New Home Builders - WestBay vs Ashton Woods vs. Ryland

[EngGirl]

Come one people!!!!
ALL BUILDERS are the SAME! They use the same cheap labor!!!
They all don't care about quality! All of them! Some are a little easy to push and press and some not.

I was also kicked from my back then building house... Builder installed doors and kept all locked to prevent me from getting inside and finding issues. Were some of the issues not a big deal and something we would be able to live with without noticing after drywalls were up? Sure! But if there is better way to do their job considering I am paying big $$$, I am all for it.

Most contracts with builders allow buyers to inspect a house - within business hours, wearing hard hat, steel toe shoes, and outside of certain periods of construction when it's unsafe to be on the site. So, know your rights!!!
Since I work in this industry myself and OSHA certified, I had no issues following these rules and were forced to allow my presents. Now, they made my independent inspectors go through a lot (provide copy of license, copy of insurance for certain limit and so on), but were forced to allow them as well. I was not in good terms with the superintendent and at the end of the day made him get fired, but it's another story. Dude overstepped and was in red big time.

If any builder agreed to do something other than standard methods, consider yourself lucky. Changing a drywall vs patching it or using nails vs screws are all means and methods and all allowable, so builder can really ignore you. Especially in cookie cutter community.

So, all builders don't care about quality.

Bentlebee, your friends should consider themselves happy for getting all deposit back. I wish I had this option before closing, but my builder did everything I wanted instead.

[bobandsherry]

Disagree EngGirl on your broad statement:

ALL BUILDERS are the SAME! They use the same cheap labor!!!
They all don't care about quality! All of them! Some are a little easy to push and press and some not.

I had a home built before with a semi-custom builder. He was a small builder, built about 20 homes a year. He had a crew he used consistently, they didn't work for him but worked with him. The builder was the general contractor and he supervised the job site. He also allowed and encouraged visits on site at any time to inspect. I found him onsite very frequently. He found issues and had them fixed. Our walk through for closing was basically a non-event as everything was done well. In the 10 years we owned the home we had ZERO warranty items.

[bentlebee]

Originally Posted by kab0906

Hmmm...


I've been looking at Westbay as a possible builder. I was planning on going this week to drive around some of the neighborhoods and possibly tour a model home.

Make sure Westbay will agree to Home inspection and Mold inspection PRIOR to closing! Buyer be aware!

Westbay has now tried to get CO twice and twice denied due to issues with the home!

Good luck to the buyer of that home and how Westbay handled this case.

It is very sad if builders are treating buyers this way.

[bentlebee]

Originally Posted by EngGirl

Come one people!!!!
ALL BUILDERS are the SAME! They use the same cheap labor!!!
They all don't care about quality! All of them! Some are a little easy to push and press and some not.

I was also kicked from my back then building house... Builder installed doors and kept all locked to prevent me from getting inside and finding issues. Were some of the issues not a big deal and something we would be able to live with without noticing after drywalls were up? Sure! But if there is better way to do their job considering I am paying big $$$, I am all for it.

Most contracts with builders allow buyers to inspect a house - within business hours, wearing hard hat, steel toe shoes, and outside of certain periods of construction when it's unsafe to be on the site. So, know your rights!!!
Since I work in this industry myself and OSHA certified, I had no issues following these rules and were forced to allow my presents. Now, they made my independent inspectors go through a lot (provide copy of license, copy of insurance for certain limit and so on), but were forced to allow them as well. I was not in good terms with the superintendent and at the end of the day made him get fired, but it's another story. Dude overstepped and was in red big time.

If any builder agreed to do something other than standard methods, consider yourself lucky. Changing a drywall vs patching it or using nails vs screws are all means and methods and all allowable, so builder can really ignore you. Especially in cookie cutter community.

So, all builders don't care about quality.

Bentlebee, your friends should consider themselves happy for getting all deposit back. I wish I had this option before closing, but my builder did everything I wanted instead.

I have to disagree with the statement that "all" builders are doing this as we dealt with many and we know most builders like most private citizens have a difficult time to get good labor right now.

But not all builders will handle these issues the same. Westbay wins hands down the prize for being the worst in customer service and trying to cover up bad workmanship as far I have ever seen.

There have been builders who had issues but overall the items got fixed.

I'm not talking about the issues that were caused during the boom that caused people to deal with Chinese Drywall that wasn't know upfront but caused major issues. Neither am I talking about stucco issues that surfaced years later and in some cases became a lawsuit or were handled under warranty.

Builders are getting away with final walk troughs and call it "orientation of the house" to avoid having to deal with items that are wrong. Most builders want buyers to close and after closing all items will be handled "after" closing when buyers have less leverage.

Keep in mind that all builders contracts are written to favorite builders.

Buyers who need to get a mortgage will be approved within 3 days and not like it is done in a regular mortgage where approval comes within 25-45 days. That way a builder entitles themselves to keep any down payment if buyer backs out.

[EngGirl]

Let me rephrase it - this topic is about mass builders, read the title - WestBay vs Ashton Woods vs. Ryland...
All mass builders are the same.
I also have good experience with custom builder here, but it's different. Most people use mass builders and these are EXACTLY the same.

To really know how each builder approaches problems resolution, you need to be personally involved with each. I can tell you for sure some people in my community are pretty happy with the builder and think it's the best and they have zero issues. Some didn't even know they had leaking windows until I point it out to them... And these windows has been leaking for over a year. Why? It was incorrectly installed in the first place. I took my walk a part to confirm it. Sure enough entire community had the same issue - every single house... Builder is highly rated and the cost of their houses is on the higher side too...

Builders are not here to solve their poor construction, they here to cover it. 99% with stucco issues on BRAND NEW homes had cracks sealed instead of reapplying a stucco... This is how they approach warranty issues instead of making sure everything is done properly in the first place.

Bentlebee, what do you mean by mortgage? I had no issues using my lender and got pre-approval quick and closed on time. No different time wise with builders mortgage company. Builder offered bunch of incentives to use their lender like free upgrades (way overcharged by the way), but their interest rate was also much higher compare to my lender meaning over the course of mortgage life I will pay off their incentives multiple times... I added the lender clause and deposit conditions to builder's contract and had fin. contingency even though I used my lender