This is the 3rd part of my saga. It is about the 2nd most frustrating part of the entire process. I have heard that closing is the most frustrating part, and seeing how I am not getting ANY communication from them even when I attempt to talk to the loan people, I believe them. The issue is that you make the decision to put yourself in debt, you get excited about the prospect of living in your own home, you think about the new life you will have for yourself, buy furniture and appliances and then you have wait. Then wait, and wait and wait again. This is a wait for the construction to start. This wait could be really hard. Especially when you see other homes going up or finishing.
It is a hard time. Now, I have had a situation that wasn't exactly the way the builder intended. There is a position that is called the "Superintendent" in the construction. Basically he makes sure everything is going smoothly, gets contractors at the location, and deals with any problems. Well, the guy I had was extremely lazy and didn't do much. So my house sat for weeks at a time with no activity. This has been corrected recently, so things are on track, but the house will be about a month late from when it was supposed to be done. No big deal as I have gotten a few upgrades for my troubles. But let's talk about how things should be done and most likely done in your case.
The first thing you must understand, no matter what builder it is, they are using contracted work. Workers that are getting paid not by the hour, but by the job. So their main objective is to hurry and move to the next house. There is a seperate crew for pretty much every step of the way. I mean, a crew for framing, a crew for the roof, a crew for the landscaping, etc. So what you have to do is inspect their work as much as possible. Not that they don't care about doing a good job, but this is the place YOU will be living for years to come. You will be a bit more pikcy about things than them. So take time to actually be involved in the construction. I don't mean pick up a hammer and go to town, but go see how things are being done. Not only to catch potential problems, but also you can educate yourself to what is going on behind the walls. It wil make a difference when/if something goes wrong. I suggest you take plenty of pics as well. Not only for the nostalgia of remembering the construction process, but also you can see how wires/pipes were run in the house if you plan on doing some renovations. With the way camera prices have come down in recent years, it is alot easier to buy a camera for this one purpose.
With a big builder as I used, the building process is quick in comparison to how it could to be. You can go literally from a piece of land to a house in 62 days. Of course that is if there are no bad weather days and if the crews worked 7 days a week. That usually doesn't happen, but still things do move fast. There are plenty of critics of this approach. Many believe that is entirely too fast of a process. I am not in that camp. The only real difference in this approach is the fact that the frame comes to the worksite pre-assembled. In other constructions the frame is actually built on site. Other than that, there is not much of a difference. The bricks are laid the same way, the same plumbing, the same A/C units. The same contractors as well.
Either way, this process has been alot of waiting for the house to be done and walking through the house as it is getting built. It has been interesting, I have learned alot about the building of a house, seeing what is behind walls and actually gaining some real knowledge. I have actually caught some issues and got them fixed during this process. I am glad that I wasn't an "absentee homeowner" and just showing up when the house is complete. Of course soon comes the part that I have to pay for this house...but that is in the next installment.
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