Brokerblogger

My Last Ryland Homes Blog Post & My Attempt To Help Ryland Homes! - Brokerblogger

(Ryland Homes now CalAtlantic Homes)

Does Chad Dreier (former COB of The Ryland Group, Inc on 5/29/09 - Bill Jews in Feb., 2010), or Scott D. Stowell (COB of CalAtlantic Homes in 2016), or Larry Nicholson (President & CEO of CalAtlantic Homes in 2016) know of the former Ryland Homes' customer relations challenges in South Carolina that could happen again to future Ryland Homes (Ryland Homes now CalAtlantic Homes) customers without corrective measures?  I sent a certified letter to Mr. Dreier signed for on 7/6/09.  Will they turn a poor "home readiness" (over 100 documented problems - some serious)  and "unenjoyable customer experience" (13 months to fix) negative into a positive for Ryland?  Or, will maximizing short term profits in this down economy take precedent over the Ryland Homes website claim that their "..constant aim is to deliver....an enjoyable customer experience with every home we build."  (3/21/12 - Ryland doesn't say this anymore.)  I never got a response from Mr. Dreier, his representative, or Larry Nicholson - Here is one possible reason why?  Here is our real life story told honestly, to the best of my knowledge and with detailed documentation, under my First Amendment rights of Free Speech: 

My wife successfully beat breast cancer with a mastectomy.  We wanted to celebrate by moving from Texas to Murrells Inlet, SC near the ocean, and desired to have as little stress as possible ("doctor's orders") besides the sale of our TX home and the 1200 mile move, so as to try to prevent a recurrence of cancer with my wife's remaining breast.  We put a deposit down in early 2007, but did not want to close escrow on the house until 1/08 to give ourselves time to sell our Texas home (Ryland's contract signed on 4/22/07, Pre-Start Meeting 9/11/07, first estimated completion date = 12/15/07, Actual "Close of Escrow" delayed by Ryland = 1/18/08, Move In date = 2/3/08).  As if the stress of selling our former home in a "down market", and moving 1,200 miles isn't enough, over a year's time, we had over 100 documented problems with some serious like an inside our office wall leak with minor mold (one week of inconvenience to get fixed), and warped exterior siding on both sides caused by structural "back braces" missing on the inside that took from 1/18/08 to 10/30/08 to get fixed (see photo of one side's exterior being fixed above). 

All this occurred during our first year (13 mo.) warranty even though some of my neighbors say they only had about 25 problems with their Ryland home.  It was due to a series of circumstances that, I believe, Ryland Homes and all builders can avoid if they had more quality controls during construction like "What gets watched, gets done right!".  They also need to detail and inspect a new house much better than they do now before they take their customer's money at close of escrow.  See: "New Home Builders Deliver 'Cleaner Upper' Homes".  Our new house was also a "Fixer Upper" with too much of our time needed to find and fix all the problems.  Just setting appointments for all the subcontractors who, some of which, didn't show or were very late was aggravating, stressful and a lot of time and trouble.  We adjusted our schedule to the sub's throughout that first year, so that the growing list of things would get fixed ASAP.  Some subcontractors were coming from over an hour drive away, and that limited how often they'd make the drive to help control their costs!  

If that wasn't bad enough, many times, I had to get in my car and chase down my first on site builder as a last resort, who did not return my phone calls or emails about 95% of the time.  That went on for about 9 months until our second, more organized, builder arrived.  The "buck begins & stops" for the first on site builder's behavior with the Ryland Homes Charleston Division management, IMO (See:  "Corporate Assigned Power vs. Responsibility").  So, I lost almost a year's worth of my time in dealing with and documenting all that, when I really wanted to get a consultant business started. 

