CyKat Posted September 11, 2007 Share Posted September 11, 2007 We are considering a brand new home built by Beazer. Do you think it's a wise decision considering the trouble they are in with the Feds? I also had a Realtor tell me about a bankruptcy story that was going around a few weeks back. What could happen to us if we closed and then they went belly-up? Worst case scenario is we have a new home without a warranty. Same as with a resale isn't it? They are discounting almost 60k from a 300k asking price.Just looking for yalls opinions, we close in a few weeks.CyKat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJones Posted September 11, 2007 Share Posted September 11, 2007 If you have any redflags or bells going off in your head telling you, "I am not comfortable with this deal." then that should be your answer right there. There is a SERIOUS lull in construction and home sales right now. You have the ball in your court. Everyone WANTS to sell you a new home, and will make some ridiculous concessions to get your business. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emirate25 Posted September 11, 2007 Share Posted September 11, 2007 Will this pertain to townhomes too? I am looking around in buying a townhome and i'm willing to stay put for at least 5 years. Please advise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJones Posted September 11, 2007 Share Posted September 11, 2007 (edited) Will this pertain to townhomes too? I am looking around in buying a townhome and i'm willing to stay put for at least 5 years. Please advise.If you are only staying for 5 years, then I would make sure that it is built well enough, that you will be able to flip it in that time, and don't do ANY crazy renovations that are YOUR personal tastes. Just because you think a slate backsplash is awesome, does't mean the potential buyers down the road will. They most likely will see it as something they will have to throw money at to make it go away. Edited September 11, 2007 by TJones Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwilson Posted September 12, 2007 Share Posted September 12, 2007 (edited) If you have any redflags or bells going off in your head telling you, "I am not comfortable with this deal." then that should be your answer right there. There is a SERIOUS lull in construction and home sales right now. You have the ball in your court. Everyone WANTS to sell you a new home, and will make some ridiculous concessions to get your business.This "lull" is really non-existent. Quit listening to analysts, lol. (EDIT: some bulk builders have slowed down their spec builds, but their contract builds aren't really slowing at all).As far as answering the OPs question: If you are uncomfortable in the least, move on. There are plenty of builders out there. There are some great ones and some not so great ones. You have to put yourself in a situation you are comfortable with. As a builder, I would never want to build a home for someone who is uncomfortable with the situation. My goal is to make them happy, and if they have reservations, it is difficult to do that. Edited September 12, 2007 by gwilson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevfiv Posted September 12, 2007 Share Posted September 12, 2007 unless this is without a doubt your dream home - and you would stick with it through anything - go with your instincts.i agree with above sentiments - if you have any hesitation, don't bother Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CyKat Posted September 12, 2007 Author Share Posted September 12, 2007 unless this is without a doubt your dream home - and you would stick with it through anything - go with your instincts.i agree with above sentiments - if you have any hesitation, don't botherWell, I don't really have any reservations about the home, just the builder. After they're all built the same. I thought you all might have some insight about someone buying a new home from a builder who may declare bankruptsy, thought maybe you'd suggest something I may have overlooked, just looking at the worst case scenario. Also.................... do you have an opinion about this builder? Beazer.CyKat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwilson Posted September 12, 2007 Share Posted September 12, 2007 Well, I don't really have any reservations about the home, just the builder. After they're all built the same. I thought you all might have some insight about someone buying a new home from a builder who may declare bankruptsy, thought maybe you'd suggest something I may have overlooked, just looking at the worst case scenario. Also.................... do you have an opinion about this builder? Beazer.CyKatBeazer is no better or worse than any other bulk builder in terms of quality. They wouldn't be who I would go with.As far as your reservations, ask yourself this question:Would you buy a car from a company you knew had a very real and likely risk of going out of business in the not too distant future?Would you buy a TV from Pioneer if you knew they were about to go out of business?Would you buy a computer from Dell if you knew they were about to go out of business?I'm willing to be that the answer is no, and these are far smaller purchases than a home.Here is another thing to consider. If YOU know they are likely going to file bankruptcy, so do their contractors. This means that they are likely not putting in the same effort because they are afraid they are going to get stiffed. In general, production homes are much more likely to require follow-up and warranty work because they tend to go with the lowest bidders in general. If the company isn't around to guarantee the work, the contractors certainly aren't going to honor it.Just some things to consider.