Posted on 05/15/2011 11:23:09 AM PDT by newnhdad
Are you buying a lot with a new house or do you own the lot and having the house built by a contractor?
If you are buying a lot/house package, the builder is under obligation to provide you with a turn-key product in new condition.
The issues about neighbors being vandals is your problem.
If the builder fixes he house problems you are under contract to buy it.
Absolutely check with the police. They have a device that will show exactly where the bullets came from.
If it came from next door you’re still going to have to deal with the parents who will be convinced that their kid is an angel. I’d be looking to move rather than live next door to an out of control teenager.
You said you have daughters? I’d find out more about the neighborhood male teens.
You have to describe on what sides of the house the bullet holes are on. What Caliber, etc. If they are on the rear, look to whichever adjoining non-subdivision neighbor you have. If they are on the sides, write a letter the the Home Owner’s Association and buy a couple of fake cameras to mount in the eaves of the second story looking at both sides. Finally, if it’s the rear, post a big 4X8 shoot of plywood that has the words “I shoot back when I move in”
The builder has to repair the damage before your construction loan can be converted into a permanent loan. In the meantime, from the holes, figure out roughly where the shots are coming from. Set out several well camoflauged trail cameras.
Previous post is for you.
Back out quickly!
Mucho bad karma there.
Leave out the part about taking care of bussiness yourself , get the local leo’s involved they will create a paper trail that the lawyer can use .
Don’t talk about handling the trash yourself EVER!!! It will get repeated & you will be the worse for it .
However quietly get ready to defend yourself with lethal intensity if needed .
That means get training on the use of a firearm in self defense including what to do after you have to defend yourself & what NOT to do and say (thats a real biggy that folks often screw themselves over at ).
Crime stats? yes. We picked this county because they actually comply with law and deport illegals.
My suggestions would be:
Do not consider any vigilanti actions or you will end up in jail or worse.
Check your contract. Does it have an opt out clause or what has to be done to accept completion. I don’t think I have ever seen a clause about acceptance requiring it be safe from crime so look for something else.
I assume you have a construction loan on this property so it is probably being paid on percentage completion. If so, you don’t have much leverage. If it is a spec home being built to your specs, you are in clover because as someone said before, you hold the power of presenting the check.
Meet with the builder asap and ask him what is going on with the property vis a vis the bullet damage and get his thoughts before proceeding to the neighbors because more than likely one or some of them are involved either directly or their kids.
Lodge a complaint with the local authorities, and do so after ever incident.
Were it me, I would find some way out of the contract because safety of family comes first even over losing some money.
Good luck.
I have an idea it’s a flunking punk from the other already completed homes thinking he’d not hurting anyone. The area we’re building in is still in progress and has lots of fairly affluent people and DOD/military stickers are everywhere.
The median price or our model was over $600,000 so we’re not low rent, but compared to the 2+3mill houses, we are kinda smallish, if you want to call 5,000 sq ft smallish.
I’m pretty sure I know exactly where you are as I live in a neighboring county. Going to go out on a limb and say you are not too far from the former Nissan Pavilion ( I think it’s Jiffy Lube now).
In all seriousness....push for your money back and go one county over to the west and stay away from the public transportation. That is your problem. The issues you are describing will continue and you may make it worse by stirring up the hornets nest.
Freepmail me if you want some specific suggestions of where to look. But either way, good luck with protecting your family. It’s scary what’s out there.
On a resale home normally yes. On a custom home being built the builder can usually recover his losses until the home is sold again as well.
There are three homes on my street occupied and the property back up to a golf course and a lake, which is private I think. The guy that lives across the street just moved there in March and because he works in DC, he’s not home until dark but he said that he’ll keep an eye on the place and call me.
There were two other homes that we walked up to that were occupied but nobody was home. The neighbor guy said he’ll talk to them and report back to the builder.
The contractors and subs are currently working on five other places, mostly from the inside so they wouldn’t be able to see what’s going on 24/7.
I’m going back and forth with the building super right now and he’s dealing with the local LEOs..
you’re right it’s some punk kid shooting at an empty house. when you move in and he has a chance of getting caught it will stop.
28 year old stoner living in mom and dads basement?
I’m pretty good with a gun but we happened to lose all of ours in an unfortunate boating mishap a few years ago.
Seriously, I would never put my family in jeopardy in any way, that means creating a paper trail, which I’m pushing them to do right now.
How big are the holes? Air-gun pellet sized or what?
Are you saying that someone is pissed your house is smaller or what?
Freegards
If none of the neighbors have had any problems with their houses being shot at... chances are your house was used as a target by opportunistic teens because it is unoccupied. You could have this same type of difficulty anywhere and it wouldn't necessarily be any indication that you are going to have problems in the future.
My family used to be in the home building business and my experience is that vandalism can be a problem even in very nice places. If this is a good neighborhood and it is where you want to live... I would at least get the opinion of the neighbors and police before giving up on my dream. You could end up never having a problem after moving in. I wouldn't want to let some idiots out vandalizing unoccupied houses make my decision for me. I can certainly understand why you are upset, but there is almost no chance that someone would have been shooting at your house if it looked like it was occupied.
We live in a gated community in a rural setting. It is very nice, but there are people who shoot at several locations nearby. If the our house was vacant and the neighbors weren't home it wouldn't surprise me a bit some kids decided to put a few holes in it for kicks. It wouldn't discourage me about this location. Welcome to rural America.
Tell them you can’t get a homeowners policy that covers acts of war and then run away from the place.
You need to consider if this vandalism might escalate over time. If it’s ‘just’ some teenagers, either their parents know what’s going on and don’t care or they’re oblivious to what their kids are up to. Either way, it doesn’t bode well.
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