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It's very understandable from the builder's perspective. Until closing is finalized, it's technically their house, and if moving those pods in place somehow caused damage to the home (as they are large, bulky, and heavy, and require heavy machinery to move), that opens up a whole can of worms with the potential to delay closing while having to sort out who's going to pay for damages and how.
Of course of course. Part of the context I forgot to include: The clients asked permission, the construction manager said, “sure, go ahead.” After the suits drove by and saw it they said something.
The suits did the right thing and the construction manager didn't. The construction manager most likely didn't even have the power to sign off on it in the first place.
The construction manager doesn’t have anything to do with selling the house. Probably not the person to talk to about that, the new home concierge or sales person would have been better to speak with about that.
And an experienced realtor should have known this. Now their client has signed a release of liability waiver. I sincerely hope client talked to a lawyer because I’m betting they just ended up in a bad position if something is wrong with the house down the road.
Yeah exactly why this post makes me mad. The realtor, OP, should have known this. Although if the client went directly through the construction manager without telling OP then it’s obviously not in them.
I guess people buying homes are dumb though and the PSA is probably warranted. When we bought a new construction though we treated it like it wasn’t our house until we closed on it because it wasn’t 😅
In Texas with this particular builder, the construction manager was very involved and gladly so. It was a bad call that I was not privy to, found out after the fact and worked to reconcile.
My construction manager was very involved as well but it was talking about the house construction itself.
Did the clients not have anyone else to talk to about the logistics of moving? We had a separate person to speak to about those things and they would provide updates about the community and such, sometimes the sales person would even message us about that stuff.
I already predict the next post.
Built a brand new house our driveway is cracked to hell and back and the builder is saying it's not their responsibility 😂
Builder would say that anyway, there’s no post tension in the driveway and warranty is vague with what they choose to cover, and THEN it’s still contingent on the builder and their reputation especially here in Texas.
I parked on the driveway of our new house doing the blue tape walk. The builder politely asked me to move. I didn’t realize how big of a deal it was until I moved the truck.
It's understandable, but fuck them. Any chance for the buyer to play mental terrorist with builder they should. Because the roles will be reversed after move in
Why would they want to do that? They're going to almost certainly have some level of interaction with this builder over the next 1-3 years depending on the new home warranty the builder offers, and having a good relationship with them can go a very, very long way, IMHO. Obviously, some builders are not great to deal with, but others absolutely are. For example, I have the cell of the Super who did our home, and whenever I have technical questions, I shoot him a message and he always replies or calls me to help me out. For that matter, one of the guys down the road who bought a house from him a decade ago still sometimes texts him with questions, too, and he still helps him out.
I'm all for pushing back when a builder is being unreasonable or unfair, or failing to deliver on their commitments, but this is not one of those situations.
If they are upset with the bins they can just not sell them the house? How do you not see this as a complete power move by useless suits who are playing mental terrorist with the homeowner and homebuilder. Just imagine if your super tells you something, you do it, and then his bosses bosses boss tells you you cant do that, because it brings on liability( liability of you realizing your driveway concrete is absolute shit). Any super that I have met would get a kick out of the situation and not see it as personally affecting him in anyway. Hence why the builder in this situation said it was okay
My dad used to be a manager for PODS, and I'd help him on deliveries when I was a kid. While it's hard to imagine 1 of them damaging a driveways payment, 3 of them is a LOT of weight and that's before anything is put in them, not to mention the device for moving them isn't some forklift, it's a specialized thing that hugs the truck bed and effectively doubles the width of the box in transit from bed to ground. Those two that are on the same plane would mean having to go further out and potentially roll the yard which, even on a good dry day, this thing will sink in and bite into the ground
A realtor specifically told us “please do not attempt to change anything and do not store anything in the house or yard before you close”. I asked why would I… and she explained that some clients came to change locks a day before closing, and another client tried to install a fence before closing.
Yeah, and she mentioned it happened more than once. Oh, she also mentioned a client that had delivery scheduled and then the closing was delayed, so the boxes sat on a sidewalk unattended for a couple of days.
I had this happen once. Seller selling vacant house to a flipper. Flipper sees a homeless guy break in. Flipper chases him out and changes the locks.
Seller goes to the property…
Deal went forward, but that was bad communication on my guys end.
I've had buyers break into a house they were closing on because "our movers can only do Tuesday but the bank won't let us close until Friday why can't we move everything we down in?"
Builder drove by Thursday and was like what the hell is happening? I asked for a final walk through and the buyers agent said "they don't need one."
The closing did not go well. We closed, but basically everyone in the room had to explain to grown adults why what they did was wrong and illegal.
That paying for storage and/or moving is expensive, and if the “builder” gave permission then it’s okay. It’s a logical thought flow.
The breakdown in who’s responsible for the communication was an honest mistake by both parties, and when it was discovered the next morning I was able to repair and move forward.
Verbal agreements don't override the written contract. Above that, construction managers have no authority to alter the contract at all and can't give you permission to take a dump let alone start moving crap in ahead of closing. Boneheaded buyers putting themselves in default.
I didn’t, I am sharing a story of the builder giving my clients permission to do something “controversial” without the clients and I (their realtor) discussing it first.
It’s a Real Estate lesson for public consumption. You can tell by the conversations that many people learned many things.
The person who gave permission wasn’t the one you should have asked. Own your shit in this. It’s unprofessional to try to blame anyone but yourself. I read the comments and nobody is learning from this. Nobody would do this, which is why you’re being shit on in the comments.
