Difference between showhouse and built!

F

fpm

Guest
Hi

Myself and my partner are currently buying our first house. We went to see a showhouse in the development, and paid a booking deposit.

Our house is now nearing completion, but some differences have shown up! Firstly, the show house (which was part of the 1st phase, while we're buying in the second phase), had a fireplace in both downstairs rooms, but we only have a fireplace in one of the rooms. We kicked up about this, but the builder tells us that it was the plan all along, and that the estate agent should have told us, and the estate agent says its not his fault, the builder didn't tell him!
Now we've just seen that the doors fitted throughout the ground floor are different to the doors we were shown. I specifically asked the estate agent about the doors when we were in the show house, as they were nice glass panel ones, and was assured that they were the same as we would get, but we have solid versions.

We're getting worried now, in case other things will have changed too.

Obviously we're not expecting a fireplace to be built, but I think we should at least get the PC sum we were due for that fireplace. The doors I would like to see replaced, or at least some gesture made towards us.

Has anyone else experienced this? Do we have a leg to stand on?

Thanks
FP
 
In my estate, the showhouse was with all the upgrade which means extra socket, pine door, floor board, everything nicely decorated that i didn't expect to see in my house unless requested for the list of extras provided
 
I think showhouses are going to be kitted out to the highest spec.
Therefore you can't assume that what you see is what you get.Especially when your comparing between stages.
I assume when you initially bought you would have had a list of what you would be getting(you know, the usual speil about 10 year home bond,uPVC windows,etc...this should have stated that there were two fireplaces).

I do feel sorry that the auctioneer told you one thing and the builder another.I definitely thing the auctioneer/developer should offer some kind of compensation....wouldn't hold my breath though.Maybe you could get them to throw in something non-standard instead,better kitchen or something
 
Did you not get a view of the plans before you bought? An estate agent may tell you anything to get you to buy. When we bought from a new development we were given full specs and photocopies of the plans. All these had to be signed to say we were happy with what was built.
 
I know a friend of mine is taking the builder to court because the plans were different to the house and it was a major thing, and the builder is totally dragging it out over the last 2 years and he wont budge, so I wouldn't bother, the guy is just so stressed it doesn't seem worth it!
The plans of ours look totally different to the houses are actually turning out, there's extra doors put in.
The building hasn't actually begun on our particular house yet,but I have LOADS of things I need changed
Does the builder call you to ask your specifications etc, or should you contact him.
 
I can understand that the showhouse will be to the highest spec, and this is why I queried the doors with the estate agent. He told us we were getting the same ones, so we took him at his word....

I definitely didn't think I would have needed to check whether a fireplace was included in the house I was getting. You could hardly say that was an extra! Where would it stop...cutting out a bathroom?

We have found out since that the estate agent hadn't been striaght with us on other things. We asked him if there were any other developments planned for the area, and he said 'oh no, definitely not'. Luckily my girlfriend works in the co. co. and was able to find out there was another development with planning permission right across the road!

Fair enough, the estate agent is trying to sell the house, but theres sales patter, and then theres just being dishonest!

The builder seems OK to deal with, and to be honest I believe that the spec for the 2nd phase changed, but you'd imagine the estate agent might have thought to arm himself with this information before he took to selling the houses!

We've asked for our lawns to be seeded and/or the floors upstairs sanded, but I doubt if we'll get anything..
 
Have you raised these issues with your solicitor? He/She should be able to advise you on your entitlements.
 
Unfortunately what is advertised or shown to you is not always what you end up getting- and in case there was any doubt there is generally a clause in the contract to specifically state that what you are getting is as per the contracts, not as per any advert or showhouse or what the estate agent said.

Usually in new builds your solicitor gets contracts, building agreements, specifications plans and drawings- which will show any pc sums also. Sometimes the buyer is also given the plans and drawings and spec directly. It is a matter for the purchaser to check that the plans and drawings and specs represent what they were given to believe they were purchasing. Obviously your solicitor can't do this for you, as we don't know what you were told you were getting, we havent seen the show house etc. If when you check the plans something is wrong or missing, that is the time to bring the matter up- i.e. before signing contracts. When you sign contracts you are buying the house described in those contracts and ancillary documentation, not the show house.

