Embark on the journey of turning dreams into reality with new construction homes in this insightful podcast episode. Join Paul Balzotti in conversation with seasoned broker Justin Nelson as they delve into the intricacies of building or purchasing a new home. From the allure of custom-built homes to the convenience of pre-sales, they explore the various avenues available to homebuyers. Navigate through topics such as:
For expert guidance on embarking on your new home journey or accessing pre-sales in Bellingham, Whatcom, or Skagit County, contact Justin Nelson at justinnelson@johnlscott.com.
Embark on the journey of turning dreams into reality with new construction homes in this insightful podcast episode. Join Paul Balzotti in conversation with seasoned broker Justin Nelson as they delve into the intricacies of building or purchasing a new home. From the allure of custom-built homes to the convenience of pre-sales, they explore the various avenues available to homebuyers. Navigate through topics such as:
For expert guidance on embarking on your new home journey or accessing pre-sales in Bellingham, Whatcom, or Skagit County, contact Justin Nelson at justinnelson@johnlscott.com.
Buying New Construction in Bellingham with Justin Nelson
00:00:02:01 - 00:00:12:07
Paul Balzotti
Oh. Oh. Hello and welcome to the Bellingham Real Estate Podcast. I'm Paul Balzotti, I'm here with Justin Nelson. Welcome, Justin.
00:00:12:07 - 00:00:13:02
Justin Nelson
Thank you. Thank you.
00:00:13:03 - 00:00:35:01
Paul Balzotti
Happy to be here. Yeah. And today we are talking about buying a new home or building and all things new construction. I think most people love new and, and there's a lot of people that have a dream of, of either building or buying a new home. And so we're going to deep dive into that today. Justin, I know you've been in the business for, what, ten years now?
00:00:35:05 - 00:00:36:14
Justin Nelson
Been in the business ten years now.
00:00:36:14 - 00:01:21:02
Paul Balzotti
And so you've helped many buyers, with this process. And so we're going to we're going to cover everything from buying land and, and, and a complete custom build to doing a pre-sale to if you're just buying a new construction home, just some tips and things to think about. So let's kind of start with the let's say the, the, the most difficult one, the, the buying land and, and then building and building a custom home because I think that's kind of where a lot of people start, because that's really and the dream, that's when you can then get the land you want, customize it, get everything you want, potentially.
00:01:21:04 - 00:01:39:24
Paul Balzotti
and so, you know, I think, I don't know about you, I'd say that at least a third of the buyers that I've worked with over the years, at least, kind of started with that idea that they'd like to do that and some execute, you know, many others are not able to pull it off or decide against it as they've kind of get further into it.
00:01:39:24 - 00:01:48:02
Paul Balzotti
But what, what's been your experience as far as, like what? Just talking on buying land and then going custom from there.
00:01:48:04 - 00:02:06:28
Justin Nelson
Yeah. No, I think that's I think was a really good thing to point out because so many people we talked to and you touch on a third, I might even be more than that to say, like, hey, I'd really like to build, but I mean, so many people get into that. And the, the idea of, you know, buying the land and building the custom.
00:02:06:28 - 00:02:27:12
Justin Nelson
But I, you know, I, I think it's, it's a dream for a lot of people, but a lot of people don't actually execute just because of the steps involved. yeah. You've got to buy the land first and then find the builder or the general contractor to work with. And unfortunately, buying the land is kind of the most difficult part of it.
00:02:27:15 - 00:02:50:03
Justin Nelson
you know, and sometimes people come to us and they already have a piece of land that they own, or maybe it's been in the family, or they were able to buy it from a family member, or they just they already have the land, and they're looking for us to kind of put them in the direction of a builder or a general contractor, but most time it's the contractor or the builder getting in touch with us, saying, hey, I've got this person wanting to build.
00:02:50:05 - 00:02:56:19
Justin Nelson
Yeah. you know, can you help them find land? And so that generally gets the ball rolling there. And that's how we get involved with it.
