Word of advice. Never ever have a house built
- Thread starter Pawpaw42
- Start date
I watched 2 Amish build a house in one week.
As I like to bathe in the misery of others, I'll ask for specifics. And if people cried, or got drunk and broke ****, threatened violence, etc. are always welcome additions to the tales of woe.
Have fun with this one, contracted a builder, gave him first draw for foundation and framing. He quit building and filed bankruptcy. Never did anything.
That sucks. Talk to your tax advisor and see if you can deduct any of it to at least mitigate the loss a bit.
You may have some recourse if he filed that quickly (not an attorney).
Half my job is ordering and reviewing appraisals for a community bank. Construction isn't appraising for what it costs now in west Kentucky. Lots of reasons why,. If you plan to build, have money, don't plan on equity from your land.
Half my job is ordering and reviewing appraisals for a community bank. Construction isn't appraising for what it costs now in west Kentucky. Lots of reasons why,. If you plan to build, have money, don't plan on equity from your land.
Could have been worse. He could have all your money, been half done, and have liens on everything he had done.
My new builder asks for nothing up front, he gives me invoices at end of month with work completed and when I pay them I get a lien release.
40 bucks ain't bad.
Papaw, sounds you wanted a Dollar General Store budget to build it.
Lesson learned. Don't cheap on your house.
Lien laws are way to easy to abuse. Some basically just blackmail using them. Would never build or advise anyone to build.
I don't know about building, but I know a toothless yokel from Nicholasville who will tear your house down for $20, some dog food, and a zach brown cassette tape
I didn't trash anybody, man. I know a guy who fits that description who *loves* zbb.
There a number of good rules for picking contractors.....whether it's for laying tile, building a deck, or building a house.
1. Always check a ton of references. You might even want to contact the city/county inspector or licensing office tor intomation.
2. Never pay upfront.
3. Hover over the project like crazy. The contractor "may" be decent but his new worker may not have a clue what he's doing. Or the neighborhood teenager may want to vandalize. Or someone stupid may want to steal materials at night, etc.
4. Always get itemized receipts. And get things in writing.....timelines, etc.
5. Never be afraid to tell them to take a hike.
1. Always check a ton of references. You might even want to contact the city/county inspector or licensing office tor intomation.
2. Never pay upfront.
3. Hover over the project like crazy. The contractor "may" be decent but his new worker may not have a clue what he's doing. Or the neighborhood teenager may want to vandalize. Or someone stupid may want to steal materials at night, etc.
4. Always get itemized receipts. And get things in writing.....timelines, etc.
5. Never be afraid to tell them to take a hike.
No chance its Ball Homes.
Anyone going belly up in this market is truly doing some shady stuff.
My comments as one who has a fair background in construction (albeit not a builder):
1. Agreed, best defense is to do business with a good company, there are bad apples out there, but most are reputable
2. No way - No chance in hell will anyone I advise start a substantial project, especially residential, without a sizable down payment. They have to buy materials, pay fees, and most importantly, make sure the owner is serious, solvent and is not trying to screw the builder (screwing goes both ways in this arena)
3. No way - most contracts have a "no interference" clause in them. You want to build your own house, have at it, but it you want the BUILDER to build your house, then you need to leave her/him alone and not supervise the subs. Besides, do you really have the expertise to tell the new worker how to lay brick or install plumbing??
4. Agreed, regular pay applications with bills attached are a good idea, plus verify that the bills reflect what actually has been done/delivered.
5. Well . . . maybe, but you better have damn good grounds, the builder will file a lien, sue you and then you will have to hire an expensive lawyer. These cases are like divorces, they are awful, expensive, and no one is happy at the end.
It's basically impossible in the OP's scenario, but if you're looking to move into a new home subdivision it makes way more sense to find a mostly constructed spec home from a reputable builder with an acceptable floor plan and then pick out how it's finished. Kind of a semi-custom home.
2. My neighbor is a city building inspector.....was county residential....in the Bluegrass area. He says there are many reputable builders in the area who don't require a down payment but do require a contract in writing.
3. Nobody ever said you had to question everything the contractor says....nor did I say you have to know everything about the job.....I said to be around. When I worked construction we had workers who would try to drywall up sections of walls without insulation whenever the contractor drove away to check in with other jobs. It wasn't their reputation on the line. I've even known friends who have built homes who randomly showed up at night and chased teenagers (who took a dump in the bathtub, criss-crossed wiring for light switches, and slashed drywall). Another friend randomly showed up on the wkend to catch the license plate of a truck and trailer driving off with a bunch of building materials. Etc.
5. I was referring to negotiating process.
Bingo!
This is how half my clients work. It goes both ways. They hate dealing with homeowners that nitpick every step and can't make up there minds, and for the homeowner it's best to not be bombed with options and not knowing how their indecisiveness affects the job.
Sounds like you rushed into another builder? I was asking to try and help you some to avoid another bad scenario.
But good luck man!
Built my own house 16 years ago. One major drawback to that is that YOU are the person that your wife bitches at if something isn't perfect. Other than that...smooth sailing.
-no such thing as a down payment in commercial construction. You can bill a bit for mobilization and stored materials (with pics and a coi). Turn in a bill on the 20th of January(for January's progress payment) receive that payment 1st or 2nd week of March. Less 10% retainage. Tough business...but if you are building something substantial you want a gc/subs that are solid enough to absorb costs 45 days at a time. In the end contractors and suppliers serve to finance construction one month at a time. As everything is contract based the money is there...its just slow. Can take up to a year(after substantial completion) to close a job out.