Buying or Selling a Home/Recent Home Purchase

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Expert: John Hendricks - 10/8/2007


Question
We purchased a home in Sewickley, PA in May,2006.  The house was built in 2004 and we paid $373,000 for this home.  This spring we had a window crack in one of the extra bedrooms and found out the builder installed low-grade windows with NO warranty!  I know "caveat emptor", however does a new home buyer have any recourse or coverage to something like this?  According to the manufacturer - Patriot Windows - they ONLY build for home builders and in our area JUST Ryan Homes; however, this builder is Redstone Properties, LLC.  We contacted the builder and he was NOT able to provide proof of purchase of the windows and according to Patriot Windows and Ryan Homes - that voids any warranty if there was one.  According to Patriot the windows only had a 1-year builder's warranty.  This is upsetting to find out you paid for an almost new home to find out the builder cut corners and installed low-grade windows.  Any advice how we can proceed - if nothing else I want to make the public aware of this builder and have any new prospective home buyers to BE AWARE BEFORE purchasing a home.  Thank you.

Answer
Dear Brenda;

Although I am a California Realtor, I would like to suggest a few things you would like to explore.

In California, there is a licensing board that controls the general contractors of our state. Although there is a one year warranty usually stated by the Contractor, they really are responsible for structure and structural components for 10 years from the date of purchase excluding appliances and windows which they defer to the manufacture for repair or replacements. In some cases, depending on the contractor, they will get involved in helping resolve the issues. If they do not want to help resolve the situation, and if you complain enough, they should help under their customer care and satisfaction policy and may simply resolve the issue by repairing or replacing the window.

You may want to study your contract regarding warranties on the variety of appliances, windows, and structural components. It should clearly state (full disclosure) the warranted obligations of the contractor of the home. If what you find is unclear, or you don't find it at all, you may want to contact the licensing board for PA for consultation. At least in California, depending on the complaint, the licensing board is mandated to get involved and could make life miserable for the contractor until the problem is resolved.

The complaints could blemish their record, plus they may have to take the time to answer the complaint to the satisfaction of licensing board. The better business bureau may be another recourse you might have in resolving the issue.

As I stated earlier, I am a Realtor in the State of California. The laws and regulations in my state may differ from your state and I would highly recommend you contact the proper controlling agencies in your state to get the correct information to help resolve your problem. Good Luck...

Warmest Regards;
John Hendricks

PS: Your question was picked up by me this afternoon in the question pool (questions that go unanswered). Your original expert you chose passed on the answering your question. I just noticed that your question was asked a number of days ago. As I said, I just received it this afternoon and felt compelled to try and answer it for you... I hoped it helped...

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John Hendricks

Expertise

As a California Realtor for 23 years practicing in Marin and Sonoma Counties, it is now time to provide counsel through AllExperts.com to those who need advise in real estate. My knowledge and experience includes a wide range of resale residential real estate purchases, new home sales, income related investment properties involved in 1031 exchanges, and land. Let me help you in any of these areas...

Experience

John Hendricks has established himself as one of Marin & Sonoma Counties premier Realtors. A native Californian, John is a well-known and respected Realtor in both Marin & Sonoma Counties who has resided in the Northbay since 1976. John began his real estate career in 1986, and since then has distinguished himself as one or Northern California's top producing Realtors. Before joining Frank Howard Allen Realtors, John was an associate of the Prudential California Realty from 1990-1992 where his outstanding sales achievements earned him one of the company's highest honors, the prestigious "President's Circle Membership", presented to the top 2% of associates for sales and earning excellence. Since his association with the highly regarded Frank Howard Allen Realtors in 1992, John has once again established himself as one of his company's Top 10 Producing Realtors in Marin & Sonoma Counties for the years 1993 through 2007 and now in 2008. Five continuous years of outstanding performance has now allowed John to join 15 other Realtors in the prestigious "Lifetime Hall of Fame" for Frank Howard Allen Realtors. John established a group of professional individuals who specialize in a variety of areas in real estate called, 'Lundmark-Hendricks Fine Homes' This group of professionals are dedicated to the success of representing clients with the greatest amount of care and service when either buying or selling real estate.

Organizations
California Association of Realtors National Association of Realtors

Education/Credentials
Upon Request...

Awards and Honors
Frank Howard Allen Realtors "Hall of Fame Member" Chairman's Circle for 10 consecutive years

Past/Present Clients
Joe Louis & Sharon Sigurdson We want to thank you again for your excellent representation of interests during the recent purchase of our home in Petaluma as well as the sell of our home in Mill Valley. We had the unusual pleasure of working with you during the last year both as sellers and buyers. We felt that our interests were always paramount and that we received a very fair price for the sale of the Mill Valley house as well as our purchase of our new home. This speaks particularly well of you, because of the recent unstable and chaotic real estate market. Will Finke "Quite frankly, we came out of a very difficult situation, which time does not allow elaborating on. This was one of the greatest experiences of our lives as clients. John Hendricks is one of the top businessmen I have ever met." Bruce & Nancy Rosentreter "I chose John Hendricks to sell my house. I picked him because I thought he was professional, aggressive, and that he could get top dollar for my house. He fulfilled my expectations completely." Joy Schuelke "Since we were trying to sell a high end home in a very tough market, and in the middle of a very rainy winter, the prospects seemed quite bleak. I was convinced at the time, and am even more so now, that without John's tenure, patience, and tenacity, we would have not been able to move the property." Lynn McCarthy "I cannot stress strongly enough how impressed I was with the service provided to me by John and his group. Throughout the entire transaction, John was always available, always forthcoming with excellent advice based on his years of experience, and always willing to put in the extra effort to make this a positive experience for me. I feel lucky to have had the experience of working with him." Lea Lieurance-Turk "Thank you John for your outstanding real estate services for the past 5 years I have known you. You have made my dreams come true as far as selling and buying property."
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