New apartments shoddy build quality

Originally Posted by Alfred_B
Somebody didn't do a punch list before accepting the building.
Don't know how it works there, but even if you can inspect and list defects you are not allowed to pull out or delay acceptance of the building, in all of the contracts I've seen. It's ludicrous.
 
Both of my kids have leased apartments in new fancy buildings with workout rooms, pools, stainless steel appliances and whatnot, but SLOPPY, cheap construction and loads of obvious defects. I've pointed out to both of them that they could buy a home for less money, have a more solid place and build equity, but they both said "ooh, who wants to live in a $100k house in THAT neighborhood?!?" Whatever. The build quality of my 40 year old vacation home is, in most respects, far superior to anything in new construction, except maybe really high-end builders. I had to ride the builder of my now 2 year old primary residence, bugging the superintendent almost daily about stuff that the subs had not done quite right. Got a decent result, but I got the sense that the trades aren't craftsmen like they used to be, just men drawing a paycheck.
 
Originally Posted by CincyDavid
Both of my kids have leased apartments in new fancy buildings with workout rooms, pools, stainless steel appliances and whatnot, but SLOPPY, cheap construction and loads of obvious defects. I've pointed out to both of them that they could buy a home for less money, have a more solid place and build equity, but they both said "ooh, who wants to live in a $100k house in THAT neighborhood?!?" Whatever. The build quality of my 40 year old vacation home is, in most respects, far superior to anything in new construction, except maybe really high-end builders. I had to ride the builder of my now 2 year old primary residence, bugging the superintendent almost daily about stuff that the subs had not done quite right. Got a decent result, but I got the sense that the trades aren't craftsmen like they used to be, just men drawing a paycheck.
It's a generational thing. Back in the 80's we regarded new construction as junk comparing it to pre and post WW2 builds. A lot of it was the transition away from giant older growth fir which was straight grained to younger hemlock which was wet as the framers put it up. Hemlock has the tendency to twist and bend. Down south the wood of the lumber might be different. Sloppy building is caused by lack of knowledge and lack of pride. A lot of workers today just don't care. It doesn't matter which industry it is. If I get good customer service or purchase a product that is well done then I spread the word. A lot of the examples in this thread tell the story. Junk in drain pipes for example. That's part of the "don't care" attitude.
 
Originally Posted by CincyDavid
Both of my kids have leased apartments in new fancy buildings with workout rooms, pools, stainless steel appliances and whatnot, but SLOPPY, cheap construction and loads of obvious defects. I've pointed out to both of them that they could buy a home for less money, have a more solid place and build equity, but they both said "ooh, who wants to live in a $100k house in THAT neighborhood?!?" Whatever. The build quality of my 40 year old vacation home is, in most respects, far superior to anything in new construction, except maybe really high-end builders. I had to ride the builder of my now 2 year old primary residence, bugging the superintendent almost daily about stuff that the subs had not done quite right. Got a decent result, but I got the sense that the trades aren't craftsmen like they used to be, just men drawing a paycheck.
Plenty of people have NO interest in buying a house. It's a millstone and an unpaid part-time job hung around your neck.
 
One thing I've learned doing construction layout is you're usually much better off having a house built by a small builder, than a large company. The large builders always cut corners and cheap out, terrible looking footings, etc. The small guys don't usually want a bad name and they're often living in the same subdivision as the people who bought their houses.
 