00:02:56:23 - 00:03:18:05
Paul Balzotti
Yeah. And so when you are looking at land for a buyer or somebody who's listening or watching, they're thinking, you know, what are the tips for what I should be considering when when looking for a lot. What are you generally looking at or what what calls are you making to the listing broker? to figure out if the lot is a good lot for building on, you know.
00:03:18:07 - 00:03:36:16
Justin Nelson
It's so every each one of them vary so much because it can depend on the type of home they're building, the size of home. you know, for instance, some people will want, you know, that net zero home. So okay, if you want a net zero home that's going to be built green, it's got to have good southern exposure for solar panels.
00:03:36:17 - 00:03:55:19
Justin Nelson
You know, there's a lot that goes into it. that's one thing. But also to like do they want the city. Do they do want county. What part of the county they want. So really you start getting into the nuances of the land and then once you find something reaching out to the listing broker, it's getting as much information as you can from them.
00:03:55:22 - 00:04:17:03
Justin Nelson
but a lot of it too comes back on to the buyer, them doing their due diligence, their homework. Can they do what they want to do on the land? Because, yeah, the listing agents have information, but they don't have all the information. And the person selling the land might know a lot of stuff about it, but not enough to maybe build a home on it or write something that this person wants to do.
00:04:17:03 - 00:04:22:15
Justin Nelson
So that's when you start getting into the feasibility aspects of it and walking buyers through that kind of stuff. Yeah.
00:04:22:15 - 00:04:46:18
Paul Balzotti
And so you brought up feasibility. So that's that's definitely a topic we should touch on. So feasibility meaning you know you write the offer on the land and then you almost always have a feasibility period where you could back out and get earnest money back. Because even if the listing broker and the seller say we have a septic design in place, we have a well permitted, you know, you go to the county, sometimes the information is not up to date.
00:04:46:22 - 00:05:12:23
Paul Balzotti
Sometimes they what they said you can do, you can't necessarily do or sometimes what they say you can do, you can do. But it's a lot more expense of than than what you know, you initially think. So. You know, I, I think probably the most common thing and you know, correct me your add on if you feel differently, that comes up is you, you find a lot for like 100,000 and you know, so they have a builder says I'll build your house for 600,000.
00:05:12:25 - 00:05:33:23
Paul Balzotti
So they're going, okay, I can do that. $700,000. And then of course, but the lot that's $100,000 to get it from where it is to where the builder can start building the home. Sometimes once you get into all that with the well, the septic, the utilities, the the impact fees, the wetland delineations, yes, all of these different factors, all said.
00:05:33:23 - 00:06:02:10
Paul Balzotti
And the $100,000 a lot is a 300,000 a lot. maybe bringing in the driveway, you know, there's all sorts of complications. And I think that developing the lots is probably where the most difficult to comes in. Like if there was. Absolutely. If there was a lot more just, developers that were developing lots, you know, just getting them totally serviced ready, we'd see a lot more new construction.
00:06:02:10 - 00:06:03:26
Paul Balzotti
I think that's the most difficult.
00:06:03:28 - 00:06:27:14
Justin Nelson
I think you hit the nail right on the head there. And this is what is so tough with that custom home build and working with the buyer is, like you said, that lot. Oh man, I found this lot. It's in a great location. It's 100 grand. And then our budget, like you said, let's just throw a number out there, 600 grand because we're staying in that $700,000 bubble like this is our budget.
00:06:27:20 - 00:06:55:01
Justin Nelson
But they don't realize, like just because the listing broker said it's this or the owner says it's that. It is on the buyer to find out if they can do what they want. And that feasibility study is so important. And you're exactly right, that $100,000 a lot, all of a sudden becomes 150, 175, 200,000, 300,000 because you had to do wetland delineation, you had to get, you know, oh, well, they they did a septic test at one point, the percolation test.
00:06:55:01 - 00:07:14:06
Justin Nelson
Well, that's expired now you have to bring them back out there and then all this stuff adds up. And unfortunately that's where that's where a lot of the buyers dreams die right there. Yeah. And I think that's why developers are in the position they're in. And good builders are good at it because that's the step they understand. Yeah.