Then to "add insult to injury", and after being ignored for quite some time in my effort to help make sure that the stress that happened to my breast cancer survivor wife and I doesn't happen to anyone else, the Ryland Homes Charleston, SC management responded to my 3/16/09 Better Business Bureau complaint about my almost one year of lost time by saying:  "Ryland has received this complaint and appreciates the recommendations offered by our customer. Since these are recommendations and not actual problems concerning the home purchase or construction of the home no further action will be taken with regard to this complaint."  I take that to mean that Ryland Homes believes that what happened to my wife and I was "normal", and that all homebuyers should expect that 100 plus problems can happen during their first year warranty!  A BBB manager said to me on the phone that too many companies of all kinds (after their lawyers draw up their legal documents) follow "the letter of the law" vs. "the spirit of the law". 

(8/10/10 BBB COMMENT) = In June, 2009 the Better Business Bureau of Central SC and Charleston increased its rating of Ryland Homes in Charleston, SC from about a "C+" to an "A+" right around the time that Ryland's Charleston Divisional management paid a fee to become a "BBB Accredited business"(notice disclaimer)!  I was told by that SC BBB that it was due to that divisional portion of "Ryland Homes" (interesting that the BBB's web address for Ryland's Charleston Division still shows "in daniel island sc", while the BBB listing title does not?) now being recorded as having 50 employees, a larger #, as told to them by Ryland who has their Corporate HQ's in Calabasas, Ca.  The BBB never would confirm to me that they verified the higher 50 employee number for Charleston, SC alone!  This meant to the BBB that there were now fewer consumer complaints per number of employees.  The reasoning for the increase to "A+", they said, is that the bigger the company, the more complaints it's understandably going to get, but shouldn't be penalized for.  I don't think that Ryland's Charleston Division had anywhere near 50 employees in 6/09, if you don't count independent contractor laborers.  Also, I just read the 7/31/10 "Better Business Bureau Credibility Fading Fast" which to me explains the current "A+" rating.  11/22/10 UPDATE = "'Pay For Play' Scandal Engulfs BBB" - "...(BBB) has agreed to stop awarding rating points to businesses that pay dues to the organization."

Ryland's Charleston, SC management may not think they need my customer and professional recommendations, but the facts, and "time line to fix" details, that are in their own records say otherwise.  I also detailed them in "My Ryland Homes Initial Repairs 'Punch List'", and "My Ryland Homes Follow Up 'Warranty Service Requests'".  How Ryland's Charleston Divisional management can say there were "..not actual problems concerning the...construction of the home.." is beyond me!  Maybe they saved money by spreading my first builder way too thin ("20 something" homes at the same time), while contracting out to probable "low cost sub's" who, IMO, were far less than professional in many cases?  I know they saved money by having me be their unpaid "Quality Control Person"!  We wish Ryland Homes believed that inherent in the purchase of a new home is the right of any customer to expect to appreciate, and then actually enjoy their new home during their first year in it.  In our opinion, this is a Ryland Homes potential problem which could stir more online Ryland Homes complaints and negative reviews in the future.  

In fact, all tract home builders could now have the perspective that by having 13 months to fix whatever number of problems, complaints, and grievances (valid or invalid) the new home customer has after close of escrow, the pressure and additional cost it takes to deliver a new home as problem free as possible ("home readiness") is taken away.  Also, I believe the tract home building industry is now set up more to financially reward "cost savings" by their employees, than it is to reward both "cost savings" and "customer satisfaction levels" equally.  The current down economy has made things even worse for both buyer and seller!  This "short term thinking" could backfire on the tract home building industry as buyer Internet usage increases for research on perspective builders.  One upset new home buyer said in a comment to me on another Ryland Homes blog post of mine:  "Once we move out is when I will write reviews on our builder."

I believe that many national tract home builders save money by not caring, so much, about the "attention to detail" of how well a house gets put together initially.  By that I mean that the builder delegates/communicates, sometimes ineffectively, the responsibility of doing the actual work to subcontractors who need to be watched more closely and followed up on.   Builders, also, sometimes hire the lowest cost sub's, and then make them fix the problems that they create, with little, or no additional, direct extra dollar expense to the national tract home builder.

