Anyone bought a new construction home?

[_ej_]

My wife and I are looking to buy a new construction home this spring. The house is already built and it just need to be finished (siding, internals, etc). Its slated to be finished by April, which is also when our lease is up.

I'm trying to figure out the best way to evaluate the builders. We toured a home they built which is mostly finished and nothing jumped out at me as far as the finish carpentry goes. The builders have been around since 1997 and I can only find 5 reviews online. All of them are negative, primarily about the builds taking longer than expected. A few had construction issues. But the builders have been around so long and there are no complaints with the BBB so I'm not sure how much stock to put in those.

Our realtor is trying to locate people who have had homes built by this contractor and see if we can tour their homes or at the very least hear some assessments from real people. Anything else I should be doing?

[TurboPablo]

Do you have any contractor friends?

[_ej_]

Do you have any contractor friends?

Nope but I've dropped a line to the people I know in the area to see if anyone has experience with these guys.

[TurboPablo]

Do you have any contractor friends?

Nope but I've dropped a line to the people I know in the area to see if anyone has experience with these guys.

Ok. If you had a friend in the trades you could take a walk through with them to determine the quality of the build.

[RyanDistortion]

Sheet rock and insulation is up already?

[Noah]

Look in the ductwork for beer cans.

[sleewell]

find a good home inspector who is not recommended by your realtor. post something on social media and see if anyone you know has experiences with this builder.

[GuitarBilly]

I've always bought old homes. My Vegas home was the newest one I owned and it was built in 1967.
My L.A. home was built in 1949 and this house in PA is from 1935. All have been updated at some point or another, obviously, but I tend to prefer older homes and I think the build quality is higher overall.

But I agree with Sleewell. Find a good home inspector and have him check the house for any potential issues. This should be in addition from the required inspection for your loan, those are usually very superficial.

[EndTime]

I've worked I hundreds of homes during construction. Typically high end custom, semi custom homes. But also typical big builder, more affordable middle class type homes. These all go thru inspections during the build. So it's pretty rare a house simply Gonna fall apart in 15-20 years. Lol.. But, if you are looking at one of these bigger sq ft type newer Box homes. Y'know, offering size over higher quality. Of course, they skimp on things like subfloor. Instead of plywood, you are getting OSB. Less insulation. Cheaper appliances, lower end carpet vinyl, roof shingles, etc etc.. But the house is still gonna be new stuff that's made to at least hold up a little while before upgrading.

And I'll also comment on working on multi million dollar homes. Some of these houses I've worked in is top tier all the way. Myself included!! But I'm always that way.

And other times, the rough construction has been alarmingly bad. And they rely on all the finish elements to shine it up. And they usually do end up looking great. But I'm in these homes during early stages and I've seen shit most homeowners really wouldn't want to know

[_ej_]

I've worked I hundreds of homes during construction. Typically high end custom, semi custom homes. But also typical big builder, more affordable middle class type homes. These all go thru inspections during the build. So it's pretty rare a house simply Gonna fall apart in 15-20 years. Lol.. But, if you are looking at one of these bigger sq ft type newer Box homes. Y'know, offering size over higher quality. Of course, they skimp on things like subfloor. Instead of plywood, you are getting OSB. Less insulation. Cheaper appliances, lower end carpet vinyl, roof shingles, etc etc.. But the house is still gonna be new stuff that's made to at least hold up a little while before upgrading.

And I'll also comment on working on multi million dollar homes. Some of these houses I've worked in is top tier all the way. Myself included!! But I'm always that way.

And other times, the rough construction has been alarmingly bad. And they rely on all the finish elements to shine it up. And they usually do end up looking great. But I'm in these homes during early stages and I've seen shit most homeowners really wouldn't want to know

What do you do?

Dude could you give me a break down of what I should ask the builder about? We're meeting with them on Saturday. This isn't a huge home and it seems well built but i don't know the right questions to ask.

This is the listing:
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1409 ... 2792_zpid/

[EndTime]

I have a Hardwood floor business. Used to work for close to a dozen builders.. now. not so much. Lol. But we still do 6-7 new homes every year..

Anyway, I'm not really sure what to ask. Cause anything that I may see in early construction that might be a little funny, is not something you are going to be able to get answer for at final inspection, or whatever. But, like I said, there's numerous inspections during construction so hopefully if there was anything the inspectors caught it. And that happens from time to time where I've seen a builder have to redo something

[RyanDistortion]

If it is new construction, you're gonna be ok as far as instant deaths are concerned. My house was a flip and the scum fucks who did the work hid crazy shit behind dry wall like "splices" not in junction boxes...behind walls...and plastic tubing and hose clamps over broken copper heating lines.

I got my house for a seeming steal and I had to renovate REAL quick. Luckily, insurance covered the flood damage from the broken pipe so I could afford it all.

[GuitarBilly]

Also, in before EJ 3D prints the new house

[_ej_]

Also, in before EJ 3D prints the new house

[Pepi]

Look in the ductwork for beer cans.

Or the crews pissing in the crawl space Talk about WWIII on that one

[sleewell]

looks like a nice house bro, best of luck!

