Visiting Model Homes?

Then You Must Have

The “Pitfalls” Book

It’s Like Having An Insider Guide You

Through The Process Ensuring You Avoid
Traps, Pitfalls and Costly Mistakes
Saving You Time Money and Headaches!

Dear House Building Consumer,In life, there are occasions when we find something, or come across something thatchanges our perspective on how we look at things. In the field of New Home Construction, the book, Home Building Pitfalls is such an item.

What’s so different or groundbreaking about “Pitfalls”you may ask. That’s a fair question.The answer is: it provides you with a unique,inside-out perspective on house building that you cannot find anywhere else. It reveals to you the strategies employed by the builder and his sales team to sell you a home. These are things you can’t possible know if you are on the outside looking in – which is exactly the perspective that a normal buyer would have.

Rather than trying to explain this let me give you a brief example from the “Pitfalls” book:

Larger builders know how to set that hook using the model home as bait.  Most model homes employ a steering technique that was perfected on farms to guide livestock into pens (that’s how it feels anyway).  If you have been to a few model homes, you know what I mean.  Most builders convert the garage of the model home into a sales center and make you walk through that sales center to gain access to the home instead of going through the front door.  It is in that sales center where you will most likely be introduced to the salesperson for the community or one of their assistants. 

Model homes are decorated in a way that demonstrates the benefits of the floor plan but mask the home’s imperfections.  The model home will generally display every option available in the home, but in so doing confuses the potential buyer as to the real cost of the home.  To confuse things further, some builders use high-end “designer options” unique to the model home that are not even offered by the builder on a standard production home.  In most cases, home buyers do not “deck out” their home to the extent that home builders do in their model home.  

The price of a “loaded” model home is not only too high for many customers, but impractical.  As a rule, it is never a good idea to have the most expensive home in the neighborhood, as the models tend to be.  If the builder displayed the home with the options that most people really purchase, the home would seem common or boring and would not be as enticing to the customer.

In short, “Pitfalls” gives you an inside perspective so you can see and understand the strategies, tactics, tricks, traps and thinking employed by the builder and his sales team.  Don’t get me wrong, you are there to buy a home and we’re not trying to discourage you from doing that.  However, we want you tunderstand what’s going on behind the scences and we do want you to get the most house for your money, and avoid the traps and pitfalls in the process. 

In case you are wondering WHERE this unique insider’s perspective comes from, here is the answer: Pitfalls was written by someone that worked for one of the largest home builders in the country.

That are dozens, probably hundreds of books available on new home construction. You can look “until the cows come home” but not a single one of them provides you with the insider perspective that “Pitfalls’ does.

Pitfalls was written specifically for consumers buying from a tract builder.  Some people may not know what kind that is – – I call it theModel Home Approach to buying and building a new home.  In short, if you are visiting model homes where you review one or several different models, and then you select a lot from the remaining inventory of lots the builder has available.

If you are planning on buying from a model home builder, now or in the near future, “Pitfalls” is a must have resource.  There is nothing… I repeat nothing that will be a better investment than the $30 bucks you spend on Pitfalls.

There is one other myth that needs to be exploded as you begin the process of buying and building your dream home.  That myth:  the builder is your partner and you can rely upon him.   This is a misfounded trust, it is naïve, and it is a recipe for disaster.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that home builders are thieves and crooks.  The building industry  is no different than any other profession; it is populated by competent, ethical, and professional people – – and those that are no quite so.

You need to understand the shoddy home construction and builder complaints are one of THEE most common consumer complaints – –  so much so that there are several national organizations that have been founded to help and protect consumers that are building new homes.  One of these is an organizations is HADD – and we have received their wholehearted endorsement.

The examples that follow below are actual or real headlines from newspapers across the country.  There are literally dozens of these articles that appear daily.   So remember when buying and building that dream home. In addition to the commonsense axiom… CAVEAT EMPTOR (buyer beware) grab Pitfalls so you can also be Buyer Aware.

Regards,

 

James Todd
Home Building Pitfal

Builders in the news

“Formal complaint against new home builder issued by State of Connecticut for Unfair Business Practices”
May 14, 2008 – StamfordPlus.com, Stamford, CT

“Bankruptcy leaves subdivision with unfinished work”
May 8, 2008 – The Bakersfield Californian

“Maryland Consumer Protection Division Charges Maryland Home Builder For Failing to Build and Finish Homes “ May 8, 2008 – Baltimore, MD

“89 Homeowners Sue Builder, Lennar, in Calif. “
May 6, 2008 – KGET.com, California

“Housewrecked: Serious hidden defects plague many newer homes”
Consumer Reports, January, 2004 (Some information came from Home Building Pitfalls)

“New home with potentially dangerous gas leak”
May 5, 2008 – ABC News, Durham, NC

“Slump catches home builder: Owner saddled with $19K in liens -“
May 1, 2008 – Baker County Press, Florida

“Indianapolis Home Builder Gets Homeowners Slapped with Mechanic’s Liens”
April 30, 2008 – Indianapolis, IN

“Owners stuck with flawed homes”
April 27, 2008 – Houston Chronicle.

“Couple Fights Town, Builder Over House On Landfill”
April 27, 2008 – WBZTV.com, Manchester, MA

“When new condos go bad “
May 15, 2008, Chicago Journal

“Minnesota’s new ghost towns”
April 21, 2008 – StarTribune.com, Minneapolis

“Homeowners File Suit Against Builder For Construction Defects.”
April 21, 2008 – Gloucester County Times, New Jersey

Everyday, in communities across the country, there are dozens of headlines and articles, similar to those reprinted below, about the headaches, heartaches and shattered dreams of homeowners with new home building plans. And these stories are NOT just from “fly-by-night” home building companies, but range from small, local builders of new homes to the large, so-called “Wall Street”industry leaders.

