Building Process Experiences Please

[dfrey]

Hi Everyone, My wife and I are living in Iowa and think we are going to build in TV since we have not food the style we want on the lot we want. We have a lot picked out and are about ready to move ahead, but we are curious how the building process went for those of you who actually had your home built rather than picking out one already completed. Was the home done on schedule, for example, and was everything completed as you expected? Was the builder easy or difficult to work with? Any experiences would be appreciated.

Don

[NJblue]

We had a house built. It was finished ahead of schedule but when they give you a closing date, that's the day you close. If for some reason they delay your closing, they will reimburse you for your living expenses and storage as I recall, but according to our agent they don't miss a closing date. If you delay the closing date, the penaties can be quite severe, including loss of any discounts that were given to you.

As far is "working with" a builder, there is nothing to work with him about - at least not for a designer, perhaps premiers are different. Everything is precisely spelled out in the contract and there is no need/option to discuss anything with the builder. When you visit you will be able to visit some pre-built homes with various interior and exterior packages. You pick the interior package that you want (which includes colors of walls, carpets, tiles; kitchen cabinets, countertops, etc.) You will be able to pick an appliance package, whether you want blinds or not and type of shower in the master bath, but that's pretty much it in terms of interior choices as I recall. For the exterior, you can pick an elevation as well as a color package which also dictates roof color, type of front door and outdoor light fixtures. This is all done with your sales agent and you have no contact with your builder during the building phase.

[swrinfla]

dfrey:

You'll see another answer from me in another thread.

When I built in late 2004, I had virtually no contact with my builder. Nor, would there have been much option to make changes, whatever, as things went along. That's the way it was, then. I'm guessing that the options offered you under today's schemes are far less flexible than mine were.

All decisions about what I wanted (home style, flooring, cabinets, counters, appliances, window treatments, etc., - even down to kitchen and bath faucets) were made the week before construction began. Once they began, it was almost exactly 90 days until the house was finished and closing was accomplished. I was blown away.

There was no flexibility in closing date - which was established at the end of the week during which I chose everything!

When closing day came, I was again blown away because everything was exactly as I had wanted it. At the end of the first week, I had perhaps five minor things that needed attention. All but one of these was taken care of within three hours; the last had to wait until the part could be sent to the installer (a small shower-head holder).

I was fortunate in that my brother, a non-Villager but living within 12 miles of my house, came by almost daily to see what was happening, and e-mailed me status reports. However, neither of us ever found anything about which to complain during the building. And, I've found only one really very minor complaint since I came here permanently 02/24/05.

I do not know whether you can expect the same quality today. So very, very much has changed, including some severe arguments over the quality of vinyl-sided homes. I count myself as very lucky to have chosen TV at the time that I did, but cannot imagine that folks coming now will ever regret their decision to do so!

SWR

[billethkid]

being built. You can call him to see how things are going. When ours was being built we lived in Louisville, KY. We made appointments and came down and did a walk through during construction with him. They are (were for us) very accomodating.

BTK

[Villages Kahuna]

In early 2006 TV eliminated the "street of dreams" approach that had been used for several years for buyers to specify every detail of their new home before construction started. They switched to the "we'll design them--you buy them as is" approach. Our sales rep opined that she liked the new approach better in that lots of people found it very difficult to select a model and then picture it on one of the many lots shown them. Besides, she explained, after building more than 30,000 houses, their designers pretty much know what features are most desired at each price point.

Each house is constructed under the direction of a "builder". Each builder supervises about 6 houses at one time. (At least that's the ratio when sales are good.) The builders like to use the same sub-contractor crews on the houses they build. That's not always the case, but they try to use the same people in an effort to maintain high quality.

I'm sure there is some variation in the quality between builders and crews. The quality of our house was impeccable. With the downturn in sales, I'd guess that they've kept only the best builders and sub-contractors, so the chance of even better build quality might have even improved.

Don't hesitate to ask as many questions and do as detailed an inspection as possible before closing. I developed a four-page list of questions and inspected every nook and cranny. Our builder patiently answered every question, taking almost three hours for our "walk thru".

After closing, the warranty process is as smooth as silk. You can make a a warranty claim by either phone or online. You will get a call back from a warranty rep the next day and the appropriate contractor will be out to address your issue within a day or so. Amazing.

