DanUC

My fiance and I are looking into buying or building our first home. We found an area and neighborhood that we like. Ryan homes is building all of the homes in this neighborhood and I was wondering if anyone had any advice on Ryan homes. Their build quality, resale value, anything really. In this particular neighborhood there are about 160 homes to be built in all, right now they are in there 2 phase and thats what were looking to purchase in. The other homes built and being built in the other neighborhoods go from $160,000 to around $300,000.

They said they are having a special deal right now where you get a roll back rate of $15000 and you get either a morning room addition to the house or you get a finished basement both of which they said is about $13500. I think that there is some definite manipulation of numbers in there, that they are just marking up the price of other things throughout the house so it looks like your getting about $30000 worth of extras. After the roll back and other incentives we are looking at about $200,000 and we are looking to put 20% down.

Other than advice on Ryan Homes what would be any other advice that you guys could give me so I don't get screwed.

Thanks,
Dan

By the way if anyone is interested the area is Maineville Ohio, here is a link
if anyone is interested. The home we are looking at is the Halifax.

o3jeff

What state is this in?

soopa

They don't build homes in my area, but the homes on their site look very nice.

However, a search shows some complaints: http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/ripoff414.htm

soopa

http://www.enquirer.com/editions/200...loc2sidew.html

zeroday

wow that sidewalk issue would've made me lose it. people can't even park in their own driveways.

hypertech

There are pluses and minuses to every builder. You said they are the only one available in the area you want to be in, so just go with it unless you see something very wrong. Keep an eye on them during construction and/or hire a housing inspector to drop in randomly and check on things. You will get a better house for your trouble.

BTW, where are you? SF for 200k new is unheard of here, and finishing a basement for $13.5 seems a little on the low side too. You may find that you won't get much of a floor or something for that and will encounter quite a bit more money on upgrades once you really sit down and figure out what you want.

doopstr

How small are the lots that you don't want a sidewalk?

Ryan homes are all over NJ. I don't know anyone that has one though. They won't build anything for less that $450k here, unless you are in an over 55 area.

I do know someone that works for a large builder. They use a lot of questionable (read illegals) help. She says most of the houses are built f'd up.

DanUC

So are there any questions that we might want to ask them when we go to talk to them? What are some of the questions that concern you when looking to build or buy a house? This is our first time and it's really overwhelming.
Thanks,
Dan

doopstr

I'd start by asking them if you are getting a sidewalk.

One thing I would do is take a look at some of their lots that are currently under construction.

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

As was mentioned above... all home builders have their issues. When buying a new home, expect headaches. Even the ones rates highest in customer service in some publications have issues... so don't go in expecting a trouble free experience.

Ryan Homes is everywhere down here. We didn't look at them much b/c they did not build the kind of home we were looking for.... but from what I did see and hear, they are a pretty standard builder. Nothing great, but nothing bad.... kind of average. Keep in mind that you can still do some negotiating even if they're having specials. We got like $5k in options, plus money towards closing costs... but when all was said and done we had about $20k in free options that we worked into the contract, outside of any specials.... so no price is set in stone. Also, if you go looking now they're typically slow... so you can get even more stuff thrown in b/c they want to make the sale before year end.

Another good thread to read is this: https://acurazine.com/forums/home-garden-37/building-house-but-im-noob-325581/ . Lots of good tips and info....

TXXXX

Get everything in writing, down to a nat's ass.

The sunroom, what kind of windows, size, insulated, door, finish, etc.....

The finish basement, is it going to be insulated, what R-value, how many outlets are they going to put in th basement, how many lights, what kind of lights, drywall, painted??? etc......


Because in my area, if the ceiling is finished, a basement is considered finished.

keg1997

We've been in our custom built home for just over a year and we're in the middle of quite a squabble over several issues- nothing too huge but just things that I can't stand being lied to. We're close to going to a lawyer (and I hate that thought)

Just like others have said....get everything in writing. They'll balk but screw them...this is a big purchase. Plus you're buying in a good time- the gravy train is over for builders as interest rates have climbed and the economy wavers. That was not the case for us....I think our builder would have been happy to lose us b/c we're particular about things and pointed out issues and they could have resold our house for much more than we paid.

One more thing....get a buyers agent (like junior bean did) or at the least get a home inspector to check on the house. I know friends of ours in our development who hired a home inspector to check the house a couple of times from foundation to closing...definitely worth the money. I hired a home inspector just prior to the end of our 1 year warranty period and he paid for himself many times over on issues that we never would have noticed (and we're anal).

One last bit of input- builders are trying to milk you of every dime you got for their own nest egg

Good luck though....even after all of this...I'd still build again in a heartbeat- you get exactly what you want in a house and you're the first one to drop a deuce in your own toilet

phile

There is truth to that. Although I would'nt call the stuff in my house f'd up. when we did the walk-thru, there were all these little issues with the paint quality and detailings. it's because the crew were latino (Mexicans, perhaps?) and there would be one in each group who could sort of read English and follow the directions. But I didn't use Ryan Homes.

TXXXX

Now ask yourself a question, "why would ethnicity play a role in the quality of the craftsmanship?" You are being a racist.

soopa

He said why... they couldn't speak english!

Poor understanding of the language can pretty easily translate to poor understanding of certain aspects of the construction that require reading directions/etc.

Either way, even if it wasn't all that logical, and whether it's racist or not... it tends to be true that immigrant workers tend not to have the passion for their job that a well trained craftsman would.

These guys stand in groups on corners, get picked up by a random head contractor for $50/pc for a days work.