Some new home warranty problems are to be expected (maybe even up to 25 of them in the first year), but over 100 problems is not acceptable to me, and should not be to the building industry, in my opinion. Certainly, no new tract home buyer expects to have to get in their car to find their tract's builder, who appeared to me to be "hiding" at times, while always having the excuse of being overloaded with work.  I'm sure the National Association of Home Builders agrees, since it has a National Housing Quality (NHQ) Certification that Ryland Homes and all home builders should adhere to.  The stated benefits to builders are:  "Reduced warranty calls, Shorter cycle times, Increased customer satisfaction, and Improved profitability".  That certification is definitely better than just saying "Close on your house and your builder disappears.  Unless of course, your builder is Ryland Homes." like in this proposed Ryland print ad from Rodney Rogers (Creative Director & Copywriter).   

Also, what would have helped is the Ryland Homes Division manager in Charleston accepting my offer, and coming up to meet with me in person near his Creekhaven tract to discuss how and why things went so bad for my breast cancer survivor wife and I.  This would have showed genuine concern on his part, but I never got an answer to my emailed offer on 3/30/09.  What would not help anyone, in my opinion, was the 3/24/09 Ryland Charleston Division offer to have a three way conference call between them, myself, and Joe Sabella, the Regional VP of Operations who works for Keith Bass (President of the South Region of Ryland Homes since 2008).  The Ryland Charleston Division had not yet answered my 3/16/09 BBB complaint, and I strongly felt that I was only going to get "facile corporate words", as it says in the Cluetrain Manifesto, along with the "..no further action will be taken with regard to this complaint." that I later got from them in their 3/30/09 response to my BBB complaint.  While I may not have a legal claim, I feel I have a legitimate ethical claim with Ryland Homes in wasting so much of our valuable time while stressing us over 13 months. 

As a Ryland Homes "customer/partner" now who has forgiven Ryland, I'm also concerned about Ryland keeping a good reputation, because the quicker they sell all of the lots/homes in the "now on sale" final phase of my tract the more my property value will go up from its current depressed value.  Improved quality controls of all kinds could help avoid much of the negative word of mouth about Ryland that is on the Internet (DISCLAIMER - I have not verified the total truthfulness of the following complaints about Ryland or other builders).  Negatives like Fecamacho of Orlando Florida's 4/21/08 posting on Ripp-Off Report.com saying Ryland used high pressure sales tactics, and that he "..found problem after problem during the building process..".  Negatives like "Amomymos" of Indianapolis, Indiana's 8/26/08 posting on Rip-Off Report.com  saying there were so many problems with their new Ryland home that "we are contacting a Lawyer to see what our right are to have them buy our home back!!!"  "Amomymos" may succeed, since here is a 7/11/09 Dallas Morning News online article regarding a poorly built Ryland house.  Ryland Homes did buy the house back after attorneys got involved.  Keep in mind, many other builders/developers are complained about on ConsumerAffairs.com, so it's not just Ryland.

Our house, over 13 months, had all things fixed except for an "undiscovered from the start" plumbing problem that we paid about $70 for after the first 13 months was up.  Even though it was a slow and hidden "not seated properly" toilet leak, Ryland said that they have to cut off fixing problems at some point in time.  True, but it seemed "cold" to us after all that we'd been through.  To be fair to Ryland Homes, here are some of the unique factors( but not excuses) affecting our negative customer experience, as I see them:  

1.  My house was left to near last in 2007 at my request, as a Ryland manager agreed to put off the start of my house for about 5 months, so my first local builder was overwhelmed with many other homes (and homeowners) that started before mine, 2.  That same builder who, I believe, got a raw deal, needed better organizational skills IMO, and needed to be trained better to eventually return customer emails and phone calls no matter how busy he got, 3.  IMO, local tract builders don't have enough power to quickly replace poorly performing sub's on their own, 4.  All the homes in my tract were newly designed homes that Ryland had never built before.