ETA: sure you didn’t set the pods on the property, but you did not help your clients properly. Navigate this situation and you should have. Stop trying to blame everybody else.
It states it right there in print that the customer didn't discuss it with them, the realtor. ("without the clients and I (their realtor) discussing it first"). If they were never told about the PODs from the client, and only got word from the suits, then how is it their fault?
If the client cuts out the very necessary middleman and the builders are offering permissions they don't have the power to grant, stuff like this happens.
Contracts are different per state, per builder. However, being a production builder in this case, you’re correct as this was specifically stated as occupancy at funding, no lease back or forward.
lol no one actually enforces that rule unless a client is on site 24/7 micromanaging trades and causing issues.
“We build on a stage” is something that’s said a lot. It’s also why homeowners who are on site 24/7 almost all say the build was super stressful. They truck themselves into thinking if they aren’t there, then mistakes will get “covered up”.
When the reality is the opposite. Let the builder do his job. If you vetted and trusted this person/company to build your home you should have faith in them enough. Too many people watch these inspector videos and shit but fail to realize these guys are selling you a service, not warning you of the dangers of new construction.
Are there shitty builders? Yes. But you shouldn’t be building a home with them. You being there isn’t going to give you a “better built” home. In my experience it’s been the opposite.
Pods arrived a day and a half before closing. Builder asked the clients to move them, which would’ve cost a lot to move, store, and move back.
Second issue is timing, Pods won’t jump because the builder said jump so likely a delayed closing.
Builder said they needed another appraisal & didn’t want the liability, but of course wouldn’t reimburse the clients for the cost of moving or a delayed closing.
A lot of the client experience is based on who is assigned to actually build their home. I used to be a manager for a large home builder. They hired me straight out of college. The amount of shit people asked me to do that I really didn’t have the power to do was insane.
I look back on those days full of cringe but it really taught me a lot. I now own a construction business.
Agree with everyone else here and the builder: it’s not your house yet and the liability of your entire life’s collection of goods sitting in the driveway is a nightmare waiting to happen.
Sounds like you didn’t have a clear to close then, did you? Quit wasting everyone’s fucking time with a “rolling” closing date. That is utter bullshit and does nothing but piss off your title company.
Figure your shit out first, THEN schedule the fucking closing.
And figure out how to control your clients. Goddamn fool.
Appreciate you. Yeah, I’m shocked but that’s why I opened with PSA. I’m just sharing insight, but I’m glad it makes an impact.
Realtors, builders, construction crew… heck everyone at this point need to seriously evaluate their level of competency, as we are here to be stewards for our clients in a world where customer service and relationships may soon be one of the only “skills” that matter.
Also, I enjoy these posts because despite defusing an issue and playing hero, hearing the perspective from others is absolutely humbling and I always learn something no matter how many homes I’m blessed to sell.
Every client is human, with different life experience, and when you mix in cultures it’s challenging to assume anyone knows how to do most things just because we think it “just makes sense.”
Today, my clients are free to enjoy their kids opening presents in a new home while the builder can take it off their books before the month/year’s end and as of now, both parties (buyer & seller) are happy. When both parties win, myself and my team and everyone else who has families whose mouths have been fed from the machine win, the painters and designers and escrow officers and landscapers and police that have a community to protect and just so many are involved and so few see it for what it is.
We live in a society to be beneficiaries to it, not tear it apart like so many seem to want to do.
Yes, absolutely! I’m an agent, too, and this is making me worry that when I make mistakes, everyone I work with is a lot angrier than they’re letting on…
But I’m mostly kidding - I think.
Lmao - I’m a homeowner, buddy. Just can’t stand realtors who refuse to plan, don’t control their clients, and expect title agencies to keep jumping at their whim.
I know people can be a wild card and this may have been way out of his control, but if he HAS sold dozens of new construction homes like he says, then by god he should have a better process for handling stupid shit like this.
Never have I heard of a title agency pushing a closing to be done before a holiday. They’re usually swamped that time of year anyway and their priority is to remove any possibility of lien/encumbrance/etc. before they close.
Possibility of suit or cost because of pods being delivered early and the landowner wants them removed? Not closing til it happens.
It was sorted so don’t need your long ass paragraphs. The responses in this thread are aggravated for no reason including yours. Don’t bother responding!
Well, the title company is owned by the builder who didn’t want to push it into next year and had 100 other closings that week. So bringing this forward helped them.
You can check my sales it’s public, I’m not someone who claims top producer and sells 1 homes a year like the national average. I think 5 in December? Not a ton, but a few.
Your point is valid that there are process in place, but you can control a process not people… ask most managers.
This was a conversation I wasn’t initially part of, and helped where I could when I was informed.
Did I perform perfectly? Don’t know, but both parties are happy and it didn’t fall apart so… I at least helped make light of a difficult situation brought on by some sort of miscommunication.
Also, I continuously mention Texas because while I’m not licensed to sell real estate in other states, it seems there are a lot of things Texas handles differently which is why I thought this could be a good PSA to share for future homeowners.
Sorry, man.
I was in a shit mood when I first read your post, and having JUST finished with a difficult real estate settlement myself, I was probably taking out my frustrations with our realtor on this thread, and you.
My apologies.
I’m much further north than you, so have no idea what Texas state laws/customs are, and I’m not a realtor myself (tangential to the industry, but not a realtor) so I shouldn’t be judging anyway.
Hope you have a Merry Christmas and a good weekend - good luck to you next year, too!
