New home construction boom creating a builder's market in the Austin area | KVUE

[@charliej766]

I would not buy a new home during this madness. Builders are dealing with so many supply chain issues and worker shortages that many are cutting corners. Home owners are finding out after they move in that their homes are poorly built.

[@jesusvalencia9726]

Me and my father are painters I couldn’t possibly agree more with what you have said. The amount of things me and my father have seen from other workers is incredible to say the least. From sheetrockers, tape and float, I hate to say electricians but some have cut corners doesn’t take a rocket science degree to understand they’re being sloppy sometimes, and especially the carpenters. It stresses us out when carpenters don’t do their job right and we have to fix the mistakes because the boss man said it would have to be an up charge to send the guys back and fix it, like WHAT! If you do something wrong or mess it up you go back and fix it because it’s your mistake and when making the proposal the builder has trust in you to do it right because you have convinced him so. It’s getting ridiculous out here man everyone is being so careless and sloppy with the way they are doing things they have no worries about the next person coming in to fix something or have to work on top of the mess they have created, I sometimes believe they think “the painters will cover it up anyways”.

[@simoncquach]

I closed on a home with Coventry in Houston area back on Jan 21'. Closed on sales price of $270k. At closing they were selling the exact same model for $365k. Coventry Homes honored the contract & had no issues. Probably got lucky.

[@arishem555]

that's how it is supposed to be! only the way. how is your bank sent money to them? when? before construction started or after final inspection?

[@Jeana4life]

This almost happened to us until we were warned. Find ready to move homes that's already built and can be bought immediately. PLenty of people are backing out contracts before they actually can't afford it.

[@LinKensingtonArt]

Those houses are likely built with shoddy construction. People buy an expensive new home only to realize it's not built well at all.

[@st_eunice8818]

It is much easier to believe that home you bought costs twice the much you paid for it two years ago than the other way around. Thanks FED for making American dream a dream😉

[@metorphoric]

My husband and I purchased our home in cedar park in 2017 for just under $500K with all of the upgrades. Our home would sell for $938K today. Homes in my area are going for $700K. This market is absolutely insane. I would love to sell and cash in but we wouldn’t have a place to go in the area.

[@alantheusthompson5594]

No kids?

[@BillyBob-op6lg]

Does double the price in 5 years sound normal to you? 😂

[@metorphoric]

@@BillyBob-op6lg normal? No. Reality? Yes.

[@metorphoric]

@@alantheusthompson5594 1 infant

[@BillyBob-op6lg]

@@metorphoric well it’ll probably be worth 2 million in 5 more years according to that math probably huh 😆

[@Tbone42tx]

THE BUBBLE WILL BURST....MARK MY WORDS!!!! AUSTIN WILL NEVER BE THE SAME

[@christianbrother4724]

This is why I like older homes.

[@BridgesDontFly]

And women

[@MrWaterbugdesign]

Me too. I bought 1 new build during the hot times of 2006. Did not care for it. This was in Phoenix and it rained a lot more than normal and neighbors on either side had very big roof leaks. No problem, guarantee, builder came out and "fixed" the leaks. Next rain, same leaks. Same fix. Repeated 3 times. Then the rains went away as they do in Phoenix so no more leaks and the guarantee ran out. The house I owned had a huge soil settlement where the sewer cam into the house. It was deep enough that I could see the underside of the slab. I didn't have to call the builder because they'd already sent a truck load of dirt in the subdivision to fill in sinkholes. He was there the day after heavy rain. The builder must have known there would be sinkhole and want to fill them in before owners saw the problem. To me that was a huge risk that they were backfilling properly so I sold after 6 months. Made $60k so win-win and moved to an older home closer to central Phoenix. Moved once more to actual central Phoenix and a 1948 house. To me earlier than 1950 is the sweet spot. But then I enjoy updating homes.

[@rooksandcastles]

This is terrible. I cannot get over how that doorbell looked. Why is there so much glue packed behind it. Also, did she do a final walk through? No hot water? That is insane. My realtor warned me about how builders only protect themselves, and everything that you get is at your own risk. Just terrible.