These things, and others, spur me on to make many constructive suggestions.  The biggest one is that all tract home builder upper management should give the local, on-site builders more power to be able to terminate subcontractors who continually cause follow up problems for the customers and the local builders.  It wastes everyone's time.  Replace those ASAP with new, more "quality from the start" sub's that are located in the nearest local market vs. further away.  The short term "cheapest" subcontractor may wind up "costing" more in the long term when it come to "word of mouth" advertising.  I have a friend in NY that will now, never buy a new tract home when he's ready to move down here.  He's telling others.  Some other suggestions are in:"Ryland Homes Sales Policies (Problems & Kudos)" = Better disclosure of "upgrades" in model homes.   "Ryland's Verbal vs. Written Sales Incentives" = Better disclosure of incentive details in writing.  "Ryland Homes Air Filter Constructive Suggestion" = After construction, change clogged air filter with a new and better one.  

I gave my not so good "customer satisfaction" feedback to Ryland through their survey company, Eliant who they started using after being with J.D. Powers who gave Ryland's Charleston Division an "About average" rating in 2008 for 5 of 10 categories.  I heard nothing back except that "three way conference call" offer I described above that I would have preferred be a "three way email".  I find it interesting that Bob Mirman, founder and CEO of Eliant, was quoted in this 4/06 BuilderOnline article entitled "Service Magic - You can't pull great customer service out of a hat—it requires constant diligence".  He said:  "..it makes no sense to promise a defect-free home. Especially when you consider that even consumers who purchased homes from the top 20 ranked builders in the J.D. Power survey still had, on average, 10 problems per home.  You are better off making promises that you can keep, such as a realistic closing date, how long it will take you to respond to warranty requests, or that you will repair every item listed on presettlement walk-throughs. Keep in mind that the second most important factor in the weighting that J.D. Power uses to compute scores is home readiness."  "Home readiness" does not mean having about 60 things wrong on my initial "Punch List", and my expectations would have been met if I got some things fixed quicker, and I only had about 25 things wrong during the first year warranty instead of over 100!   

While I have Christian forgiveness for Ryland Homes, here are my three, mostly unselfish, requests that I hope will result in a "Win - Win - Win" (Ryland Wins with more & happier customers - My Community Wins with fountains - My Wife and I Win by helping others):
 
1. Preferably, a face to face meeting with Chad Dreier (COB of The Ryland Group, Inc.), as I want to humbly suggest to Mr. Dreier my many improvements for customer service and customer relations that may affect Ryland's "cost to build" budget in the short run, but more than make up for that in the long run with increased sales based on good "word of mouth" online and offline advertising.  Chad Dreier is on record as saying he wants Ryland to be more "Customer friendly", but he probably doesn't know what is going on "where the rubber meets the road" in every local Ryland development.
 
2.  I believe that Ryland would sell more homes in the Creekhaven development if there were fountains in every pond.  In fact, word has it around the tract, that prospects are now going away saying that all other tracts in the Prince Creek Development have fountains except for Ryland. So, I am requesting that Ryland buy and install in a minimum of 5 fountains (one for each pond) which would cost about $10,000, in total, according to a quote my neighbor got.
 
3.  I am requesting that Ryland give my professional "Punch List person" neighbor, Mike Sipio, full time benefits even though he only works part time. He works, right now, for Ryland Homes without benefits, and was our ultimate "diffuser #1" (peacemaker), when so many things were going wrong.  We would have gone "nuts" without him.  If possible, put full time/employed people like him in every small tract, who live in the tract and are neighbors instead of just an independent contractor working part time.  A neighbor is more conveniently located and feels more long term "accountable" than any sub, and usually more friendly."

 

 

Political "Shotgun" Chain Emails - Possibly Deceptive, "Viral" Weapons Of Mass Destruction ("WMD's") - Brokerblogger

 
"Shotgun" chain emails can be political or not, as well as be considered junk or not.  Political ones, "likely bogus" according to FactCheck.org, occur when one person/organization sends out ("shotgun's") an email to many other persons/organizations, and asks everyone to pass it on.  FactCheck.org, according to Wikipedia "is a non-partisan, nonprofit website that describes itself as a 'consumer advocate' for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics.'  It is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, and is funded primarily by the Annenberg Foundation".  See their video:  "Just the Facts 2010:  E-mails"

A "shotgun" can be used for good or bad purposes, as shown in the cartoon above.  It all depends on the motives/expectations of the person doing the shotgunning.  Some contain chain attachments which make them like scary chain letters, since they may be virus emails even when the forwarder emails friends.  Many people consider it bad etiquette, but that depends on the ego of who receives it, and what is sent, IMO.  Personally, I like it when someone sends me a personally interesting/informative one through their email "BCC" function, while disclosing that they are doing that.  This way, my email address is kept private from everyone elses.  The problem is that most people don't really know what is personally interesting to all their receivers, and what is agreeable to their receiver's opinions!