(Full disclosure: To be fair, I should warn that it is possible I am being over critical because I am a builder, so I see some things from a different perspective.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyHomeHouston Posted September 18, 2007 Share Posted September 18, 2007 For some reason I recall a seperate warranty company taking care of the home warranty work for many houston builders. I may be wrong, but you could ask your salesperson about it. In that case, if they went "belly up", you may still have provisions in place to service any warranty issues. PS. You may already know this, but I like to remind everyone I know because it seems to be a fact not widely known with new construction purchases. Be sure to estimate your payments based on a full appraisal; not land values. Be prepared for your escrow to contact you after your new appraisal hits the following year to catch up on reserve if they are not collecting based on full appraisal, and just land values from when you purchased the home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoustonRealtor Posted September 18, 2007 Share Posted September 18, 2007 For some reason I recall a seperate warranty company taking care of the home warranty work for many houston builders. I may be wrong, but you could ask your salesperson about it. In that case, if they went "belly up", you may still have provisions in place to service any warranty issues.Perhaps you are referring to the ACES Warranty. In general, they tend to provide warranties for smaller builders. Most of the major builders back their own warranties. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MasterShake Posted September 18, 2007 Share Posted September 18, 2007 (edited) As everyone is saying, if you have doubts keep looking. There are a lot of builders to select from.That said, I personally doubt that Beazer will go bankrupt, but you never know.As for an extreme example of what could happen if Beazer did go bankrupt: Turner Dunn was a home builder in Phoenix, Az. that went bankrupt in 2006. They basically had stopped paying their contractors, suppliers, etc. (most likely due to financial concerns). This obviously stopped all work, leaving many customers in a state of limbo.One news story was quoted with this statement: "In the wake of this are the home buyers who have been waiting months and months for a new home to be built after paying thousands in earnest money only to find themselves still without their promised new home and facing hurdles to recover their deposit funds. Contractors have also been left unpaid for the work completed on these properties."Many people could not get their deposits back (even after trying to contact the bankruptcy court and the State Registrar of Contractors), nor did they have any idea of when their houses would be completed -- if ever. Towards the end, as part of the bankruptcy procedure, all of the houses and lots were auctioned off to other builders. Edited September 18, 2007 by MasterShake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michelled Posted November 3, 2007 Share Posted November 3, 2007 We are considering a brand new home built by Beazer. Do you think it's a wise decision considering the trouble they are in with the Feds? I also had a Realtor tell me about a bankruptcy story that was going around a few weeks back. What could happen to us if we closed and then they went belly-up? Worst case scenario is we have a new home without a warranty. Same as with a resale isn't it? They are discounting almost 60k from a 300k asking price.Just looking for yalls opinions, we close in a few weeks.CyKatCyKat - I wouldn't want to tell you what to do. However, I will relay to you my experience. I decided earlier this year to pursue purchasing a new construction home. I was very close to signing a construction contract with Beazer Homes. I decided not to sign the agreement based upon five things (1) their FED investigation, (2) their BBB report, (3) the Sales Manager's response to #1 and #2, (4) a conversation with a homeowner in the same subdivision/area, and (5) my own personal quality impressions based on an inspection of their homes in various stages of construction. I want to clarify that I am not indicating that there is no situation under which a Beazer home would be a good purchase, just that it wasn't right for me at this time. I would encourage you to consider the above five items as well. Any public information or Better Business Beaureau report in your area should be considered in the purchase of any large item such as a home. Construction is very localized (in my opinion) and the quality has a great deal to do with the construction and sales managers in the area so the opinions and quality of those in the area may help you in the decision.If you would like to discuss my decision further, I'd be happy to if you contact me directly.Regards,Michelle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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