They're like hookers. Hookers that can use power tools.

soopa

... but it translate to cheaper homes for us. so i'm not really complaining... just statin' teh truth!

zeroday

this sounds scary and painful

zeroday

Not all Mexicans workers wait around on corners looking for odd jobs. Some are pretty skilled at their given trade. A crew of non english speaking mexicans and one english speaking 'foreman' put in my new concrete driveway and sidewalk. I was watching the mexicans as they worked; they paid alot of attention to detail making sure everything's perfect. The end result was just about perfection. You can tell they had been professionally trained.

soopa

Those that are doing a good job are beside the point, phile spoke of a bunch of mexicans that did a poor job.

Anyway, but maybe speaking english doesn't matter after all... considering everything these days comes labeled in spanish!!!

I picked up some crap the other day and it didn't have any english instructions!

TXXXX

They may not speak pefect English. And some does not even understand the language. But there is always a lead person that understand and translate for them.

That does not make them poor workers. The other way of looking at this: they value their job even more then the regular joe because it is very hard for them to get a different job.
Sorry.

soopa

They can't really be defended. They did poor work.

In my experience, this is often the case with migrant workers. While, yes, they value their jobs and they can be very hard workers... they almost always lack formal trading and don't go through the journeymen process that most unioned general contractors in this country do.

soopa

... and it could be said... that since they do value their jobs so much... that could be the reason they're doing such shitty work... because it's about quantity over quality with these new home construction companies.

phile

Did I accidentally walk into R&P again? My comment wasn't meant to be racist, it didn't even occur to me that someone else could misinterpret that as being racist. It was just an observation - I may be wrong, they may have been Filipino.

TXXXX

Most contractors offer good craftsmanship, but I seen some very bad one as well. Such as my dad's restaurant, there was a 2 ft difference in one section of the wall for being plumb, and those guys are in the union, and white, (the masons discovered that when laying bricks veneer). If one can not find pride in his/her work, then chance of shitty work will surface is high.

I put up my own garage, 4 cars, no formal training in construction, only books from library/book stores, and advice from building supplies stores. All walls are plumb and overall height of 1/4" difference in 40 ft span.



I did not see Phile's house, and can not said as much. But it is the contractors that hire those people that is responsible.

zeroday

i think what this boils down to is you can't stereotype a group of people reliably. There are exceptions to every rule. The mexicans did a great job on my driveway but right now I'm watching a group of american concrete contractors (all black if that makes a diff to you guys) do a horrible job on my neighbors new driveway. What you should go by is track record; research the hell out of whoever you hire. Looks like this has been done for Ryan homes and they're not so good...so move on.

SpeedyV6

Most new suburban developments and larger properties (1/2 acre & up) don't have sidewalks.

TXXXX

So people can walk in your lawn? Tough to have a good lawn.

SpeedyV6

That's why people have cars. In suburbs there aren't that many places you would walk to.

Scrib

I've never heard of that before... That certainly doesn't happen around here.

TXXXX

Walking your dog. Walking as exercise, running, going over to a neighbor couple houses down, .............

ccannizz11

When my parents built their house, it was in a neighborhood that didn't have sidewalks. People just walk in the street.

doopstr

All having no sidewallks does is promote more fat people sitting in their house watching TV while sitting next to their fat kids playing PSP.

I know there are kids in my neighborhood. Yet the only kid I saw playing in the snow last week was mine

SpeedyV6

No sidewalks here, here, here and only a few here.

It seems to be a nationwide phenomenon when it comes to suburbs.

zeroday

one of my parent's houses is on 2 acres w/ no sidewalks in their development. you'd be hard pressed to find sidewalks *anywhere* in their area.

soopa

That's odd, because I think of most new suburban developments being the ones WITH sidewalks.

In the city, we all have sidewalks. But in the local burbs, older developments have none. However, almost every new development has them.

So, I don't really think that the trend you see is a "nationwide phenomenon" since it likely varies from region to region.

soopa

... and personally... I'd prefer sidewalks.

they lend a sense of "neighborhood" to a community.

houses in developments with no sidewalks look soo stranded. like they're all on seperate little islands.

no sidewalks often means no curbs too, so you have cars parking on halfway on grass. kids riding their bikes in the middle of the road, and people are less inclined to walk the street.

i'd much PREFER sidewalks around any new home i built.

soopa

case in point...

my house is on a corner lot.

the street that my house faces has wide sidewalks, people constantly walking by, cars parked in nice even lines along the street.

the side street where my garage is has no walks/curbs. 1, this leads to alot of erosion in the blacktop where it meets earth. 2 nobody walks the street, i never see my neighbors from that street. 3, people park with their tires on the grass! it makes the street look like shit. i could go on, but you see my point.

Scrib

that just looks :ghey:

Sidewalks, to me, make things more close... more inviting for people to get out. Streets are for cars, not for people to take walks on with kids and dogs.


I'm sure it's not cheap for a developer to pour all that concrete, but come on...

Scrib

agreed... it just seems too weird for me.

I wouldn't want my child walking in the street trying to get to Johnny's house to play... Doesn't seem as safe.

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

Yeah, I'm not sure what Speedy is talking about... maybe it's an Austin thing...but ALL of the new develpments around here have sidewalks. Many of them have walking trails as well which wind through the community and common areas.

People are always walking their strollers, dogs, or just themselves around the neighborhood. And having seen about 50+ communities in the area, all of them having sidewalks and/or walking trails, it's safe to say that it seems to be a trend they they all have them.

Even the older ones that were built about 5 years ago or so have them....