New Home Builders And Warranties.
Posted by Rick Merlini on Thu, Oct 14, 2010 @ 08:17 AM
Every new home should come with some type of warranty. Here in Michigan, every new home builder needs to warranty they work for a minimum of 12 months. But a consumer has 18 months from the time of C of O (Certificate of Occupancy) to make a claim against the home builder in case he doesn’t follow through. So in other words, the state makes all builders warranty their work for 18 months.
Some builders will offer you an extended home warranty from an outside company. These extended warranties are great BUT you must realize they DO NOT cover everything. All warranties have an assumption that the homeowner will maintain they home. If there is home owner neglect, that could be reason to void you warranty.
It is these types of warranties that make buying a new construction home a much better deal. The comfort of knowing that everything is new and that, if something is wrong, you have someone to turn to make the repair is priceless. You DO NOT get that with a used home. Even if you get a home warranty from the realtor, you must read the fine print. What you will find out is that the warranties realtors give to you basically do not cover much.
What should you do if you think you need some type of repair?
Almost all major defects will appear in the first year. And when they do appear, you should document your concern by # 1 taking pictures and than # 2 contacting the home builder. Once the builder has reviewed your concern, ask him to give you something in writing. If you do not agree with the builder’s response, contact your local building department official and ask him to inspect your concern. If the building department official comment is different than your builder, ask for a written report then contact the builder and show him the building official report. Most reputable building companies will fix any thing that is defective with no question asked.
Good luck building your new home or buying a new home. If I can help you in any way or answer any question you may have about
- building a new home
- buying a new house
- Selling A Home
Or any new construction question you may have, please feel free to contact me at rick@livewellcustomhomes.com. Or you can visit my blog at http://askrick.livewellcustomhomes.com/to read other topics I have written about.
You can also receive any future articles that I write by either
