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When is a bargain really a bargain?
Construction Questions
By Menno Dueck
Is buying a partially built house a bargain? It can be, but only if you know what you’re really buying!
Patty and John were shopping for their first home and told their realtor they would be willing to do some cosmetic upgrades to a house, but they weren’t interested in doing anything substantial. They had a limited budget and hoped to get something fairly new.
Their realtor took them to a small, partially built house that was a court ordered bank sale. The house had been built to lock up: doors and windows in, exterior finished, plumbing and electrical roughed in, drywall installed. They fell in love with the layout, were delighted with the natural light and impressed with the view of the ocean in the distance.
And with such a bargain price, they were confident they had enough money left over to finish the house, and in their eyes it was really only a matter of paint, flooring, cabinetry, and finishing the plumbing and electrical. They submitted a lowball offer, it was accepted and they became proud owners.
The happy couple was smart enough to know they needed professionals to complete the house, and wanting new home warranty at the end, they hire a contractor. Patty and John are shocked by the contractor’s news. The house had been originally ‘owner built’ and the contractor refused to warranty the house on completion because “I don’t warranty work I cannot verify,” he said. He then proceeded to inform them of three rather major building code violations.
First, their wonderful deck did not have proper footings and none of the wood used was pressure treated; second, the stairs to the loft bedroom did not have proper tread width or height; and lastly, the main beam in the basement was not strong enough to carry the load of the house. All three of these ‘errors’ would have to be corrected in order for an occupancy permit to be issued.
The bargain for Patty and John turned into a costly nightmare. They did, however, decide to go ahead with the work and forgo the new home warranty. In the end, the house ended up costing far more than they had anticipated and what started off as a bargain, some might call a lemon.
(Based on a true story, names changed to protect the innocent.)
Submitted by: Menno Dueck, Ask Menno Construction Consulting, Dueck Enterprises Inc.
250-426-5460 www.dueckenteprises.com
