Question on new builds (houses) and timeline

[onomatopoeia]

Long story short:  My sister and BIL are getting a new house built.  It was supposed to be done in mid July. The contractor has been dicking them around for a while and is now saying "best case" late October. They need to be out of their rental by late September, no leeway there.  They are brand new to their area so don't know anyone they could even stay with short-term.  In the middle of all this, my sister had a 23-week baby 4 months ago who is still in the NICU (added stress and bills).  It's a mess. 

Do they have any recourse to have the builder pay for a hotel for the duration?

They are at the point where they would even walk away and find another rental, but obviously do not want to lose all the money they've put in so far. Has anyone done this, based on the fact that the house isn't finished when expected?

I do not think their contract addresses any of this (although it does give a date of expected completion in July), so I'm thinking they may be out of luck.  I thought I'd put it out there though and see if anyone has any experience with this.

[candyland]

I am sorry to hear that they are not in their house yet. They probably do not have any recourse unless it was specified in the contract...and even if it was in the contract there are built ins for additional time. The rain in our area has slowed down a lot of the builds.

[dirtyred]

I will be no help here.

I don't know a single person building a house whose house was finished by the date on the contract.  One was 10 months late.  They just kept renting.

[blondemoment123]

My builder was smart and only put an “estimated date of completion” in the contract. I’d have them double check and the contract and see what it says, but unfortunately I don’t think they’ll have much recourse.

[JayhawkGirl]

So our house was ready three weeks early, but had a long build plan (May to December) and the weather cooperated. I bet their builder had a hard time getting subcontractor Labor in.

They might be able to get a good rate at a residence inn type hotel. If they’re happy with the build quality, I wouldn’t walk away.

[Deleted]

I have built two houses and neither were on time. The first one was supposed to be done in August but finished in November. The second one was supposed to be done in July and was done in September. I doubt they have any recourse unless as someone else said that they wrote it into the contract. Unfortunately this is just something that happens when you build.

[VillainV]

Depending on their area they might be able to get a good rate on a long-term AirBNB. Most rates go down if you rent for 30+ days. And if it’s “off-season” they may even bay able to negotiate a lower rate.

[bellalynn]

Even though it probably wasn’t in the contract, they should try to negotiate a couple months of an AirBNB or extended stay rental from the contractor. It’s worth a shot. New builds hardly ever end on time but I have known of a few instances where the contractor did cover at least part of the rental overage.

[dexteroni]

“Best case late October” probably means, like, February. If they can’t extend their current lease, they’re probably best off finding another place that will do a 6-month lease. What a stressful situation though, being new to the area and with a preemie in the NICU. I feel for them.

[nextbigthing]

I HIGHLY doubt theres any recourse. Never any guarantees on this stuff. It sucks.

I signed on my new build Feb 3. It is about to get insulation and drywall. I was originally thinking it would be done late Sept/early Oct, now I'm just hoping by end on Nov (I'm in an apartment and lease is up early Dec). My holdups have been inspections through the city, not builders fault.

[thebreakfastclub]

Instead of a hotel, I would search for corporate housing + the city. They can find a corporate housing company that can put them in a furnished short term apartment or townhouse rental.

When I moved, my company paid for 2 months and I extended it for a 3rd with a daily rate on my own.

[lilac05]

I highly doubt they’ll get anywhere, but it never hurts to ask. Someone on H&G had their contractor help cover extension on a rental because of a delay in a project, but I don’t know the specifics. I’d imagine the reason for the delay would significantly impact how far they’d get. I wouldn’t hesitate one bit to pull the sympathy/NICU baby card here. It’s a very legitimate reason to be extra impacted by this delay!

If they can’t get assistance, I would strongly encourage them to crunch the numbers and figure out just how much money they’d be out. (And maybe the builder would work with them on that, given the circumstances.) If they could find an existing home that works for them, they may not be out much money if continuing the build means paying out of pocket for 2+ months of living in a hotel plus the added cost of storing everything and moving it from rental-storage-new home, paying to do laundry, etc.

