Faqs

Why do  I need a lawyer?

While the information on this  website  was written in part by a lawyer (all right, all the best parts were written by a lawyer) this book is not a substitute for competent legal advice, especially since laws are different  from state to state and codes can be different from town to town.  More than that, at times, some of the stuff that is in these pages might be dead wrong under the law in the state in which you live.  Accordingly, my  advise is that you spend some money and see a lawyer before you sign any contract, whether it is for buying an already built home, remodeling  or for the construction of a new home.  Having a relationship with a competent lawyer who knows about this stuff is the best way to protect the huge investment that you are about to enter into.  

The way to find a lawyer who really knows about this stuff is really pretty simple. Don't be satisfied with a lawyer who says he can do this stuff, you need someone that does this stuff regularly. Pick up the yellow pages and find an ad for a lawyer who does something like personal injury or criminal law.  Call that lawyer and tell him that you heard that he was the best lawyer in town and that you are looking for a referral to a lawyer who handles real estate and construction stuff.  Do this 3 or 4 more times.  When you start hearing the same name or two, call that lawyer.  By the way, don't be afraid to talk about needing a referral with a secretary or a paralegal, they probably will be just as helpful as the lawyer.

Should I build a new house?

There are very good reasons to build and not to build.  Here is the top ten list each way:

Pros:

1.  Building your own home means that you may get exactly what you want.

2. Building your own home usually means that serious (expensive)  maintenance will be a situation that will be faced only down the road (10- 15 or 20 years later.)  

3. Building your own home means that you will be completely proud of your home and as a result, you will most likely use your best efforts at keeping your home as pristine as possible.

4. Building your own home means that you control the things that are important to you, like the floor plan, aesthetics, materials, size and shape.

5. Sometimes building your own home can give you a lot more house than buying the same one already built.

6. Location, location, location.  When you build your own house, you can put your dream house at your dream location.

7. While jumping out of plane can get you an adrenaline rush, your parachute might not open.  Building a house can get you that same rush without the falling.

8. Your mom will finally be impressed.

9. New homes are more efficient, they heat and cool for less and are better designed to deal with things like UV, Radon and other environmental forces.

10. Construction is an important industry and building a new home keeps people employed and contributes to a better economy for us all.

Cons:

1. Building a home takes up a lot of your time.

2. Building a home is stressful on a marriage.

3. Building a home requires you to spend a lot of money for something that you cannot see at the time that you agree to spend the money.

4. No house is ever built perfectly, and the imperfections can drive you nuts.

5. Contractors are not always honest, truthful, dependable, competent, or reasonable.

6. There are a lot of beautiful houses that are already built and you can buy something that you can already see.

7. Building in a development means that you don't have control over what else may be built in the development.

8. New homes are usually taxed the heaviest.

9. New homes often lack the character of an older home, they seem to lack personality.

10. Building a house is a commitment that lasts from 6 months to a year, where buying an already built home will only take a few hours.

Candidly, building a home can be rewarding, but it will almost surely be frustrating. You should take an honest look at yourself and your family and make an assessment as to whether your family can handle the stress that comes with building a home.  These stresses can come from things that are predictable, such as conflict over color choices or whether to use shag or commercial grade carpeting.  They can also come from areas where you never thought that they could, such as the fact that the contractor insists that you really did order the blue shingles when you know you didn't or learning that your site is an ancient burial ground protected by state historic preservation laws.  And don't forget the fact that contractors only work on Wednesdays between 10 and 11 a.m.

Sit down with your significant other (politically correct) and talk about how conflicts will be resolved.  Discuss how long this process will take and discuss the fact that you may not always agree on every decorating choice.  Where possible, make agreements on who has veto power where.  For example, let the guy have veto power over the garage and let the gal have the veto on color choices. (Politically incorrect)  You might want to do this right down the line.  It doesn't mean that the decisions should not be discussed, but it does mean that the ultimate decision (as between 2 or 3 choices) rests with one or the other.

The other practical advice is to implement the 5 foot rule.  If whatever is causing anguish is not visible to a newcomer from a distance of five feet or more, live with it.  This includes things like nail heads that have not been puttied perfectly or dimples in the wall that are so slight that they are only visible within inches and then only in certain light.  

The corollary to the 5 foot rule is the 10 foot rule.  The 10 foot rule says that if you can't see the problem from 10 feet away, it really isn't a problem. Of course this doesn't apply to structural or safety cmponents.

My favorite rule and probably the most important rule is the "is it worth getting divorced over rule."  This rule says that unless the issue is worth getting divorced over, don't make your spouse feel bad.   Everyone makes mistakes, and sometimes people make big mistakes.  It may be that your husband honestly didn't realize that a scratch in the fiberglass tub from the contractor who used a cinder block as a step would be important to you.  After all its' not your husband's fault the drywall contractor was short.

