How Satisfied Are You With Your Triangle Area Rental House (real estate, apartment)

[itscolduphere]

Hi All

I am having issues with the new construction house I'm renting. It is what I feel is a health/safety concern regarding work a subcontractor did for the builder. The sub denies a problem and the builder seems to believe the sub without even checking the problem out in person. I'm suspecting they just do not want to go thru trouble/expense to correct the issue properly, or just acknowledge the sub has a crappy product. I do not want to mention specifics because I want to protect myself legally.

Recently, this builder has offered to let us out of the lease. I want to explore this option, but before I do, I would like to ask home renters in the area if you are generally happy with the condition of your rental house. Where I'm from up north, I have rented enough to see a pattern of rentals being homes that are in poor condition that the owner just doesn't want to fix.

Is that also the case here, or is are there decent clean, safe homes available generally, due to the market and/ or excess builder inventory??? I really just want to get out of this house but I don't want to find out that rentals are typically disappointing and end up in something else that will make me sick.

I hope some realtors will chime in on this also, not just renters. Maybe there's even someone out there with a GOOD house that needs to relocate, and I can find that through a good real estate agent? Like someone who is being transferred, and not wanting to rent because of mold, plumbing leaks, bad neighbors, etc. etc.

Thanks so much in advance. Between a rock and a hard place here.

[ApexWolfpacker]

not sure what area and rent you're interested in, but I do think in general good rental homes may be getting harder to find because less people can qualify to purchase, or just don't want to purchase, but still want a house and not an apartment

[Babytarheelz]

Rental homes are a lot harder to find now than they have been. Also, with the foreclosure crisis, renting a privately owned home is a huge gamble. What are the issues with your current house? The owners have a legal obligation to correct any issues. You have the right to demand them to do so.

[itscolduphere]

Our kitchen sink is made in China and has an unknown black rubber substance on the underside that is giving off an intense, chemical vapor that is giving me headaches and sore throat because the smell builds up in the house. I open the windows and use a fan but it just comes back. They had the sub who installs the granite/sinks come and switch it out, but he put in the same brand. We all smelled the sink before he installed it (the new one), and all agreed it didn't give off nearly as bad a vapor, just a TINY bit. But after he left and we ran hot water in the sink, the new one began giving off vapors! I know this is bizarre... it's not as bad as the first sink, but still unacceptable to us. I really doubt they will change it again to a different brand. I can't believe they put Chinese junk in in the first place. And who would think to look at the underside of a kitchen sink when you're looking to rent. It's really ridiculous. But it keeps coming back to the same thing... you can't stay in a place that's making you feel ill. We're going to ask to lease month to month until we find something else. There are many homes for rent on realtor.com if you do a search under the Triangle towns. I'm just really wondering how many of those are actually nice homes without any major issues that will affect someone's well-being. I'm so disgusted with this builder... they were really mean too before agreeing to have the sink changed. They basically told us they wouldn't change the sink without even coming over and smelling it themselves. Their sub told us it stunk, then turned around and told the landlord "we've never had a problem after 200+ installs.." So he told them something different! I think this is a matter of builder loves sub even with a bad product, and we're ending up the loser

[itscolduphere]

We may end up getting an apt. here for hubby so we can remain NC residents and not have to switch everything again to another state, while I go back and find a modest rental in CT until we are ready to build/buy there again. It's sad... we just moved here in May! (Venting I know, but it's so ridiculous!) I'm so furious with their sub I really wish I could say who it was but I cannot.

[twingles]

Originally Posted by itscolduphere

Our kitchen sink is made in China and has an unknown black rubber substance on the underside that is giving off an intense, chemical vapor that is giving me headaches and sore throat because the smell builds up in the house.

I'm just curious for my own selfish purposes - did you rent this place sight unseen? When did this smell start?

[saturnfan]

Chinese crap is everywhere.

Even famous US names are now manufacturing in China.

Hard to find quality any more.

[mia78]

I think your request for feedback is broad, yet your circumstances are pretty specific. I'm renting a house, but it is not new construction, so I think my feedback isn't really relative to your situation. I'm not having any problems here. We rent from a private owner and deal directly with him for maintenance issues. He used to live in this house himself. My only beef (which isn't really that major) are these paper thin walls which we didn't realize was an issue until we were actually moved in.

[itscolduphere]

Originally Posted by twingles

I'm just curious for my own selfish purposes - did you rent this place sight unseen? When did this smell start?

We visited in March and looked at the house up and down, then came back after the other viewings. The smell was not evident then. Right after we moved in we noticed a "vapor" smell in the cabinet under the sink, but thought it was the purple pipe adhesive or something, since it's new construction, and that it would go away eventually. We noticed after a month it was not going away, in fact it seemed to get worse when we ran hot water in the sink.

FWIW, anyone shopping for a new home purchase or rental, beware of foul Chinese sinks.

[itscolduphere]

Originally Posted by saturnfan

Chinese crap is everywhere.

Even famous US names are now manufacturing in China.

Hard to find quality any more.

Caphalon pans, and those are expensive!