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Six months ago, I purchased a new town home and felt that the price, considering the market, it was steep but not too over the top. I recently checked some of the county assessor’s information which includes assessments and sales prices and noticed that the developer (as a personal transaction, not the development company) also closed the same week as I did on the town home next door. He paid $170,000 on a town home whose starting market price was $289,000 and his place has many upgrades. I took a close look and realized that he purchased 5 of the town homes around me (all have same Sq.Ft. and floor plan) at prices ranging between $164,000 and $175,000. The starting market price for these homes, during that period of time was fixed at $289,000. Does anyone know whether this is legal? For a development company to sell homes to one of its owners at prices way below market?
I really appreciate the comments so far and wanted to add some additional detail based on the responses. First of all, the time line, the builder closed on his house 2 days after me. Also, this particular purchase was not a bulk purchase but just the one town home. He did purchase more units (4) in bulk a few months later. I also do not feel that I am "whining" because someone got a better deal, I am fine with fluctuations in the market and other factors but, in this situation, the person closed on a home, with the same sq. ft. and features, within 2 days of me and paid 60% of what I paid. Since he is also an owner in the business building and selling these town homes, I became concerned about the legality/ethics involved since this is not an "arm’s length" transaction. Any thoughts?

Why wouldn’t it be legal?

The price of ANYTHING is determined by whatever price someone is willing to pay for it.
You were willing to pay what you did for your property.

I’m sure if you were offering to buy 5 units, you would have gotten a discount. That’s how sales work, you know?

Plus, you don’t state WHEN he paid this. I’m guessing it wasn’t at exactly the same time you bought.
Prices fluctuate. That’s the way it is.

If he paid more, do you think it would be fair for someone to make you pay the same price

People only whine when someone else gets a better deal. If that guy had bought when the price was HIGH, he would have paid more than you did, not less.
It’s all about timing.
Besides, you haven’t lost any money. Not unless you sell now.

I would prefer the same agent handle both of my transactions and I haven’t signed any paperwork, but I did complete a registration card that he’d already attached his business card to when I arrived at a new homebuilder the location.

if your going into new developments
and filling in the card that you are working with this "agent/salesperson"
and using the information from the business card…
then you are to contact that "salesperson" you listed as "your sales representative"..if you want to purchase one of the homes…….

if you ask about any "new home percs".. the hired people by the developer will list the percs, eg. new appliances, etc.

if you do not care about your "real esate salesperson"..you can still go into these new developments….and the sales people the "developer" hired will write the contract…..

you write in the "guest book" and each "development" your viewing…as "no sales representation"..and the hired developers people will write the contract..

newspapers..list all new housing projects..and developers pay for their homes to be seen……….

up to you…

good luck and keep hunting…….

The house construction was going well but our patio was way off. I asked them to fix it (keep in mind I paid for the patio) and they kept giving me the run around…its structurally safe, etc. Finally I talked to corporate was assured it would be fixed. They fixed it but when I went to see it – its all wrong. The beams are not centered and it looks nothing like the model home patio. The gal in their office told me the reason why its off is because the concrete was poured but they forgot something and had to cut it back a few inches on one side…causing the entire patio to be off. They told me today that it can’t be fixed anymore and that no patio is perfect. They have seen hundreds of patios that are off like this. WELL I HAVEN’T and I’m a first time homebuyer who has put every cent of extra money in to getting my upgrades and how dare they act like I have no right to be upset, in my contract they can change it. I no longer trust them and want ALL my money back. Is that possible?

You can get them to fix it. There is nothing that can’t be fixed. Just don’t accept their excuses….and take pictures.

I am currently out of work & need to keep up with current Autocad software. I was an architectural Drafstman for a local homebuilder.The last software I was using was Auotocad 2000 & some Autocad 2005.

hey,
there are blenty of links on the web with autocad info check the scoure list below for my favorites. also this link is really good for beginners but maybe too slow for you:

http://www.we-r-here.com/cad/tutorials/level_2/2-4.htm

I would suggest that you start drawing houses on your own. Depending on where you live, typically for 2 story dwellings you dont need to have them signed off by an Architect. and you could make a decent living drawing custom plans. You may have to pony up some funds for the software, but you should be able to get up and running with autocad lt, alot cheaper. Get your plans printed out somewhere else untill you can get a used plotter. Alot of companies that plot their own dwgs will farm out their equipment, or find an actual blueprint company.

If you get a few drawings under your belt you could put an add out as a contract drafter, sometimes companies may need drawings done but not want to buy the software and hire a drafter permantly. No telling what you could end up drawing.