00:07:14:06 - 00:07:36:16
Justin Nelson
Unfortunately the buyers don't realize that. And we I know I do when I'm talking to buyers about this, all the steps it's trying to educate them, inform them, bring them up to speed while not scaring them away. Yeah. Because there's so much involved and there's so much they don't know. And trying to like, okay, I'm going to hold your hand through this.
00:07:36:18 - 00:07:42:11
Justin Nelson
you know, there's going to be a lot here. You might even have to bring in, you know, land use consultant.
00:07:42:17 - 00:07:46:25
Paul Balzotti
That's a good that's a good that's a good point. A land use consultant can be because they think.
00:07:46:27 - 00:08:00:13
Justin Nelson
Unfortunately, you know, we have a lot of information and we can walk them through, but we're not everything into it. you know, so they do have to bring in someone else sometimes and it can just add on and becomes so expensive. And that's really tough.
00:08:00:16 - 00:08:24:06
Paul Balzotti
For the land use consultant that is, if you're really determined to do this, that is a great thing to bring up that buyers should think about. Because I think what also happens is, is you start looking at land, we get all the information we can. Then we go to the let's say it's in the county. You go to the county planning department and basically the planning department.
00:08:24:06 - 00:08:44:03
Paul Balzotti
When you go to them and you're like, how do I build a house here? Generally speaking, no, you know, nothing personal against anybody there. They're all great, but they're they're not sitting there saying, you know, okay, here's the ways you could build. They're kind of more or less kind of showing you all of the all the hoops you have to jump through and like, oh, you're going to have to do this.
00:08:44:03 - 00:09:03:15
Paul Balzotti
You know, you have this setback, you have this, you have this and navigating that and you know, and then sometimes they'll say, they'll even say, well, this may be really difficult to do. Having a land use consultant who kind of not only, you know, knows, you know, all of the same things, but knows all the workarounds. Yes.
00:09:03:15 - 00:09:17:22
Paul Balzotti
But oftentimes they can sit there and say to you, look, you know, they said you'd have to apply for that, but I know we're going to be able to get that, or I know we're not going to be able to get that. And so because a lot of times there's multiple things you have to go through. Just figure out if you can do what you want to do.
00:09:17:22 - 00:09:44:14
Paul Balzotti
Like, you know, are you going to get the setback that you want or are you going to get this, that you want to? you know, there's maybe an easement? There's just so many variables. Yeah. And so land use consultant man that, that that is probably the ticket. And then the other thing I think that is so important, if you wanted to go that route, is, you know, you brought up all of these things just the time, you know, like I, we know, I know a broker who is building himself right now, for himself.
00:09:44:16 - 00:10:04:22
Paul Balzotti
They picked up the lot two years ago, you know, and, and then maybe longer. And then they started doing all the work, you know, over the last year to get the lot developed and prepared. And then, then they started building about 7 or 8 months ago. But from the time they bought the lot to the time the home is going to be finished, you know, it's two and a half, three years.
00:10:04:22 - 00:10:26:02
Paul Balzotti
So I think the other thing that, you know, when we're and I think that's why we want to start with the most difficult, and then move in from there in this conversation is it's not just, you know, the most difficult, but it's also it's I think what also stops a lot of people is do they have the time to their, you know, and maybe they do.
00:10:26:04 - 00:10:37:05
Paul Balzotti
And if you do have three years to plan this out, maybe you can make it work, you know. But if you're a lot of times I feel like by the time the buyer comes to us, they were really hoping to do something within a year or two.
00:10:37:05 - 00:10:37:22
Justin Nelson
Yes.
00:10:37:22 - 00:10:40:23
Paul Balzotti
And in the patience involved in the process.
00:10:40:26 - 00:10:56:11
Justin Nelson
Well, the patience of the energy like, yeah, they're they've got this idea and it's going to be great. And they do have great ideas. They do like they know what they want and they know how they want the house to look or they they found this, you know, this builder that's going to build this home and that's that's the dream.