I’m sorry they’re having to deal with so much extra stress right now. I hope their little one is growing stronger every day and they will soon be in their new home together!

[luckyno7]

If there isn’t a clause in the contract that states what happy if the house isn’t delivered by x date they are probably out of luck.

[Deleted]

Our builder only offered help if they were a year past the estimated date. There might be something in their contract but it’s probably a pretty long time past the date they were given.

[dreamcrisp1]

New builds will usually say ready by X date but can be pushed until Y date. Until they are outside of Y date, then nothing can be done. New builds are rarely finished on time. My friend’s house was supposed to be ready last October and I think they may finally move in next week. It sucks. I’d try to get their lease extended if they can and no one has rented it over yet.

[countthestars]

I'm sorry, that is so stressful.

I have never heard of a new build being completed on time.

[sotally tober]

Our house was supposed to be done in October and we didn't close until mid-January. I'm sorry they have so much stress. Can they look at Air B&B or VRBO to help fill in the gap of timing?

[mpc]

Our 10 month build took 15 months. We ended up paying a premium to go month to month in the apartment we were at.

[boxertdog]

Isthe delay due to client changes? Just curious.

[mich1]

Aug 20, 2018 14:41:00 GMT -5 dirtyred said:

I will be no help here.

I don't know a single person building a house whose house was finished by the date on the contract.  One was 10 months late.  They just kept renting.

This.  When my sister built, their house was to be finished in Aug.  they moved in the week before Christmas.  She and her DH were living with her ILs, so that just got extended.

[YahYahs]

My only new-build experience has been in a gigantic (500+ homes) planned community, so when they quote a date, they're usually within a couple weeks, barring weird weather events. Once the permit comes in, it's a 4- to 5-month build.
Our new home is breaking ground next week and they say December/January, so we'll see.

Sorry your ILs are dealing with this, super frustrating!

[icedcoffee]

My FIL builds homes. He said one they quote a specific date, about 90% of the time it does close on that date. That date is usually only given at 4-6 weeks out though.

I'm sorry for your IL's. That sounds really hard. I ditto the rec to try to find an AirBNB. I think that's their best bet.

[aliciabella]

Aug 20, 2018 14:40:32 GMT -5 candyland said:

I am sorry to hear that they are not in their house yet. They probably do not have any recourse unless it was specified in the contract...and even if it was in the contract there are built ins for additional time. The rain in our area has slowed down a lot of the builds.

This. If they are on the east coast the weather could have played a part which they can't control and their contract probably allots for some leeway.

If they need something temporarily they can look into staying that the Ronald McDonald home ( or whatever is comparable) at the hospital if their baby will still be there. I know when my kids were in the NICU we stayed several weekends at the housing available for free.

I am sorry We went through something similar when I was unexpectedly hospitalized when I was pregnant. We had already rented our home, bought a new one and moved while I was in the hospital. My husband and child were able to stay at the housing which was lifesaver.

How is the baby? I will keep them in my thoughts.

[jmc325]

My husband and I are going through this right now. We were told that our new build would be done end of June/ beginning of July and now we're being told October. We had already notified our apartment that we were not renewing our lease, but fortunately they hadn't leased out our unit yet. We're currently paying an arm and a leg doing month to month.

We're building in Houston and with hurricane Harvey, they were having hard time finding people to work on the house. It sucks, but it's a part of the home building process. I hope your sister and her family figure it all out soon.

[Smolinsk]

My friend went through this and their house took about three months longer than originally estimated. The housing market in my area is hot and keeps going up so when they told the builder it was unacceptable, the builder told them they could go ahead and back out because they'd be able to sell the house for $20,000 more than they were paying. It's a really crappy situation, I'm sorry for your sister.

[onomatopoeia]

Thanks for the feedback everyone, I really appreciate it along with some good ideas. I don’t know if they’ve thought of Airbnb or the RM house, I will pass that along.

For those that asked, the baby is doing really well. Came through both heart and eye surgery with minimal complications and is gaining weight.