On Jun 17, 3:12 pm, kris3432 wrote:
The problem that I am having with my realtor is that I have been told
that I can't contact the builder directly, but have to go through her
with any problems. The problem with that is that when I have a
problem and tell her about it, she acts like it isn't a big deal. Then
I have someone contacting the builder who doesn't seem to agree that
there is a problem. I would prefer to deal directly with the builder.
I feel like the realtor shouldn't have to go to the builder with every
little problem, that I should be able to discuss things with him. Oh,
and we do have a signed contract with her... she is a buyer's agent.
The problem we are running into is the her boss and broker, is the
seller's agent... and he basically makes her handle both sides.

We didn't have much of a choice but to build the house long distance,
we are military and did not really have the budget to live in a rental
while waiting for something to be completed. We drove down here a
couple of times to deal with problems directly, but we were told by
the realtor that she handles long distance builds all the time and she
would go buy the building site and take pictures and make sure
everything was on track. But, due to some vacations she went on and
the seller's agent went on it put a lag time between addressing my
issues. The plans to the house were shown to us by the realtor and I
am not entirely sure whose plans they were. I believe they were from
another local builder, that our builder could have got the plans for,
but instead he just redrew the plans himself. When we finally
received a copy of "his" plans we found several "issues," but he had
all ready poured the foundation before we received them. So, it
resulted in a few of our wants getting left out... and we just lived
with it.

I will never build another house with this arrangement. In the future
I will want to deal directly with either the builder or someone in his
office... not a realtor that they go through.

The plans that we received are just an overhead plan, that does not
outline what kind of cabinet goes where, all we see is countertop...
and no exact measurements. From what I can tell the counter placement
is with an inch or two of being correct... but without exact
measurements it is hard. Hindsight is 20/20 and I know what I should
request from the next builder.

I think we are going to go ahead and order a counter depth
refrigerator at our cost and hope that it will work. We hope that the
builder will be willing to change over the front of the cabinet to a
single door design and get rid of the problem drawer if it is an
issue.

This is the first house we owned, and I had no idea what to expect. I
guess I just figured that the builder knew what he was doing and when
he said that the spot would hold a regular-sized fridge that he knew
what he was talking about.

I think counter-depth fridges are becoming pretty standard now and we
shouldn't have a problem replacing it in the future. I just wish it
didn't cost double for a smaller fridge... but that is a entirely
seperate complaint.

A couple responses to your direct comments:

1) Many of you have suggested just not using the drawer.... my
personal opinion is that this is a NEW house.... and it would look
pretty ridiculous to have a drawer blocked by the fridge.

2) dpb - As for not crying until I have something to cry about... I
was posting her to get some opinions on how I should handle the
problem.. not complaining about the problem... I do not want to go
off on the builder/realtor if the majority of people I discuss this
with says it is not their problem/fault...

3) Pat - We have a contract with the realtor, she is a buyer's agent
for us.

4) Marilyn and Bob - not sure how if a narrower cabinet would fix the
issue...

5) Rudy - the enitre "blind" corner cabinet is accessible... just very
hard to get to

6) AEM - I wish a lazy susan cabinet would fit there... unfortunately
it requires another 10 inches... then the spot will be too narrow for
a standard fridge

7) Homer - I am entirely confused by your response... Yes we did
build it long distance... but at the same time I believe the builder
doesn't get a license to mess up on things because I am not here to
catch them. I am not mad at the realtor for not catching the
problem... because it was not incredibly obvious until you measured
it. But, I did ask about the fridge opening multiple times and was
told that it would fit a standard fridge.

8) JimR - We did budget more money for the house than originally
planned... but I believe the fridge issue is something that should
have been caught by the builder or the cabinet designer. The builder
did not want to get the original plans and insisted on creating them
himself... so I am not quite sure where he got the kitchen cabinet
layout from. I do agree with you that a cabinet-depth fridge would be
the best solution even if he will fix the cabinets for us.
Unfortunately there is not enough room in the spot for a lazy susan.

9) dadOH - not sure where you got the idea that I think my realtor is
my construction foreman... Unfortunately I am required to go throuh
her when I find a problem.

Thanks for all the replies. I think we know how to address the
situation with the builder/realtor tomorrow.

Kris

Okay, so you have a disclosed dual agency. That's legal here, as long
as it is disclosed. But since the broker/boss is the one with the
contract, the broker/boss the the dual agent.

As an agent, your sales agent cannot tell you that you cannot contact
the seller. I mean, what's she going to do, cancel the sale? So look
them up in the phone book and call. In all likelyhood, they will fix
the problem.

If they don't, check your specs. If the cabinet isn't to specs, call
you agent and tell him/her to fix it and to stop dicking around. If
they don't, then tell them to refund your deposit and cancel the
sale. That will make them gulp hard and fix it. They know that they
can get screwed if you delay the closing for a while, so they want it
to go quickly. This isn't anything that is too big, so it'll get
fixed. The agent will, of course, tell you that you can't do that,
yadda, yadda, yadda and is sort of correct. But at that point you
acknowlege that, tell the agent that he/she is not propertly
representing you and fire the agent. They will want a fee but you
tell them that if they give you any sh*t that you'll take them to the
licensing board and you can agrue it there as you claim imcompetance,
etc. The worst that can happen is that they sue you, but that too is
a sticky issue in the world of agency -- especially when you are
stating that they are not adequately representing you.

I don't know about your state, but no agent/broker want to go to court
or to a licencing body when dual agency is involved. NYS has
mandatory disclosures -- all they have to do is miss one thing and
they are in trouble.

You also need to breath deep and realize that this isn't emotional.
It's just a real estate transaction. If it doesn't go the way you
want, then you walk. It migh cost you something but it's better to
get what you want. But again, I'd just call the builder.