You also need to live by the credo that all things must be done right to be acceptable.  Write out this statement with your spouse before you read another word on this site.  We'll wait.  You must both agree that this credo is essential in the construction of your home.  If you don't both truly agree to this truth, you will both suffer miserably.  Insist that real defects be fixed.

 Work that is shoddy will not hold up over the long run and it is a lot more expensive to fix things later than to fix them now.  Don't let the contractor ignore your concerns.   Show him photographs of the problem and document the problem in writing.

Finally, accept the fact that you are each going to change your mind.  This is going to be frustrating beyond belief, but it will happen as many as a 100 times or more from the time that you first decide to build until the time you walk into your house for the first time.  Accept the fact that some things will be too expensive to change and some things will be too expensive not to change.  

Okay, you've decided to build, now what?

All right, you have decided to ignore my advice and will build a new home.  Most people ignore me anyway.  I'm not worried though, either you will be right or you will be wrong.   If you are right, Great!; you will live in your dream house, with your dream spouse and the rest of your life will be dreamy.  If you were wrong though, that's also fine.  There are lots of lawyers that need work and your problem will help some poor starving lawyer feed his family and maybe help him make a down payment on a Porsche.  

Okay where do you start once you have decided to build your home. We recommend that you sit on your hands and let your eyes do some work for a little bit.  There are some terrific magazines that center on houses and design.  These include Fine Homebuilding, This Old House, Family Handyman and even such publications such as Better Homes and Gardens.  There are also publications that look like magazines that contain 100's of drawings of various homes.  

Look at these things until you are either absolutely convinced you have found the perfect home or are so sick of looking at this stuff you could puke.  By that time, you should be able to at least get your choices down to 3 or 4 acceptable selections.

The other thing that you may very well want to do is simply take a drive or a walk and look at the homes in your neighborhood.  Are there homes that are already built that you like?  Take a picture or two.  If you already know where your dream house has been built, go to it, knock on the door and introduce yourself.  "I have always admired your home and we are thinking about building our own home that will be very similar to yours. Can we ask you some questions?"  Frankly your best bet may be to use their contractor, after all she built it well once, she will probably build it well twice.

Once you are in agreement on basic issues, the next step is to talk about the things that are important to each of you in a house.  For your convenience, and to justify the huge expense of this web site, we have prepared a checklist of usual things that should be discussed before taking the next step.

What do I need to worry about when buying an already built home?

Buying an existing home means that you will have a perfect opportunity to take steps at making sure that what you are buying is worth what you are paying.  The old house buyer gets to move the windows up and down, they can flush the toilets, and they can see the quality of the construction. There are no rain delays and there are no design changes because the contractor decided that it "would look better" with less windows, smaller doors or lower ceilings.

Buying a house means that you will stay within your budget  (at least until you start decorating and remodeling).  Whatever price you pay will be known and the price you agree to pay will not increase because plywood prices skyrocket or a tank of gas requires a deposit of your first born.

The other nice thing about buying an "old" house is that you will have an opportunity to meet and spy on your neighbors.  In a community such as what you get in a subdivision, who your neighbors are is as important as any other element.  Having an older established neighborhood allows you to at least get some feeling for the culture of your neighborhood.  If your family is very social but the block is not, this may not be the neighborhood for you. If you have young kids and the block is filled with other families with young children, this may be your nirvana.

In comparison, a person building house number 3 in a subdivision of 100 homes has no realistic way of knowing who will end up as their neighbors and what the culture will be.  New subdivisions have been known to range from the excessively social to the very restrained. It's just a wait and see proposition.

Lets assume that you are going to buy an old home.  There are steps that you need to take to protect yourself. First and foremost, you need the help of two professionals. First, you should consult. with an attorney.  An attorney has two functions in a real estate transactions. The attorney will either draft the real estate purchase contract or she will review the contract that you are presented.  The attorney also will review the title commitment and assist you in making sure that you receive property that is not unreasonably encumbered.

An encumbrance is something that interferes with clear title.  In other words, lets assume that you want to buy my bicycle.  In the cleanest possible transaction, I give you my bicycle and you give me $50.00.  I end up with your cash and you end up with my ten speed.  An encumbrance on this transaction might be that I agree to sell you my bike, but I owe my mom 10 dollars.  To get my bike you have to pay me $40.00 and my mom $10.00.  If we try and sell my bike without paying mom, mom will end up at your home and getting back the bike because she did not give her permission for me to sell the bike.

In the same way, real estate can be encumbered.  The most typical encumbrance is the mortgage that the seller maintains on the property.  When a lender lends money on real estate they record a document that tells the whole world that they are owed money and that a person should not try and buy this property without paying off the bank.  Indeed, if you buy property without paying off the mortgage, then the bank has the right, and in 99.99999999% of all occasions, would take the property from you in order to recover the money that they loaned to the seller.  They can do this even if you paid all that you agreed to the Seller. After all the Seller didn't really own what he was selling.

