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Buying a NEW home

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Deal Guru
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May 6, 2005
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Buying a NEW home

I've been in the market and there's a neighborhood with some resales but also a few new builds. I believe the original developer did like 50% of the houses, and sold the remaining 50% of lots to be developed individually.

I've seen a few of the houses - they are all VERY similar, obviously even the private lots have development restrictions for what the house/floorplan looks like.

What I'm sort of caught up on is overall caution around the new builds. If from the developer, everything is pretty much established, you know what package they've picked, features, etc. etc.

With the other ones, I'm just a bit nervous about, I guess mostly, where they may have cut corners (or not?). Obviously something replacing a faucet with one of your own liking is just fine... but when they've done their own duct work, used a different appliance package (maybe higher maybe lower), tankless vs hot water tank, maybe has AC maybe doesn't... etc. All the variables and quality of components has me slightly uneasy.

Would a home inspection (despite being on a brand new home) uncover any concerns - from "they did this wrong" to "they cheaped out here, something to consider"?

Or am I entirely worrying about nothing? I guess a brand new house built from the ground up in an established development still needs permits, architects, whatever else and done to code?
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Deal Addict
Mar 14, 2018
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What you have listed are not really big concerns and would be easily identified by a simple inspection. If you had to replace some appliances, that's easy to do although it might not be cheap.

In terms of them cutting corners, I would be more concerned about things like building materials used and construction quality (e.g. roofing, waterproofing). These would not come up during home inspections, unfortunately. Also I'd be concerned about things like proper grading around the house.
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clutch31 wrote: In terms of them cutting corners, I would be more concerned about things like building materials used and construction quality (e.g. roofing, waterproofing). These would not come up during home inspections, unfortunately. Also I'd be concerned about things like proper grading around the house.
Yeah, that wouldn't be good. I suppose buying some other random 10yr-old house, you don't know those answers either? Except that... either they haven't caused a problem (yet)?

Now it does have a 2-5-10 yr warranty, which from my understanding is offered from a central system, not just Joe The Builder? So is that more than enough peace of mind, or still concerns? What if the developer isn't around in 3 years... how do defects get addressed?
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Oct 13, 2008
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Kaitlyn wrote: Yeah, that wouldn't be good. I suppose buying some other random 10yr-old house, you don't know those answers either? Except that... either they haven't caused a problem (yet)?

Now it does have a 2-5-10 yr warranty, which from my understanding is offered from a central system, not just Joe The Builder? So is that more than enough peace of mind, or still concerns? What if the developer isn't around in 3 years... how do defects get addressed?
Refer to Tarion
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Deal Fanatic
Aug 29, 2011
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jdmfishingonly wrote: Refer to Tarion
If OP's location is correct, they appear to be from Vancouver. Not sure what equivalent to Tarion there is in BC.
Deal Guru
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May 6, 2005
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mrweather wrote: If OP's location is correct, they appear to be from Vancouver. Not sure what equivalent to Tarion there is in BC.
Yep, am in greater vancouver region
Deal Expert
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Jul 5, 2004
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I'll save you the suspense. The builder did use crappy construction materials and did cut corners whenever possible.
All of them do these days.

All those houses are the same.
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Shaner wrote: I'll save you the suspense. The builder did use crappy construction materials and did cut corners whenever possible.
All of them do these days.

All those houses are the same.
The cynic (realist!?) in me completely agrees

But I guess phrased differently...

Is there really going to be a difference buying a place that was built by the main developer, vs private/individual developer on a lot? I don't know what "restrictions" had to be followed to maintain the neighborhood function/aesthic/whatever
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Kaitlyn wrote: The cynic (realist!?) in me completely agrees

But I guess phrased differently...

Is there really going to be a difference buying a place that was built by the main developer, vs private/individual developer on a lot? I don't know what "restrictions" had to be followed to maintain the neighborhood function/aesthic/whatever
Nothing significant, no. Different appliances, tank vs tankless, etc. are not surprises. Those are things you'll know before making an offer.
In this market, a home inspection condition may not even be accepted. That's the case in my area. Any conditional offer is often instantly rejected because there's numerous other offers with no conditions.

