Buying A New Home-How To Be Sure It’s Built Right

If you are contracting with a developer to build a new home, you should expect the finished product to be in mint condition. Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon to discover flaws and poor workmanship in a new home. In fact, up to 10% of new homes can have significant construction issues.

Workmanship problems can stem from unrealistic homebuyer pressures for the builder to complete the home today or within the next few days. Home buyers also demand hard to construct features like high vaulted ceilings and large windows. Meanwhile, it’s hard to hire enough experienced contractors or subcontractors. To keep up with buyer expectations, builders cut corners by employing inexperienced and unqualified workers; or simply make careless mistakes.

Even worse, once the development is completed, builders move on-and try to avoid dealing with customer complaints. Shady builders will go as far as to set up dummy corporations and end up filing bankruptcy.

Some states have taken measures to address this problem by allowing the developer time to fix the home before you take legal action. Unfortunately, builders ended up procrastinating on your repairs since the legislation doesn’t delineate an actual deadline.

The good news is you can take preventive steps to evaluate the construction activity before your house is finished. Start to negotiate periodic inspections while they’re building your home and a final inspection at the finish date. It might cost extra money to cover the additional inspections, but you can save yourself thousands of dollars in future repairs. You may be shocked to learn the average new home contains repairs over $5,000.

Consider hiring an independent home inspector to be sure your home is constructed correctly. Don’t depend on the results in a city or builder’s third party inspection because the results could be biased. Also city inspectors only check for code compliance and not other important issues.

Common defects you’ll come across include bad weather proofing, improper grading of land, faulty sewer connections, issues with the roof, ventilation concerns, and building code violations.

Be sure your purchase contract includes the right for you to conduct these inspections. Just be sure you diligently follow up with them. Since you are the first new owner, you don’t want to move into a new home to discover a sealed chimney, incomplete sewage piping, and electrical problems.

Even if you’re lucky enough to negotiate periodic inspections into your purchase agreement, expect the builder to resist you every step along the way. If you’re shopping in a hot real estate market, you’ll have a tough time locating a builder who’s amenable to incorporating these inspections into your purchase contract, especially if they have another homebuyer in line after you who’s willing to snap up the property as is. However if you’re shopping in a slow market, you’ll probably have an easier time locating a builder willing to cooperate with you. As a homebuyer, you have a right to a well built house. Don’t be afraid to exercise this right.

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