These scenarios are all real.
We have witnessed them first hand.

  • Imagine your large, stable, reputable home builder going out of businesswhile your new home is being built.
  • Imagine the horror of moving your couch to vacuum and finding toxic mold growing on the walls of your 6-month-old house.
  • Imagine your kitchen floor slowly heaving because your home builder ignored a natural spring and built your house on top of it.
  • Imagine placing your trust in a 10-year warranty, only to find out later thatthe warranty is worthless.
  • Imagine having a government inspector ignore blatant code violations in your house because your new home builder was giving him materials to finish the room addition on his own house.

So who is looking out for you when you plan to build a new home?

Real estate agents? Home inspectors? The local government?

The truth is, none of the above.

You have to protect your family and your investment.

Here are the things you must know in order to be on equal footing with your home builder:

  • How to avoid the “model home trap” used by every big builder
  • How to prevent your builder’s assembly line construction techniques from getting in the way of the quality and craftsmanship you deserve
  • How to discover if your new home builder is telling the truth about claims of superior quality and customer satisfaction
  • How to prevent damaging mold growth that has become common in new homes
  • The tactics used by new home sales people to “up-sell” and persuade you to unnecessarily spend thousands of extra dollars
  • How your builder’s attorneys are working overtime to make sure they have the upper hand… and what you can do to foil their efforts!
  • How you can protect yourself from the exclusions and exceptions in the warranties of most new homes. These are exclusions that will cost you thousands of dollars when a problem arises with your new home.
  • How to avoid the biggest scam you will encounter when buying a home – The Home Inspector Scam (and no, it’s not what you think)!

 

Want to Learn How to Avoid Your Own New Home Nightmare?

Here is how we can help…

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Home Building Pitfalls by Lawrence Thomas will educate you on all of these topics. Lawrence Thomas has seen the best and the worst in the home building industry. Among his other positions, Mr. Thomas helped oversee one of the largest residential mold restoration projects in the country, and managed the warranty department for one of the nation’s largest builders. Also contributing to the book are several other industry insiders, including attorneys and former builders.

 

But don’t just take our word for it….

Homeowners Against Deficient Dwellings (HADD) is a large, nonprofit organization dedicated to educating housing consumers and promoting better building practices. This organization is made up entirely of volunteers who have had new homes built and have been burned to the tune of thousands of dollars (if not hundreds of thousands of dollars) in the process. Here is what HADD had to say about Home Building Pitfalls:

“Written with first-hand knowledge and expertise of a home building industry ‘insider’, Home Building Pitfalls offers details for what can (and should) be one of the most exciting events of your life. Mr. Thomas familiarizes readers with ‘must do’ research and actions that should precede any decisions regarding the purchase of any newly constructed homes. Lawrence Thomas expertly iterates items that should be part of every potential home buyers arsenal”.

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This information does not exist anywhere on the Internet or in any bookstore.

 There are no other home builders who have worked inside the industry who are willing and able to put together this type of step-by-step guide.

Buying this book is the first and most important step in your entire new homebuilding process. You need to have a full understanding of everything that is going on behind the scenes so you can make smart decisions about your new home. Reading Home Building Pitfalls will make you an informed consumer. You should also consider an online homeowners insurance quote to save additional time and money.

When you purchase the 196-page Home Building Pitfalls E-Book (digital version) through this web site, there are no shipping and handling charges, no waiting, no hassles. For only $29.95 start learning about how you can protect yourself, your family and your investment – and ensure that we won’t be reading a headline about your new home project.

Iron-Clad, 100% Life Time Guarantee

When you buy Home Building Pitfalls you get a life-time, 100% money back guarantee – no hassles, no reasons, no questions! This guarantee makes buying this book just like thumbing through the book at a bookstore. If you don’t like it, you don’t have to pay for it.

The Next Move Is Up To You…

I’ve shown you that HomeBuilding Pitfalls is as risk-free as any offer can be. Moreover, I have amply demonstrated the value of the information contained in Pitfalls from credible, third party sources – all that remains is for you to take action.In order to make saying “yes” even easier, here’s one more incentive that I think you will find appealing… I will throw in two additional free gifts valued at over $40, if you purchase Pitfalls today.

Builder’s Questionnaire and Interview Guide – $17 value

Hiring the a good builder is one of your most important tasks. This 71 point checklist will assist you in organizing your thoughts and ensure that you cover all important topics when you interview builders.

House Building Task List – $29 Value

A 180 point checklist of items that you should consider when building a new home. Assuming you are hiring a builder, almost all of these things should be the builder’s responsibility. However, this comprehensive list will give you the ability to monitor and double check what your builder is doing or should be doing. It’s an invaluable aid to assist you in monitoring the progress of your builder and your house building project.

 

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Remember all of this important information is available to you within seconds of ordering – whether it’s a weekday, weekend or 2:00 in the morning!Todd Jameson,

Publisher, HomeBuilding Pitfalls

P.S. We are accustom to getting nice testimonials from our many satisifed customers, but this recent one was something we thought worth sharing. Though brief, Pat’s credentials are impeccable.

Todd,

I wish that I had known of, and read your book before I bought.

Feel free to use this endorsement.

Patrick Missud,
B. S. Mech Eng., Carnegie Mellon U. ’90
M. S. Civ. Eng., San Francisco State U. ’95
J.D., University of San Francisco, 2000
General Contractor, CA B#697370, 18 years.