Originally Posted by Jarlaxle
Originally Posted by CincyDavid
Both of my kids have leased apartments in new fancy buildings with workout rooms, pools, stainless steel appliances and whatnot, but SLOPPY, cheap construction and loads of obvious defects. I've pointed out to both of them that they could buy a home for less money, have a more solid place and build equity, but they both said "ooh, who wants to live in a $100k house in THAT neighborhood?!?" Whatever. The build quality of my 40 year old vacation home is, in most respects, far superior to anything in new construction, except maybe really high-end builders. I had to ride the builder of my now 2 year old primary residence, bugging the superintendent almost daily about stuff that the subs had not done quite right. Got a decent result, but I got the sense that the trades aren't craftsmen like they used to be, just men drawing a paycheck.
Plenty of people have NO interest in buying a house. It's a millstone and an unpaid part-time job hung around your neck.
Smart ones don't drop their money every month in a nearby storm sewer, for absolutely nothing in the long-term return. Home Investments grow money, a large majority of the time. When they don't, it usually signals you picked the wrong neighborhood to invest in
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted by Triple_Se7en
Originally Posted by Jarlaxle
Originally Posted by CincyDavid
Both of my kids have leased apartments in new fancy buildings with workout rooms, pools, stainless steel appliances and whatnot, but SLOPPY, cheap construction and loads of obvious defects. I've pointed out to both of them that they could buy a home for less money, have a more solid place and build equity, but they both said "ooh, who wants to live in a $100k house in THAT neighborhood?!?" Whatever. The build quality of my 40 year old vacation home is, in most respects, far superior to anything in new construction, except maybe really high-end builders. I had to ride the builder of my now 2 year old primary residence, bugging the superintendent almost daily about stuff that the subs had not done quite right. Got a decent result, but I got the sense that the trades aren't craftsmen like they used to be, just men drawing a paycheck.
Plenty of people have NO interest in buying a house. It's a millstone and an unpaid part-time job hung around your neck.
Smart ones don't drop their money every month in a nearby storm sewer, for absolutely nothing in the long-term return. Home Investments grow money, a large majority of the time. When they don't, it usually signals you picked the wrong neighborhood to invest in
Or the wrong house. I lost big money on my first one, it wasn't built to last.
 
Originally Posted by Triple_Se7en
Originally Posted by Jarlaxle
Originally Posted by CincyDavid
Both of my kids have leased apartments in new fancy buildings with workout rooms, pools, stainless steel appliances and whatnot, but SLOPPY, cheap construction and loads of obvious defects. I've pointed out to both of them that they could buy a home for less money, have a more solid place and build equity, but they both said "ooh, who wants to live in a $100k house in THAT neighborhood?!?" Whatever. The build quality of my 40 year old vacation home is, in most respects, far superior to anything in new construction, except maybe really high-end builders. I had to ride the builder of my now 2 year old primary residence, bugging the superintendent almost daily about stuff that the subs had not done quite right. Got a decent result, but I got the sense that the trades aren't craftsmen like they used to be, just men drawing a paycheck.
Plenty of people have NO interest in buying a house. It's a millstone and an unpaid part-time job hung around your neck.
Smart ones don't drop their money every month in a nearby storm sewer, for absolutely nothing in the long-term return. Home Investments grow money, a large majority of the time. When they don't, it usually signals you picked the wrong neighborhood to invest in
Had a house. Dumped it and wish I'd done it years earlier. I'm in a nice apartment for a bit more than just the property taxes on the house...and wow, I didn't realize how much work it was until I stopped doing it. No more endless yard work, no more snow removal, no more endless cycle of maintenance.
 
