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Hmm. Thanks for you replies all. Also is there any good real estate attorney that offers fee consultation that you would recommend.
Just in case I decide to get out of the contract if the economic situation gets worse................
Guess what !! Pulte did it again ..... Dropped price
Yep. It’s true. Pulte proved again that they can rob their customers out of money. If you follow the thread, I signed a contract with Pulte about 3 weeks ago. Now, they listed about three houses with similar lot size and plan as mine about 15K less than the price in our contract...... I was shocked to see the prices and spoke to the sales agent. He said that Pulte has the right to price houses in any way they want to an also that there was in fact a clause in our contract telling that we could not reject contract because houses that were sold after us were priced differently...
I am really shocked now. In a way I am relieved because I now lose money anyway, terminating the contract or buying the house.
Time to find an attorney and see if I can get my earnest money back !!!
Pulte did not "rob you of money".
A home is a negotiable item. Prices fluctuate in both directions. It is a shame that you entered into a CONTRACT with Pulte 3 weeks before circumstances that had nothing to do with Pulte changed. It is a volatile time to be in the market as either a seller or a buyer, but at the end of the day you REQUESTED that a contract be placed in front of you-you chose to sign it.
If Pulte had raised the prices of the adjacent homes by $15,000 I'll bet you wouldn't be looking to walk away from your agreement. If you did not do enough research to feel comfortable signing the agreement, you should not have signed it. Pulte is simply conducting business.
Pulte did not "rob you of money".
A home is a negotiable item. Prices fluctuate in both directions. It is a shame that you entered into a CONTRACT with Pulte 3 weeks before circumstances that had nothing to do with Pulte changed. It is a volatile time to be in the market as either a seller or a buyer, but at the end of the day you REQUESTED that a contract be placed in front of you-you chose to sign it.
If Pulte had raised the prices of the adjacent homes by $15,000 I'll bet you wouldn't be looking to walk away from your agreement. If you did not do enough research to feel comfortable signing the agreement, you should not have signed it. Pulte is simply conducting business.
Yes... I do understand what you are saying. However, two things that I an unhappy with
1. Pulte has no sort of price guarantee. May other builders like KB Homes do .. Esp given the current market the price guarantee would make sence a lot. I know freinds who got their prices marked down by KB and Lennar because the ,market softened and neignbouring houses were being sold for cheap
2. When the price on sorrounding homes dropped, and when my house will not be closed until the next one month, is it not morally the right thing to do by dropping my price too?. Just because we signed a couple of days earlier does not mean we lose money !!
1) have you already fired your agent? if not, do that now.
2) Harmony point/reserves houses only look good from a distance. you will already be a winner if you can simply walk away w/ or w/o your earnest money.
3) Pulte is very desperate to move houses in this neighborhood. you sure will get calls from the onsite agent in no time to agree with your terms if you do walk away
4) the coming 540 will make the neighborhood less desirable, even though it is something like 500 feet away.
Bottom line: the pulte agents have absolutely no bargaining power in that neighborhood. you need be firm with them.
you walk away or you get the house at whatever price you want.
I'm confused by this thread. Do you have a buyer's agent or are you dealing directly with the builder's sales agent?
IF you do have a buyer's agent, what are they telling you when you ask them these questions? You haven't menioned that yet but I imagine you are talking to them about this since it is very important to you to find resolution.
I'm confused by this thread. Do you have a buyer's agent or are you dealing directly with the builder's sales agent?
IF you do have a buyer's agent, what are they telling you when you ask them these questions? You haven't menioned that yet but I imagine you are talking to them about this since it is very important to you to find resolution.
Where is your buyer's agent in all this?
I do have a buyers agent. All he said in that negotiation phase is that the seller (Pulte) is being tough and is not wiling to negotiate. He said I could either take at the price offered or leave it.
Now, when I tried to talk about the reduction in prices, he says that its up to the builder and the builder is at will to change pricing an also that we cannot re-negotiate because Pulte does not re-negotiate after signing contract.
After reading the posting in the thread I start to realize that some of what he is saying is not the reality and so I might need to act on my own...
Earnest money is at risk but I would rather walk away now than be in the house an then seeing it depreciate...
Still thinking before taking the big decision ……
1) have you already fired your agent? if not, do that now.
2) Harmony point/reserves houses only look good from a distance. you will already be a winner if you can simply walk away w/ or w/o your earnest money.
