Last week was a first for me in 20 plus years of real estate; my clients took possession of a newly built home, and the builder met all of our expectations. When we first found the home and made an offer with a very quick possession date (10 days after conditions were to be removed).
My obvious concern was there was less than 10 days for the builder to address any deficiencies. No matter what we tried the builder would not consider a holdback. I cautioned my clients that this means you are relying on their word and reputation to get the necessary work done. In addition my clients indicated they weren’t going to have an inspection because a friend of theirs told them the city had already inspected it and the inspection fee was a waste. After some discussion my clients agreed to do an inspection.
The inspection revealed numerous items that had been missed by the builder, so the list of deficiencies that we sent to the builder was pretty long. I got a call that we couldn’t do the walkthrough until possession day so my spidey senses were acting up: "Here we go," I thought to myself.
So possession day comes and I meet with my clients to do the walkthrough and get their keys. When we arrive a trades person was there changing the locks. Shortly after we were joined by the General Manager, Site superintendant and another trades person. They were busy marking the deficiencies and taking care of fixing them as fast as they could.
I was left with the impression that they are definitely serious about their reputation and product. I know that if they weren’t then they wouldn't have gone through the efforts they did to make my clients happy. Kudos to Pacesetter and enjoy your gold star - I certainly don’t hand them out often.
Could have something to do with the fact that you have a popular blog site. Pacesetter might have known who you were.
The average Joe Blow might not get this type of treatment.
Actually they were quite surprised the buyers agent showed up. I got the feeling they were more annoyed i was even there to check on their work and the negotiations were lets just say a little strained. I dont think they had one clue who I was. I maybe wrong but 20+ years of real estate experience told me they were really interested in my clients positive experience. I have dealt with plenty of builders who have not gone anywhere close to making that kind of an effort.
Pacesetter is an amazing builder. We took possession of our new home 1 month ago and it was the most complete and stress free project yet. The entire experience was far above par for what we are used to (two other builds in the past). Pacesetter is our new standard for residential construction for too many reasons to mention.
Sounds like the experience your clients had was a breeze compared to my experience with a well known local builder. I’ll refer to them as G Homes (fictional name). G Homes cut every corner possible when they built my home last year and they are well aware of the minimum standards required by Alberta New Home Warranty. My experience from day 1 was horrible. They misrepresented the quality of their finishes, consistently did shoddy work, refused to accept a hold back for unfinished seasonal work, threatened to sue if I didn’t take early possession prior to the contract completion date, even though the house had no siding and the paint was barely dry and the lot was strewn with junk and debris. I had no sidewalks or driveway for 9 months. (the weather was the excuse the commonly used although they’ve had no problem completing their new show home in my area in a timely manner). They provided excuse after excuse why they couldn’t complete seasonal work. It took them 7 months to pour the foundation and push me into the house. It’s taken them an entire year to finish the rest of the house. They did not listen to a single word I said during the entire process. They designed the attached garage so that the downspout from the garage eaves runs right across my front sidewalk. No common sense at all. They are bunch of absolutely arrogant people who acted as if they were building their own house. Two years since signing the contract and I still don’t have a rough grade certificate so that I can complete my landscaping. They have rude warranty staff, a crude and rude building superintendent, rude office staff, a jerk for a CEO, and the list goes on and on. I’ll never buy from “G” Homes again! (Fictional Name).
Ken, it would help us all here if you could tell us the name of the builder you dealt with so we know who to avoid in the future. If you don’t want to explicitly name the builder, then how about giving us a good hint?
I bought a newly built house in 2006 and have all kinds of stories to tell as well. It was built buy a no-name numbered company who went out of business soon after to avoid any lawsuits. We finally sold it and have moved into a house built in the ’50′s and have never been happier.
I’ll never buy a new house again unless I talk to many, many people who have bought from the builder.
Gr**nb**o Homes.
That wasn’t the experience I had with pacesetter. I would definitley recommend getting a home inspection (especially before the walls are roughed in).
Aslo they took forever to fix the deficiencies. It took about six months to get my missing glass cabinet door replaced. They forgot to nail down some of the shingles and they didn’t fasten down the fan vent cover so it came loose and my roof started leaking.
Don’t get me wrong – I’m sure there are a lot of builders out there that are worse, but I imagine it doesn’t hurt to get a realtor with a popular blog.
I bet the GM knew of you Sheldon.
If I guess correctly about ‘G Homes’ I have heard they have a new captain at the helm and things should improve.
@Taraz If the builder gets cabinets from down east which many do it takes that long.
Choose a builder that is local, established and does not have a list of hits in a Google search with poor performance.
The buyer needs to be reasonable and know what is standard building practice and what isn’t. See the Alberta New Home Warranty website. Paying a bit more for a better builder is well worth it.
Margins are still very slim folks for the moment…
Possibly but i really dont think so. The main thing is my clients are very happy and for once i handed out a boquet instead of bricks.
Thanks for taking time to do so Sheldon.
You want a good house? Get a good site super. I work with a ton of a builers and that is the one constant I have found that holds true.
If your home was a ship — they would be the captain.
Cheers.