So, if the differences you describe are also different to those in your plans etc, then you have a case. If not, you don't. Even if you don't have a legal leg to stand on, theres nothing to stop you making an appeal directly to the builder and see if he will do something for you. Where your plans do differ from the house as built, the time to do something about it is BEFORE you hand over any stagepayment or closing money, as after you do this, your biggest bargaining tool is gone.
 

First of all I would say do kick up a fuss about anything you are not happy with. If everyone took the attitude that "it doesn't seem worth it" the builders will continue to take everyone for a ride and cut even more corners. Buying a house is the biggest investment you are ever going to make and I think you should do everything to make sure it's right. I'd agree with one fo the other messages to get your solicitor to check out the plans. I can understand the likes of carpets, tiles etc in the showhouse being top of the range, but surely the doors should be the same as what is going into all the houses. If this is not the case, what's to stop them only putting in single glazed windows or two bedrooms instead of three???

As for whether the builder will contact you for your specifications, you must be joking. They want to get out of your house asap and so anything different that you want will only delay them. Keep hassling them about your changes and try to get as many phone numbers from them as possible - kitchen suppliers, carpenter, electrician, plumber - that way you can get jobs done as nixers - extra lights, sockets, outside tap - and it might work out cheaper than getting the building company to do them.

Sorry if I sound like I'm ranting, but I'm really fed up with builders at this stage!!
 
No no rant away, I'm glad of the advice!
The thing is that there is no showhouse. So when should I start getting in touch with the builder about the alterations? As soon as the foundation is down?
 
"so we took him at his word...."

Not worth the paper it was written on!! in our case, we got the copy of floor plan, just an A4 sheet copied, but there was also about a 6 page doc giving the details. So for example it had said the stairs rails would be red deal, the downstairs joinery red deal, upstairs doors would be the white artificaly ones, that there was a fireplace in the front room, glass paneled door from kitchen to utility room etc. It also gave details of how many sockets, phone points, TV points etc.
Then, i got call from builder before first fix and I went up to meet electrician and we agreed on where all the plugs would be etc.

That was O'Flynn construction in Cork and I have to say they are bang on the ball. Might have one or two issues with them, but compared to some builders they are saints. Suppose thats shown in the fact that they are now the biggest builders in Cork i think.
 
Just to close this whole thing...

We got a look at the floor plans for our house, which show 2 fireplaces!
But the builder/estate agents have washed their hands of the whole thing, each blaming the other, and have given us a take-it-or-leave-it 'option'.

We still want the house, so we're going ahead, but its left a sour taste with us.
Effectively the house is not the one we thought we were buying, but its a sellers market, and if we don't, someone else will.

Is there any sort of regulatory body for estate agents (I'm sure there is), as I'm sure as hell gonna write a nice letter about our experiences (after we're signed the contracts...). Its sure not to make a jot of difference, but I don't feel like we can just let the thing go!

Moral of the story.:
Don't believe the estate agent, get a look at the plans. Then, don't believe the plans.
FP
 

Guy in work with me....the house was 4.5 inches smaller than the plans showed. he threatened the builders via solicitors letters and he got back 2000 pounds. This was about 3.5 years ago.
 
I would imagine in this case, the builder is at fault rather than the estate agent. The estate agent sells on the basis of the information they are provided by the developer. If there are two fireplaces in the showhouse, and the plan indicates there are two fireplaces, then the estate agent would assume (as you did) that there would be two fireplaces in the house. Were the plans that you have provided by the estate agent, or were they included with the contract? If they're included with the contract, I would think you could exert some degree of pressure on the builder for a partial refund. Talk to your solicitor about this.
 
Ok there's an extra door in our house, which we don't want. But then there's an extra surprise shower room, which is BRILLIANT. So I'm not opening my mouth
Have a nice weekend
 
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