3) Pulte is very desperate to move houses in this neighborhood. you sure will get calls from the onsite agent in no time to agree with your terms if you do walk away
4) the coming 540 will make the neighborhood less desirable, even though it is something like 500 feet away.
Bottom line: the pulte agents have absolutely no bargaining power in that neighborhood. you need be firm with them.
you walk away or you get the house at whatever price you want.
Thanks Duhrambull for all your advice on this thread till now.
Your posting kind of gives me the moral support that I need to make that big decision. You might be true.
It might be easier for me to walk out of the contract and see if the builder is willing to re-negotiate.
What u said abt sales hurting is true because, they did not sell any new homes after mine in the community and I know two buyers who cancelled their contract and left
I will probably talk to them and see about renegotiation an if not may be walk away ............. Loss of earnest money seems to be my only option but that’ seems OK looking at all the other factors
Yes... I do understand what you are saying. However, two things that I an unhappy with
1. Pulte has no sort of price guarantee. May other builders like KB Homes do .. Esp given the current market the price guarantee would make sence a lot. I know freinds who got their prices marked down by KB and Lennar because the ,market softened and neignbouring houses were being sold for cheap
2. When the price on sorrounding homes dropped, and when my house will not be closed until the next one month, is it not morally the right thing to do by dropping my price too?. Just because we signed a couple of days earlier does not mean we lose money !!
To address your first concern-
Were you aware that Pulte had no price guarantee BEFORE you SIGNED a CONTRACT with them? If you did and were hoping that after the fact Pulte would change their policies if you got cold feet, you were mistaken. Maybe you should have bought from KB or Lennar if the ability to just walk away if things didn't go your way was that important to you. If your agent didn't have this discussion with you BEFORE you SIGNED the CONTRACT, shame on them. If you DID have the discussion but decided nonetheless to SIGN a CONTRACT, the responsiblilty for what you now feel was a questionable decision falls on YOU. No one else.
To address your second concern-
This is a BUSINESS transaction. The terms of Pulte's contract are quite clear to anyone who is able to interpret them. The responsibility for understanding what your obligations and rights are fall on two parties-
The BUYER (you)
and the BUYER'S AGENT that YOU selected and HIRED to represent you.
Pulte has no moral obligation to you. Their BUSINESS is selling each home for as MUCH MONEY as they are ABLE to. Everyone you have met who works for Pulte works for PULTE, as kind and nice as they may have been up to this point. They will do their best to provide a good experience and a good home and to live up to their end of the CONTRACT, but that is where their obligation ENDS.
This is precisely why a buyer needs to research what they are doing and seek representation when dealing with new construction. It is easy to make the assumption that the builder/developer and their employees are working on your behalf when you walk into a model home, but they are not. That's what the "Working With Real Estate Agents" brochure is supposed to explain to you-did your agent give you one and ask you to read it? Did you sign the piece that the agent is required to retain on file?
It also needs to be said yet one more time that Real Estate is not without its financial risks-it is a MARKET, just like the stock market. If I buy a stock for $10 dollars per share at 10AM on Monday and by 3PM the stock has fallen in value by 30% to $7 dollars per share,who should I complain to, and who is going to give me my $3 per share back? Nobody.
Those are the facts. I'm truly sorry if you feel that you have made a bad decision. I also apologize if you feel I am being harsh toward you.
One of the downsides of asking for advice from strangers is that it is likely that you may get answers to your questions that are not the ones you wanted. I feel that I would be doing you a disservice by siding with you.
I'm not sure if this applies to getting out of a contract with a builder, but I had buyer's remorse in July when I made an offer on a house in clayton (and had signed an offer contract) - this was on a resale home, though, not a purchase from a builder. My realtor referred me to the north carolina real estate attorney I had hired to handle the closing. I didn't mind if I had to forfeit my earnest money, but more troubling was when the attorney cautioned that if the seller is not able to sell the house at the same price of my offer or not at all, the seller can come back to me down the road and sue for damages. Ex: if they can only find a buyer for $20,000 less than my offer, I would be liable for the $20,000. Yikes! The attorney said the only way to avoid my being on the hook for such damages was if the seller signed something saying I would not be liable for damages (would recommend that an attorney draft the exact language on that). Again, I'm not sure if this applies with builders.
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Guess what !! Pulte did it again ..... Dropped price
Thanks Duhrambull ...............
