Anyone else buying a New Construction Home? Stories....

[Mona_75]

We are building! We were preapproved and went under contract in March of this year. Our builder is Orleans homes. Our house if framed, shingled, have windows and doors and it looks like they are almost done with electrical and plumbing. I think they will be ready to drywall within the next 2 weeks. We were given a completoin date of August 30 2012 but they are moving fast and I'm thinking it will be more like the end of July or mid August at the latest. I confess to being a "lot stalker"....lol. I go by our lot at least twice per week. So far so good with the build....the roofing contractor did put the wrong color shingles on but it will be changed out next week. We are going FHA with 3.5% down. Good luck to everyone!

[Anonymous]

We're in the homestretch of our new construction home. We started the process at the end of January, after I got tired of looking at homes that someone else had decided to build. The wife wasn't too sure about waiting on a build, but it is what I wanted. Now, it *looks* like we may be able to close on June 7th (tentatively). We've gone through the process from Pre-Approval, to house construction requests, to underwriting, conditional approval, to final paperwork submission. We are SO ready to get out of paying someone else's mortgage, and get into the home that we helped personalize.

We are extreme lot stalkers, we go at least 3-4 times a week, sometimes multiple times a day (the folks in our area seem to work on the house 12-13 hours a day, so it is hard to know when to go by!). We're down to the point of them staining the hardwoods yesterday, and all that is left is carpet in the bedrooms/bonus room, receptacle covers, lighting/fixtures, and screening the porch in.

It is close!

[indecison]

Lot stocker? I guess you can call me one as well. I am fortunate enough that I work fairly close to where the house is being built as I go by every single day. Sometimes twice a day..Plus we have had to move to an apartment while the house is being built and we hate being there so we go to the house often just to get out for a while.

[techgirl]

Yup, that sounds like us. Ours is further away so we go once a week. We will have our walk through June 7 and close June 12. We just signed our final loan papers and they have called for an appraisal. I hope we get approved - our credit has been perfect since the FC three years ago May 19. Our scores are around 680. Locked in at 3.75% using a 30 day rate lock. The house is basically done - just need the thermastats put in and a mirror or two put in. Surround sound is done, carpet done, appliances in - oh, still waiting on the soft water and reverse osmosis to be installed. Movers are hired and ready to go June 13. Hopefully we won't have any delays - it looks liveable now.... so tired of paying rent for the last 4 years....

This is our second new build - I love picking all the colors, lighting, tile, carpeting, etc. It definately feels more like something we helped to create. Nervous...

[Anonymous]

Another reason to delay installing the toilets is that if your bathroom flooring (e.g.., vinyl/tile) is installed after the toilets are already in place, the flooring installation contractor may charge you a "lift fee" of $100 or more per toilet to remove the toilets to  install the flooring then re-install the toilets once the flooring is in place. Check with you builder. 

[Anonymous]

We are planning to renovate our house but we do not have a high budget. We want to renovate our kitchen with white cabinets, and want to have hardwood flooring but hardwood is cold in winter and we will have to put rugs or carpets in all the rooms which will again increase our budget. My kids and wife desire to have hardwood floors but i am against it. Also we want to renovate our kid's room and make it a bit larger. Renovation requires lot of time, mney and patience.

[MovingForward_2012]

What happened to us was the flooring was damaged when they installed the toilets and was noticed at final walkthrough by the BUILDER! We were so impressed. They came over a couple of weeks after closing to rip all the tile out of the 2 bathrooms that were damaged and they had to remove the toilets and everything. So at your inspection, get down on your hands and knees and look closely at the linoleum. Make sure there are no holes or deep scratches in it as once the water starts flowing, it will get underneath and raise up the tile. So glad the master bathroom has ceramic tile. Ceramic tile is very hard on your feet so I recommend memory foam bath mats.