I get a lot of traffic on this site from people that are looking for information about the warranty 
offered by DR Horton. The main reason for this traffic is that about 6 months ago I was having issues getting a couple of small things taken care of them before my standard 1 year warranty expired and posted about them here (you can see all the issues that I faced in the first year under the Repairs category). Six months after that experience I was back in a DR Horton sales office signing a contract on another DR Horton.
I concluded that series of posts stating that yes, I would buy a house from them again. The reason for this is that overall I believe that they make a quality product and to me that is what counts the most. I backed those word up by putting a deposit down and signing another contract with them this past weekend.
While some builders are better then others I feel that you still need to watch the construction and make sure that things are being done in the way that they are supposed to be done. Houses are built by people and people are not perfect, they make mistakes sometimes. Other times they just try to cut corners and don’t do things right. Either way I am taking the responsibility to make sure that people do what they are supposed to. It is MY HOUSE they are building after all.
The issues that I had six months ago probably seemed small compared to other issues that DR Horton had to deal with at the time. That is understandable since they are such a large company. I made sure that the issues that I had became larger in their eyes since they were large to me. You how the saying goes – the squeaky wheel gets the oil. Sometimes you need to squeak to get something done.
I really believe that to make your building project a positive experience that you need to take responsibility and be interactive with your salesperson and foreman. Having good and regular communication with them can ensure that any issues that come up will get resolved quickly and accurately.
So what can you do to make sure that your house or project gets done the right way?
- Get your hands dirty, get in there and ask questions. If something doesn’t look right to you, point it out, if they say it is fine the way it is ask them explain why.
- Be clear and concise when asked for information. For this new house we were asked to draw little symbols were we wanted our Phone/Cable/Extra Electrical outlets along with a couple of other custom items. Instead of handing them a paper with chicken scratch all over it I went home, scanned the paper, and used Photoshop to mark every spot with a color coded symbol. That way there can be no question of were things are supposed to be. If someone puts one of the phone jacks in the wrong place they screwed up not you.
- Hold people accountable. In the case above with the outlets. If they put one somewhere where it wasn’t supposed to be then they will need to rip it out and put it on the right place. No questions asked.
- Be nice. You get a whole lot further if you are are nice and respectable. People will be a whole lot more willing to do things for you if you are nice.
The idea is to be serious about your project and take responsibility for it.
Yes, the builder is building the house for you but it is your house they are building. After you sign the final papers you are stuck with it no matter how good or bad it is. It is better to end up with something that you had a hand in and it is the way you wanted it as opposed to someone else’s best guess of what you wanted.
As mentioned before, I have no issues buying from DR Horton. They are a good company and build nice houses. I will be there every step of the way making sure that things are happening the way that they are supposed to. This is no reflection on them personally, I think that is something that you need to do regardless of you builder.
To wrap it up, know what you want, make sure people are doing it that way, and enjoy the fact that you are getting a nice new house built the way you want it.
Technorati tags: DR Horton, New Home Builders, Home Repairs, Texas Homes, Round Rock Texas
