With the recent good news about how New Home Construction and Sales are on the rise, many new homebuilders are staking out a ‘claim’ in the South Texas market. San Antonio has fared well from a new construction standpoint.
Now the bad news… With a decreased new home inventory comes a now familiar pattern; the influx of inexperienced homebuilders and those experienced in taking advantage of people.
Remember 2007? There were over 28,000 homebuilders in Texas (those that bothered to register with that dismal failure of a state agency known as the Texas Residential Construction Commission).
Texas is the playground of the nation for shoddy homebuilders. Texas homebuilding legislation is designed to confuse, confound, stifle, and punish homeowners who try to pursue homebuilders who produce a shoddy product.
When the homebuilding market crashed, so did many of those builders.
So did many of the homes they built.
Well, guess what? Too many of them will be back, operating under different names, building nightmares for homebuyers. They will rip-off young homebuyers, older homebuyers, military homebuyers, etc. These builders simply don’t discriminate.
Fortunately, if you are willing to do your homework there are at least some avenues for protecting yourself.
Have your prospective builder fill out a notarized affidavit listing all names that they have operated under (DBA, LLC, Corporations, Partnerships, etc.)
Have them list all demand letters that they have received, lawsuits, mediations, arbitrations, etc. that they have been involved in. (hire an attorney to research your prospective builder once you believe you have narrowed your search to a prospective builder, and to scrutinize the contract you intend to sign).
Ask for certified copies of any warranties the builder claims to offer. Read them carefully. Warranties are often a minefield of costs to you when there is a dispute.
Hire an independent Home Inspector to inspect the house as it is being built. It is far easier to insist on major structural and mechanical corrections during construction than it is after the house is completed and your builder already has your money.
There are many competent homebuilders in the San Antonio and surrounding areas. There are good people out there that want to build a quality product. Don’t be complacent and find yourself married to a horrible homebuilder.
