I couldn't have been more excited when I found out that they had accepted the offer we made on our dream home. It was ours and after making a few "minor" changes, it would truly be the perfect house. No laundry room = no bueno
Little did I know how much stress the few minor changes would bring. It seemed simple enough, turn the current upstairs master closet into a laundry room, extend the current master bath, create a small porch below the extension of the master bath. We also needed to relocate the a/c units, rework the stairs to the front of the house and finally fix the flooding issue in the backyard. Oh, I forgot, and repaint everything!
We began to interview builders...some came in a little pricey and others appeared to have minimal experience. We finally decided to go with a builder that had recently completed a relative's home. They claimed under-budget and finishing months ahead of schedule! We trusted him and he seemed excited about the project.
When meeting with the builder to sign the contract, etc. I brought up a few concerns. In the contract, the stated timeframe was much greater than that we had verbally agreed upon. We took the usual "handshake" spiel and went on about our business. With my husband being in a contract based industry, we both should have known better. When I say we went over the time frame, I mean four months turned into a year! Thats right, people were still in and out of the house a year later.
If you take two things from this post, take these:
- Communication is key
- Get everything in writing (I strongly recommend using email for communication on binding issues)
Audrey and Jim ended up having a horrible experience that just seems to go on...and on...and on...... Please be careful so that you find yourself with wonderful memories of a job well done!
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