Closed on and moving into SFH#2
April 26th, 2006 by KenricFor the past 8 days I was in Hawaii on vacation and attending a wedding. While I was gone, I closed on SFH#2. The funny thing about new construction is that they give you a closing date and it can’t be changed. I talked to Pulte about delaying it one week but they told me that since the are a publicly traded company and report closings and earnings according to the rules that they can’t change anything. I had only two options close on that date or cancel my contract. Can you believe that?
Flashback to last year on SFH#1, I was leaving for Colorado on the same day as closing. Capital Pacific Homes, the builder for SFH#1 gave me the exact same excuse, so I again closed on that date without being there.
Now normally not being present while closing on a property is no big deal. It happens all the time. However, with new construction I learned my lesson from SFH#1. See what happens is that you get a pre-closing inspection about 1 week prior to closing. You walk through the house and mark down everything that needs fixing. The builder says, “Yeah we’ll have that done before you move in” but guess what, the fix-ups are never done and you don’t know that cause you are NOT THERE at closing. So with SFH#1, I get back from vacation and nothing is done. Big suprise here. With SFH#1, there was major problem, the second floor floor was uneven and needed new plywood which also meant it needed the tile and carpeting redone. This floor was not repaired until 1 month after I had closed. If this were a regular resale, no buyer would have ever closed on a house with part of the second floor ripped apart. But since this was new construction and you only have the choice of closing or cancelling, buyers constantly deal with it.
So getting back to SFH#2, I had a short list of items to repair on my walkthrough two weeks ago. I go pick up my keys today, get into the house and guess what half of the things aren’t done. Granted, the items in this house are not bad I was a bit pissed off because I KNEW that this would happen again. I immediately called my builder customer rep. and she sent the construction manager over so I could show him what wasn’t done. He apologized and would get everything fixed right away.
Fix up list:
Bathroom #2 Light fixture was not hung – Was not fixed (I found it in the bathtub)
AC vent makes a tingling sound when AC is on – Was not fixed
AC Masterbedroom vent isn’t blowing out air – Just found this today
AC cover on unit is dented – Was not fixed
Dishwasher was uneven – Was not fixed (I’m going to fix this myself)
Everything else was fixed
BTW, the official check from Chase was sufficient at closing. Since Chase was a local bank with a local routing number, the check was ok.
Tomorrow I am renting a truck and officially moving from SFH #1 to SFH#2. I was planning on moving on Friday, but rental trucks cost more on Fridays and weekends than the middle of the week. I priced out Budget Trucks and the same truck tomorrow is $60 versus $100 on Friday.
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