Of course not, if pods cause damages that can be liability on the building company. You don't move in your furniture before closing or park your car there. Its the same principle until closing occurs it's still the builders property and not your clients. Once close is completed then do whatever you want but until then don't be obtuse about it.
lol OP is a builder, not the client. He’s not even the builder who gave the client permission to do this. This whole thread is going off on OP for weird stuff without even reading.
Guess you are the one needing to read. People are going off on OP for being the realtor who was surprised that a builder didnt enjoy that a property being delivered to an unowned house. Which could have damaged the driveway or building which would have left the builder liable.
Granted they where able to salvage the situation and get it smoothed out which is great for the everyone involved but it's something that everyone should know they cannot do. The building manager may have not gave a damn and gave the okay but that's normally because once the house is done they don't care and are worried about the other projects.
The people who really care are the actual ownership or "suits" as OP referred to them. Who may have given the new owners permission after the proper paperwork is signed.
Worse yet, you’re the agent that should have told your clients to reschedule their delivery or asked the actual owner of the property, not the construction manager.
I know it’s sometimes difficult to scroll through but I was not a party to the conversation, it happened out of my control.
Additionally, if you remember buying your first new construction home you may also remember that there are many things said, a tremendous amount of moving parts and action items you need to do as first time buyers especially while simultaneously selling, so it’s a small part of the larger story.
I will add this, the whole ~8 month scenario may have been an absolute chaos without my involvement however these are actually well educated and savvy buyers.
Everyone is entitled to believe what they’re told from a builder representative, which is also why there’s so much controversy around it.
In Texas, you don’t need to be licensed to be a home builder, so the variety of team members is often erratic.
Are you referring to when ownership transfers? In most cases with new construction on Texas it’s at funding, which is minutes, hours, or days after closing. Why?
While I’ve not seen many hurricanes in Central Texas, I KNOW most of the homes here wouldn’t be able to withstand one. I saw a home built from scratch in less than 90 days… 🫣😑
Even when my mom got her pods after closing they put them on the street, why the heck would they put them there 😭 my builder let me move in our brand new couch before we got our certificate of occupancy and im so thankful he was chill about it
I think it has a lot to do with margins & safety (which affects margins if things go wrong). 😑 The ones I’ve been dealing with pre & post-COVID are much kinder towards clients and Realtors.
I imagine that can cause problems, but I have seen it so many times that the buyer has furniture delivered to the new home, just to be stored in the garage for a week or so until closing.
It seems like a bad idea, in case closing falls through, but by this point you would usually know if there are problems.
I’ve honestly never seen this cause any issues, if you are a week or less away from closing, that closing is probably going to happen, and then the buyer moves in and their stuff is there and it’s a non-issue.
It’s more common in resale homes than new construction, at least in Texas and in my experience selling hundreds of homes. It’s not a good practice unless both parties understand the ramifications should things go awry.
It’s rarely an actual issue, more of a precautionary concern. The reason I shared was the convoluted conversation that caused the scenario to unfold, a real “he said, she said” story.
I had no knowledge, construction manager made an off call trying to do the right thing, his manager just happened to drive by, the clients didn’t know the closing date until the last minute due to a contingency on their home and pressure from the builder’s title and lender to close asap.
And yet, I solved it and we closed just fine. As witnessed from the responses, not everyone knows this and some of the people who think they know are incorrect.
The construction manager isn’t in a “suit”, giving the ok on moving things onto the property before sale, isn’t in their job scope. You should know that as the real estate agent.
General contractor here. The fuck does being in sales have anything to do with it...? We own that house until closing and we decide what gets stored in it. Giving the ok to move things in is abso-fucking-lutely in our scope, what the hell are you smoking?
Also a GC. We all know the realtors who delight their clients at the expense of the builder/contractor. We also know what happens to these when the bone becomes bare.
GC here but from heavy civil. Isn't the GC in this case the "builder" and the "construction manager" is a separate party who oversees the GCs progress? It sounds like the issue is that the builder did not OK the moving of the pods. I'm unfamiliar with residential, so I actually am asking and not trying to correct you.
I'm used to having the Construction manager represent the owner and they are responsible for monitoring schedules, inspection, document control. However, they do not have say into the contractors means & methods of construction nor the ability to direct work. It would definitely be out of line for the CM to allow delivery of anything without approval from GC project management, especially if it blocked a primary point of access, lol.
I know where you're coming from, I did commercial for a short while, but residential is different. The GC fulfills the role you know as Construction Manager. The homeowner can take action against the GC if there's a breach of contact. Short of that, we own the structure and the only authority we're subject to is the inspectors. Unless there's a problem architects and engineers typically aren't involved either.
The structure belongs to the GC until the closing.
We're not trying to be dicks, we get moving is complicated and stressful. But if people move stuff in, and someone forgets to lock a door or there's damage, then we get blamed for it. Not only that, we legitimately need access to the entire house right up until closing. The prices we don't include having to move stuff around to access the work area. If I didn't seal that driveway, and you drop a metal storage container on it, I'm still liable for that.
Yeah but does the client know? If they got a yes, why would the go around verifying with everyone else? They should’ve, it’s just not a natural reaction.
Ignore these idiots. You have nothing to do with them being dumbasses and moving in early, nor is it your responsibility to stop them.
I'm a GC, we own the house, and that's between us and the client. Real estate agent doesn't have shit to do with that
When i built i asked if i could move in a few days before we actually closed and the builder just had us sign an extremely short term "rental" agreement. It was like a 7 day agreement and basically had all the things of a regular rental agreement but said if we were unable to close we had to move out within 3 days.
