Buy a New Construction Home--Tips? Warnings? Benefits?

[Haven]

FI and I are looking at some beautiful new construction homes, and I was just wondering if anyone has any tips, suggestions, hints, help, warnings, etc. for us. I really like the homes, and FI is warming up to moving out of the city and into the suburbs (slooooowly warming up, but getting there.)

Has anyone bought a new home and learned from the experience? Please share!

 

[lauralu]

Before closing

make sure you know what warranties the home has, years, time length, what is covered ect. All provided by the builder. Have copies of ALL of the Builder warranties with contact numbers should you need them.

When you write the offer, go thru the home meticulously noting anything that still needs to be finished and put it in the offer. Asking that it all be done BEFORE closing.

Builder should have a "punch card" it may be called something else in other areas of the country. Basically it is a sheet that you have when you do the final walk-thru before closing. Marking of everything that needed to be done before closing.It is VERY difficult to get them back out after closing. You can bet your sweet *** they will get it done before closing so they can get it sold. You would be surprised how many things get overlooked in a new construction. Such as trim pieces, hand rails, trim paint. All kinds of little things.

Get the builder or his/her rep to be there for the final inspection to walk you thru the home and explain all warrenties ect. heating and cooling systems ect. if you haven''t had the chance before that time.

Get a copy of the covenants, if any, for the subdivision before writing an offer. Those are important and will tell you what kinds of modifications you may or may not be able to make to your home and property. Such as, kind of fence you can put up in your back yard. Or even if you can have a fence. If you can construct a small storage shed in your backyard. Things like that.

Ask what the plans are for the subdivision. if it''s fairly new? How many homes are planned. How will it look. How fast do they anticipate it taking? What types of homes are allowed to be built there.

Hmmmmmmmm I think that covers it for starters. New construction is fun fun fun! However, it does not come without it''s headaches as well. Just be smart. Ask lot''s of questions. Get and put everything in writing. Get a good agent to help you thru and you will do fine. There is nothing like knowing you were the first to put your bare feet on the new floors.

Of coarse pre-existing homes are lot''s of fun as well. Just a matter of preference!
Good luck!

 

[chiefneil]

Depends - is the house already built, or are you contracting to build a new one?

 

[diamondfan]

Make sure you go with a reputable builder who uses good subs and quality materials. Get details of all the stuff he is using, even the stuff you cannot see. How is bolting pipes? What is being used inside walls? Keep all the paperwork on it. Always helps for your own edification. For example, make sure pipes are well insulated so you do not hear water sounds. Find out what is code in your area, some things are code and are the minimally acceptable, but you want someone who is going above and beyond. Try to see some exisiting homes this builder has built. Plus side is bells and whistles, great layouts, light and bright etc, down side is crappy workmanship. Can be a crap shoot since something can look nice but be poorly built, and you cannot always tell til you are in it for a while.

Also, houses settle. Make sure he will come back at intervals, such as 3, 6 9 months and one year to check for cracks etc. Wood expands and contracts over the seasons. You might not want to wallpaper immediately to be sure. Or, buy extra of your wallcover in case the cracking is an issue. I built a new home, and it is fine, but my build was B+/A- instead of top notch. We are now about to build a new home and I am looking at the builder we hire with a very keen eye.

 

[Mara]

i love new construction houses, but you have to really do your research. research your builder online, the internet can be a huge blessing for that. we were considering a townhouse locally here 4 years ago and the builders rep online was really not that good. but in california they had a better rep, due to the contractors that they hire here...in other states i guess the laws were not as strict or something. but i just didn''t feel that comfortable with them. and their quality wasn''t very visible to me. the townhouse we ended up buying was with a really reputable builder and their quality WAS visible. they also did numerous walk throughs with us before and after we bought and also one year afterwards we had one more walk through after the house settled to take care of any issues then. we''ve been really happy and we''re on year 4.

the one other thing with new construction is it typically is delivered/house done later than they initially expect. like it can be a few weeks late or a month or even two or three months. so just be aware of that...and get updates as the building continues so you can plan accordingly.

i love new construction because it''s all yours from the very beginning. no one''s odd paint colors or wallpaper to deal with...any dirt or things you add onto it is all you ! hehee. good luck!

