TRUMAN HOMES leaves home owner on their own...

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

I mentioned it before, but insurance is a drag. Not only do they often fight against having to pay out, but once you go through them, there will be a record of flood damage if you ever sell. Any buyer doing their due diligence will do a an insurance claim check on the property and all things being equal, most people will avoid buying a property with flood damage or a history of a catastrophic fixture failure.

What exactly is an insurance claim check as a buyer? I've heard of it for vehicles (carproof report, etc.) but how do you do a check for homes? I've never heard of that nor was it recommended to me by anyone when I was purchasing my properties in the past.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

What exactly is an insurance claim check as a buyer? I've heard of it for vehicles (carproof report, etc.) but how do you do a check for homes? I've never heard of that nor was it recommended to me by anyone when I was purchasing my properties in the past.

I to would like to know this information.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

FA, I think you are confusing water damage with flood damage. Unless of course a 3 story high tsunami hit Mohogany that I never heard about.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

What exactly is an insurance claim check as a buyer? I've heard of it for vehicles (carproof report, etc.) but how do you do a check for homes? I've never heard of that nor was it recommended to me by anyone when I was purchasing my properties in the past.

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

I to would like to know this information.

Maybe it's different in Alberta, but both times I purchased a property in Ontario, obtaining insurance was a condition for financing and the insurance company would automatically check to see if claims were made against the property in the past before determining whether they would insure the property and what the conditions would be.

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

FA, I think you are confusing water damage with flood damage. Unless of course a 3 story high tsunami hit Mohogany that I never heard about.

But still, if you have a choice between two identical condos at roughly the same price, do you buy the one with a claims history over one that there is no evidence of past issues?

Maybe a moot point if checking for claims isn't a common practice there.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

Maybe it's different in Alberta, but both times I purchased a property in Ontario, obtaining insurance was a condition for financing and the insurance company would automatically check to see if claims were made against the property in the past before determining whether they would insure the property and what the conditions would be.

But still, if you have a choice between two identical condos at roughly the same price, do you buy the one with a claims history over one that there is no evidence of past issues?

Maybe a moot point if checking for claims isn't a common practice there.

Providing confirmation of insurance is a requirement here when you sign the documents with the lawyer but I've never heard of an insurance company checking for previous claims or providing a history of claims.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

Providing confirmation of insurance is a requirement here when you sign the documents with the lawyer but I've never heard of an insurance company checking for previous claims or providing a history of claims.

I guess it's not common there. The realtor I worked with facilitated it for me here.

http://www.reco.on.ca/ask-joe-questi...sed-insurance/

When you’re considering a property, it’s a good idea to request that your real estate professional ask about the home’s history for fires, floods, and even damage from ice storms. You might also ask specifically about the property’s history of insurance claims.

http://www.geowarehouseblog.ca/categ...istory-report/

How about claims concerning floods because of plumbing issues in the home? With repairs, these are issues that a home inspector may not realize have occurred but may be revealed in an insurance claims history report.

Basically, by making an insurance claim, you are flagging your property for anyone in the future so that they know there could be underlying issues. There is also a service call HomeVerified that you can use.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

I guess it's not common there. The realtor I worked with facilitated it for me here.

http://www.reco.on.ca/ask-joe-questi...sed-insurance/



http://www.geowarehouseblog.ca/categ...istory-report/

I have to be honest, I am more worried about the "floods" that were not reported and "mitigated" by the home owner themselves.

Sometimes people make foolish decision when it comes to this type of stuff. At least if a claim was made you have some idea that the remediation was done professionally.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

I have to be honest, I am more worried about the "floods" that were not reported and "mitigated" by the home owner themselves.

Sometimes people make foolish decision when it comes to this type of stuff. At least if a claim was made you have some idea that the remediation was done professionally.

That's true.

I think my worries would be , if they screwed up something obvious like the kitchen sink, what about the plumbing inside the walls? Or what about the bathroom? Is it a ticking time bomb? And if the plumbers sucked, did they also go cheap on the electrical contractors?

It just brings up a lot of questions. Personally, as a potential purchaser, it would be a huge deterrent for me even if the damage was mitigated professionally. I don't think insurance would start doing preventative repairs. Maybe this really was just a one-time fluke, but it is a lot to gamble on.

Kind of OT, but a co-worker if mine recently bought a new build and found plumbing elevations that were off and pipes that were forced together and connected with plumbing tape. Luckily the builder corrected it, but it just goes to show you how careful you need to be.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Wait... my understanding was that the whole problem was with the physical sink install. That is, the countertop finishing, not the plumbing, which would presumably be a different trade / sub. So if anything you should be worried about the cabinet doors falling off. Am I wrong here?

