Just One of Those Days

[BamaTJ]

Guys, don't ever build a house, it is hardest thing the wife and I have ever done. Since the sub-prime **** fell apart, they have made it hard as **** to get a loan. I have great credit (Like 800) and a debt to income of less than 30% and it has been a paperwork nightmare. We close and move on Friday and it has been terrible.

They cleaned the house today and I went over to look and I noticed a huge 24" scratch on the front of the 2k fridge we have. It has not been there until the last 2 days. The fridge and washer/dryer were not part of our appliance package, but we paid extra and bought them at the same time. They delivered them with everything else, and have sat there for over a month (applicance company was supposed to make 2 deliveres but the fawked up and the builder did not send them back). The builder basically told us tough **** and that it was our problem. I have never had more heated phone calls or interactions with anybody in my life as a I did this evening. Jen was in tears and we were ready to walk. They ended up agreeing the fix the fawk up, but it took 2 hours of yelling and bitching for them to do the right thing. This week has sucked and will only get worse, man it just sucks to always feel like you have to fight for what is yours. I guess today that is just the way it is, the old school values are just lost. They are really nice people, but they don't ever admit when they are at fault. We have had a ton of overages because of poor information or miscommunicatons with them, this just adds to the list.

 

[Cole]

Sucks to hear, but it will all be worth it when its finally said and done. Just think about sitting on the back porch having a drink with the wife. Dude your house is bangen, I only hope to have a house that nice one day.

 

[BamaTJ]

Yeah I keep telling myself that, but damn it has been a long, hard road. I will never BUILD a house again, I hope we live here forever.

 

[wngrog]

Julie and I did this when we first got married. We bought a 3 acre lot in the middle of Keller texas where regular lots go for 2x what we paid for the land.

We worked like dogs getting the land ready to build, built way, way too big and hated every last minute of the process. We went $100.000 over budget. Yes, that is right, $100.000 OVER. I was so unhappy with the way it turned out. I knew where every **** up was in the house.

Looking back, the house was awesome. I was nit-picking because I was pissed that it went over so bad.

Luckily, Julie got a promotion and we were able to rid ourselves of that albatrose.

I was such a dumb-ass, non-planning asshole.....when we figured all of the payments out, we had the principle, Ins and interest all figured out.

I forgot to even consider the property taxes.

One year after moving in, my HOUSEHOLD exempt taxes on the house were $16,000 a year.

The good LORD blessed us by giving us an out on that huge mistake.

I tell you this to say....I have been there brother. I have been there. You will survive and I look very forward to seeing this manision!

 

[Bones]

My parents lived in the same house for over 30 years. Then decided to build a new ranch. Moved in almost 3 years ago and are finally paying plumbers and HVAC folks to come in and fix **** so it works right. It was a headache for them also. mainly they had no business doing this as they knew nothing about the process IMO.

Hope this Friday comes soon and you two can laugh about this in short order.

 

[kid rok]

Little advise on building. My wife and I renovated one house, we went 30-40k over budget, but that was because of my wife not sticking to the cheap ****. Our current house went pretty smooth. we stayed away from the build the whole time. I think I looked at it twice the whole time it was being built. We didn't even move in till 3 months after we closed. Heres the trick, my wife is a realtor and I'm a contractor. let the subs work do their job without micro managing and they work better. Keep pressure off the builder during the building process and he works better. Have all your wants and needs in the contract spelled out and be specific. You will have a walk through before you close or before the CO. Then you have another after the one year mark. Thats where you can get um. A good realtor can make a huge difference when buying and building a house. They know what to look for and how to spell out the contract to get the builder to do the rigt thing. Plus builders are not going to want to get a bad name with a realtor that's big in the community.

 

[bigsilly]

Matt, like I told you when we talked the other day, anyone will tell you building a house with your spouse will test your marriage more than anything you will ever do. My wife and I may disagree at times, but when we built our house we had major fights. In the end it is all worth it, and you have survived it. You will look back on it in a year and laugh about some of the things you fought about. Hang in there man, you have the hard part over. Looking forward to staying there in a little over a week.

