Buyer beware
I am sorry for having to laugh out load and giggle constintly, but. Buyer beware is an old adage that definately applies. Especially when you spend the type of money that the over priced houseing market is asking for cheap, shoddy work. In a market where the developer/contractor has tied the hands of the buyer from any recourse to the lack of any workmanship/quality to the product. The buyer definately needs to use a little common sense in the purchase. This means getting a respectable inspector, doing a self inspection, and questioning the contractor on any thing, I mean anything that appears funny.
[from 9 news denver]
Builder going bankrupt, homeowners on their own
WESTMINSTER – Neumann Homes, the builder of the Village at Harmony Park and three other local developments, is going under. People living in those communities are now wondering what will happen to half-built eyesores in their neighborhoods.
Neumann, based in Chicago, is also the builder behind Mountain Shadows in Firestone, NeuTowne in Parker and Serenity Ridge in Aurora.
The company has declared its intention to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
That is a big problem for Lori Hartman who lives at Harmony Park in Westminster.
She recalls the day her problems began.
"We heard water dripping," Hartman said. "It was raw sewage in the light fixtures."
The backup from her plumbing was leaking from the ceiling and soaking into the carpets. Plumbers told her that construction debris was blocking the pipes.
Hartman says Neumann Homes agreed to pay for repairs and then the company stopped answering its phones.
"When you call their corporate office, it tells you to just stay on the line and wait for the next available person. Nobody ever answers," she said.
Even the vice president of the Harmony Park Homeowners Association, Glenn Potter, says he can't get his phone calls returned.
"They all want to build a house and get your money and after that, it's kind of your problem," said Potter.
There are several homes at Harmony Park that are only partially complete.
Jena Sautter pointed at one of the homes across from her own.
"That house doesn't have a roof on it," she said. "Can it last through the winter without falling down completely?"
Sautter says her biggest concern is for her neighbors who just moved into their homes. Neumann Homes offers a comprehensive one-year warranty that Sautter worries is now moot.
"There's no way they're ever going to get any help doing any warranty work," she said. "And there was always a lot of stuff in the houses that needed to be fixed."
[ Sewage leaking in the roof over the living room? Homes unfinished, no warrenty work? LMAO. This is too much. For those who have worked in and around the houseing market have seen this coming and going for over ten years now. State legislation, pushed by developers to keep them off the hook for shoddy work is the law. Watching these homes go up in what seems overnite. One could not help but ask the question .... where is the quality in this? The answer, simple. There was no quality. With developers hireing socalled reputable contractors. Contractors that have been for years laying off or fireing competant skilled laborers in favor of ILLEGALS, (yes thats right illegals) many construction workers had to find new careers as they were being forced out of an industry. Why? Again simple answer ... profiet for the general contractor and developer.
By hireing illegals and letting go American workers, the profiet margin shot up through the roof. Fileing 1099 forms on the illegals and calling them subcontractors, taxes are not paid by the company and shuffled over to those who are ignorant of the law or more then willing to continue to break the law and not file. Not having to carry any insurance plans other then workmans comp, and in many cases not even carring that for the illegals, money just goes straight into the bank and in the pockets of the developers. The developers who are also fighting against enforceing the law on immigration
Now I am not saying that all of these illegals are poor craftsman as I have worked with many over the years and found some of thier work to be excellant, while on the other hand a larger percentage are just going through the motions, collecting wages and not careing if what they do stays standing of falls.
Developers and general contractors who are reputable seem to be easy to find or are they really? Many have large well known names. Have built large and well to do houseing areas. Yet on second inspection left behind lots of problems.
In a rush to purchase a home buyers need only blame themselves for this folly. Taking the word of a slick real estate agent on the quality of the home being looked at. While depending on the inspection of county code inspectors. Many of which are not qualified to inspect your shoe laces to see if they are tied or not.
My advice is simple. If you are planning to buy a home, you have rights and the morgage lender has rights to protect their investment. USE THEM DUMMY! Have an independant inspector look the property over before signing the contract. Also put on a pair of old jeans and a comfy shirt. Then accompany the inspector on his look see.
Start with geting a little dirty and going under the house, look at the foundation. Is it settleing? Is it cracked or falling apart from cheap concrete. Look at the floor. Are the joices straight and set properly. See if the electrical is in conduit or not. Are the electrical outlets attached to the wall studs and not just sitting in the dry wall like so many apartments. Check out the small details. It is as simple as flushing the toilet with a little food coloring in it to see if there are leaks. Drop an amonia/smalling salt down the stool and take a wiff around the house. Do you smell it in the wall somewhere?
Take a shovel with you and dig around the outside of the foundation. Yes a little physical effort but dig down a couple feet. Check to see that there is either a french drain in place and that water proofing has been placed on the foundation.
Get a ladder and look at the soffet and facia on the roof. Is it screwed or nailed in. Is it pulling loose, or not even attached every two feet.
It only cost a couple of dollars to get a small level. See if the window sills are level, is the floor level. Spill a glass of water on the kitchen floor. Does it run somewhere or puddle where spilt (please clean it up though ok).
Do the doors to the house open and close to all the rooms, do they stick at any point. Do they swing closed by themselves. This may indicate that they are not installed properly or that the door frame is not plume.
Simple things like this may seem time consuming and a waste of time. Yet after you sign the contract like those who have bought without checking first. Can become very expensive problems in the near future for a home owner.