I would suggest speaking to a realtor who has sold houses in that area. See what they have to say, unless of course you already have a realtor.
Deal Guru
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May 6, 2005
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Shaner wrote: Nothing significant, no. Different appliances, tank vs tankless, etc. are not surprises. Those are things you'll know before making an offer.
In this market, a home inspection condition may not even be accepted. That's the case in my area. Any conditional offer is often instantly rejected because there's numerous other offers with no conditions.

I would suggest speaking to a realtor who has sold houses in that area. See what they have to say, unless of course you already have a realtor.
Yep for sure. I do have a realtor but still wanted to seek random 3rd party input. That same cynic/realist in me believes even in the best of days, the realtor is more interested in closing a sale vs passing on it and watching out for your true best interest.
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Dec 5, 2009
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If houses are currently being built, drive by the job sites and take a look. Talk to the site super or GC and play dumb, ask questions about the house, how big, how many sqft, what kind of finishings they will use, etc. Check out the builder, do they have a history? Do they have any completed houses that you can briefly look at in passing?

Everything will be built to code, but how well is another story. But honestly, all of these houses will be the same. These builders (including the main builder) are building as fast as possible and as cheaply as they can get away with. The only other option is to build a custom house, hire your own builder and approve the trades yourself. But that could easily cost 2x the time and 2x the money.

I wouldn’t worry too much. For context, it would be even worse if you bought an older property that’s been renovated. Unless it was done by permits, you have no idea who did it or if it was even done to code. The renovations could’ve been DIY or done by a jack of all trades unlicensed handyman.

Just plan to set aside some $ in case anything comes up (like electrical or plumbing issues).
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May 6, 2005
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Alpine84 wrote: If houses are currently being built, drive by the job sites and take a look. Talk to the site super or GC and play dumb, ask questions about the house, how big, how many sqft, what kind of finishings they will use, etc. Check out the builder, do they have a history? Do they have any completed houses that you can briefly look at in passing?

Everything will be built to code, but how well is another story. But honestly, all of these houses will be the same. These builders (including the main builder) are building as fast as possible and as cheaply as they can get away with. The only other option is to build a custom house, hire your own builder and approve the trades yourself. But that could easily cost 2x the time and 2x the money.

I wouldn’t worry too much. For context, it would be even worse if you bought an older property that’s been renovated. Unless it was done by permits, you have no idea who did it or if it was even done to code. The renovations could’ve been DIY or done by a jack of all trades unlicensed handyman.

Just plan to set aside some $ in case anything comes up (like electrical or plumbing issues).
Good food for thought, and good point about renovations... can definitely bring about even more unknown issues!
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Dec 5, 2009
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Kaitlyn wrote: Good food for thought, and good point about renovations... can definitely bring about even more unknown issues!
My SIL purchased one of these newer homes that were built quickly & cheaply, and it's not as bad as many make it out to be. Standard Samsung S/S appliance package, tankless HW, in-floor radiant heating (but the pipes are very spread out), no AC so she had it installed afterward. You can tell that some parts of the flooring or some walls are not flat/even, but you'll find similar issues in a $5m house.. it just won't be as noticeable. You can see a lack of workmanship if you look for it, but it's not any worse than some of the renovated houses or new condos I've been in. I know it sucks that a new home would have these issues, but in time you'll add your own "character" scratches/dings/dents to it anyways. Hell, I purchased a 60-year-old house and had it completely gutted & renovated, and my walls aren't perfectly flat and my corners aren't perfectly square either.

The one "major" issue that my SIL seems to be having is with plumbing. There's some sort of leak/water damage between the 2 bathrooms upstairs and she'll probably have to tear down the wall between the bathrooms to fix it. Her neighbor also has a new house built by the same builder and she's had issues with her sump + sump pump that resulted in some minor flooding in her basement. It took a plumber a few days to fix it.

Good luck in your search.
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Oct 13, 2008
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mrweather wrote: If OP's location is correct, they appear to be from Vancouver. Not sure what equivalent to Tarion there is in BC.
Then OP could have Google searched and came up with the following link and can contact them directly for answers :


https://www.bchousing.org/licensing-con ... -providers
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