00:10:56:11 - 00:11:21:20
Justin Nelson
And we want to help them with that. But all the items that we have to check to get them there, and I think that's why I think that's where we really can come in and help the process with these builders is trying to educate the buyers and not scare them away, because there is so much right to go through, like you said, like in their head they might think, oh, well, if I'm going to buy a house, you know, it'll take me 30 days and a on a new home in 30 days, but like build a home.
00:11:21:20 - 00:11:38:27
Justin Nelson
Well, that's about six months, right. But then like actually educating like, hey, if you don't have the lot, it's going to take a while just to figure out if you can do what you want and do on this lot. Yeah. And then that's like, that's just the beginning, you know, and and the onus is on the buyer, you know, do their homework.
00:11:38:27 - 00:11:55:11
Justin Nelson
And it is a lot. And I think I think it becomes overwhelming for a lot of people. And they get this idea in their head. And then and sometimes it is unrealistic. And so we try to soften it as much as we can to kind of educate them and tell them, like, hey, this is how the process is really going to go.
00:11:55:14 - 00:12:01:20
Justin Nelson
But you're right, it's it's the much more difficult route. It's not easy. If it was really easy, everyone would do it.
00:12:01:23 - 00:12:21:19
Paul Balzotti
Yeah. And so, you know, we're kind of saying in so many words that it's really difficult. Most of the time it doesn't it doesn't work out. And family unfortunately. But we still try to help a lot of people with it. And and we still, you know, we want to, you know, help people figure out if it's gonna work.
00:12:21:19 - 00:12:24:08
Paul Balzotti
Yeah. And and so and sometimes it does.
00:12:24:08 - 00:12:25:20
Justin Nelson
Yeah. And when it does it's so great.
00:12:25:20 - 00:12:26:20
Paul Balzotti
Yeah. Exactly.
00:12:26:20 - 00:12:42:04
Justin Nelson
Getting them through all those process. Yeah. We got the land. It's going to work. How they want. We got them through the feasibility the you know the ground. Perfect. If it's needs a septic there. You know there's not a whole bunch of wetlands like you know all those boxes we were able to help them out with. Yeah. It's.
00:12:42:05 - 00:12:59:27
Paul Balzotti
Yeah. And it's like. And it's like what the fully custom having the land consultant and the realtor and the builder, you know, or maybe and maybe if it's if they don't have the builder, you know, we can recommend different builders that they can interview. So they need us. but it's, it's, it's, it's a lot to unpack there.
00:12:59:27 - 00:13:22:19
Paul Balzotti
So let's say we bring it, bring it forward to the next, the next level of kind of probably the more next way, more common way that people would build, which is a pre-sale. Yep. So now we're talking about either a builder who has bought one lot, two lots, and already developed them. They've already they've already got plans permitted.
00:13:22:21 - 00:13:51:20
Paul Balzotti
And then they're basically pre-selling it and saying, hey, you can pick out some of the finishes, I'm going to build this house. They've already figured out their margin. of, of what they're expecting from it. They're kind of buying themselves a job, essentially. Yeah. to build you a home. or of course, you know, just a development where you have a lot of homes going in and then, you know, you're picking out in some cases the floor plan, but generally just the floor plans already pre picked, and then you're picking out things as you go.
00:13:51:22 - 00:13:54:04
Paul Balzotti
talk about that process a little bit okay.
00:13:54:04 - 00:14:13:26
Justin Nelson
Yeah. Because with that one I think for it it's great transition wise for this conversation because many people that start off with owning the custom home build end up in this route, because the builders already done all the work. They they've developed the land, all the utilities are in everything set. So they come in and say, hey, we like this house.
00:14:14:01 - 00:14:33:24
Justin Nelson
And a lot of times the builder or developer would be like, okay, you have option A, which will add on, you know, $15,000. You got option B which may add on 40, option C and on 50, you know, there's ways they can tweak it. The colors, the finishes, you know the customization and and so we can get involved with that.
00:14:33:26 - 00:14:54:25
Justin Nelson
really easily because what it allows us to do, it's like, okay, let's just throw numbers out here, let's say the homes 500 grand and then but that's the starting package. But they want they want package B and package B is an additional, you know, let's say $40,000. Like okay, well hey here's an option. We can come in and try to negotiate the price a little bit.
