Buyer Beware! If you Buy from the WRONG DFW Area Home Builder - Kiss Your Earnest Money Goodbye When Things go WRONG!

The value of an experienced Realtor® is not just in a cool rebate, but in the value of the advice they can offer you in an effort to keep you from making a large financial mistake you will later regret. The DFW housing market has been busy, and quality has suffered as a result even from some of the better brands, but there are ways to buy right and build right if you know the steps you need to take to protect your new home investment. With ARG we can help you understand those steps and provide experienced assistance if and when problems occur.

Texas is by and large a very unregulated State with regards to new residential construction. As a result builder quality and integrity can vary greatly and that should worry new home buying consumers.

For example, last fall, I had a client who decided to buy a new "Spec" home in Allen. That family was under contract for a grand total of just 3 days, when they got the bad news from their inspector about foundation problems, multiple water leaks and some truly shoddy construction issues. That person terminated on the 4th day and the home builder, a large national corporation decided to keep their deposit on the bogus claim that by terminating for cause, their customer was somehow in default. Yeah, wow.

My client is fighting them with the Dallas BBB, which is a good first step to take if your home builder refuses to play fair. The Dallas BBB is one of the best BBB organizations in the U.S. Additionally, consumers also have access to small claims courts if their claim is for less than $10,000. The bottom line is there are ways to win against bad home builders, but the first step is a BBB complaint. I would encourage all home buyers to carefully examine home builder records on the BBB before contracting and parting with a large deposit check.

If the State of Texas would only regulate home builders better and require them to use State Approved Contracts that provide common sense built in consumer protections like a new home buyer option period similar to what is afforded to pre-owned buyers, and a mandated property condition disclosure, then builders would be forced to build a better home. You would think the State would mandate this to better protect citizens from unscrupulous home builders, but the Texas builder lobby will have none of it and consumers are left to fend for themselves.

If you are a client of ARG, we will do our best to provide you with good guidance about local builders so you can make an informed decision. We can help you understand the value of home inspections especially during construction of your home. We have helped countless new home buyers over the last 12 years and can share our new home market experiences with you. For us as Realtors®, we'd rather you take more time to find the right home, then for no fault of your own find yourself having to fight to get your money back due to poor construction issues with your new home.