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Your home is worth way more than $2,800. If I hindsight, you'd have to pay $2,800 more than listed, would you do it? I am willing to bet you'd buy the same house.
Since, you care about numbers, without doubt interest rates now are incredibly low. Eat the one month rent and move into your new home. As someone that built a new home, I also advise that you stay 'nice' to the builders. I've stayed nice to mine and they've gone out of their way with fixing things in and around our home.
Your first mistake is you did not hire a real estate attorney when you purchased your home. The attorney would have gone over your contract and worded it in such a way that the builder wouldn't have a leg to stand on in forcing you to close early. The builder and sales person are not looking out for your best interests. Your attorney is.
If you sue them, remember that they have deeper pockets than you and can afford an expensive litigation. Chalk it up to a mistake and next time you purchase a home get yourself an attorney to check over the contract before you sign on the dotted line.
Your first mistake is you did not hire a real estate attorney when you purchased your home. The attorney would have gone over your contract and worded it in such a way that the builder wouldn't have a leg to stand on in forcing you to close early. The builder and sales person are not looking out for your best interests. Your attorney is.
If you sue them, remember that they have deeper pockets than you and can afford an expensive litigation. Chalk it up to a mistake and next time you purchase a home get yourself an attorney to check over the contract before you sign on the dotted line.
It is fun to say, "Hire an attorney."
Have you and your attorney had success getting the largest production tract builder in the country to amend their standard contract to your requirements?
I own a Lennar home and while my experience was far from perfect I do wonder how you were so blindsided by the closing date. I worked with the actual construction manager (not sales reps) regularly. They attempt to loop you in, take you on tours, talk about where they are in the process etc, if they are going to meet the closing date or beat it. Were you not offered that? THAT was the guy you needed to speak with because they could have prioritized other homes if they knew you were trying to move in at a later date. Mine was awesome and went out of his way to fix any imperfections we spotted while visiting.
My general experience with Lennar is about as positive as it can be, considering I was buying a tract home.
It is fun to say, "Hire an attorney."
Have you and your attorney had success getting the largest production tract builder in the country to amend their standard contract to your requirements?
Lennar also has arbitration clauses in all of their contracts. You aren't going to court. You are going through an arbitration process heavily weighted in Lennar's favor.
Mistake 1...Have your own BUYER'S AGENT. The onsite agent works for the builder. He/she represents the builder.
Mistake 2...Read the contract. However, whether or not you read the contract, the builder's contract typically is slanted in the builder's favor.
There is a clause in there that says the "estimated close date" is blah blah blah; however, if the home is ready before that date, you will close within a certain number of days." Or...you pay a fee per day. It also says if the close date is late, it is just that...late. Builder will not pay you for late closing.
New construction homes usually close 45 to 60 days after sheetrock. Were you not keeping up with this?
I just went through this with one of my clients but we did manage to get them to push the closing date out. It was a Lennar home. I'm seeing many problems with Lennar, lately. Not sure if it is new management or what but I wasn't thrilled with the sales manager, when I contacted him, about issues we were having.
OP...make sure you get a private home inspection. The cost of $400 to $500 is well worth it! Don't let any onsite agent tell you the home has been inspected by town officials. Get a home inspection.
Some people would be thrilled to get their house a month early. Most of the time, construction hits delays due to weather, supplies, etc. Salespeople don't have a crystal ball.
I understand why the OP is upset. $2800 would pay the movers or pay for the new blinds or any number of things including a final inspection. Or maybe he needs to sell something to come up with the downpayment and this is a bad time. But he seems stuck with it.
Have you spoken to your apartment manager? When I was buying my new house, I was able to end my lease early by one month as there was a clause in my lease agreement that let me if I showed my new home contract and gave the appropriate notice also, they'd let me out of my lease with no penalties. Although it doesn't reduce the sting of the what the Lennar sales manager told you and the mistake of not negotiating early closing (or even late closing) penalties, but might make it a little easier for you to get over what happened.
Even though you're not happy, honestly, it's small potatoes with what could have gone wrong and your warning to new homeowners is stated. I would recommend letting it go and just take your time with moving into your new home and cleaning up your apartment so you get that security deposit back if you can't get out of your apartment lease early. The entire home buying process and moving is stressful enough and use the mistakes as a learning experience for the next time.
Can you sue Lennar? Absolutely. This is America, you can litigate against anyone for any reason. Lennar's team of corporate lawyers would love to see you rack of legal fees, their lawyers are on the payroll already, they might as well stay busy. Your $2,800 of assumed loss will buy 10-15 hours of legal representation max. That should cover initial consultations, contract review, and maybe even a threatening letter or two. It won't begin to cover the cost to litigate this.
Enjoy the new house, eat the extra month of rent, and view this as a relatively inexpensive lesson on contracts. The ONLY thing that matters is the written contract.
hard to be improved upon. I would have sworn gtown said he had his own Realtor though. this new thread doesn't mention said Realtor, and certainly seems like he just used the onsite agent. who doesn't represent him.
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