00:14:54:28 - 00:15:10:20
Justin Nelson
you know, kind of get things for the homeowner or the buyer that they wouldn't get on their own to see if we can, you know, you know, negotiate on their behalf a lot better. And I think that's that's one route we ended up going a lot. Yeah. A lot of buyers.
00:15:10:20 - 00:15:32:08
Paul Balzotti
Yeah. And that's a good point that, you know, a lot of times when a buyer will go to a pre-sale, they, they kind of the builder kind of tries to frame it if they, if they go directly to the builder, the builder chart kind of tries to frame it like, look, everything's just kind of prepackaged here. You don't really need, a buyer representation.
00:15:32:11 - 00:16:02:19
Paul Balzotti
And of course, buyer representation is all over the news right now. Like, you know, do you, do you need a buyer represent, you know, representing you in every situation. And, you know, as you mentioned, you know, builders say one thing like, oh, this is what I charge. But ultimately when when they have somebody by their side representing them, you know, a lot of oftentimes we can upfront negotiate on their behalf, especially for those upgrades because the, you know, the builder wants to they you know, everything costs more.
00:16:02:19 - 00:16:28:19
Paul Balzotti
But essentially the builders have built in profit on pretty much every upgrade that they charge. So ultimately, a lot of times we can negotiate on their behalf to, you know, get some of those upgrades done for less money. And then, you know, I've seen buyers also where they have they've they'll hire us to like, write the offer and then they're communicating with the builder all the way through.
00:16:28:22 - 00:16:59:22
Paul Balzotti
And then, you know, and then you start to become all of a sudden, if there's delays or the builder says this at the builder says that, you know, if you don't have if you don't have that realtor by your side, kind of like helping you along the way, the builders can sometimes take advantage of the situation. whether it be, again, profiting on the upgrades, with delays, with issues, you know, if you don't have, like, that second set of eyes, that second person talking to the builder or the listing broker directly, a lot of there's a lot of things that can come up.
00:16:59:22 - 00:16:59:29
Paul Balzotti
Yeah.
00:17:00:06 - 00:17:18:29
Justin Nelson
No, there's a lot, you know, I always tell people are counselors and consultants, but that like, in those instances, you know, not only are we the consultant representing the buyer, we're the liaison. We're going you know, to, you know, and most builders don't realize like, this is why the builder has a listing broker to discuss negotiating on their behalf.
00:17:18:29 - 00:17:40:13
Justin Nelson
So we're that go between between the two of them and, you know, for instance, you know, I think we're the last ones. I did something like this. The things are coming up, and I'm going instead to the builder. I'm going to the listing agents asking them questions. They're going to their client coming back to me. So we're able to work things out between the two of us and get things resolved.
00:17:40:13 - 00:17:58:29
Justin Nelson
Where I feel like had my client just been getting the information directly from the builder. Yeah, I don't know. It would have gone as well, you know, and it and I just kind of think that's what we add to it. I mean, you know, it's the same reason they have the listing broker to like the listing broker is there to represent the the builder.
00:17:58:29 - 00:18:04:19
Justin Nelson
And the buyer needs to be represented in this scenario. So someone's looking out for their best interest.
00:18:04:22 - 00:18:28:20
Paul Balzotti
Absolutely. And when you, when you have a new construction development, you have you can have the ones where, they are all listed on the MLS. but most of them, even just to find what's available. there is if you're looking right now, you're thinking, man, it'd be nice to be able to look for pre-sales, but I don't see anything.
00:18:28:23 - 00:18:59:09
Paul Balzotti
We also can go to the builder direct in a lot of these cases and say, hey, what do you have upcoming? and, you know, a buyer can do that direct, but a lot of buyers don't even know where every where all the new construction is. So another aspect of this is, is just even finding these opportunities. almost every development has some upcoming, you know, if it's a, if it's not if it's not just a one off, if it's a developer who's got a development, they might have a couple more lots available that they're going to be getting permits on.