 

[P]

Thats why Im buyin a double wide with 70's puke green kenmore **** abound. The things you own only end up owning you ! laughing1

 

[InDaShop]

..........., man it just sucks to always feel like you have to fight for what is yours. I guess today that is just the way it is, the old school values are just lost.

Yes no truer words spoken.

Sorry to hear Matt, we'll all make it better next week when we are there and stroking your cock over how big and nice your house is. I'm fawkin' envious at this point. The wife and I plan on building in 5 years and I'm not looking forward to it at all.

Have all your wants and needs in the contract spelled out and be specific.

Do you have any advice for us rook's on this? Its hard to ask for something when you don't know the options. Like what are some things to make sure you have in a contract?

 

[blacksheep10]

goody. I'm building late this year. can't wait.

 

[BamaTJ]

We talked to my parents for a long time about it last night and they had similar happenings 8 years ago when they built. I think it is just the nature of contractors and builders. We built a house that was bigger than we need so we can grow into it and not have to do this again, I am actually very thankful we did that after the process of building. Our builder is a family company, they own the WHOLE neighborhood and don't use realtors to manage the sales. They only build custom homes, no menus to choose from so we had to pick out EVERYTHING. A lot of the details have been verbal or handshake, but all the major stuff is on paper. We went 35k over, some on stuff we added or upgraded, other on allowance overages that we had no idea of until months after the fact. Frustrating to the say the least. Builder called me this morning and apologized for the actions of his mother, and said they would fix it no problem. Great, too bad it took heated phone calls and hangups and a bunch of tears from my wife to make that happen.

For you guys that are going to build, put EVERYTHING in writing and try to do as much as possible under the initial contract. Spend a lot of time planning and thinking about the allowances they give you, up them on the front end if you think they will not cut it. When you go pick out your lighting or plumbing allowances, get it itemized and totaled in writing. Communication is the most important factor in the process. If you are calling and pointing out things that are missing and it is not getting fixed, put it in writing and fax or email it to make sure it is documented. Bascially, don't rely on them to do what they say they are going to do, put it all on paper and make them sign it if you have time. Our build was compounded by the fact that we are 35 minutes away from our new house, makes it hard to get over there all the time.

 

[Deep South]

I have done two and will build again next spring.

We had to fight tooth and nail for every detail and I don't look forward to doing it again.

 

[jeepchipjones]

I'm finishing up a construction law class right now, and it has been very valuable. Bottom line is, make sure you document everything, get contracts signed, have written documentation of letters you send to the contractor, etc. You always want to have a paper trail so that you can cover your ass. A handshake and a verbal agreement don't mean **** these days. A good quote to live by in the construction/design industry:
"A good deed will not go unpunished."

Don't leave yourself out to dry, b/c the guy you're dealing with may not be as reputable as yourself.

 

[Jeep Family]

I have done two and will build again next spring.

We had to fight tooth and nail for every detail and I don't look forward to doing it again.

Your new place sure did turn out nice Deep South. I know it was smaller than the last house but you have to feel good pulling up to that place everyday. I think in the long run most people who build hate the process but love the results.

 

[DavidsCJ7]

My wife and I built our house about 5 years ago. I sat down and drew out the basic floor plan that we wanted. We then took it to the architect, and let him do his thing. After that, I turned it over to my wife and let her make all the decisions. I didn't get a single headache over the deal, until I found out how much it was going to cost.

 

[bigsilly]

We went 35k over

Not real bad, usually you figure about 10% over, so I would think you are in that ballpark.

 

[BamaTJ]

Yeah that also does not include the pool which was almost as much as the overages. Sucks, but we are looking fwd to the new place. Gotta finish packing tonight, dropping a load of boxes off tommorrow afternoon.

 

[trevro99]

It was a headache for me and my wife while building our house also. We only have a little shack compared to you and Joels nice houses but I know how you feel. It made it even worse that I am in the construction business and work with subs everyday because to get the things the way we wanted I had to go out there and talk to the subs and I thought WHAT AM I AM PAYING THIS BUILDER for besides his license!

 

[kid rok]

Do you have any advice for us rook's on this? Its hard to ask for something when you don't know the options. Like what are some things to make sure you have in a contract?

Get realtor to help you, the good ones are well worth the money.