop by the office at least every other week.

I'm almost positive we had the same loan officer. We had problems with him too, and I recently got word he was fired (although I didn't know the reason, it makes total sense, they guy didn't ever keep his word to us and never called us back or send stuff he was supposed to). He LIED to us saying we were approved. I only found out a few weeks ago when our new officer FINALLY contacted us that we weren't approved, and our new loan officer got us approved in 2 days.

If you are in the same community as us, hopefully we will hear this week or next that they are going to start soon. I wish we were able to stop by the office every few weeks, but we're in California and only get to AZ maybe once every 2 months or so.

[emmashine]

I actually have a home in Classics in Surprise Farms. My husband and I bought a spec house (a house already built). We have had several problems with our home over the last year and Richmond is reluctant to fix tihings unless you threaten them. Also they are in financial dires straights, have sold there land here and are claiming bankrupcy. Therefore, if you are thinking of buiding, beware they can hold your money and take up tp two years to build, and it is legal. If you are thinking of classics maybe consider one of the model houses. They are full of extras and are very cost effective. Remember, the price they quote you on for a spec or model home is negotiable. They need you. If you have any questions you can call me, I am more then happy to share anything I know. Emma 623-297-6136