00:18:59:12 - 00:19:13:11
Paul Balzotti
or they're already building that. They've been just kind of waiting to list. They might have, another development down around the corner that they're starting, but they haven't marketed it yet. Yeah. And so we can also just essentially help people find those opportunities to know.
00:19:13:13 - 00:19:39:18
Justin Nelson
I, I think you touched on something very important right there. It's okay to build builders custom development going. and unfortunately let's say they the, the current phase, they're in phase two or phase three, there's ten homes and they're pre-sold. and they're all taking up, but oh shoot, my buy really wanted to be in there. You know, having those relationships within the industry to be able to reach out to them, say, hey, I know you just finished this phase.
00:19:39:18 - 00:19:58:13
Justin Nelson
Do you have another phase coming up? You know, can you give me more information on that? And usually they'll get that to us and then we can provide that to our buyers. And I think that's really beneficial. I mean, it really, really allows them to not be discouraged. Like, oh, I can't get into that neighborhood. It's like, well, hey, May the phone calls found out they're actually doing a couple more phases after this.
00:19:58:14 - 00:20:04:16
Justin Nelson
Are you guys interested in getting in on that? you know, but that's because of the relationships we have and develop within the industry.
00:20:04:18 - 00:20:24:27
Paul Balzotti
Totally. And what also can happen is, is that a lot of times the builder, they will they will be like kind of on the fence on whether they even want to sell it yet because, you know, in appreciating market like we have right now, it's been you know, of course the market's been relatively flat the last couple years, but generally new construction is still been generally appreciating.
00:20:24:29 - 00:20:52:11
Paul Balzotti
So at times they're holding off a because they may not want to have you represented. They may want to get those internal sales that saves them a little bit on fees. and but also they may just be kind of waiting on the price. And so sometimes even if they say, you know, we're we have these two lots coming up, we haven't really decided on a price where we can then push and say, okay, well, the last one you sold for this, what if we just bring you an offer?
00:20:52:13 - 00:21:04:14
Paul Balzotti
You already have permits on that for pricing? They might say sure. So sometimes you can kind of we can also push and just kind of get a contract going with the builder on a lot that they weren't otherwise maybe even ready to, to move forward with because.
00:21:04:14 - 00:21:33:16
Justin Nelson
They might not have thought like, okay, are we going to be able to continue to be profitable here? But if we can show them, hey, you know, I've got this buyer who wants this house and this, like you said, you touched on, you know, sold for this much. And, you know, we could be willing to, you know, come to the table with this being able to negotiate and finding a deal, you know, just finding the availability of that property, but then working with the builder and putting it together, I think helps the builder because they now know, hey, I've got one more sale I can do.
00:21:33:17 - 00:21:39:09
Justin Nelson
I can sell this, but also taking care of that buyer that also was looking for that new build.
00:21:39:12 - 00:21:54:20
Paul Balzotti
Yeah, yeah. And then lastly I want to touch on let's say the home was already finished. what what are a couple of the things that come up with buyers that they don't necessarily think about if the homes are already brand new, already complete.
00:21:54:22 - 00:22:14:29
Justin Nelson
So this happens a lot. you know, essentially we're talking about spec homes. We're talking about the builder built a homes that are sitting there ready to go. This is these are the one of the ones I really enjoy, because not only are you dealing with someone that's getting into or wants to get into a brand new home, no one's lived in it before you.
00:22:14:29 - 00:22:35:07
Justin Nelson
Also dealing directly with the builder who has the opportunity to kind of work with you a little bit. So I find, you know, you kind of really represent the buyers the best possible. you know, is there a fence on the yard? Can we get it fenced? you know, can we get, you know, them to warranty the work for a year?
00:22:35:08 - 00:22:51:12
Justin Nelson
Can we get them to come back? but one thing a lot of them don't realize is you still need to get the new home inspected. And a lot of people are like, why would we inspect it? It's brand new. Well, jobs are busy. Job sites are busy places. You got people come in, you got people going in.