Its like buying a car. You drive it first and look under the hood right? So look the home over first, closely and do a simple internet check on the contractor. ASK FOR A LIST OF PRIOR BUILT HOMES AND SATISFIED OWNERS. Any self respecting contractor will be more then happy to provide this. That is if he stands behind his work.]
SO BUYER BEWARE.
[from 9 news denver]
Builder going bankrupt, homeowners on their own
WESTMINSTER – Neumann Homes, the builder of the Village at Harmony Park and three other local developments, is going under. People living in those communities are now wondering what will happen to half-built eyesores in their neighborhoods.
Neumann, based in Chicago, is also the builder behind Mountain Shadows in Firestone, NeuTowne in Parker and Serenity Ridge in Aurora.
The company has declared its intention to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
That is a big problem for Lori Hartman who lives at Harmony Park in Westminster.
She recalls the day her problems began.
"We heard water dripping," Hartman said. "It was raw sewage in the light fixtures."
The backup from her plumbing was leaking from the ceiling and soaking into the carpets. Plumbers told her that construction debris was blocking the pipes.
Hartman says Neumann Homes agreed to pay for repairs and then the company stopped answering its phones.
"When you call their corporate office, it tells you to just stay on the line and wait for the next available person. Nobody ever answers," she said.
Even the vice president of the Harmony Park Homeowners Association, Glenn Potter, says he can't get his phone calls returned.
"They all want to build a house and get your money and after that, it's kind of your problem," said Potter.
There are several homes at Harmony Park that are only partially complete.
Jena Sautter pointed at one of the homes across from her own.
"That house doesn't have a roof on it," she said. "Can it last through the winter without falling down completely?"
Sautter says her biggest concern is for her neighbors who just moved into their homes. Neumann Homes offers a comprehensive one-year warranty that Sautter worries is now moot.
"There's no way they're ever going to get any help doing any warranty work," she said. "And there was always a lot of stuff in the houses that needed to be fixed."
[ Sewage leaking in the roof over the living room? Homes unfinished, no warrenty work? LMAO. This is too much. For those who have worked in and around the houseing market have seen this coming and going for over ten years now. State legislation, pushed by developers to keep them off the hook for shoddy work is the law. Watching these homes go up in what seems overnite. One could not help but ask the question .... where is the quality in this? The answer, simple. There was no quality. With developers hireing socalled reputable contractors. Contractors that have been for years laying off or fireing competant skilled laborers in favor of ILLEGALS, (yes thats right illegals) many construction workers had to find new careers as they were being forced out of an industry. Why? Again simple answer ... profiet for the general contractor and developer.
By hireing illegals and letting go American workers, the profiet margin shot up through the roof. Fileing 1099 forms on the illegals and calling them subcontractors, taxes are not paid by the company and shuffled over to those who are ignorant of the law or more then willing to continue to break the law and not file. Not having to carry any insurance plans other then workmans comp, and in many cases not even carring that for the illegals, money just goes straight into the bank and in the pockets of the developers. The developers who are also fighting against enforceing the law on immigration
Now I am not saying that all of these illegals are poor craftsman as I have worked with many over the years and found some of thier work to be excellant, while on the other hand a larger percentage are just going through the motions, collecting wages and not careing if what they do stays standing of falls.
Developers and general contractors who are reputable seem to be easy to find or are they really? Many have large well known names. Have built large and well to do houseing areas. Yet on second inspection left behind lots of problems.
In a rush to purchase a home buyers need only blame themselves for this folly. Taking the word of a slick real estate agent on the quality of the home being looked at. While depending on the inspection of county code inspectors. Many of which are not qualified to inspect your shoe laces to see if they are tied or not.
My advice is simple. If you are planning to buy a home, you have rights and the morgage lender has rights to protect their investment. USE THEM DUMMY! Have an independant inspector look the property over before signing the contract. Also put on a pair of old jeans and a comfy shirt. Then accompany the inspector on his look see.
Start with geting a little dirty and going under the house, look at the foundation. Is it settleing? Is it cracked or falling apart from cheap concrete. Look at the floor. Are the joices straight and set properly. See if the electrical is in conduit or not. Are the electrical outlets attached to the wall studs and not just sitting in the dry wall like so many apartments. Check out the small details. It is as simple as flushing the toilet with a little food coloring in it to see if there are leaks. Drop an amonia/smalling salt down the stool and take a wiff around the house. Do you smell it in the wall somewhere?
Take a shovel with you and dig around the outside of the foundation. Yes a little physical effort but dig down a couple feet. Check to see that there is either a french drain in place and that water proofing has been placed on the foundation.
Get a ladder and look at the soffet and facia on the roof. Is it screwed or nailed in. Is it pulling loose, or not even attached every two feet.
It only cost a couple of dollars to get a small level. See if the window sills are level, is the floor level. Spill a glass of water on the kitchen floor. Does it run somewhere or puddle where spilt (please clean it up though ok).
Do the doors to the house open and close to all the rooms, do they stick at any point. Do they swing closed by themselves. This may indicate that they are not installed properly or that the door frame is not plume.
Simple things like this may seem time consuming and a waste of time. Yet after you sign the contract like those who have bought without checking first. Can become very expensive problems in the near future for a home owner.
Its like buying a car. You drive it first and look under the hood right? So look the home over first, closely and do a simple internet check on the contractor. ASK FOR A LIST OF PRIOR BUILT HOMES AND SATISFIED OWNERS. Any self respecting contractor will be more then happy to provide this. That is if he stands behind his work.]
SO BUYER BEWARE.