Recently, one of my relatives sent me one of those politically slanted "shotgun" chain emails that many of us will see more of as we near the November, 2010 elections.  It reminded me of the old west's "lynch mob" mentality where basically good people behave badly by trying to become "judge, jury, and executioner" without legal evidence about some politician, or it could even be about "your neighbor" next door.  Some of the time that "lynch mob" assumes what is in another person's heart (motives), which only God can know for sure.  My relative's email was about his strong opinion that Barack Obama intentionally lied when he said that his father served in World War II.  Here is a video clip of that speech:

Here is a rebuttal of my relative's opinion .  Snopes.com is similar in their goals to FactCheck.org, and it ends up saying that Mr. Obama should have said "grandfather" vs. "father", since only his grandfather served in WWII.  Snopes.com also suggested that despite the generational difference in age, Obama might have mispoke due to having been influenced by the fact that "his grandfather was the primary paternal figure of his childhood."  

 

Why more people don't question the "whole truth", and "nothing but the truth" of what is in these emails, and too readily believe the worst about people, comes down to this, IMO.  People believe what they want to believe (what agrees with their opinions), and don't want to search for the whole truth due to PRIDE.  They don't want to be proved wrong with legal evidence or common sense logic.  I realize common sense logic is subjective vs objective, but there is such a thing as a "Freudian Slip" which is what the COB of BP Oil did, IMO, when he said the keywords "the small people" referring to the people of the Gulf. 

 

His Swedish language orientation obviously didn't mean (IMO) to imply in a derogatory way what "small people" can imply in English, but maybe he does have an elitist mentality?  I'll leave it to God to make that judgement.  Barack Obama didn't mean to imply, IMO, that his birth father served in WWII, but he probably thinks of the "father figure" who he spent most of his childhood with as his life's experience "father"?  I'm not defending, in totality, Mr. Obama or the COB of BP as I disagree with both of them on some specific issues.   I'll leave the judging of who they are to God, and only try to form a correct opinion about what they do.  We must all separate people's "who" from their "do".  These explanations make common sense logic to me in both cases, plus I try to think the best of people until legal evidence changes my opinion. 

 

Not only did my relative forget to have proper, privacy driven "shotgun" chain email etiquette, but I felt like he was participating in the DEFAMATION of another human being by making Obama guilty before proven innocent.  Forgetting for a moment that most of these libral, left wing Democrat or conservative, right wing Republican viral emails have half truths in them which means that they spread lies, too many people today watch cable news channels, get filled with "FUD" (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt), and that results in anger.  They repress that anger, but when the repressed anger builds up over time, many fall into PAPD behavioral traits like obstructionism, resentment, complaining, and originating deceptive, anonymous, "shotgun" chain emails. 

 

Also, it is a sad truth that "False political advertising works, and that's no lie", and that many times these political emails are really "political advertising" originated by political parties, and done in the guise of ordinary, "small" people.  In that article above on false political advertising, Dr. Carolyn Lin, a communications professor at the University of Connecticut says:  "The unfortunate thing about political advertising, is that when you tell lies, these lies often stick, and the liars never receive any penalties."

 

It is my opinion that most of these politically slanted viral emails are true WMD's, as they come from negative, destructive FUD, are "shotgunned" to many people, and perfectly represent some of the 7 Deadly Evils ( Pride, Envy, Greed and Anger).  This makes it harder for people to counteract those deadly sins with some of the positive, constructive 7 Virtues (Humility, Kindness, Charity and Patience).  It is also my opinion that the extreme "Separation of Church and State" that for many years atheists have promoted for schools, legal courts, etc. has taken it's toll on too many people.  If you take God out of life's equation, then you leave only a void where the 7 Deadly Evils thrive. 

