The Biggest Construction Red Flags to Look for in a Brand New Home
Buying a home is always an exciting and stressful process. For this reason, some buyers choose new construction when looking for a home. They explain that new construction means more control over the style, floor plan, and features of the home, but also that a newly built home will need less maintenance and create fewer problems than a decades-old home that has experienced some wear and tear. . In reality, however, about two-thirds of people who buy newly built homes experience regrets , ranging from mild annoyance to a full blown desire to buy an existing home instead.
Any home is only as good as the work and materials put into it. To protect yourself during the process, you need to be on site often to see how things are going and to know which warning flags to look out for.
Can I refuse to build a new house?
First, find out if you have the option to opt out of the new build. It depends entirely on the contract you signed – if the contract gives you a grace period or other options to opt out, great. If there prevents you from leaving though. you can get stuck. Always consult with an attorney with specialized real estate knowledge before signing anything. You can also try to insert disclaimer language into the sales contract, but you should expect a lot of objections to this.
If possible, ask for an inspection of the current construction site before signing the contract and try to evaluate houses already under construction for the issues listed here. If a builder cuts corners on some houses, he probably cuts corners on all of his houses, and you need to know before signing a contract.
Red flags to look out for in new construction
The following things are good reasons to forego new construction, or at least keep your builder’s feet on fire and require them to be resolved:
Escalation clauses in the contract
Before signing a contract, you should pay attention to the escalation clauses. This is where the builder is trying to hedge against rising costs of materials, labor, or other aspects of the construction process by stipulating that the price you just agreed to pay for your new home could go up by 10% to 20%. If your builder has turned this on and refuses to take it out, walk away. You are under no obligation to secure their profits.
Conflicting plans
When you sign a contract to build a new home, you receive a stack of pre-construction documents, including a floor plan. Study these documents carefully, because they indicate how the finished house should look like, how the rooms will be located, what the facades will be – everything. When you visit the site, take these plans with you and make sure they match. While it’s unlikely that a builder will try to avoid major deviations, they can make many tiny compromises that will change the fundamentals of your home, and if they do so without letting you know, that’s a huge red flag.
Foundation problems
The foundation of your new home is absolutely essential. Once it’s filled and installed, you’ll want to inspect it for cracks. Many builders work incredibly fast and save on compacting the soil under the house or other precautions when laying the foundation. Although some settling is quite normal for a new home and can go on for years, you should not immediately see large, obvious cracks in the foundation. If you see cracks inside or outside of foundation walls, at the very least, you should get an expert to assess them—and you might just have to walk away.
Poor drainage
After the site has been leveled, wait for a rainy day and then look at the drainage. Water should not accumulate near the house and absolutely should not accumulate near the house. This can be dealt with, but if your builder refuses or tries to claim it won’t be a problem, that’s a big red flag. Because it will be a problem if the water does not drain properly.
Problems with the interior wall
After the house has been sheathed with drywall, inspect all the walls in the house. You shouldn’t see cracks appearing immediately after the drywall is hung, and you shouldn’t see cracking nails or screws anywhere – these could indicate moisture problems that will make life in your new home pretty dull. Also take a level and check that the walls are level – although a slight bend may be inevitable here and there, you should not see obvious bends on your walls, even in places where metal brackets are installed to protect pipes and wiring from nails and screws. .
Wet basement
After the house is roofed and sealed, check the basement for moisture. While puddles of water are an obvious red flag, a damp and musty basement from day one may indicate that you’ve been struggling with mold and other moisture-related issues all your life.
Sealing doors
An easily overlooked red flag in a newly built home is doors and windows that don’t open and close easily. This could indicate moisture problems swelling in the wood, but it could also indicate that the frame of the house is defective. It’s true that fresh lumber will shift a bit as it dries, but by the time your doors are hung, this shouldn’t be a problem throughout the house.
Your builder will most likely offer to fix any issues you have with the construction, and depending on their explanation and plans for a fix, you may be happy to move forward. In the end, you will have to get professional advice and ultimately trust your intuition. Remember, just because you can’t terminate your contract doesn’t mean you should just accept the house as it is – if you notice any of these red flags during your walkaround, speak up and demand that the issue be resolved. With.