As a homebuyer, your focus was on buying a valuable property and one that you could live in for years to come. You decided to build, and you found a builder offering a home that had an excellent layout.
You choose your upgrades, agreed upon changes to the blueprint and signed a contract. The builder and their team had 180 days to complete the project.
Delays are a normal part of construction
It is true that delays are a typical part of construction. No contractor can account for rain storms or damaging winds that haven’t occurred yet. Some delays should be expected, but there are times when delays could lead to your contractor breaking the contract and ending up in a position where you could walk away from the purchase.
Even though there is a listed completion timeline in your offer to purchase the home, it may have some fine print that discusses that delays out of the contractor’s control aren’t a violation. If you’re not sure if this verbiage was included, you may want to go over the contract with your realtor and attorney. If it wasn’t included and the project has run over, you may be able to walk away without penalties.
If you do want to continue with the project, then it’s time to talk to the contractor about why there are delays and what can be done to get the project done as soon as possible.
Ask plenty of questions
You should ask questions about why the build is taking longer than expected. You should request an updated timeline and see if it is still reasonable. If you have an extended rate lock on your mortgage, the new timeline may be too long for that to remain in place, or you could have to spend extra to continue the lock. That’s something to keep in mind.
If major delays are expected and they are burdensome financially, it’s time to start looking into your legal options. If the contractor violated the contract, you may still be able to back out of the purchase and get your deposit back in full.