 

[Haven]

Thanks, everyone! To answer a few questions--the house is not yet built, if we decide to purchase one we''ll get to choose the base model and then add on any customizations we''d like.

Any anecdotes about negotiating prices--base price? Updates?

The prospect of a new home is very exciting, but a bit daunting, too, I must admit. We stayed in tonight to do more research online, and now I''m getting all excited about the prospect of our future house!

 

[gailrmv]

We went through the process and were very happy overall. I would recommend going to the builder's design center and making sure you like the selections, and understand the price, for the upgrades you want. We were a little surprised at first at some of the upgrade prices but it turned out OK. Spend plenty of time looking at the selections and really think through your choices since you will be living with them a long time! I would also try to meet the building supervisor for your neighborhood. This person's attention to detail will affect the quality of your experience. We were lucky, ours was great and the process was pretty much a breeze.

Look carefully at the builders other homes/neighborhoods and make sure you like what you see in terms of the overall character, quality, etc.

When choosing your floor plan, see if you can walk through the same plan in an existing home. We didn't get to spend much time doing this and I wish we had spent more, although I am happy with the floorplan we got.

When choosing upgrades, go for the items that will be hard to change later on. Upgrading tile later? Flooring? To some extent, cabinets? Difficult and expensive. Changing paint color? Adding trim? Bathroom fixtures, light fixtures - Relatively easy.

Remember to budget for things like window blinds, plants (beyond what they give you), a fence, etc. Since it is a brand new house it will not come with any of these things. We spent over $2500 on window treatments and are not done yet.

I don't know much about negotiations, our builder did not negotiate much for houses where you choose everything - they negotiated more on pre-built houses but we wanted to have the choice.

Someday we may move to an older neighborhood and rehab an older house, because we love the character that comes with an established home/neighborhood. For now though, it was great to get a place exactly to our specifications and not worry about replacing old roofs, HVAC etc. It is a very easy place to live in. I love that everything in the house is something DH and I picked out, and is to our taste. The only downside: I do feel it is somewhat cookie cutter since everyone is choosing from the same pallette of choices.

Oh, one more thing, check with existing homeowners to make sure your builder stands behind their warranty. We have had a few minor things to break (typical with a new place, I think) and our builder has been great about covering those expenses no questions asked!

 

[strmrdr]

manufactured floor joist or beams are a huge no-no in my book.
In a fire they fail 10x sooner than conventional joists.
It only has too get hot enough to melt the glue and they fail.
Several firefighters have been killed going into houses using this construction and if they know about it wont go in where if they knew it was conventional they would.
They also give off toxic smoke when burned.
Just say no and demand real wood joists and beams.

 

[strmrdr]

http://www.woodaware.info/guideijoists.html

"Fire Incidents with I-Joists - Specific fire incident reports indicate that when directly exposed to fire (unprotected), the loss of strength of I-joists often occurs in conjunction with burn-through of floor sheathing. Within the I-joist itself, the web is consumed first (because of reduced mass). Once the web is consumed, the bottom flange is no longer attached to the joist and falls from the system. Numerous fire incidents have been reported where the only remaining structural components in the floor system were the top flange and floor sheathing. The resulting floor systems, while remaining intact, had over 12" of deflection. Similarly, many reports indicate that firefighters either felt a floor become “soft” or “spongy” or visually observed deflection and exited the structure."

 

[strmrdr]

http://www.wsafc.org/default.asp?deptid=1&com=news&pressID=1688

"Firefighters put their lives on the line day in and day out, but now there''s a new hazard that''s putting them even more at risk.
It''s a type of floor construction that burns and falls apart faster than traditional floors, and it''s found in more than half of all new homes. The structural components often burn through so quickly, firefighters can''t get out in time and end up falling right through the floor."

