:word:
Good deal.
:word:
Taxes here suck! My sister lives in Oregon and just bought a $170,000 house, she pays $900 a year! My house costs less than half of hers and I’m paying 4x that for taxes… and for what? So they can paint my car with salt throughout the winter and my nonexistant kids can have a great education? Can’t wait to get out of NY.
Go move to Oregon then, I heard its just awesome there. Property taxes suck here, probably some of the highest in the country. The price of real estate does offset it though if that comforts anyone.
you should get a Girl with a good job too… 
:lol:
X…
true story…
Cool, congrats bro, grew up over that way, know the neighborhood and area well.
As for home prices and taxes… homes and land are more expensive here in Florida, but the taxes are way cheaper.
For instance, my house outside of Orlando just appraised at $285k (3 bed/2 baths, 1700sq ft, 2 1/2 car attached garage, just under an acre of land (.88), in a very desireable area, huge wooden deck on the back of my house, entire house recently remodeled, etc.) and I pay about $3200 TOTAL taxes a year without my homestead exemption (which I will get for the 08’ taxes), after my homestead exemption my 08’ taxes should be around $2300. And I have no state income tax 
My parents house in Lancaster is probably worth like $200k and they pay like $5,XXX a year in taxes!!
Brian, if you need any help or hook ups let me know, I still have a lot of my real estate contacts back home. And if anyone is ever considering buying property in FL let me know, I got the hook ups! (and my own title company 
)
congrats
What builder? I want to see some plans, it’s what I want to do if we decide to sell this house.
ill post some stuff up when i get things finalized.
What a shit show this has been.
As of last night i have decided NOT to go through with the build.
initially i had talked to the builder about coming in at a total build price of 155-160k with the land and ALL the options we REQUIRED.
he agreed to that and said he would probably be WELL below that.
So i put down a 500 dollar deposit, and asked that the preliminary plans be drawn up.
He does so, and comes back at 171k all said and done… which is WAAY out of wack.
i ask him to fix it, and he does so by TAKING OUT options that i told him were a requirement (24x24 garage, laminate floors throughout, kitchen skylights and 2 additional living room windows) Even then he comes in at 160k… which is at the TOP end of what i wanted to pay in the neighborhood with all the options i required…
So i tell him im tapping out… and buying a pre existing home. as the cost of building in WNY isn’t a financially viable option in the majority of the neighborhoods.
He response back with that i owe him another 500 dollars because he completed the preliminary prints… My stance is, i only asked him to do those prints because he ASSURED me he could meet my budget… here is the last email i sent him in response to him saying he met my budget goals, and was expecting the 500
And before you ask, in the professional services agreement i signed with him, it does state that there is an initial deposit of 500 and then an additional deposit of 500 upon completion of the preliminary plans.
My stance is that he inflated the estimate after the preliminary plans were drawn up to a level he knew i would walk at… thus netting him 1k… but im not having that
Nigel, When i am reffering to your initial estimate ,what i am reffering to is this email from you below and the attached options sheet, which you sent to me in response to my email asking if you will be able to stay within my budget of 155-160k with the options i asked for. This was before i sent in the initial 500 dollar deposit. The pricing on some individual options between this estimate sheet and the last couple you have provided are VERY large increases (laminate flooring went from 3100 to 7000) The larger garage, which i was originally quoted by you Via email at an extra 1000 for a 20x20 or an extra 4000 for a 24x24 went to 6700 for a 22x24.
I never would have moved forward, put an offer on the land, nor paid you the initial 500 dollar deposit if it was not for you saying you would be able to meet our needs, This is something that you as a builder should have have been able to anticipate. It is unfair to expect your clients to gamble a large sum of money on whether or not you are going to be able to meet their budgetary needs. If you did not have the foresight to realize that my requirements were not within the realm of possibility then that should have been communicated to me earlier, when i asked you multiple times. My requirements were clear, and you said you would be able to meet them, but were unable to do so.
Paying out additional money at this point is NOT something i am willing to do, as you were NOT able to meet the budgetary requirements i had clearly set forth and you stated could be met. I had already paid the initial deposit of $500.00 as good faith, and have surrendered that to you. At this point i think it is best for both parties to just leave things as they are and go our separate ways.
On Thu, Feb 28, 2008 at 8:47 PM, Nigel wrote:
I’m very confident we will be able to stay within your budget and in fact I expect to. I’ve spoken with Cindy and we have both agreed we will make adjustments if need be to insure we keep you within your budget. The estimated cost, see attached, is purposely on the high side and I expect to be able to come well below this figure; however, the firm figure cannot be determined without building the preliminary prints. If you would like us to continue, please email me a signed copy of the attached Professional Services Agreement and upon receipt of the $500 deposit we can move forward. In terms of the timeframe to build, we expect a 60 day timeframe from signing the Build Contract and providing you with the keys to your home – the actual start date will depend though on the weather. Please contact me if you have any questions.
Basically my stance now is i’m NOT paying anything more… enjoy the 500 dollar gift, if you want more ill see you in court.
I believe i have a better chance in court of recouping my initial 500 then he does with collecting the additional 500 he is asking for…
He won’t chase you for $500.
He sounds like a schister though.
He cant F up my credit over this right? he onyl has my name and mailing address… no social or anything like that
yea, he does seem shady… he was pretty decent and very good at responding to emails etc… the reason i went with him was that hunt real estate had partnered with him, and his BBB record was clean.
Sounds like he quoted you high, so when its all said and done and its 157, you think you save money and thank him. refer him to friends and what not.
Its a sales tactic. Get over it, he’s not trying to scam you out of a grand.
He got you hook line and sinker, and you bawked at the high estimate.
He could but I seriously doubt that he would for $500 but, you never know.
It costs him money to go to a collection agency, the $500 is not worth it.
X…
Wow, that sux. I never had good experience with contractors. If I have any work done I sub contract everything out. Its a PITA, but worth it. Also get everything in writing with signatures, if they refuse to sign off on there work there not worth paying to get the job done. Ivy lea is 1 of the places that totaly screwed me. I payed them more then I should of and expected great work. Long story short it looked like kids did the work. (They hung a light sideways, varnished over a door handel, painted the molding with the celing paint, and glued base bords on)
edit
it wasn’t like that at all… its a modular home, so the costs are fixed … there is no reason to quote high… and if so… SAY that… don’t say u can do 160 with options, and then come in at 170+ and when asked to adjust back to your original estimate go down to 160k with None of the options.
Providing a proper estimate with all of the research behind it should have been done in the beginging without blowing smoke…
That would be like
Oh hi, i want to buy that car… how much,
16k
are you sure you can do 16k
Sure am… give me 500 dollars and ill double check
ok
Sorry i cant do 16k… i can do 26k , and you ow me another 500
WTF!!
its kind of a bait and switch… he knows i would walk at a higher price, so he gets a deposit, and comes back with the higher price, forcing me to walk, and gets to keep the $$