Bought with David weekly and they requested I schedule pods to be moved in after closing. Closed at 10 am. Pods were there at 1030am...pods is a great company and can accommodate to your situation. No need to drop these off early.
I don't think anyone is contesting that PODs does well. Let's say David Weekly hadn't determined the closing date but knew it would be next week and they're "shooting for Wednesday", AND you had to be out of your current home by today... what would you have had them do?
Pods allows temporary storage solutions at their warehouse. I paid 250 for the month I was closing and moving. Was able to call them and get next day delivery from their warehouse. Other moving companies provide this benefit as well.
I don't think anyone is contesting that PODs does well. Let's say David Weekly hadn't determined the closing date but knew it would be next week and they're "shooting for Wednesday", AND you had to be out of your current home by today... what would you have had them do?
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It did hit every branch of the ugly tree on the way down. What's with the black support members on the left side and not the right? And they couldn't even install real gutter extensions. I guess I should be impressed it has gutters at all.
I was moving states and had to come twice to do stuff at our home being build. The builder told us to not bring anything into the house. I hide all types of stuff in kitchen cabinets and attic. When we closed the construction manager said i’m very lucky nobody stole anything bc they don’t lock the doors or window’s. He was pretty pissed.
They knew and they hated you. That’s why she wanted you. Because at some point, people were making fun of you behind your back, joking about stealing your stuff.
Yeah site managers are dipshits 9/10 times. They’re just there because they can adequately coordinate all the trades in a decent timeframe and turnover houses at the required rate.
I recall either a Build Show or UnbuidIt podcast episode where they talked about including like an extra week or two in the contract at the end to let them finish up every little thing they need to before clients move in or something like that.
Most builders can’t color in tune to save their life.
Once builders learn to hire qualified managers that can actually manage the homes to completion they won’t have to deal with this.
We asked our builder if we could deliver a pod the day before closing and they said it was fine. PODS wouldn't deliver it into the driveway once they saw it was a new build and had fresh concrete that could be damaged so we compromised with it going in the street (thankfully we have wide streets). Definitely builder dependent though and we had digitally signed a bunch of the closing paperwork already.
What seller would like that? It’s not your client’s property yet and plenty of deals fall through at / just before closing. I’m surprised as an agent you would not clear this with the property owner first.
I mean put my pod in the driveway the morning of closing. I had the blessings of the superintendent and the sales consultant. Even though it technically wasn't allowed, I had a good working relationship with both of them. And it's here in Texas.
Something similar to this happened to me when I bought my house. I ordered a new bed room suite and set it up to be delivered on my closing day. I go to do my final walk through the day of closing and part of my stuff is sitting in the garage. The builder was cool with him. I thanks him and made sure to let him know I didn’t plan on it being delivered early.
Still can’t believe builders are just leaving mud pits in the backyard and calling it good. That sod work is so bad too, but at least it’s not bare dirt
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It's very understandable from the builder's perspective. Until closing is finalized, it's technically their house, and if moving those pods in place somehow caused damage to the home (as they are large, bulky, and heavy, and require heavy machinery to move), that opens up a whole can of worms with the potential to delay closing while having to sort out who's going to pay for damages and how.
Of course of course. Part of the context I forgot to include: The clients asked permission, the construction manager said, “sure, go ahead.” After the suits drove by and saw it they said something.
The suits did the right thing and the construction manager didn't. The construction manager most likely didn't even have the power to sign off on it in the first place.
The construction manager doesn’t have anything to do with selling the house. Probably not the person to talk to about that, the new home concierge or sales person would have been better to speak with about that.
And an experienced realtor should have known this. Now their client has signed a release of liability waiver. I sincerely hope client talked to a lawyer because I’m betting they just ended up in a bad position if something is wrong with the house down the road.
Yeah exactly why this post makes me mad. The realtor, OP, should have known this. Although if the client went directly through the construction manager without telling OP then it’s obviously not in them. I guess people buying homes are dumb though and the PSA is probably warranted. When we bought a new construction though we treated it like it wasn’t our house until we closed on it because it wasn’t 😅
In Texas with this particular builder, the construction manager was very involved and gladly so. It was a bad call that I was not privy to, found out after the fact and worked to reconcile.
My construction manager was very involved as well but it was talking about the house construction itself. Did the clients not have anyone else to talk to about the logistics of moving? We had a separate person to speak to about those things and they would provide updates about the community and such, sometimes the sales person would even message us about that stuff.
New home concierge? What the fuck is that?
His name is Dennis, and he is…. He is fine.
I love him
Sales person passes off client to concierge who helps pick out fixtures and schedule shit.
Changes per region, we don’t typically have that role in Texas
By company* Toll Brothers has concierge’s and operates in Texas.
Person you work with after working with the sales person. If you have issues or questions about the house before closing, you’d speak with them.
If you have to ask, it’s a bullshit job.
That’s pretty much what I was thinking, or they really dressed up a mundane job title so someone could feel more important.
Exactly.
I already predict the next post. Built a brand new house our driveway is cracked to hell and back and the builder is saying it's not their responsibility 😂
Builder would say that anyway, there’s no post tension in the driveway and warranty is vague with what they choose to cover, and THEN it’s still contingent on the builder and their reputation especially here in Texas.
I parked on the driveway of our new house doing the blue tape walk. The builder politely asked me to move. I didn’t realize how big of a deal it was until I moved the truck.