"Our experience is the manufactured flooring systems do prematurely fail even after they''ve experienced a small volume or small duration of fire,"

 

[diamondfan]

Also make sure you make as few changes as possible as change orders are budget killers.

If you want to upgrade from the builder choices the costs will of course increase, but the builder choices are usually pretty cruddy unless he is high end, but even then the choices are not typically that great. That is where they make a lot of money, because they know that you will want a lot more upgrades on the finishes so they show the stuff that is just so so and often the models have much nicer finishes. They are tricky that way!

 

[lyra]

Well, it''s great to move into a brand new house, but expect delays on things and long lists of snags to be fixed. I think I vaguely recall running after the site foreman''s car yelling "I thought you said *insert name of big builder* was a QUALITY builder!!!

Yep, I actually did that. Was it the fact that we had no kitchen doors for 8 weeks, or that the air conditioning unit was broken the first day we moved in on a record heat/humidity day? Honestly, I can''t totally remember, but I know that guy learned to hate me on sight.

It can be pretty stressful. Plus to be honest, you end up putting in a lot of money on things like landscaping and repainting, fencing, and replacing fixtures that are not up to par with your tastes necessarily. I''d much prefer to move into a 3 year old home where everything like that was done. But it''s different for every case I suppose. Good luck. Haggle a lot!

 

[Haven]

Thanks, everyone! These are some really good tips.

FI isn''t excited about the community of new construction homes, so we''re actually looking at some older homes. The new community is VERY subdivision-y, one house after the other, and each house only sits on about a quarter of an acre of land, which is small for the area (and price). HOWEVER, there is another builder offering a few 1 to 2 acre lots in an older neighborhood that we''re going to look at.

Lyra--After looking at all the upgrades and changes we would prefer, I started to think the same as you--perhaps we should buy a few-years-old house that already has those upgrades in it.

Homeowners--thank you! I''m sure I''ll have many more questions as we narrow down our search!

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Also find out the HOA fees and regulations before you buy. Some newer communities are VERY strict and expensive.

 

[gailrmv]

Haven - it's such a tough call. When you get a new construction home, everything's yours from day one. Nobody else's grime in the bathtub, etc etc. If you like the selections through the builder, you can choose everything to your taste and customize features to what you want and will use.

On the other hand with an older home you can get more charm, more land, an established neighborhood, and maybe more value for your money. You just either have to live with some things that you wouldn't have picked or go through the hassle and expense of updates.

I've done both now and am happy where I am - but when and if we move again, I think I would get an older home with lots of charm in a great neighborhood and do a lot of upgrading/renovations BEFORE I move in! Or, a new construction home in an established neighborhood.

Like with any big decisions there are pros and cons to both options and neither is perfect.

Good luck and keep us posted!

ETA I am sorry to hear Lyra that your experience was so stressful! I guess we were lucky but ours was not that way at all. We were stressing trying to finalize our selections and priorize the upgrades to stay within budget, but once we did that, we had minimal snags and the house was actually ready a month early! I credit the building supervisor for our neighborhood, he kept on top of everything and fixed numerous little things before they became big issues. We had an independent inspection and he found almost nothing at all wrong! So the process was easy. The only regrets I have are a couple of options I wish we had bought, and, not having the charm of an established neighborhood. We don't have a lot of land but we also don't have a lot of time so in a way it is good to have less yardwork to do

 

[chiefneil]

I''ve bought new construction a couple times, so I''ll share a little of what I''ve learned. First regarding quality - talk to the neighbors who''ve been living in their homes for a while to get their opinion not only on quality, but how responsive the builder is to complaints and warranty claims.

Second, check with the builder to see if they have any objection to you hiring an independent inspector, and verify that they will fix/address concerns/defects found by them. Then go and hire either a home inspector or a professional structural engineer, or both. Have the engineer inspect major phases such as foundation prep (possibly also a soil analysis), foundation pour, framing, sheathing, wrap and window flashing, etc. Inspectors typically offer a 2-part inspection, once at framing and again at close - do both.