Having said that, make sure that you read and understand the warranty. There are some things that aren't covered. Paint defects, as an example. You can't close, move in and then call and tell them you have scrapes or smudges. They take the position--appropriately so, I think--that those types of defects may have happened as the result of the move-in. Just understand what's warranted and what's not and what the time limits are.

At the end of the warranty period lots of people spend $200 or so to get a professional house inspection. I did and the inspector found a structural item I never would have found (a roof vent that had not been properly built). Within a couple days after my final warranty request was submitted, our builder personally came out, climbed up into the attic to look, then came down and told me "no problem, we'll completely re-build (not just repair) the defective vent".

Unless things have changed a lot since 2006, you will be pleased with the construction process and the end product. You will have few if any decisions to make. As someone pointed out earlier, you will get a very complete computerized listing of all the specs and they are not changeable once you sign the contract. Even if you are absolutely desperate to make a change once construction has started, the chances are you'll be unable to do so. Don't get frustrated by this approach because "it's not the same as up north". That's right, it isn't the same. TV is careful to reach agreement with buyers at the front end, but once construction gets rolling forget about trying to make changes. All that will happen is that you'll get mad and frustrated.

The Villages has built a whole lot of houses with the same contractor personnel. They know what they're doing and it shows in the end product. You will be anxious--but you will not be unhappy.

[novelchick]

we had several problems with building process. i would keep a close eye on what is going on. they build fast and do make mistakes!! come down as often as you can to check your home while being built. don't let them tell you you have to stay off your property. it's your right to check. i can't get into it on website but would be happy to tell you experience if you email me. but by no means do not think you do not have to keep an eye on your home while being built. that is a myth. you absolutely do!!

[Russ_Boston]

Curious Novelchick - What year did you build?

[novelchick]

2004

[texasfal]

We picked our lot in October 2002. The closing was set for January 20, 2003. As of December 1, 2002, they had not even started building. I was in Houston and paid a woman to come once a week and take pics to email to me. For 2 months I had pics of dirt. Finally I called the realtor on 12/1/02 to find out WTH was going on. She went to the lot and called me and said nothing's been done, but don't worry, we haven't missed a closing yet. The building started the 2nd week in december and they built my house in 33 days. My neighbor's said it looked like an army of ants was working on our house. We closed on 1/20 and the tenant I had lined up to rent the house moved in on February 1. We had about 5 minor problems during the walk-thru the day before the closing and 1 major problem 4 days after the closing. The washing machine wouldn't work and when they pulled it out to replace it, we discovered the pipe from the washer to the drain had never been connected and the entire wall had to be replaced. Called home warranty and within 1 hour - I kid you not - the drywall person was out and had the wall torn out and replaced. The painter showed up the next morning and we were back in business. We moved here full-time in 8/04 and we've never been happier. Some of my neighbors here in Springdale are now have mold problems and 3 had had to have their shower floors replaced because they were not graded correctly. And home warranty does not cover floors. A neighbor acorss the street is today having the vanity in her bathroom ripped out and the entire wall removed because the plumber did not caulk the sink in the bathrooms. Evidently our builder Chicerillo (I'm sure that's not how you spell it) was the best because we've had no other structural problems except that the floors are not square which made adding hardwood floors last year a little bit of a pain.

[Carla B]

We contracted in April, 2008 for a designer home. It was finished well before the closing date in July.

I feel we were somewhat rushed through the process of choosing an interior package by the sales rep. and perhaps not shown all the package options. We did get quotes on more than one and chose the least expensive because we liked the color of the cabinets and the tile. That meant it was up to us to make any upgrades we desired after closing.

The sales dept. did allow us to specify tile rather than carpet in the LR/DR area. We then thought we could convince them to lay the tile on the diagonal rather than the square as shown in the interior package and argued passionately for that, to no avail. We were told that to do so would "disrupt" their production.

We were not totally satisfied with the appliance package. We were advised to notify the supplier in advance about trading in some of the appliances immediately after closing. We did so and think they dealt very fairly with us.

We were able to pick out a couple errors/omissions in the specifications when we went to sign and give the down payment. For instance, they left out the garage door opener for the golf cart garage. It was not a hassle to get that corrected at that time but it might have been later.

Since closing, we've found only a few minor warranty items. Friends who bought at the same time found more...the biggest one being no insulation in the attic.