Hi all...
Wife and I saved up enough to buy our first home. Southwest Florida, prices in the area are crazy, like most places right now, and old (10-11yr)construction was maybe 20k cheaper than buying new, and most still had water utility assessments due to the county in the tune of 20-25k. We found a 4 bed+den a little below our price max, in a centrally located, no-outlet neighborhood. We signed a contract that day on the house, admittedly falling prey to high pressure 'we aren't building any more of this model in 2017' tactics.
My wife, myself, and a friend went to view the house two days ago and a man approached us and identified himself as the neighbor across the street. He said that they poured the slab at 6pm and at dawn the next day (7/8a), they were driving a forklift on the slab to drop off the exterior wall bricks. He also said that another neighbor was watching and didn't see them compact the fill dirt with anything before pouring the slab, no bull dozer or ground stamper or whatever it's called or anything. The electrical panel they installed is rusted and painted over, clearly a used panel. My mom believes the neighbor is trying to buy the house, but they have a VERY nice home directly across from us that has an adjacent empty lot next to it and then there are several empty lots in the area. I believe the neighbor was being genuine, concerned that he'd make a friend out of whoever lived there and just wanted to let them know ahead of time rather than having it on his mind.
Unfortunately, they just tiled the majority of the home and I'm unable to see the cracks myself, but the man showed us pictures of a crack that runs N/S and separates about a third of the house from the rest. It starts by the window in the master bath tub, runs through the master bathroom(pretty much right next to a toilet...), under the wall through to the kitchen, where it's underneath the stove and the dishwasher, then through the living room, continuing to the back right bedroom/den's window on the opposite side of the house that it started on. At it's thickest, the crack appears to be about 1/4in or so, about a foot past the master bath toilet. It's hard to tell the size from the images, but the placement(being so near a toilet and various drains for kitchen and master tub, etc) concerns me... I called the county building inspector, who informed me that they've never inspected the property whatsoever, it's all being done by a private engineering firm. I called the private firm and was told I would need to request the reports from the builder as they are unable to share that information with anyone but their client... It's now 24hrs+ later and I'm still waiting on the builders' construction manager to call me/email me the most recent building inspection report.
My wife and I are concerned but, being so young, are unsure of what to do. We really like the house and the location, and the builder showed us another home that was recently sold but awaiting closing and the craftsmanship/quality of work was above several of the other builders in the area. They have a 30yr roof warranty, 10yr AC, 10 yr foundation, 1yr everything else. I'm still waiting on the full warranty text, as my mom had foundation issues but her warranty wouldn't cover anything until the crack was 5/8in or thicker!!
I feel like the builder is rushing this home to get it now that it is under contract. Is it normal to put a placeholder panel in new construction until the electrician comes to actually wire it? Would a crack that runs through an entire third of the house be enough to make you walk away from it? We've been looking for three months so far and this was the first home that felt like 'home' when we walked in, you know? What are your thoughts/opinions? Would you walk from the house? I was thinking of asking the builder to pull up the tile in the master bath/maybe kitchen so I could have my own inspector take a look at it. I'm told it's normal for the county to not be involved in inspections but its concerning since... I mean what incentive does a private firm have to fail a builder who gives them a considerable amount of their yearly business? I'm hoping for some unbiased, non-emotional advice. I"m finding it's very hard to remove myself from the emotional consideration of owning my first home, having it fit all the markers we wanted in terms of space/location/layout, etc... And I'm concerned that those emotions are clouding my judgement on what should be a mostly fiscal decision based on the risks presented.
Submitted May 09, 2017 at 08:07AM by Thisismyfinalstand http://ift.tt/2puOH4p