Don''t close or move in until all your items are fixed. Or check with your neighbors to see if the builder actually fixes things after closing.

Regarding options, that''s where they make their money. Try to keep options to around 10% of the base price. The markup is ridiculous, so if money is tight you can wait for easily-changed things like flooring to do yourself after closing.

Oh, add 3-6 months to whatever build-time estimate they give you. Good luck!

 

[Miranda]

Ditto what everybody else has said. We have owned two new tract homes and both times have been perfect for us. Aside from construction quality another thing to keep in mind is cost. Upgrades can be pretty pricey through the builder, but, so can tearing something out that is a standard feature in the home and replacing it. Then there''s paint, furniture, window coverings, etc. .25 of an acre seems HUGE to me (So Cal girl here)...Will the entire yard need to be planted? I know bare bones, basic yards around here start at $50,000 (yes, I know we''re getting reemed). We love new homes and are willing to spend the extra money to do it our way, but, it''s not for everyone. Happy house hunting!!!

 

[pearcrazy]

Our last home was a new construction home. We hired an inspector right around our 1 year anniversary (when the final punch list items were to be turned in) to help us find any problems that we wanted addressed and fixed by the builder before the warranty expired. We paid him $400 to inspect the house and he found a couple of major problems and several minor fixes. The builder was very annoyed but he was obligated to fix them all under the terms of his contract.

 

[jcrow]

we moved into our new construction home in april of this year. it was a slightly stressful time, but looking back i enjoyed it. it's our first home and we learned a ton!

i suggest getting a home binder to keep all of your papers/selections/etc. we had ONE meeting with the "decorator" / builder and we had to make all of our choices AT THAT MEETING, and i didn't know that before going into the meeting! what i did do right was to find out prior to the meeting what company they worked with for each thing - doors, door hardware, light fixtures, faucets, floors, etc. and i also found out the builder's budget for each item. from there we were able to upgrade or subtract as needed and spend what we had set aside for upgrades in the best way possible and in time for the builder's deadline, which is always in little or NO time to make a decision.

try to find out exactly what they do for everything, as in the final look. for instance, the builder did beveling on the mirrors in the bathrooms. i really didn't care for the look and asked them not to do it, which saved use a few hundred dollars. that money was used elsewhere for stuff we did want. and the only reason we new about the beveled mirrors was by touring another house in the neighborhood that was being built.

we also found out from our neighbor that we could save hundreds by cutting out the landscaping. fine with us! they put in pretty crappy shrubs that we would have replaced anyway. but, because we new going in knowing we didn't have to do landscaping, again we were able to put this money elsewhere.

just stay on top of the builders. make sure you document everything. for instance, when we picked out our appliances, i faxed over the information (they didn't do email). this way i had a hard copy of our choices.

oh, and if it's in you, research everything.

eta: and from our experience, since it's a new home the builder doesn't go down on the price of the house. nor do they pay closing costs. but, in some cases you can negotiate things like X amount for upgrades.

 

[perry]

By and large I would not be interesed in a recently constructed house - unless I really knew who built it and how.

Contractors use the cheapest methods and materials and these houses will show problems in 1 to 2 decades that you will not be happy with.

Look at houses built in the 50''s to early 60''s. Then look at houses built in the late 80''s and early 90''s. The earlier built houses generally will all look much better because the walls arn''t sagging and a dozen other things (even the door hardware is liklyier to be in better shape). I''m betting that most of the houses built in my area in the late 80''s to now don''t even last 50 years without a major rehabilitation....

My brother on the west cost tells me the same thing about condition of the buildings and age. he also went with an older house.

If building - I''d use the foam formed concrete wall system for strenght and insulation, and work from there. I''d really make sure that all structural elements were built really solid and good walls and floors were errected. That cost money, but...

So something to consider. You really need to look more than skin deep for a house if you want the looks to last.

Perry