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

Wait... my understanding was that the whole problem was with the physical sink install. That is, the countertop finishing, not the plumbing, which would presumably be a different trade / sub. So if anything you should be worried about the cabinet doors falling off. Am I wrong here?

I would be concerned about everything if even just out of an abundance of caution. If this builder selected one contractor that did a terrible job, I would question their selection process and whether they went for the cheapest in all areas.

Unless you are fine spending a few hundred thousand dollars without knowing the full extent. I think the investment cost just isn't worth it.

It's like buying a car. Would you buy a car where the steering wheel fell off in the first 15 months even if it was fixed after? It wouldn't necessarily speak to the craftsmanship of the brake or engine, but it would definitely be enough to make me look elsewhere.

[llwhiteoutll]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

I would be concerned about everything if even just out of an abundance of caution. If this builder selected one contractor that did a terrible job, I would question their selection process and whether they went for the cheapest in all areas.

Unless you are fine spending a few hundred thousand dollars without knowing the full extent. I think the investment cost just isn't worth it.

It's like buying a car. Would you buy a car where the steering wheel fell off in the first 15 months even if it was fixed after? It wouldn't necessarily speak to the craftsmanship of the brake or engine, but it would definitely be enough to make me look elsewhere.

This kind of stuff is why you get an inspection done as part of the conditions of sale and pay a lawyer to review documents.

[Bagor]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

Kind of OT, but a co-worker if mine recently bought a new build and found plumbing elevations that were off and pipes that were forced together and connected with plumbing tape.

?
I find this hard to believe. I think that if a plumber was going to do a half assed job he'd just force the pipes together and walk away rather than draw attention to it needlessly with plumbing tape.

No reason to do that unless he was maybe trying to mark the joints that weren't soldered?

I'm presuming this was before the walls were closed?

[Fuzz]

My old neighbor is a plumber, and he showed me some pictures of horrific work he had to fix. Pipes at angles that had no hope of draining. Weird joints that are overly complicated. It wouldn't surprise me at all to see pipes taped together.

[Bagor]

What I'm saying, is plumbers tape is white and would draw attention to it.

If you were trying to cover up a job I'm guessing that would probably be the last way to do it when you could just shove them in and walk away.

[polak]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

I really do feel for Polak here and this is a tough pill to swallow, but I am afraid this is a no win situation. You also have to be careful fighting with people in that industry. Some of those tycoons can be pretty shady.

It's definitely a no-win situation since Truman decided to go silent on this.

As for them being shady, Polish people can be far shadier. Plus you all know my real name so if they find my body flooding in the river, I can assure you guys I've only pissed off one corporation so far.... My brakes worked fine today too....

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by polak

It's definitely a no-win situation since Truman decided to go silent on this..

Isn't your place being fixed without money out of your pocket a "win"?

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by polak

It's definitely a no-win situation since Truman decided to go silent on this.

As for them being shady, Polish people can be far shadier. Plus you all know my real name so if they find my body flooding in the river, I can assure you guys I've only pissed off one corporation so far.... My brakes worked fine today too....

Are you expecting us to avenge you...becuase...uh...Nevermind. Ya, sure we will avenge!

/can I have half your stuff?

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Bagor

?
I find this hard to believe. I think that if a plumber was going to do a half assed job he'd just force the pipes together and walk away rather than draw attention to it needlessly with plumbing tape.

No reason to do that unless he was maybe trying to mark the joints that weren't soldered?

I'm presuming this was before the walls were closed?

I only know what they told me. I didn't see it for myself.

I know when I was house shopping back in August, we did a couple of home inspections on houses that we ended up not buying. One of them was a newer house (built in 2013). The home inspector pointed out some strange plumbing issues. The one that stood out to me the most was plumbing in the basement that literally went nowhere. The home inspector, who himself used to be a builder, couldn't explain it. He said it wasn't a rough-in for anything that he could tell. It was just as if they started going one way a realized they were going the wrong way and left the other piping in place.

[puckedoff]

The moral(s) of this thread:

1) Don't use cork board on your kitchen floor.
2) Don't stand in your sink.

[polak]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

Isn't your place being fixed without money out of your pocket a "win"?

I have a deductible to pay for my insurance. I need to use my insurance to cover the deductible on the buildings insurance.