The way a buyer is protected in buying real estate is to use the services of a title company. Title companies employ geeks whose life it is to search the county and state recording offices to see if there are any claims recorded on a particular piece of property.  So, if you want to buy 100 Main Street, the title company will review these official records and will see what encumbrances exist on that property.  They would find things like mortgages, contractor liens (called mechanic liens), tax liens, easements, licenses or other burdens on property.  

Once the Title Company prepares its report, it will agree to guarantee that Seller has good title and that the Seller has the right to sell the property, subject to certain exceptions.  Typical exceptions might be:


(1) Existing mortgages (that are paid at closing}

(2) Utility easements

(3) Sidewalk easements

(4) Unpaid real estate taxes

(5) Liens


Your lawyer's job is to review the title commitment and where possible, reduce or remove some of the exceptions.

The other professional that you need is a home inspector.


What can I expect from a home inspector?

Depending on where you live, a person with enough money to buy a sign and a business card can hold themselves out as a home inspector.  In Illinois, that is no longer the case and under the Home Inspector Licensing Act, (225 ILCS 441), persons inspecting residences are required to be licensed. This act, which became effective in January of 2003, sought to improve the likelihood that a person performing inspections would actually have competence in evaluating residential structures for latent and obvious defects.   The Act does not allow licensed Architects or Engineers to perform home inspections.

Other than licensure under the act, there are some other indications that would tend show competence in a home inspector.  First, the inspector might be a member of ASHI, (American Society of Home Inspectors).  ASHI is a respected organization that provides significant training and support to its members to assist them in becoming skilled in hom inspection.  Another organization that is also recognized as having met reasonable standards for competence is NAHI, National Association of Home Inspectors.  A third avenue is BOCA certification as a home inspector.   Finally, licensed professionals; architects and engineers, may also be skilled in home inspection.

Licensure or certification does not guarantee competence, just as its true that there are probably hundreds of persons performing excellent inspections that do not have any connection to ASHI, NAHI or BOCA.  However, at least in Illinois do not use an inspector that is not licensed.

A home inspector should inspect ever major system in your home and this includes an inspection of crawl spaces and roofs.  It is generally not acceptable to not perform inspections in these areas as these areas generally prove to generate significant maintenance problems.

At the end of the inspection, either immediately or within a few days, the home inspector should be able to provide you with a detailed report as to his findings and what needs repair or replacement. Click here to see an example of a typical report .

Anyone who is not skilled in construction who buys a house without having it inspected takes a serious risk.  It is relatively easy to hide serious defects behind drywall and paint, or under a fresh set of shingles, only to leave the new owner with enormous repair bills and tons of aggravation.

What will I regret not including in the construction of my new home?

There are probably as many regrets in the building of house as there are colors at the Crayola factory.  Nonetheless, I think that there are some that deserve particular attention. They are, in no particular order:

Not putting egress windows into areas of the basement where you will later want a bedroom.  Building codes require that bedrooms have two ways of getting out in the event of an emergency.  One way is the door and the second way is typically a window.  Most basement windows are to small to qualify as egress windows.  Under most codes, to qualify as an egress window the window must have a surface area of at  least 5.7 square feet. Further to qualify under the BOCA code, an egress window must have a net clear opening of 24 inches high and 20 inches in width. This means that when you open your window, the opening that someone can crawl through must be 24" high and 20" wide. The lower edge of the window must be within 44" of the floor. Check with local building code official for the exact requirement in your town.

Not requiring 8 foot ceilings in basements.  The economy basement will have 7. foot ceilings.  An 8 foot ceiling in a basement will provide the needed height to put in a nice suspended or drywall ceiling and will leave a meaningful amount of headroom.  9 foot ceilings are even better at creating a more open feeling in basements.  7 foot ceilings are just not high enough for most people to allow a basement to feel comfortable.

Not roughing in the utilities for a basement bathroom.  Do it before the basement slab is placed and you will save thousands as compared to doing it later.

Paying for real wood doors.  Many contractors will push hollow core doors as an economy measure.  These doors may look okay, but they usually will not hold up to child abuse, many are difficult to paint and many are poorly constructed.  A 6 panel all wood door is usually a lifetime door and is easily painted or stained. By way of cost, the hollow core door sells for about $30.00. and the real wood door sells for about $125.00 with jambs.

 

Paying for better windows. Buy the best window you can afford.

House wrap.  It is the one true bargain in residential construction.  It pays for itself more quickly than anything else you can do with a new home. It also provides significant protection for your home from wind and water, both of which will tend to damage your home over time.