Home Builders in Austin (Mercedes, Streetman: hardwood floor, rent, movers)

[llkltk]

Anyone have any info, bad or good on Streetman Homes, Newmark Homes, Meritage or Mercedes? Thanks.

[FromCalitoSteinerRanch]

Originally Posted by llkltk

Anyone have any info, bad or good on Streetman Homes, Newmark Homes, Meritage or Mercedes? Thanks.

We have a Newmark. We have been in the house for 2 years now, and based on the fact we haven't had any issues, we would buy a used Newmark again without pause. But... We will never build with Newmark again. If we ever get a new house again, we may find out that every builder is just like the rest, but it was so frustrating with Newmark, I can only go with our sample size of "1".

If we had to do it again, we would have got everything in writing, we would not have closed on the home with items still on the final "punch list" even if it meant rent of $1350 for an additional month.

We would have lived as close as possible so I could have come out twice a day instead of twice a week to keep on top of the basically stupid, clueless, lack of workmanship, inexperienced crews that work for the subs. The previous comment is not so much about Newmark as it is about that is just who builds homes now in terms of workers. I will say that we found out that Newmark uses really good roofing crews, and their foundations are quite good. So, that should "cover" us from floor to ceiling. It is just the in between stuff...

Also, make sure you take advantage of wiring the home now, even at $70 per drop. We can't have a Tivo in the living room because we only have cable, and we can't have more than one wired phone because with only one CAT5 jack to selected rooms, I can't run Gigabit networking, and traditional phone service. I really should have done two CAT5 jacks per room.

[llkltk]

Did your neighbors have the same issues with Newmark? Are you having a lot of problems with your home or was it just the building process? Thanks!

[FromCalitoSteinerRanch]

Originally Posted by llkltk

Did your neighbors have the same issues with Newmark? Are you having a lot of problems with your home or was it just the building process? Thanks!

Just the building process. The homes have held up pretty well for the last 2 to 2 1/2 years so far. I do know of two Morrison homes that had major water leaks, and needed pretty big repair in the first year, which was covered under warranty.

[Zzyzx]

There is a big misconception out there that these so called home builders actually build homes. Well they don't. They more or less just sub-contract out the work to a 3rd party who are the actual home builders.

Are the people building your house qualified and skilled? You never know. Your house could be problem free, your neighbors can be a disaster. In Texas you don't even need to be a licensed contractor to work on a house. In fact many are illegal aliens who are unskilled. It's up to the home builder to screen their subs, but in this day in age, the focus is on profits and the lowest bid seems to dictate the quality of work.

If you do build A new home from a production home builder, here is what I suggest:

Go to the build site daily and take pictures of EVERYTHING.
If you see something wrong question it and get a answer, then cross reference it to make sure it's a valid answer.
Get a reputable 3rd party inspector for pre-dryall and closing, this is a MUST.
My inspector found code violations and defects galore. It amazes me that people debate getting an inspector 300K+ home because it costs $350-$450.
Go to other homes like your model in the area that are being built. You can make comparisons. I did this and found they were leaving stuff out are not preforming the proper workmanship on the house. Most production home builder will fix anything you point out, you just have to be diligent. I was also working part time when my home was being built, so it was a big help. You really must be committed for about 3-5 months during this process and do not assume anything from the builder.

So bottom line. To make sure a good quality home is being delivered, it's really up to you. I know it doesn't make sense, after all when you are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars you would expect nothing but the best, but that not how it works.

[tashina]

Agree with the part about not closing with items still on the punch list. We had the movers already in route cross country and ended up closing with 45 items on the list. They all got done but not without me acting as "foreman of the house", scheduling, re-scheduling, supervising. And of course the 45 items turns into more when the drywallers damage a spot on the hardwood floor which required the flooring crew to come back out, etc.

As far as wiring, it depends on what's important to you. We turned down all but the basic phone and cable outlets all coming together in the master closet. We have 3 Time Warner DVRs working fine. We have a wireless router plugged into a cable modem and our laptops are fine and happy with that so don't really need any other wiring.

We had built a house with all that extra wiring in 2002 and never used it so we skipped it this time and haven't missed it.

[FromCalitoSteinerRanch]

Originally Posted by tashina

...We had built a house with all that extra wiring in 2002 and never used it so we skipped it this time and haven't missed it.

I appreciate an alternative view on the wiring. I just always had a dream of setting up a DVD server, and the only streaming I had success with was Gigabit networking. Wireless was too choppy, and even with the 100Mbit in the old home, it was still somewhat choppy. It is nice to have the DVD's stored on one computer, and then stream them to the living room onto the flat panel.

[austin-steve]

Anyone have any info, bad or good on Streetman Homes, Newmark Homes, Meritage or Mercedes? Thanks.

I concur with the other comments - it doesn't matter which builder you pick, any of them can build a great or a lousy home. It's the subs that are going to make the difference, and it's your job to be smart enough to hire an inspector to go in at multiple stages (2 or 3) and make sure everything is done up to proper standards.

Hire an inspector who does new construction on a regular basis.
Steve

[GANKS]

We bought a NewMark, actually one of their Fedrick Harris homes. They have been great to work with but agree, you need to get everything in writing and as much of it done before you close. Do take lots of pics, and of the model as well.

One thing I have seen is the finish work on homes here really sucks. That goes for 120K homes to 1Mil homes. It's the same crew doing the finish work and it is not what it was like in Seattle where there were more craftsmen doing that stuff who took pride in their work.

I was stunned to see the trim guys painting the trim with huge brushes instead of air spraying them and then installing the boards. It's the little stuff that doesn't get done right in your house that will drive you nuts!

[llkltk]

Originally Posted by GANKS

We bought a NewMark, actually one of their Fedrick Harris homes. They have been great to work with but agree, you need to get everything in writing and as much of it done before you close. Do take lots of pics, and of the model as well.

One thing I have seen is the finish work on homes here really sucks. That goes for 120K homes to 1Mil homes. It's the same crew doing the finish work and it is not what it was like in Seattle where there were more craftsmen doing that stuff who took pride in their work.

I was stunned to see the trim guys painting the trim with huge brushes instead of air spraying them and then installing the boards. It's the little stuff that doesn't get done right in your house that will drive you nuts!

Did the model differ from what you purchased? I've heard of that. Does that actually happen? Do they change things?