Any one who knows me knows that I don't like the quality (or lack of) in new construction homes. I think it's a shame how these builders take advantage of so many new home buyers. Now having said that, I can tell you that since the TRCC has put out their "Performance Guidelines", the quality of new homes have really tanked to levels I never thought possible!
Since Jan., we have inspected 5 new homes with cracks running all the way through the slab. The Builders response? "It's normal" or "It meets TRCC guidelines". HOGWASH!
I said it before, I'll say it again. If you buy a new home without getting it inspected, your partially responsible for any troubles that pop up. In this day and age where information is only a few keystrokes away, there is no reason someone shouldn't know the pitfalls of buying a new home!
I do have to give it to the Builders. They are getting very, very good at talking people out of inspections. The best of them is the Builder with the same name as a high ranking politician in the State of Texas.
What's sad is that many Real Estate Agents go along with this and advise their Clients that they don't need an inspection on newly constructed homes. That's a sure sign of an inexperienced agent or one who just wants to rush you to the closing table.
Just take a look at a few of the pictures I've uploaded here for you.
I'm telling you guys and gals now, it's going to get a lot worse before quality in new construction gets better. As long as our elected politicians would rather suck of the money tit of the Building industry rather than do the work we send them to Austin to do, this is what we can expect.
My hat is off to Carol Keetan Strayhorn for actually standing up to the TRCC and publically calling it what it really is, "A Builder Protection Agency". She gets my vote for that act alone.
I"m Not Done!
Do you know that most builders do not consider a detached garage as part of your home even when it's connected by a breezeway? Why? I guess it's because they're so poorly built!
The Building Code does not exclude Garages from the code, the Texas Dept. of Insurance consideres your garage a part of the home, State, county and local governments consider it part of your home for tax purposes. In short, everyone except your Builder considers it part of the home.
Recently we had a Gentleman call and tell us their Garage ceiling collapsed on his wife. Due to the legal battle with the builder that is sure to follow, I can't post the pictures yet. Let me just tell you, it wasn't pretty.
See picture #3? This 2nd story wall was over 3 inches out of plumb. Now this is a Builder that
swears up and down that "Their" third party inspectors are better than anyone. Apparently their third party inspection inspectors do not carry tape measures. How did the builder try and fix this? By using a freakin' backhoe to try and PUSH it back in. The scary part was that they actually did move it about an inch and a half according to the buyers. Unfortunately they already had the sheetrock up and I could not tell which part of the buildings frame gave up that inch and a half.I could go on and on, you know that. But I'm going to leave it here for the moment.
Remember, it's your right to know what you're buying. Don't let anyone talk you out of an inspection by an inspection company of your choice.