[@re8746]

We live in Cedar Park and bought our 2400 sq ft home new in 2003. The same home today, lived in sells for $500k. A new home with this sq ft sells for $695k+. Its insane. And with the amount of jobs coming to central Texas, new homes are going to be going up for the next ten years. The residential building market in Texas is like not other state. Why? Californians and the folks from the northeast are moving here in droves with cash to spend. Austin is a shell of what it once was.

[@bmuseo]

They are also only building very large houses. Not everyone wants or needs 2000+ square feet with multiple stories. It's too much! There needs to be a healthy mix of housing. Single people, starter families, and elderly are left out because builders are only making houses for the upper echelon and government for the lower brackets with affordable housing initiatives. But what about the middle class? As usual, middle class is left with nothing and told to "deal with it!" Perhaps government should start letting people build their own houses or use alternative prefab housing, but there is not enough money in it for them to let it happen. Our family built a house in the country and did the plumbing and electrical themselves. It's beautiful and built better than any of the houses they are building in Austin today.

[@Make_Me_A_Sandwhich]

We are 3 people living in 2100 sqft… we have like 3 rooms that have little use lol

[@MrWaterbugdesign]

"The government" does let people build their own homes at lease in the areas I know. I fix up the houses I live in and do all the work myself, plumbing, electric, roof, everything. Here in Phoenix the only law is the owner has to live in the house for 1 year. Can't fix and flip in less than a year. Zoning could change to allow for higher density but existing owners which make up a huge majority of voters in these neighborhoods really don't want to see a 5 story apartment complex next to them. It lowers the value of their home...basically stealing money from them and handing it to the builder. Most areas in the US allow prefab homes. Yeah Beverly Hills doesn't allow trailers, but 99% of the US does. And yeah, builders are businesses. They do it to make money....like you do in your job. More expensive homes have more profit. And the depend for those types of homes is so high builders don't have the time to build cheaper homes. IMO the only real solution is to build new cities. Urbanization is causing an ever higher percentage of people to want very tiny areas of the US. There's a price for that. When was the last time a new city was created in the US? Phoenix? China is already creating whole new cities in order to reduce pressure on other markets. The US will need to face this at some point imo.

[@richardmenz3257]

@@MrWaterbugdesign something got to give at some point. Either people are going to lose values in homes so lower income people can live somewhere or people will riot//starve once it is bad enough. My guess it government will pick the tip toe approach and slowly allow more housing types until you finally start to see those 5 story apartment buildings everywhere.

[@henryclinton9317]

You might not have a hundred million dollars to invest, but that doesn’t mean your money can’t share in the same opportunities available to others. You work hard for your money; make sure your money works hard for you.

[@jamesmaduabuchi6100]

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[@henryclinton9317]

To manage investment risk, consider maintaining a broad diversification of your investments that reflects your personal risk tolerance, time horizon, and the nature of your financial goal. Remember, diversification is an approach to help manage investment risk. It does not eliminate the risk of loss if security prices decline.Because investing can be complicated, consider working with a financial professional to help guide you on your wealth-building journey.

[@dorissteve912]

can you endorse any ?

[@henryclinton9317]

TERESA JENSEN WHITE does a perfect job. look her up on the web

[@dorissteve912]

thanks for the info . Found her website and it impressive

[@lisayi-samala3530]

Highland Homes all the way! Integrity driven- no escalation clause, no bids, and just an honest builder.

[@perigosu8449]

lol yea, their homes are overpriced to begin with, so they don't have to raise the cost :D I've seen some questionable things in their new builds so I wouldn't be surprised if they also had a bunch of issues that would be pawned off on the warranty department... they do have some pretty designs tho, gotta give them that.

[@BG-qx2st]

I call bs builders have been using cheaper and cheaper materials making them more money for a home that won’t last a year

[@cutenobi]

@JJ Zolper Therefore, the older homes should be cherished and remodeled appropriately.

[@Make_Me_A_Sandwhich]

Cmon at least last a few years right?

[@josephmckenzie456]

I walked a few Millstone builds in Drippings Springs and a lot of the homes framing lumber looked like fire kindling. In some spots the framing didn't even anchor to one another so they nailed a board scrap to connect the joints! Yet people are scooping up these homes as fast as they could be built. Madness.