00:22:51:14 - 00:23:12:01
Justin Nelson
So many subcontractors. You got the general trying to juggle everything. And, you know, unfortunately, crawl spaces don't get insulated. Unfortunately, some outlets don't get, you know, wired up. Unfortunately, some attics get, you know, insulation put in backwards. So, you know, we can come in and say, hey, this is why you have to inspect it, have it looked after.
00:23:12:01 - 00:23:27:22
Justin Nelson
And then generally the builder, they're all for coming back and getting it taken care of, where if it was a resale home, you know, the homeowner doesn't always want to do this stuff. Generally with a new sale, the builder says, yep, no problem. We'll have our guys out there. We'll get it taken care of because it's their reputation on the line, too.
00:23:27:27 - 00:23:35:12
Justin Nelson
And they want that good word of mouth. So, you know, I think that's one thing that really comes up a lot is why do I need this inspected? But absolutely.
00:23:35:14 - 00:23:50:04
Paul Balzotti
Yeah. And with the home inspection, you, you basically it's you're right. It's the one time where when you whatever comes up in the home inspection, pretty much almost all of it or all of it, in most cases the builder, you can almost just hand the inspection report to the builder.
00:23:50:04 - 00:23:52:27
Justin Nelson
Times out of ten, that's what I'm doing. Just like, hey, this is what we found.
00:23:52:27 - 00:23:58:03
Paul Balzotti
And then we get to go around and put the tape. Yeah, well, for all the little smudges like you got to touch up this, you got it.
00:23:58:05 - 00:24:14:17
Justin Nelson
All the way. Come back through in the walkthrough. It's all been done. Yeah. Even if it hasn't been done and they're still finishing up the builders generally still in the neighborhood. Or you've got their contact information and they're coming back and taking care of it. They are. That's that's one of the ways I really love working with builders, especially with homeowners buying them.
00:24:14:17 - 00:24:22:18
Justin Nelson
It's just like, you know, the builders taking care of the buyer, and we get to represent them and then like, just hand over those keys to a brand new home. And that's awesome.
00:24:22:20 - 00:24:54:06
Paul Balzotti
I've had twice, twice, not once, but twice where the tub, was when I bought my not my care home about about my prior home, new construction that was completed. and there's been a happened another where the tub has been not connected. So in in the home that I that I bought like 15 years ago the this is the second floor primary bath and it had like that, you know, the like what is it called.
00:24:54:06 - 00:25:21:09
Paul Balzotti
The Jets, you know that were super popular 15 years ago and the tub was fine if you just ran the tub. Yeah, but if you ran the jets when the inspector ran the jets, all sudden there was like, a leak or something that was getting that they could notice. And basically the little tubes that you hooked up to the Jets, the guy who had installed it just had, you know, basically been a little sloppy with connecting those.
00:25:21:09 - 00:25:58:08
Paul Balzotti
And one of them just popped right off right away, and that would have eventually flooded everything underneath us if we wouldn't have had that inspected. And then, and then another, buyer I had who, who purchased a brand new construction home. I'm kind of similar where it wasn't the jets, but basically underneath the, underneath the like, the drain hadn't got completely connected really well from the tub to underneath, and they had to pull everything out and redo it just because it was a little bit sloppy the way they had done it.
00:25:58:10 - 00:26:07:12
Paul Balzotti
And so it's like these subs could make a really basic mistake that you don't catch. And then it could be a really big by the time you catch it five years later.
00:26:07:14 - 00:26:20:03
Justin Nelson
Oh, because no one's lived in the home yet. So you don't know these things. And unfortunately, you know, subconscious factors get busy, just like we all do. And we unfortunately we all make mistakes, but we bring in the home Inspector. They find this. It's like, worth every penny.
00:26:20:03 - 00:26:32:12
Paul Balzotti
Yeah. And the subs are busy or they're just not very good. Like, there's definitely there's, there's generals that, you know, that will have a team of some great subs, but then they might have like bring in a new plumbing group for the first.
00:26:32:12 - 00:26:36:08
Justin Nelson
Time or your regular guy. Yeah, he's sick, but I gotta hit this deadline. So I.
00:26:36:14 - 00:26:38:00
Paul Balzotti
Bring in second cousin.