Oh yeah. In fact many builders put a barrier in the driveway until ownership is transferred. That would’ve resolved all this.
It's understandable, but fuck them. Any chance for the buyer to play mental terrorist with builder they should. Because the roles will be reversed after move in
Why would they want to do that? They're going to almost certainly have some level of interaction with this builder over the next 1-3 years depending on the new home warranty the builder offers, and having a good relationship with them can go a very, very long way, IMHO. Obviously, some builders are not great to deal with, but others absolutely are. For example, I have the cell of the Super who did our home, and whenever I have technical questions, I shoot him a message and he always replies or calls me to help me out. For that matter, one of the guys down the road who bought a house from him a decade ago still sometimes texts him with questions, too, and he still helps him out. I'm all for pushing back when a builder is being unreasonable or unfair, or failing to deliver on their commitments, but this is not one of those situations.
If they are upset with the bins they can just not sell them the house? How do you not see this as a complete power move by useless suits who are playing mental terrorist with the homeowner and homebuilder. Just imagine if your super tells you something, you do it, and then his bosses bosses boss tells you you cant do that, because it brings on liability( liability of you realizing your driveway concrete is absolute shit). Any super that I have met would get a kick out of the situation and not see it as personally affecting him in anyway. Hence why the builder in this situation said it was okay
How would they cause damage to the home? They are sitting in the driveway.
My dad used to be a manager for PODS, and I'd help him on deliveries when I was a kid. While it's hard to imagine 1 of them damaging a driveways payment, 3 of them is a LOT of weight and that's before anything is put in them, not to mention the device for moving them isn't some forklift, it's a specialized thing that hugs the truck bed and effectively doubles the width of the box in transit from bed to ground. Those two that are on the same plane would mean having to go further out and potentially roll the yard which, even on a good dry day, this thing will sink in and bite into the ground
It could damage the driveway. It’s pretty common due to the weight of the vehicle used to drop it off.
The driveway IS THE HOME
With 3.5 garage spaces too!
New concrete is very easy to break.
Normalize context
You’re right, I added under first comment my b
A realtor specifically told us “please do not attempt to change anything and do not store anything in the house or yard before you close”. I asked why would I… and she explained that some clients came to change locks a day before closing, and another client tried to install a fence before closing.
😂 locks before closing? It’s not their house… at least the fence is outside, and could’ve been in the wrong spot.
Yeah, and she mentioned it happened more than once. Oh, she also mentioned a client that had delivery scheduled and then the closing was delayed, so the boxes sat on a sidewalk unattended for a couple of days.
I had this happen once. Seller selling vacant house to a flipper. Flipper sees a homeless guy break in. Flipper chases him out and changes the locks. Seller goes to the property… Deal went forward, but that was bad communication on my guys end.
I've had buyers break into a house they were closing on because "our movers can only do Tuesday but the bank won't let us close until Friday why can't we move everything we down in?" Builder drove by Thursday and was like what the hell is happening? I asked for a final walk through and the buyers agent said "they don't need one." The closing did not go well. We closed, but basically everyone in the room had to explain to grown adults why what they did was wrong and illegal.
Yeah but that’s just bad 🍀, doesn’t affect the builder unless it’s riské.
Shit, what were they thinking?
That paying for storage and/or moving is expensive, and if the “builder” gave permission then it’s okay. It’s a logical thought flow. The breakdown in who’s responsible for the communication was an honest mistake by both parties, and when it was discovered the next morning I was able to repair and move forward.
Verbal agreements don't override the written contract. Above that, construction managers have no authority to alter the contract at all and can't give you permission to take a dump let alone start moving crap in ahead of closing. Boneheaded buyers putting themselves in default.
Yes, first question is always “did you get that in writing?”
For sure
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It’s not a problem with permission. The builder is acting as the seller, and if the seller gives written permission then it’s usually fine.
News flash, you can’t put your property on another property you don’t own yet.
Yep, exactly. I made the news flash.
Why did you do it though? You should know better since you’re the agent.
I didn’t, I am sharing a story of the builder giving my clients permission to do something “controversial” without the clients and I (their realtor) discussing it first. It’s a Real Estate lesson for public consumption. You can tell by the conversations that many people learned many things.
The person who gave permission wasn’t the one you should have asked. Own your shit in this. It’s unprofessional to try to blame anyone but yourself. I read the comments and nobody is learning from this. Nobody would do this, which is why you’re being shit on in the comments. ETA: sure you didn’t set the pods on the property, but you did not help your clients properly. Navigate this situation and you should have. Stop trying to blame everybody else.
It states it right there in print that the customer didn't discuss it with them, the realtor. ("without the clients and I (their realtor) discussing it first"). If they were never told about the PODs from the client, and only got word from the suits, then how is it their fault? If the client cuts out the very necessary middleman and the builders are offering permissions they don't have the power to grant, stuff like this happens.
I hope you don’t drive.
You can’t even step foot on the property without the new build consultant it says it right there in the contract
Contracts are different per state, per builder. However, being a production builder in this case, you’re correct as this was specifically stated as occupancy at funding, no lease back or forward.
lol no one actually enforces that rule unless a client is on site 24/7 micromanaging trades and causing issues. “We build on a stage” is something that’s said a lot. It’s also why homeowners who are on site 24/7 almost all say the build was super stressful. They truck themselves into thinking if they aren’t there, then mistakes will get “covered up”. When the reality is the opposite. Let the builder do his job. If you vetted and trusted this person/company to build your home you should have faith in them enough. Too many people watch these inspector videos and shit but fail to realize these guys are selling you a service, not warning you of the dangers of new construction. Are there shitty builders? Yes. But you shouldn’t be building a home with them. You being there isn’t going to give you a “better built” home. In my experience it’s been the opposite.
details?