[@robertlandry5733]

I signed a contract with DR Horton for a new home in Hutto, $350's. We signed at the end of November and since then, the listing price for my floor plan has increased $120K. I'm locked in on the price, but there have been delays that have caused me to end up with a higher interest rate by a couple of points. I'm now locked in on the interest rate, but I still feel like I'm having to spend money that should not have been necessary. So much for the enjoyment of home buying.

[@lisayi-samala3530]

Careful with DR Horton. A lot of negative reviews of how they take care of their customers after closing. They are being sued right now!

[@texasscifi3431]

Builders are doing what they can to break cheaper contracts so as the market rises they can get a new richer contract

[@alucardhellsing666]

You should have known better by doing market research. Even I know the cost of building can't go up mid build and all I do is listen to local radio.

[@MrWaterbugdesign]

Who is telling you about the "enjoyment of home buying"? You're listening to morons. Home buying is always stressful Sunshine. In such a strong seller's market it's called "competitive" which means you should wear your big boy pants.

[@atx1722]

Home in Hutto @ $350k sounds crazy to me. I know it’s the market.

[@nottheone582]

NEVER sign a contract without reading the fineprint. I don't blame these homeowners but at a certain point individuals need to take personal accountability. There would have been fineprint in the contract that allowed for price increases and I never personally would have signed off on that.

[@richardmenz3257]

Sadly, it is almost impossible to get a new home build without these clauses. That being said everyone should make sure they have a backup as well if increase is to much.

[@330DKNY]

Then you won't get a new house. All the builders have escalation and termination clauses and will not remove them.

[@hashiramasenju6058]

Why don't they build condos or townhouses? Building only single-family homes is going to keep making the house prices increase.

[@traceytheisen8067]

Because many people want kids to play in back yards. Townhomes usually have a backyard, if at all, the size of a postage stamp. Cramming thousands of families into tiny apartments and townhomes is not the answer to the problem. The lack of housing is caused by many other root issues no one is or wants to talk about and the predictable end result.

[@hashiramasenju6058]

@@hppavilionf50 not really, you can fit more condos/townhomes in an area meaning you can increase profit by selling more units for the same cost of land.

[@hashiramasenju6058]

@@traceytheisen8067 True, but building single family homes isn’t a very effective use of land. Many people want huge mansions but not everyone can have one. Many people would prefer to have a single family house but MOST people don’t want to have live 45-60 minutes outside of the city to find an affordable one as they take up too much space.

[@traceytheisen8067]

@@hashiramasenju6058 Hi! Thanks for reply. There is so much land in this country, there is no shortage of land and being able to move about is so much more healthier physically and mentally than many families crammed in condos. Don’t get me wrong, many condos are lovely and I’ve lived in apartments during my lifetime. But the solution is not to stop building single family homes, rather build more. And, saying everyone wants a ‘mansion’ is just not true. Life is always about trade offs. Want homeownership? Then be prepared for constant home maintenance and expenses. Want to live without dealing with homeowners’ maintenance, then have a small condo with lots of neighbors on the other side of the wall. No situation is ever perfect. Everything is a trade off. Same with careers. There is nothing wrong with that, by the way. Decisions force people to decide what they want. Much of the real problem in this country is the lack of financial education. Last, one of the MANY reasons rent is skyrocketing, is property tax is going up everywhere. Often, not always, but often, apartment dwellers vote to increase taxes to pay for ‘this or that’ thinking only the homeowners will have to pay, but that’s totally wrong as the property tax increases get passed onto renters, they just don’t see it because it’s all bundled into monthly rent payment. Now bills are coming due. Between taxes, property insurance, etc many landlords have their expenses doubling or tripling and they can’t operate in a loss, no business can. And no, I’m not a landlord. The current situation is a total mess. BUT fully predicted if people followed economic policies over the past 2, 5, 10, 20 years and so on.

[@hashiramasenju6058]

@@traceytheisen8067 I’m not saying they should stop building single family homes but not to solely build them. I know there will always be a demand for them but maybe between 60-90% of new construction are single family. I, like many other people, would like to live in dense, walkable areas with public transit. This way also allows more room for urban parks instead of ALL land being used for development. Plus, with single family homes, you need to build more roads and highways which that money can be used to build train systems or something.