Originally Posted by Jarlaxle
Originally Posted by Triple_Se7en
Originally Posted by Jarlaxle
Originally Posted by CincyDavid
Both of my kids have leased apartments in new fancy buildings with workout rooms, pools, stainless steel appliances and whatnot, but SLOPPY, cheap construction and loads of obvious defects. I've pointed out to both of them that they could buy a home for less money, have a more solid place and build equity, but they both said "ooh, who wants to live in a $100k house in THAT neighborhood?!?" Whatever. The build quality of my 40 year old vacation home is, in most respects, far superior to anything in new construction, except maybe really high-end builders. I had to ride the builder of my now 2 year old primary residence, bugging the superintendent almost daily about stuff that the subs had not done quite right. Got a decent result, but I got the sense that the trades aren't craftsmen like they used to be, just men drawing a paycheck.
Plenty of people have NO interest in buying a house. It's a millstone and an unpaid part-time job hung around your neck.
Smart ones don't drop their money every month in a nearby storm sewer, for absolutely nothing in the long-term return. Home Investments grow money, a large majority of the time. When they don't, it usually signals you picked the wrong neighborhood to invest in
Had a house. Dumped it and wish I'd done it years earlier. I'm in a nice apartment for a bit more than just the property taxes on the house...and wow, I didn't realize how much work it was until I stopped doing it. No more endless yard work, no more snow removal, no more endless cycle of maintenance.
Well it depends on the house. If Your house is $500,000 dollars then yes it will be cheaper living in an apartment after you pay the taxes and insurance. Then if you have a 30 year mortgage..... oh boy that $500,000 house will be like 1.2 million after 30 years
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Had a house. Dumped it and wish I'd done it years earlier. I'm in a nice apartment for a bit more than just the property taxes on the house...and wow, I didn't realize how much work it was until I stopped doing it. No more endless yard work, no more snow removal, no more endless cycle of maintenance. [/quote] Well it depends on the house. If Your house is $500,000 dollars then yes it will be cheaper living in an apartment after you pay the taxes and insurance. Then if you have a 30 year mortgage..... oh boy that $500,000 house will be like 1.2 million after 30 years [/quote] Hopefully the $500k house has appreciated to something close to the $1.2 million when it's paid off...although to be fair I've reach an age when I have started thinking that I'll die before the houses are paid off, and some of my nicer furnishings and whatnot will become part of the auction when they sell off my estate.
 
Originally Posted by Jarlaxle
Originally Posted by Triple_Se7en
Originally Posted by Jarlaxle
Originally Posted by CincyDavid
Both of my kids have leased apartments in new fancy buildings with workout rooms, pools, stainless steel appliances and whatnot, but SLOPPY, cheap construction and loads of obvious defects. I've pointed out to both of them that they could buy a home for less money, have a more solid place and build equity, but they both said "ooh, who wants to live in a $100k house in THAT neighborhood?!?" Whatever. The build quality of my 40 year old vacation home is, in most respects, far superior to anything in new construction, except maybe really high-end builders. I had to ride the builder of my now 2 year old primary residence, bugging the superintendent almost daily about stuff that the subs had not done quite right. Got a decent result, but I got the sense that the trades aren't craftsmen like they used to be, just men drawing a paycheck.
Plenty of people have NO interest in buying a house. It's a millstone and an unpaid part-time job hung around your neck.
Smart ones don't drop their money every month in a nearby storm sewer, for absolutely nothing in the long-term return. Home Investments grow money, a large majority of the time. When they don't, it usually signals you picked the wrong neighborhood to invest in
Had a house. Dumped it and wish I'd done it years earlier. I'm in a nice apartment for a bit more than just the property taxes on the house...and wow, I didn't realize how much work it was until I stopped doing it. No more endless yard work, no more snow removal, no more endless cycle of maintenance.
No doubt it's a great idea if you need flexibility but you're somewhat stuck if you every want to expand your life.
 
I am getting tired of working on the house all the time. If I didn't have 27 trailers and 3 vehicles for myself, I would seriously consider leasing a townhouse. Seems like all I do is spend time and money on the swamp palace. Sure, I have a 18x35 garage out back but even that needs work. Don't have time to work on that or build anything in it as I want. There's developments popping up around here. They sell right out. Somehow ... unemployment is pretty high, yet these houses sell immediately. Some are mixed with houses, town houses and apartments. Construction is terrible. And they're all built on a swamp with no drainage, I have to imagine they all have issues with foundations and settling.
 
Originally Posted by Miller88
I am getting tired of working on the house all the time. If I didn't have 27 trailers and 3 vehicles for myself, I would seriously consider leasing a townhouse. Seems like all I do is spend time and money on the swamp palace. Sure, I have a 18x35 garage out back but even that needs work. Don't have time to work on that or build anything in it as I want. There's developments popping up around here. They sell right out. Somehow ... unemployment is pretty high, yet these houses sell immediately. Some are mixed with houses, town houses and apartments. Construction is terrible. And they're all built on a swamp with no drainage, I have to imagine they all have issues with foundations and settling.
HOA's probably have to buy flood insurance. In any case, your local govt is granting permits to build.
 