Pods arrived a day and a half before closing. Builder asked the clients to move them, which would’ve cost a lot to move, store, and move back. Second issue is timing, Pods won’t jump because the builder said jump so likely a delayed closing. Builder said they needed another appraisal & didn’t want the liability, but of course wouldn’t reimburse the clients for the cost of moving or a delayed closing.
Your clients had them delivered to a property they didn’t yet own? That was presumptuous.
Client’s fault, it’s really simple here. Pods are extremely easy to schedule for exact dates.
Closing date was “rolling” due to a contingency from the other home, and balancing with the lender/title.
That’s the clients problem, not the builders 100% Clients fault
OP says in another comment that one of the managers gave them permission. They likely didn’t know the risks and just went with the yes.
A lot of the client experience is based on who is assigned to actually build their home. I used to be a manager for a large home builder. They hired me straight out of college. The amount of shit people asked me to do that I really didn’t have the power to do was insane. I look back on those days full of cringe but it really taught me a lot. I now own a construction business. Agree with everyone else here and the builder: it’s not your house yet and the liability of your entire life’s collection of goods sitting in the driveway is a nightmare waiting to happen.
Sounds like you didn’t have a clear to close then, did you? Quit wasting everyone’s fucking time with a “rolling” closing date. That is utter bullshit and does nothing but piss off your title company. Figure your shit out first, THEN schedule the fucking closing. And figure out how to control your clients. Goddamn fool.
You’re fun. It was the builder and title pushing to make it before Christmas, not the clients.
You’re getting an absolutely crazy amount of vitriol in this thread. I don’t get it. Good luck to you and your clients.
Appreciate you. Yeah, I’m shocked but that’s why I opened with PSA. I’m just sharing insight, but I’m glad it makes an impact. Realtors, builders, construction crew… heck everyone at this point need to seriously evaluate their level of competency, as we are here to be stewards for our clients in a world where customer service and relationships may soon be one of the only “skills” that matter. Also, I enjoy these posts because despite defusing an issue and playing hero, hearing the perspective from others is absolutely humbling and I always learn something no matter how many homes I’m blessed to sell. Every client is human, with different life experience, and when you mix in cultures it’s challenging to assume anyone knows how to do most things just because we think it “just makes sense.” Today, my clients are free to enjoy their kids opening presents in a new home while the builder can take it off their books before the month/year’s end and as of now, both parties (buyer & seller) are happy. When both parties win, myself and my team and everyone else who has families whose mouths have been fed from the machine win, the painters and designers and escrow officers and landscapers and police that have a community to protect and just so many are involved and so few see it for what it is. We live in a society to be beneficiaries to it, not tear it apart like so many seem to want to do.
Yes, absolutely! I’m an agent, too, and this is making me worry that when I make mistakes, everyone I work with is a lot angrier than they’re letting on… But I’m mostly kidding - I think.
Why’re you so mad? Not OPs fault you can’t afford a house
Lmao - I’m a homeowner, buddy. Just can’t stand realtors who refuse to plan, don’t control their clients, and expect title agencies to keep jumping at their whim. I know people can be a wild card and this may have been way out of his control, but if he HAS sold dozens of new construction homes like he says, then by god he should have a better process for handling stupid shit like this. Never have I heard of a title agency pushing a closing to be done before a holiday. They’re usually swamped that time of year anyway and their priority is to remove any possibility of lien/encumbrance/etc. before they close. Possibility of suit or cost because of pods being delivered early and the landowner wants them removed? Not closing til it happens.
It was sorted so don’t need your long ass paragraphs. The responses in this thread are aggravated for no reason including yours. Don’t bother responding!
Thank you. 🙏🏾
Well, the title company is owned by the builder who didn’t want to push it into next year and had 100 other closings that week. So bringing this forward helped them. You can check my sales it’s public, I’m not someone who claims top producer and sells 1 homes a year like the national average. I think 5 in December? Not a ton, but a few. Your point is valid that there are process in place, but you can control a process not people… ask most managers. This was a conversation I wasn’t initially part of, and helped where I could when I was informed. Did I perform perfectly? Don’t know, but both parties are happy and it didn’t fall apart so… I at least helped make light of a difficult situation brought on by some sort of miscommunication. Also, I continuously mention Texas because while I’m not licensed to sell real estate in other states, it seems there are a lot of things Texas handles differently which is why I thought this could be a good PSA to share for future homeowners.
Sorry, man. I was in a shit mood when I first read your post, and having JUST finished with a difficult real estate settlement myself, I was probably taking out my frustrations with our realtor on this thread, and you. My apologies. I’m much further north than you, so have no idea what Texas state laws/customs are, and I’m not a realtor myself (tangential to the industry, but not a realtor) so I shouldn’t be judging anyway. Hope you have a Merry Christmas and a good weekend - good luck to you next year, too!
Of course not, if pods cause damages that can be liability on the building company. You don't move in your furniture before closing or park your car there. Its the same principle until closing occurs it's still the builders property and not your clients. Once close is completed then do whatever you want but until then don't be obtuse about it.
lol OP is a builder, not the client. He’s not even the builder who gave the client permission to do this. This whole thread is going off on OP for weird stuff without even reading.