[@yolandalcheek462]

You not supposed to see silicone around your door bell

[@siamimam2109]

The sad part is none of these construction workers get their fair share :(

[@BridgesDontFly]

Prove to me they are paying taxes first, then we'll talk about fair share.

[@freddygutierrez6764]

@@BridgesDontFly trust me. They pay taxes in Austin. White ppl wouldn't allow Mexican small businesses to do that

[@BridgesDontFly]

@@freddygutierrez6764 1. I never said anything about Mexicans. 2. I know plenty of construction workers that get paid under the table.

[@someguyslastname8487]

They are both getting their fair share and paying taxes. There's no prove otherwise

[@lunchbox6576]

Our water plants cannot keep up with Austin's growth. We need a new water treatment plant.

[@krassimirpetrov7131]

“We were naive - we didn’t know any better” well perhaps if you are planning on spending over a Million dollars you should do some research first

[@jonathanyocom4404]

This bubble gonna be a big burst!

[@nottheone582]

this is no bubble. there is a cool off happening but it's not going to go down. just up... slower

[@Matthew-rp3jf]

@@nottheone582 nope. Better sell now if you plan on it

[@andretigiovaneti7587]

Is a bubble wait till next year

[@BillyBob-op6lg]

@@nottheone582 lol ok rates will go up and up and prices will not go down at all huh ok sure buddy put your money where your mouth is and bet on it

[@Huero87]

I definitely can't predict what's going to happen, however I do know a guy who's selling a condo off of South Congress and Stassney that's been on the market for 16 days now. He was about to close on it, but the buyer backed out.

[@freddygutierrez6764]

Greedy homeowners and small businesses is killing Austin

[@greasemantexas9159]

How is small business killing Austin, or any city ? The big corporations are the ones buying up blocks of new subdivions and selling them high or renting them out. The bids are too much for an individual to buy

[@freddygutierrez6764]

@@greasemantexas9159 living beyond their means. Employers are the first to tell their employees to save for a rainy day. But don't input into their own lives

[@texasscifi3431]

Jeremy knight has an excellent local You Tube channel Everyone should follow if you own buy sell or building real estate.

[@greasemantexas9159]

I've been following him for over a year and yes he has some great info on his channle !

[@arishem555]

construction was always like that. check what you are signing for. read the contract. add changes to the contract. My assumption is that if you are securing a loan via bank, - then the builder should book all the materials with the current price from the all suppliers. Not sure if it does work this way and if money are sent to the builder right away. That's probably not the case.

[@sleepingbeauty229]

Should be tramsparent and itemized by law cuz builders are crooks too

[@cherelleroberts4316]

This is a an investors market not a buyers market. Stop buying and they will respect the buyer's.

[@rodneysammons5544]

I see these new builds in 78704 South Lamar Barton Springs area are a work in progress for a while after folks move in. They don't fit together well, all hidden with trim board and such.

[@rockys7726]

I'm terrified to start construction on a piece of property in Austin I've owned for over 6 years. My estimated costs to build have almost doubled since I first bought it. I'm just sitting on it and waiting for prices to stabilize.

[@alantheusthompson5594]

I wouldn't sit on it. Prices not likely to fall below pre pandemic levels. I'd build. Is it personal or investment?

[@sallianz11]

@@alantheusthompson5594 Housing Market is too hot now but already starting to cool down. Better to wait before you start building your new home.

[@coachiti2009]

Some people that put escalation clauses ask for more money even though there's no actual increase.

[@Lifeinvillagess]

How do you come up with these creative ideas in nature?

[@shawnleegregory]

Buying a new house carries a risk, especially during these economic times. If you aren’t able to accept this risk then buying a pre-existing home would be a better option.

[@joshgonzalez2112]

1.2 she’s probably not a local Austin resident. All these out of state people jacking up real estate.

[@SJ-ve1my]

What a shame that this happened to a family that is able to buy a million dollar house.😐

[@perigosu8449]

right? We should all be homeless and therefore EQUAL! Yayyyy

[@katiecrawford2588]

Just because you get an attorney to review your contract doesn’t mean the builder will agree to any changes.