[Marc G]

I can't really give advice on what to look for with general contractors and build quality in the US.... construction in the Islands is fairly different due to hurricanes etc, so what I would think is totally under built might be fine for your area..... what I will say is if the only negative complaint the contractors have is that the houses were not completed on time, that's not a big deal IMO.... construction rarely finishes on time in my experience... so I wouldn't hold that against anyone.....

[redeyes]

The only thing that pops into my head is cheap chinese drywall/wiring that might be used on modern houses.

[JSutter]

Find out what type of insulation was used. Heating and cooling is a huge living expense.

[ajaxlepinski]

Sheet rock and insulation is up already?

THIS!!!!

If you can view the house, before they put up the sheetrock, you (and hopefully a contractor bro) can view the plumbing and electric.
Builders ALWAYS skimp on the parts you can't see.

When my y g/f's house was built in the 1960's, the contractor incorrectly installed copper, baseboard heating pipes directly to the underside of the floor. When the new contractor updated the floors, they put a nail through a pipe that caused a lot of $$$ in mold remediation and reconstruction. I've also seen pipes laid out where crown molding gets nailed in place.
Electricians do the same thing... they hang wire in places where it's not supposed to be and you definitely don't want to hit a wire with a nail.

A few years ago, there was a home building boon in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania.
Many of the homes were built without any insulation in the walls... and they get lots of snow in the Pocono Mountains.

[VTM]

Sheet rock and insulation is up already?

THIS!!!!

If you can view the house, before they put up the sheetrock, you (and hopefully a contractor bro) can view the plumbing and electric.
Builders ALWAYS skimp on the parts you can't see.

When my y g/f's house was built in the 1960's, the contractor incorrectly installed copper, baseboard heating pipes directly to the underside of the floor. When the new contractor updated the floors, they put a nail through a pipe that caused a lot of $$$ in mold remediation and reconstruction. I've also seen pipes laid out where crown molding gets nailed in place.
Electricians do the same thing... they hang wire in places where it's not supposed to be and you definitely don't want to hit a wire with a nail.

A few years ago, there was a home building boon in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania.
Many of the homes were built without any insulation in the walls... and they get lots of snow in the Pocono Mountains.

Both of the homes I've owned had no wall insulation, but they were built in 1908 and 1947. But paying for a new home with no wall insulation in a cold climate?

[GuitarBilly]

Sheet rock and insulation is up already?

THIS!!!!

If you can view the house, before they put up the sheetrock, you (and hopefully a contractor bro) can view the plumbing and electric.
Builders ALWAYS skimp on the parts you can't see.

When my y g/f's house was built in the 1960's, the contractor incorrectly installed copper, baseboard heating pipes directly to the underside of the floor. When the new contractor updated the floors, they put a nail through a pipe that caused a lot of $$$ in mold remediation and reconstruction. I've also seen pipes laid out where crown molding gets nailed in place.
Electricians do the same thing... they hang wire in places where it's not supposed to be and you definitely don't want to hit a wire with a nail.

A few years ago, there was a home building boon in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania.
Many of the homes were built without any insulation in the walls... and they get lots of snow in the Pocono Mountains.

Both of the homes I've owned had no wall insulation, but they were built in 1908 and 1947. But paying for a new home with no wall insulation in a cold climate?

Yeah that is weird and it would be a huge lawsuit too, PA build code mandates insulation on all new construction. How much insulation depends on the county, PA is divided in 3 climate zones. I believe Lehigh county is on the same zone as my county.. If so, the code is R49/R17/R30 (roof/wall/floor). I just had my house updated to code so I researched this. But new construction has to meet these minimums or it won't pass state inspection.

[JerEvil]

Our house was new construction. We built in 2016. It was Richmond who built it. We have had no issues so far...

[Sasquatch]

my house was new construction. came with a 1-year warranty. just go look/research other jobs by the builder.

new house smell > new car smell

[ajaxlepinski]

Sheet rock and insulation is up already?

THIS!!!!

If you can view the house, before they put up the sheetrock, you (and hopefully a contractor bro) can view the plumbing and electric.
Builders ALWAYS skimp on the parts you can't see.

When my y g/f's house was built in the 1960's, the contractor incorrectly installed copper, baseboard heating pipes directly to the underside of the floor. When the new contractor updated the floors, they put a nail through a pipe that caused a lot of $$$ in mold remediation and reconstruction. I've also seen pipes laid out where crown molding gets nailed in place.
Electricians do the same thing... they hang wire in places where it's not supposed to be and you definitely don't want to hit a wire with a nail.

A few years ago, there was a home building boon in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania.
Many of the homes were built without any insulation in the walls... and they get lots of snow in the Pocono Mountains.

Both of the homes I've owned had no wall insulation, but they were built in 1908 and 1947. But paying for a new home with no wall insulation in a cold climate?

Yeah that is weird and it would be a huge lawsuit too, PA build code mandates insulation on all new construction. How much insulation depends on the county, PA is divided in 3 climate zones. I believe Lehigh county is on the same zone as my county.. If so, the code is R49/R17/R30 (roof/wall/floor). I just had my house updated to code so I researched this. But new construction has to meet these minimums or it won't pass state inspection.

When an area become a popular location to build homes, dozens of new contractors pop up and go out of business as soon as the construction slows down. Five, ten or twenty years later, when someone finally tears down a wall, exposing a lack of insulation or illegal wiring, there is no one to sue and the home owner is stuck with the cost of repairs.