🚀 go-pugleaf

On Mon, 23 Jan 1995, Rizwan Mithani wrote:

> We are lookin at a spec. home by PULTE Builder, and I had some
> questions.
 
> 1. Any one have any  good or bad experiences with PULTE esp. in the
> DFW area?

Pulte is very active in our area in North Carolina's 'Triangle' and 
although they seem to 'prosper' and sell well, they have a reputation 
that is not the best among ather builder's, Realtor's and many of their 
home owners.  We were advised to steer clear of them while we were 
looking for a house in the area.  They have three sub-disisions under 
constructin in our PUD right now (they were one of the three parties 
that formed the original PUD) and just in passing the quality of their 
construction can be seen to be less than stellar - they are remiss in 
many aspects of their construction both major and minor faults are 
frequently hidden under the finished product! One house was vandalized 
during construction - holes were kicked into the walls - no effort was 
made to repair them and they were simple covered by the siding on the 
outside and the insulation and drywall inside!!!!! 

> 
> 2. How do you negotiate the price on a spec. home. Is it similar
> to making an offer for an existing home?

In the case of a smaller builder, who might build one or two spec houses 
a year if they have no homes being built ythat were pre-sold, you might 
be able to do some fairly good price negotiating, but in the case of a 
corporation, which develops subdivisions, as Pulte does there is little 
likelyhood that you would be able to get any significant price concession 
without giving more than you may be aware of in return.  Builders with 
national operations, i.e. Pulte, Westminister, M/I Homes, will frequently 
build spec homes in their subdivisions in order to have inventory ready 
or close to completion to satisfy requirements that individuals may have 
for "quick delivery" of a new home - they will usually select models that 
have demonstrated high sales demand in the area AND (in most 
circumstances, if not all) sell them at the prices established for the 
same model in the subdivision where they are located, you should not 
expect to be able to achieve anything meaningful with respect to a 
reduced price for the house.

> 3. This home is in a new sub-division (less than one year old)
> consisting entirely of PULTE Homes. How do you go about finding
> the price on similar homes that were sold by PULTE in the sub-
> division? They would not be in an MLS?

The sales office in the subdivision should have floor plans, prices and 
prices for additional features in the homes they are builfding and 
selling in that subdivision.  If they are o longer actively selling in 
the subdivision check another one of their subdivisions in the area and 
see what they are asking for the same basic model they built as a spec in 
the subdivision where you are looking.

> 
> 4. Is there any advantage on having a Realtor for making an offer
> or would an attorney suffice?  Will the builder accept the fact
> that we are not using a Realtor, and so he should pass on the
> commision (of 3%) by reducing our purchase price?

We were looking for houses with a Realtor in the area where we bought our 
house and she took us to several homes being sold by major builders and 
when we purchased a hojme from one of them she was paid by the builder as 
a participant in the sale as a sub-agent and his Realtor received their 
payment from him also the same as any other transaction.

> 
> 5. As this is a newly built home, does one skip the requirements
> of termite inspections and general home inspection. Would this
> stuff be covered by the builder's warranty, anyway?

Usually with new construction a termite inspection would be of little 
benefit, we had the certification for the treatment the builder was  
required to make before the house construction could be started. This 
included a provision for future annual inspections that would validate 
the services warranty with regard to repair of termite damage.

Our Builder offered a 2/20 year warranty that they would correct any 
defects during the first two years of ownership and structuarl defects 
for 20 years, in the event they ceased to be in business the warranty is 
backed by insurance to cover the cost of any work required to be 
performed under it's terms.

> 
> 6. Can you ask the builder to give you a Window treatment allowance?
> How do you estimate the cost of reasonable window treatments?
> (this is a 4 BR / 2 LA home)

If the builder normal includes this with the houses they build it would 
be reasonable for you to expect to get it too - they would determine, 
usually, what it would be and might require that you 'shop' for window 
treatments at a designated dealer.  

Of course if you had been successful in negotiation the selling price this
may have been one of the things you could have lost in negotiation to get
a lower price.  The same would go for wall coverings - our builder stopped
giving any wall coverings in their sales package because of the potential
problems that could result if drywall repairs were required in a covered
wall during the 2 year warranty period because of stress cracks - they
would repair the crack but WOULD NOT repair the wall covering. In fact 
they suggested that no wall coverings be put up until one full cycle of 
seasonal changes past.

You miight want to check other articles in this group regarding this 
builder and problems at least one homeowner is having with them about an 
item brought to their attention during the walk through befoe closing!!!
If you do not feel comfortable doing the walkthrough oin your own 
definitely employ a qualified inspection company to accompany you, but 
you have to understand that if anything is found that Pulte dsoesn't 
agree needs correction your only alternative at that point in time may be 
to either accept it as is or walk away.  

> 
> 7. Can you ask the builder to pay closing costs and/or points?

If they have a policy regarding their payment of these charges in their 
sales programs, you should expect to be treated the same as any of their 
other buyers - it won't hurt to ask.BUT you might expect that they might 
have specific requirements for you to get them related to your next 
question - they may require that you obtain financing through them in 
order to have them pay these charges.

> 
> 8. How do you tactfully tell the builder that you are not interested
> in his 100& financing schemes without putting them off. I can
> get my own financing at much better rates than the builder is 
> offering. I can make a good down payment, but I do not want to
> jeopardize my negotaiting power by letting the builder know this.

You just say "No Thank You - I have the financing necessary to purchasee 
the house."  If this has any impact on your negotiationg ability it is 
time to take a walk - although in dealing with a developer building a 
subdivision, as Pulte is doing in this instance, I doubt if you have too 
much going for you in negotiating anything other than minor changes or 
additional features like door hardware and colors (:-> ands even then you 
may find that what you get is not what you expected!

> 
> Thank you for any and all responses. >
> > > -- > -- > Rizwan Mithani (Rizwan_Mithani@i2.COM) > I2 Technologies,
1603 LBJ Fwy, 7th Floor, Dallas, TX 75234 >
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