[@MrBemnet1]

Many times Small business are worse than big business.

[@ronaldo19832]

Jesus… 1,2 mil to begin with? How did she qualify in the first place? She looks really young.

[@geedubb2005]

Do you ever see those personal injury lawyer commercials? “Oh, my back hurts”, oh my knock hurts”, etc. not saying this is her situation, but there’s plenty of money from all these suits.

[@ronaldo19832]

@@geedubb2005 😂 I didn’t think about that. Or maybe she works in tech but you need to be able to qualify for a $7000 roughly or even more mortgage payment with 20% down.

[@kevinpark1779]

Painful, but doesnt look like people stop moving to Austin.

[@jesusvalencia9726]

I’m a painter in Austin and you’re not wrong I’ve had to decline more jobs than I ever had before from a lot of people moving in from every other state, I see an out of state license plate every day in front on the commute to work. I don’t want to bite off more than I can chew in this time we are in, I wouldn’t like to stress my self out and end up being in a rush and accidentally messing things up and get called back, seems to be working absolutely no complaints I always tell the client how satisfied are they with out work and always glad to hear “You did a great job I’ll have to recommend you guys!, do y’all have a business card I can have?”

[@DarthWaffle.]

They’re buying a million dollar home and you expect us to feel sorry for them? Get real

[@carlosalvidrez9268]

They're still people at the end of the day

[@M3LTUP]

Its not the builders fault. This is what hyperinflation looks like. Most people have never experienced it.

[@dcg590]

It’s not the builder fault the cost of material has doubled

[@jackhawkins1128]

So true Meritage homes are awaful San LeAnn south Austin

[@timarledge4201]

Come build in Rockdale

[@perigosu8449]

The fact that all of the customers put up with it is how they're able to get away with it... it's ok. They're going to be begging people to buy their homes in 2023-2024... or just close shop and fire all of the employees.

[@Gngrcpl]

It’s sucks but prices change daily these days

[@brambledemon1232]

They should have to prove the increase in costs.

[@tee4272]

Be patient. There are bargain deals coming ahead. This may be a blessing in disguise

[@DeadAir21]

Everyone keeps saying (and hoping) that the market will crash but there’s no evidence that’ll happen. What we’re seeing now is the market stabilizing where home values aren’t climbing at a high rate. But prices won’t come back down to pre pandemic prices. This is the new floor for the housing market.

[@j.c.4192]

Looks like a class action lawsuit is to come. it's definitely a fair reasonable reciept billing

[@CJ2k-CotCN]

A person/couple buying a $1.2M house didn't know any better? Anyone trying to afford a $300k home knows better.

[@diegolara4202]

My idiot brother in-law who always buys things and then regrets it the next day and returns it for something "better" or should I say more expensive, signed a contract on a new home last week. Paid his earnest money and now says he doesn't like the area so he's going to look at other homes in areas he wants to live even if it means losing his earnest money. The home he put his earnest money on is in the same neighborhood we live in and its rural and peaceful. He thinks hes some Seattle hipster and wants to live within walking distance of bike routes and coffee shops.

[@niya_gbisland]

They basically is gouging people because people are willing to pay for these types of houses. Stop buying them let the market come down. Spend 1.2 million on a house that I guarantee is not that much.

[@sleepingbeauty229]

By prebuilt home

[@amardeepsidhu2871]

Not to worry these interest rates hike will take care of these problems .

[@InOrlando]

These people are all useless. Lawyer up. Every real estate transaction needs to be done with a lawyer moving forward. Lennar is even more awful than this.

[@solargod3671]

Stop going with these big thirsty greedy builders . Contact me for custom home build . We have all of our licenses with 15yrs experience.

[@Swampertchamp]

How does the first lady afford a one million dollar contract?! Brand new homes in Williamson County are around 345-400K Why does she need that huge of a house? Girl, live below your means. Don't feel bad for her.

[@ryanpatel6588]

its her money

[@MrCoreyVideo]

This is not about being jealous of her finances, it’s about builders of all price ranges dropping homes under contract and these increases they are shoving in peoples face’s!! I thought Drees was supposed to be reputable!?!