00:26:38:00 - 00:26:38:16
Justin Nelson
Or someone.
00:26:38:16 - 00:26:40:14
Paul Balzotti
Else. Yeah. And then no one really checked that work.
00:26:40:14 - 00:26:40:23
Justin Nelson
Yeah.
00:26:40:27 - 00:26:46:04
Paul Balzotti
No. And so and especially, let's say it's under a tab, it's like, hey, I hook that up. Okay. You said you hooked it up.
00:26:46:07 - 00:27:10:01
Justin Nelson
Well, and unfortunately, the person who test the work or I guess fortunately for us, especially for the buyer, is the person that tested the work, is the home inspector that the buyer hired to come in and do this job. Right. And it saved them, you know, like you said, with, you know, with the example of the tub not being connected properly, you're not going to know that for like a year and a half, two years and suddenly, hey, this is why this this spot is here.
00:27:10:01 - 00:27:18:06
Justin Nelson
Oh, no. Yeah. Hub has been leaking ever since we moved in. So yeah, so many people question it, but it's like, no, you you absolutely get it inspected.
00:27:18:10 - 00:27:31:16
Paul Balzotti
And you brought up a year and a half, two years with a new home. If you put this in place, there's usually a policy where at the one year point you could do a walkthrough with the builder. If you if you put that in place right off the bat.
00:27:31:16 - 00:27:51:18
Justin Nelson
Yeah, a lot of a lot of builders will do it. And I think it's actually a misconception within the state of Washington that there is a law that the builders have to warranty for a year. And I can say this with absolute certainty. I know this because I just had a conversation with a general contractor last Thursday because this topic came up recently, and I was trying to consult one so or with someone else, a colleague.
00:27:51:20 - 00:28:16:25
Justin Nelson
So in the state of Washington, there is no law that warrants a brand new home for a year. It doesn't exist. What happens is the builder builds the home once the good word of mouth, and he's going to do that. So like you just touched on, whether it's one year or two year, they're going to come back through and they're going to, you know, depending on what you've talked about or what they've offered or what we've negotiated on their behalf, like they're going to come back through and help fix anything.
00:28:16:27 - 00:28:31:11
Justin Nelson
I shouldn't say anything. Probably not anything. But they're going to come back and touch up some stuff that needs to be taken care of. But yeah, and that's that's one thing you don't get with a resale. But with a new construction home, you generally will get that with a builder because builders want, you know, that good word of mouth.
00:28:31:14 - 00:28:52:14
Paul Balzotti
I like to I like the idea of don't we do this where we have the builder do the one year home warranty? Because then you get the, you know, you get the the warranty in their work and then back in their work and then that one year walk through. But then additionally, when you buy home warranties, you know, they have normally a home order for $700 is one year.
00:28:52:15 - 00:29:14:10
Paul Balzotti
Like on a resale home, you can get these three, 4 or 5, six, seven year extended warranties, for new construction that are relatively affordable. And so that's kind of a good a good double whammy there. If you have the builder warranty for a year and then you get the extended warranty. And you know, this isn't like buying a extended warranty on like a, you know, a TV or something.
00:29:14:10 - 00:29:25:19
Paul Balzotti
This is like, this could be something that comes up like that wasn't hooked up properly. And then there's a leak and there's a problem 3 or 4 years later and it's and it's a really good bang for the buck. Yeah.
00:29:25:22 - 00:29:37:11
Justin Nelson
Yeah. No, they're not I mean, they're not that much more expensive to add on. And you know, on top of what the builders already do. And I just think it's really beneficial for the buyer and the homeowner. It just really is.
00:29:37:13 - 00:29:39:05
Paul Balzotti
Well, thank you for joining today, Jason.
00:29:39:05 - 00:29:39:29
Justin Nelson
Thanks for having me.
00:29:39:29 - 00:29:52:26
Paul Balzotti
Yeah, it was great having the conversation. If you're looking to build or buy new construction, reach out to this guy. Ten years in the business knows what he's doing. Appreciate it. Appreciate you Justin. Thank you. Thanks for listening guys.