Michael Holigan: When you buy a new house you want it to be perfect. But what can you do to make sure that your house doesn't become a nightmare instead of a dream come true?
Kelly Sandlin: It was my first home, me and my son. I'm a single mom and something that I feel like I accomplished on my own.
MH: It was supposed to be a fresh start for Kelly Sandlin and her son, Christian. A new town, a new job and a new home custom built in a suburb of Dallas. Kelly lived about 100 miles away and she wasn't able to keep a close eye on the construction while the house was being built. She had to rely instead on the builder's word that everything was going according to schedule.
KS: He looked at me in the eyes with my little boy sitting right beside me and said all this to me and it just sounded so true. He said, "All these houses are going up in your neighborhood that I'm building. I'm not going anywhere. I'll be here for years. I'm just starting out here. I'll be here for you, Kelly. I'll be here." It was so...he seemed so personal.
MH: But when Kelly and the movers arrived on move-in day, the house wasn't ready. She claims the carpet wasn't in, the electrical wiring wasn't finished, there's still no insulation in the attic and the builder was nowhere to be found.
KS: I called and called and called from morning until night everybody that I could think of and he never called, he never called me back.
MH: Kelly and her son ended up sleeping in the car that night. She had to put her furniture and belongings in storage.
KS: He said it would be ready at this time. I went to move in, it wasn't ready. He backed us in a corner. We ended up having to stay in a motel for a week, my son and I. Our funds going into a new house ...with the overtures and everything else and then paying a down payment and we didn't have money to be sleeping in a hotel, you know, seven days a week.
MH: Then, late one afternoon at work she got an unexpected call from the builder who was suddenly in a big hurry.
KS: "If you just come down here and sign the papers at the title company we can close and get this thing done and you and your son can be in your house tonight." And I said, "Well, what about the walk-through, you know? Isn't there like a punch list? What about all this?" "Well, we don't have time to do that if we're gonna get you in the house tonight."
MH: She says the builder also told her that if she didn't close on the house that day she would lose her low interest, fixed rate mortgage loan and he made more promises.
KS: "Move in the house and we'll have all this stuff done in a week. You just give me a week. We'll work around your schedule and we'll get all this stuff knocked out. You can do the walk-through after you close, after you move in."
MH: Against her better judgement, she trusted the builder and closed without a walk-through.
KS: And then, that's when the nightmare started. We moved in the house and, I mean, it just...it looked wonderful on the outside.
MH: But when she took a closer look, there was trouble. Sloppy brickwork, misfit vents, rusted unfinished door jambs, rough and mishmash plaster work on the walls, badly lain linoleum in the kitchen with gouges in it and ridge underneath that one engineer says is a sign of a foundation slab that's already cracking.
KS: You can see here when I turn it on.
MH: And then there's the ceiling fan in the living room.
KS: It jiggles and clangs so fast and so loud it looks like it's going to fall out of the ceiling and it's real annoying and unsafe.
MH: There are problems in the bathroom too.
KS: You can see down here where a porcelain chip is missing out of the bathtub. The hot is cold and the cold is hot. The caulking is missing and water falls behind the tub.
MH: Where's the builder? Kelly says he's stopped returning her calls and he recently appeared on television featured in a story about a group of unhappy customers in another part of town.
So how can you avoid the type of problems that Kelly Sandlin had? Before you close on a new home, do a walk-through with the builder. Write down any items that need to be finished and a definite date on when those will be done. As you go through the house, be thorough. It's a good idea to check the most important things first.
If there are problems in any of these areas, it is probably a good idea to stand your ground and insist that they be corrected before closing. But be realistic and keep a cool head about things. Like cosmetic repairs, like retouching paint or tightening screws, can usually wait until after closing as long as you have the commitment in writing with a firm finish date.
And finally, a few tips for the cautious buyer - before you decide to buy, check the builder's record with the Better Business Bureau. This could save you a lot of headaches later. Keep your options open. Don't get backed into a corner on the closing date. Try to schedule the closing so that you have some flexibility if something goes wrong. Spend a couple of hundred dollars on a professional home inspector, just as you would if you were buying an existing home. A professional can spot problems you might never think to look for. Get a list of all the subcontractors who worked on your house. You never know when you might need to contact them. And finally, learn from the experience of others.
KS: Really look at your house inside and out. Don't just look at it and say, "It's a beautiful house, I'll take it," and then, "Where's the dotted line?" Remember, you're gonna be in that house for a long, long time - maybe for the rest of your lives and do you want to live with all these little things wrong. I don't.
Episode 51 1997 - 98 Season
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