[@christianbrother4724]

Biden inflationary policies and Buttigege supply chain shortages. Watch who you vote for? You may get it. Everyone is paying out the nose for everything now.

[@RedLeo-pf9yo]

The house itself is not really that big, it’s the location she picked, the neighborhood is between Westlake and Lakeway, the most expensive part of Austin.

[@nottheone582]

@@RedLeo-pf9yo sorry what? did you see the drawing? its 4400 sq ft! that's more house than anyone needs, let alone couple with no children. so greedy

[@dbrew2u]

Simple , if you can't afford a $700,000.00 Home ? There are plenty that can . So move to a State that's affordable , like Mississippi .

[@Tusk_Tact]

as someone who gre up in Del valle in the 90s I can gtell you all this was inevitable. I left to come back home to DFW in 04. My ppl still live in Taylor, Elgin and Bastrop and it is barely doable for them

[@passi4453]

Yeah been in south Austin all my life moved to the cliff around 2020 and left back to Austin but all this dam inflation is making me wanna move back to oak cliff 😭

[@BridgesDontFly]

That's what happens when you order a President through the mail.

[@freddygutierrez6764]

Yup charging all this money for cheap work. Sound like Austin

[@ryanretirement6662]

they need to hire real estate agent first before they hire contractors build her new home. their alot of scams contractor out there like to scam alot of money from home buyer.

[@RedLeo-pf9yo]

All these people that can’t afford Austin, need to move to San Antonio, it is a very beautiful city.

[@nottheone582]

too conservative and kind of racist tbh i wouldn't live there

[@gregorriusadolphus2729]

I agree; I'm living like a KING in a new house on a tech salary in San Antonio.....my home here would have been twice as much in Austin. BTW Austin is subtlety racist and too liberal LOL

[@alantheusthompson5594]

SA has seen a lot of moving from Austin.

[@stepha1390]

Be careful what you wish for. If a bunch of Austinites move there it will drive up the cost and soon SA will be unaffordable too.

[@atx1722]

San Antonio sucks tho.

[@khalifa9544]

BUILD HOME GOVERNMENT TAX THE CONCRETE.EACH YEAR..

[@loveormoney786]

Milestone is the worst builder they stole our earnest money. Don’t build with them.

[@BillyBob-op6lg]

Yes yes yes build build build and just wait till we see it all crash crash crash

[@EthericBladeworks]

hmph .. keep on building - I dare ya

[@andretigiovaneti7587]

Do not buy a house right now.

[@23cla69]

They are overbuilding anyway. Bubble about to burst.

[@MrWaterbugdesign]

Buyers are so self-centered they think everything will/should go their way regardless of what the contract actually is. They say "they bought a house" because that's how they choose to see the world. Really is what they've bought is an option to buy a house sometime in the future.

[@edgu71eg]

With inflation and the world status you may want to get ready for the real estate to lose it's bottom It'll be a 2008 repeat by end of year

[@AbolishCommunism]

There are tones of cash buyers waiting to buy up homes at any sort of discount. That's the main difference from 2008.

[@FridaFajita]

That guy looks like he has no teeth and it's messing with me

[@atx1722]

Not one

[@theforestisdark9676]

What a scam lol

[@brianalexander4380]

And apparently they haven’t because people have foundation issues and you wonder why the tension cable there’s nothing you can do about it has thousands of pounds of pressure on it and it can come out of the slab and split you in half

[@alostbard]

Call it the Joe Rogan Effect; conservative Texans finding out the hard way that conservatives moving from Cali are not the same.

[@paulbrungardt9823]

If you voted for Biden/Harris, you voted for this...

[@palmshoot]

Abbott is the governor. You seem be in favor of big government, though.

[@GuestYouTubeUser]

They’re racist!! 🤦‍♂️

[@rharris8429]

I hope these builders crash

[@troyehnisz9907]

Don’t buy new construction bad contracts and poor build quality

[@brianalexander4380]

That’s one builder. I would sue if my foundation started messing up and there’s not much you can do about it it’s very dangerous.

[@brianalexander4380]

I might not be the brightest star in the sky, but I learned from my mistakes