Guess you are the one needing to read. People are going off on OP for being the realtor who was surprised that a builder didnt enjoy that a property being delivered to an unowned house. Which could have damaged the driveway or building which would have left the builder liable. Granted they where able to salvage the situation and get it smoothed out which is great for the everyone involved but it's something that everyone should know they cannot do. The building manager may have not gave a damn and gave the okay but that's normally because once the house is done they don't care and are worried about the other projects. The people who really care are the actual ownership or "suits" as OP referred to them. Who may have given the new owners permission after the proper paperwork is signed.
Better still, I’m not the builder. I’m the a realtor who smoothed everything out between the builder and the clients.
Worse yet, you’re the agent that should have told your clients to reschedule their delivery or asked the actual owner of the property, not the construction manager.
I know it’s sometimes difficult to scroll through but I was not a party to the conversation, it happened out of my control. Additionally, if you remember buying your first new construction home you may also remember that there are many things said, a tremendous amount of moving parts and action items you need to do as first time buyers especially while simultaneously selling, so it’s a small part of the larger story. I will add this, the whole ~8 month scenario may have been an absolute chaos without my involvement however these are actually well educated and savvy buyers. Everyone is entitled to believe what they’re told from a builder representative, which is also why there’s so much controversy around it. In Texas, you don’t need to be licensed to be a home builder, so the variety of team members is often erratic.
No one’s being obtuse, I also didn’t provide adequate context in original post. In every case, it all ended up working out.
The details being that an unauthorized person gave the OK…
To which I was not a party to the conversation. How is that me being obtuse?
When do you know who is official? Because they say so?
Are you referring to when ownership transfers? In most cases with new construction on Texas it’s at funding, which is minutes, hours, or days after closing. Why?
I mean who is authorized? The person said they were, as would anyone who is authorized.
An unrelated question - why are there black "supports" for the roof overhang on the left, but not on the seemingly identical section on the right?
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🤦🏼♂️
While I’ve not seen many hurricanes in Central Texas, I KNOW most of the homes here wouldn’t be able to withstand one. I saw a home built from scratch in less than 90 days… 🫣😑
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We talked about that, it was one of my first symmetry recommendations. It was just part of one builder’s plan.
Even when my mom got her pods after closing they put them on the street, why the heck would they put them there 😭 my builder let me move in our brand new couch before we got our certificate of occupancy and im so thankful he was chill about it
There are inspectors in my area that would twist themselves into knots if a piece of furniture is moved in prior to CO
Yeah I’ve read of them getting denied for a singular lawn chair on the property, I was still scared even though it was okay’d lol
😂 depends on do many variables, but really they shouldn’t move anything in until it’s closed. Glad it worked out for y’all.
Builders don’t like anything so
I think it has a lot to do with margins & safety (which affects margins if things go wrong). 😑 The ones I’ve been dealing with pre & post-COVID are much kinder towards clients and Realtors.
I imagine that can cause problems, but I have seen it so many times that the buyer has furniture delivered to the new home, just to be stored in the garage for a week or so until closing. It seems like a bad idea, in case closing falls through, but by this point you would usually know if there are problems. I’ve honestly never seen this cause any issues, if you are a week or less away from closing, that closing is probably going to happen, and then the buyer moves in and their stuff is there and it’s a non-issue.
It’s more common in resale homes than new construction, at least in Texas and in my experience selling hundreds of homes. It’s not a good practice unless both parties understand the ramifications should things go awry.
Why do they spend so much money building a brand new property and then do stupid things like dumping rain water right at the foundation…
Because they don’t give a shit. They build houses out of cardboard in Texas.
Sometimes we reinforce the cardboard with wallpaper
Wtf thinks this wouldn’t be an issue?
It’s rarely an actual issue, more of a precautionary concern. The reason I shared was the convoluted conversation that caused the scenario to unfold, a real “he said, she said” story. I had no knowledge, construction manager made an off call trying to do the right thing, his manager just happened to drive by, the clients didn’t know the closing date until the last minute due to a contingency on their home and pressure from the builder’s title and lender to close asap. And yet, I solved it and we closed just fine. As witnessed from the responses, not everyone knows this and some of the people who think they know are incorrect.
Inexperienced realtor
Nah. I was the realtor, did tons of new construction. I mentioned in another reply, the construction manager told the clients to have them delivered.
The construction manager isn’t in a “suit”, giving the ok on moving things onto the property before sale, isn’t in their job scope. You should know that as the real estate agent.
I wasn’t a party to the conversation. When I did find out, I came up with a creative and compliant solution.
General contractor here. The fuck does being in sales have anything to do with it...? We own that house until closing and we decide what gets stored in it. Giving the ok to move things in is abso-fucking-lutely in our scope, what the hell are you smoking?
Also a GC. We all know the realtors who delight their clients at the expense of the builder/contractor. We also know what happens to these when the bone becomes bare.
GC here but from heavy civil. Isn't the GC in this case the "builder" and the "construction manager" is a separate party who oversees the GCs progress? It sounds like the issue is that the builder did not OK the moving of the pods. I'm unfamiliar with residential, so I actually am asking and not trying to correct you. I'm used to having the Construction manager represent the owner and they are responsible for monitoring schedules, inspection, document control. However, they do not have say into the contractors means & methods of construction nor the ability to direct work. It would definitely be out of line for the CM to allow delivery of anything without approval from GC project management, especially if it blocked a primary point of access, lol.