I’ve drawn several house plans, some mechanical construction dwgs, and even some patent dwgs on the side, and if I wasnt working thats what I would do untill I got a more stable job. Being a skilled drafter is one job that you can make money at without having to work for the "man" with very manageable capital investment if you are motivated enough, unlike me.
good luck

I bought a home,in Texas, through a builder, Gordon Hartman, which came with cat5 installed. I didn’t ask for it, they threw it in for some other reason. I have my broadband ready and willing, but I can’t find the central area to hook up my modem, nor can I find literature on the option, since the company was purchased by another homebuilder, Mcmillin, who has disavowed any knowledge of and detached themselves from any responsibility for the company they purchased. Any ideas where the cwa may be located, or any way to find the information? I’d greatly appreciate it!

This will normally be installed in the same place as your electrical supply. You are probably looking for a metal wall mounted cabinet, which often has a glass door. If it is not there you can only search the building.

www.craigslist.com

I currently have a dishwasher air gap correctly installed by the homebuilder. I’m going to install a reverse osmosis water system, so I’m going to remove teh air gap, and replace it with the purified water dispenser.

My question is, what do I need to do to bypass the air gap, and have the DW empty out directly into the disposal? An air gap is not required in my area. My home inspector went over it briefly with me, but stupid me, I wasn’t paying close attention.
Thanks!

All you are doing, is routing the drain hose, as high up under the cabinet as possible. This helps to prevent drain water from the sink, from backing up into the dishwasher. I use electrical tie straps, and tie it to the clips used to hold the sink in place. If the sink has no clips, use a tie with a screw hole attachment. Good luck!

I live in Las Vegas, looking to buy a new home – is it better to have a realtor, or is it ok to go through the homebuilder agent??

If i should get a realtor, can you give me the name of a good one?

The builders agent works for the builder, not for you. Find your own agent who will know if you are getting a good deal, what other developments are selling for, what incentives different builders are offering, etc.

There was a guy that came in here alot from LV, great guy.

http://www.iselllvhomes.com

We bought a new house and the guy who owned it before us is a homebuilder. He said do not mount a television over the fireplace because of the heat inside the chimney an also it would be impossible getting the cords through the studs in the wall and brick. We had our hearts set on putting it there and don’t think it would really hurt the tv. Thoughts?

First, will the height cause you to sit looking up all the time when seated where you will be watching? Do you watch TV laying down? High mounts and watching TV laying down usually do not work. And looking up all the time is sure to give you a sore neck after awhile. Examine your viewing positions and see how high the angle is going to be. I know several people who put their flat screen up too high and had to move them. Yeah, they look nice up there but who wants a sore neck all the time.

If the temperature gets above 80 degrees F when the fireplace is in use, don’t do it. Plasma TVs don’t like anything above 84 degrees F and LCD/LED are even pickier. Also, does the fireplace have glass doors over it? The soot, smoke and dust that comes with a fireplace is not good for expensive electronics.

And where you’re going to put your components like cable or satellite box, Blu-ray or DVD player, gaming systems, home theater speaker system all become really problematic with this type on installation. If you have to have a cabinet or stand for those items anyhow, why put the TV up there and have to run a ton of wires?

And should you decide to rearrange the room, your options are really limited. Take into account the number and size of any windows and how you will be covering them because you can get glare even on LCD & LED screens. And usually the higher the unit is mounted, the more glare issues you have.

And your builder has a point; drilling holes through brick is not an easy thing and rarely looks finished and neat. Depending on the size of the unit, you might need more structural support than is in the wall at this time. I don’t think you want to open the wall up and beef up the structure and close it back up. That would be really expensive and messy to say the least.

Hi – after we bought a new home last year, the homebuilder declared bankruptcy. When we found out, we called them and asked them how the home warranties would be affected and we were informed that they would "transfer" the warranties to a 2nd company. We now have a warranty issue but when we called the 2nd company it turns out the homebuilder only transferred homes that were sold after 4/18/08 – (we bought our home on 3/31/08). We were told that we were "out of luck" or we could hire an attorney. Anyone have any thoughts, ideas, advice?

Thanks!

My builder refused to provide a suitable solution to multiple leaks in my brand new basement. I hired an atortney and an engineer. $12,000 later they told me it would be cheaper for me to pay to fix the problem ($14,000 more) than to pay to litigate my builder. So… I fixed it. I wish I’d known from the beginning. I would have saved myself the first 12,000 and just hired someone to fix it.
Good luck,
Susan