The Starter Home Part 11

Wonderful News!

Our appraisal came back good!!!

It's not completely finished yet, so we don't know the actual numbers. Our loan officer got it back though and said its right on point. This was the last official thing that could stop this process and it is so, so good to have the weight of it lifted.

 

The house is finished! Lord willing, we close tomorrow.

 

We were to close on the 12th of October, then October 30th, then November 6th, then November 12th, then November 25th, then finally November 30th.  There was an issue where the township, the builder and our bank were duking it out over hydro-seed that we though was going to push back closing until early December, but they finally worked it out.

 

Life got a bit crazy between now and my last house post, but in that time we had more set backs (reasons we still do not know) we had to call in the 'big guns' AKA our project manager's boss in order to get anything done and moving.  Since then we have had our New Home Owners Orientation, two walk through and more phone calls and emails than I have ever dealt with in my life.  Really, one day they were coming in so fast the Knight and I couldn't keep up with what was said and by who. 

 

At the New Home Owners Orientation we met with our Project Manager at the house where he went over all details of our house; water tank, furnace, gas lines, ect. We also went over the warranty. For one year the whole house is covered by this warranty, there is very little not covered. We were really happy to get the details on this because it is the reason we went with a new build, the safety net of at least one year everything being covered. The most exciting of the Orientation was we got to walk through the whole house and point out things we were not happy with or that needed to be fixed; Wow, there were a lot!

At first glance the house was stunning! But once we looked deeper we saw so many issues.  Honestly though, many of these issues we had seen for weeks, but they were never fixed (again, why we called the "big Guns" in)  This was our list we emailed after the 1st walk through-

 

• 1. The walls were a mess.  Lots of dents, poor sanding, chips, rough edges on some corners, thin paint, lack of paint under ledges and simply dirty (lots of black smudges) all over the house.   Also, dirty window frames in the basement. 
• 2. The kitchen sink was leaking. We were not sure if the water spot on the cabinet floor would come out.
• 3. The kitchen cabinets were dirty or scuffed? The edges looked rough too. We couldn't quite tell, but I believe we marked all the bad spots. Also, one cabinet came down when they were trying to fix it.
• 4. The carpet in front of the main bath has a really bad 'squeak', you can feel the floor board move.
• 5. The garage door (3rd stall) is dented near the bottom, as is the framing of the main garage.
• 6. Main bathroom drawer's track is no aligned correctly?
• 7. Different places around the siding were loose? There is also a spot above the 3rd stall that was cut too short (the white sections under the gutters? The railing on the porch also had black scuff marks.  

• 8. The front door seemed hastily stained.  Very thin in spots and scratched and scuffed, around the door handle and window.  It looks terrible. 
•  9. In the basement, the wall of the bathroom (by the shower head) is very bowed, you can look down the basement hall and see it as well, not as badly though.

• 10. Basement bathroom, there is a lot of dirt coming out of the wall of the tub when the shower runs.  We saw after they removed the flood damage that they did not clean out this area around and behind the tub and think it may be from that? In addition to that, there was a lot of dirt left over in general when the dry wall was re-installed.  Will this cause other issues like this in the future, dirt seeping out of places?
• 11. Dirty caulking around basement bathtub from flood damage.
• 12. Lots of dried mud around hot water tank.  Tray is very muddy and beat up.
• 13. Microwave fan is making a strange noise when you turn it off. 
• 14. Small hole in Master bath ceiling by the fan.
• 15. Hole or something in the framing of the Master bath mirror, lower right side.
• 16. In the utility closet the insulation behind the furnace and hot water tank is falling down.
• 17. Large chip (7inches)  in the front porch.     
  When I emailed all this to Mr. Big Guns I was worried about how vast the list was and if I was being ridiculous on most of it, maybe new houses come with a lot of damage? But he wrote back and said he had all these things and a few more on his lists and assured me that this was not the quality he would allow us to close with.  Seriously, he is awesome! Also, he ordered a second mold test, just to be sure... It came back perfect!
  By our second walk through almost 2 weeks later the list had dropped to four things-

• 1. Chip in the front porch is still there.  And the railing is still badly scratched.  
• 2. There are new holes drilled in the garage doors near the bottom.  Also, the garage door opener in the wall is loose and has a wire sticking out, it's also dirty?
• 3. The front door still has staining on the window and parts around the window that were chipped down to the base.   
• 4. Microwave fan is still making a noise.  
  I forgot to get pictures of the first walk though, wish I had because they gave us blue and green tape to place on all the areas that needed attention.  When we left the house looked like something out of Dr. Sues because of all the dots.
  The pictures below are from the second walk through.
  I promise, tomorrow I will get a photo of the outside.  I cant believe I keep forgetting!