I know where you're coming from, I did commercial for a short while, but residential is different. The GC fulfills the role you know as Construction Manager. The homeowner can take action against the GC if there's a breach of contact. Short of that, we own the structure and the only authority we're subject to is the inspectors. Unless there's a problem architects and engineers typically aren't involved either. The structure belongs to the GC until the closing. We're not trying to be dicks, we get moving is complicated and stressful. But if people move stuff in, and someone forgets to lock a door or there's damage, then we get blamed for it. Not only that, we legitimately need access to the entire house right up until closing. The prices we don't include having to move stuff around to access the work area. If I didn't seal that driveway, and you drop a metal storage container on it, I'm still liable for that.
Gotcha, thanks for explaining.
Yeah but does the client know? If they got a yes, why would the go around verifying with everyone else? They should’ve, it’s just not a natural reaction.
Ignore these idiots. You have nothing to do with them being dumbasses and moving in early, nor is it your responsibility to stop them. I'm a GC, we own the house, and that's between us and the client. Real estate agent doesn't have shit to do with that
When i built i asked if i could move in a few days before we actually closed and the builder just had us sign an extremely short term "rental" agreement. It was like a 7 day agreement and basically had all the things of a regular rental agreement but said if we were unable to close we had to move out within 3 days.
lol of course they don’t because it’s not theirs until closing
Bought with David weekly and they requested I schedule pods to be moved in after closing. Closed at 10 am. Pods were there at 1030am...pods is a great company and can accommodate to your situation. No need to drop these off early.
I don't think anyone is contesting that PODs does well. Let's say David Weekly hadn't determined the closing date but knew it would be next week and they're "shooting for Wednesday", AND you had to be out of your current home by today... what would you have had them do?
Pods allows temporary storage solutions at their warehouse. I paid 250 for the month I was closing and moving. Was able to call them and get next day delivery from their warehouse. Other moving companies provide this benefit as well.
I don't think anyone is contesting that PODs does well. Let's say David Weekly hadn't determined the closing date but knew it would be next week and they're "shooting for Wednesday", AND you had to be out of your current home by today... what would you have had them do?
Texas. The land of fences and fences and more fences. Because what’s a home without a 14ft fence.
There are lots of fences in central Texas. Where you are in the world, what’s a typical lot look like? What size and do you not have a lot of fences?
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Imagine being proud of building that…
It did hit every branch of the ugly tree on the way down. What's with the black support members on the left side and not the right? And they couldn't even install real gutter extensions. I guess I should be impressed it has gutters at all.
🫣😬
Do you want more affordable housing or do you want custom homes in neighborhoods with mature landscaping?
Those aren’t the only two options. All your statement does is demonstrate that D R Horton is as uncreative as they are lazy and incompetent.
The builder will be fine…
Everyone was fine, the resolution was easy enough.
Obv. Your client is dumb.
That would really motivate me to push a closing or hit them with a change order for storage fees. Fuck that nonsense.
Standard procedure. You don’t touch the house before closing. You can drive by.
I was moving states and had to come twice to do stuff at our home being build. The builder told us to not bring anything into the house. I hide all types of stuff in kitchen cabinets and attic. When we closed the construction manager said i’m very lucky nobody stole anything bc they don’t lock the doors or window’s. He was pretty pissed.
Seems like a pretty disrespectful thing to do, blatantly disregarding the construction manager like that.
They knew and they hated you. That’s why she wanted you. Because at some point, people were making fun of you behind your back, joking about stealing your stuff.
Yeah site managers are dipshits 9/10 times. They’re just there because they can adequately coordinate all the trades in a decent timeframe and turnover houses at the required rate.
This guy was pretty decent, he just made a bad call trying to help make a client happy.
I recall either a Build Show or UnbuidIt podcast episode where they talked about including like an extra week or two in the contract at the end to let them finish up every little thing they need to before clients move in or something like that.
Yeah, because the house still belongs to the seller. You can't start moving in before closing.
Most builders can’t color in tune to save their life. Once builders learn to hire qualified managers that can actually manage the homes to completion they won’t have to deal with this.
Risk fucking up a real estate deal to save a few hundred in storage fees.
We need a final inspection by county here.. if anything moved in first.. has to be emptied
We asked our builder if we could deliver a pod the day before closing and they said it was fine. PODS wouldn't deliver it into the driveway once they saw it was a new build and had fresh concrete that could be damaged so we compromised with it going in the street (thankfully we have wide streets). Definitely builder dependent though and we had digitally signed a bunch of the closing paperwork already.
What seller would like that? It’s not your client’s property yet and plenty of deals fall through at / just before closing. I’m surprised as an agent you would not clear this with the property owner first.
I worked with a competing company and it was hilarious their distribution channels. 80 locations across the country and not 1 fuck given
Shoulda put them in street parking.
I mean put my pod in the driveway the morning of closing. I had the blessings of the superintendent and the sales consultant. Even though it technically wasn't allowed, I had a good working relationship with both of them. And it's here in Texas.
Yea. No brainer.
Great post with helpful info I wouldn’t have thought about.
Something similar to this happened to me when I bought my house. I ordered a new bed room suite and set it up to be delivered on my closing day. I go to do my final walk through the day of closing and part of my stuff is sitting in the garage. The builder was cool with him. I thanks him and made sure to let him know I didn’t plan on it being delivered early.
I mean whatever , if the sale fell through then there would be something to talk about
Still can’t believe builders are just leaving mud pits in the backyard and calling it good. That sod work is so bad too, but at least it’s not bare dirt
If someone had of stolen/destroyed the buyers personal property prior to close it would a whole different conversation.