Originally Posted by UG_Passat
Originally Posted by mclasser
My nephew moved into a newly-built apartment downtown. It's a really nice building and he's excited to be the first one living in it. We helped him move in and the first night there we encountered problems. First, there were plumbing issues. The main floor Kohler toilet wouldn't flush correctly and the shower backed up. Luckily, the maintenance guys came pretty quickly and after a while of tinkering, they pulled out plastic pieces and other construction garbage from the shower drain. They had to replace something in the toilet tank but it was fine after. And again, this is a BRAND NEW place. My nephew later said he met his new neighbors and they also experienced plumbing issues. Next up, electrical issues. The kitchen lights flicker and a row of under-cabinet lights don't work. An electrician is scheduled to come check those things out. There are also signs of poor fit & finish. The floors shake pretty good when the washer/dryer are running, recessed lights have gaps and aren't fully flush with the ceiling, there are marks & dings on the wall from careless construction workers, the main door deadbolt requires some shimmying to lock right and etc. As a renter, he can just call up the maintenance crew whenever something gets messed up but it's obvious this place was hastily slapped up. Has anyone else noticed shoddy build quality in new construction?
New construction, whether it's apartments or in a housing development, it's all about profits. Build cheap, milk profits. 20 years ago, my parents bought a new construction home in a new development... immediately drywall nails were popping out!!! Yes, they were using nails instead of screws My cousin bought a new construction, and when we inspected the house, just found shoddy workmanship everywhere.
First part in getting a truly well constructed built house.... Doing your homework to find the better and best builders and sub contractors in your area... My step father did that with the very well built house he had done in 1993. Also my step father had certain parts of the house built to a better standard.... 12 gauge wire to every single receptacle in the house and obviously all the homeruns were 12 gauge wire too... 3/4 inch plywood wrapped around the house with tyvec wrap and additional insulation inside the walls too. Very high quality windows installed... He did all the electrical work and my mom and I helped out quite a bit. We also did all of the trim work in the house too... That was a lot of work. . The house was built like a tank and well insulated. In the blizzard of 1996 we lost power for 6 days and the temp never fell below 68 degrees in a house at 3,000 square feet and only a small thing of gas logs heating the house. And considering there were outside temperatures that were in the low 10s... That was impressive. In fact my mom told me the power bill dropped from $400 dollars a month to almost half that at or around $200 in the new house which was 2 times a big as the older cracker jack built house. Contrast that with the neighbors house which was smaller than my step father's house in which the temp dropped all the way into the mid 40s after just 2 days after the ice storm of Christmas 1998... His house was obviously no where near as well built or insulated as well.
 
¾ inch plywood ? That had to cost a pretty penny. That would make things very solid especially with 2x6 framing.
 
Low bidder work! Whenever I deal with someone that is worried about cost I tell them pay what its worth now or pay double later. Some people don't get it at all. I try to explain as best as I can but inevitably people only want to believe what they want to believe and normally they are controlled by $$$$$$. The trades are not dead its the people that pick the person to do the job.
 
We lived in a 20 year old apartment in San Antonio, about 640 sq feet. Electric heat and old AC unit. Routinely would pay $150/month for electric. Had a new house built about 1440 sq feet, about $70 for Gas and Electric on one combined bill. We sure saved a TON of money living in the apartment, I would probably still be living there but it was too cramped for the wife and I, and two cats. I will never forget how cold it was during the winter in that little apartment. I had to put insulating blinds on the bedroom windows to keep breeze from blowing in my ear. All this while the electric heat was blowing on the other side of the room. I can see how many want to live in apartments. No responsibility, pool taken care of. Valet garbage pickup. Ours even had HOT BREAKFAST every saturday morning, on the patio by the pool. Rent was half the cost of my mortgage. But the big bottom line, is the big nest egg of equity we are building every month. We walked away with good money with every house we sold. The way the taxes are, there is no write off for mortgage in most cases. People used to tout the ability to write off mortgage interest, but it never really helped us out much, and now its nothing due to hefty exemptions.
 
If a house keeps up with inflation over the years in most markets, that's the goal. Less and less becoming a true money maker on this sense, but getting your money back out is still better than getting nothing in return like renting long term.
 
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