 

Deception certainly comes through half truths, and if you tell or hear a lie long enough, it can become the truth for you and others.  Voters ("buyers") need to hear the whole truth from all the politicians and political news sources (the "sellers"), including what is said online so they can make informed political decisions from the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.  Thank God, for FactCheck.org, and Snopes.com reviews of political email content.  Even though it is possible that they may not be perfect 100% of the time, it is better to have them than to not!  I like what FactCheck.org said in a response to a 2010 "Mailbag" comment entitled "Bias Accusations Unfounded":  "We invite anyone who believes we have missed a false claim being made by a liberal (or a conservative) to send particulars to [email protected]. We are always looking for falsehoods and misleading statements to debunk, without regard for which side they come from." 

Google's Possible Internet & Energy Revolution Milestone? - Brokerblogger

Even though earth2tech had a good article on "Why Bloom Energy Is & Isn’t the Google of Greentech", I don't know if any online publications have written about the connection between the "Bloom Box" on 60 Minutes, Google becoming a "utility", Google's "dark fiber" billion dollar investment, and the ongoing Internet Revolution which may even help with an "energy revolution", but here is my opinion, because I think this all could be VERY BIG for the USA:

 

You probably now know about the "Bloom Box" company from 60 Minutes, etc., and here is what I said in my comment on "Catholic Online" under their recent article "Google gets OK to market power":  "60 Minutes just did a piece on the "Bloom Box" which is showing great promise. In fact their story about this said: "Four units have been powering a Google datacenter for 18 months. They use natural gas, but half as much as would be required for a traditional power plant." I now am fairly certain why Google got the right to behave like a utility. I think Google has enough cash to buy K.R. Sridhar's company, if they so desire. See the 2/18/10 "The Bloom Box: An Energy Breakthrough?" .  Even if Google doesn't buy Bloom Energy, they can get a license from them, and still have a great energy utility.

 

Here is an interesting article from 6/23/06 "Google and Its Continuing Dark Fiber Mystery" which says:  "News Analysis: Analysts say Google may be spending more than $1 billion on infrastructure projects, including purchases of a "dark fiber" backbone."  The Google stockholders at the time didn't like that!  Here is a definition of "Dark Fiber".  In that same article it says:  "What Google is doing now (6/23/06) with the global infrastructure—or, more to the point, what it plans to do in the future—has sparked plenty of speculation in the telecommunications and computer industry." 

 

It speculates what I think is the Dark Fiber's connection to "Grid Computing":  "Google will build out distributed data centers near access points to improve performance for search results and its ad serving business, as well as create a grid computing services operation."  If you don't want to read the entire 11/17/05 article in that link, here is the key point:  "There, in a secret area off-limits even to regular GoogleFolk, is a shipping container. But it isn't just any shipping container. This shipping container is a prototype data center. Google hired a pair of very bright industrial designers to figure out how to cram the greatest number of CPUs, the most storage, memory and power support into a 20- or 40-foot box. We're talking about 5000 Opteron processors and 3.5 petabytes of disk storage that can be dropped-off overnight by a tractor-trailer rig. The idea is to plant one of these puppies anywhere Google owns access to fiber, basically turning the entire Internet into a giant processing and storage grid."   IT'S STARTING TO HAPPEN WITH THE "1 Gbps Test" ALMOST 5 YEARS LATER THAN THAT ARTICLE!

 

As Google turns the entire Internet into a giant processing and storage grid, it can also use that resource to help it become a fantastically successful energy utility with the right "green" power source (maybe the "Bloom Box").  Just like your electronic thermostat saves you money on your HVAC bills, Google's "Grid Computing" with 1Gbps can be like a computerized thermostat on steroids for energy utility companies like Google, IMO.

 

Here is another article that helps "connect the dots".  On 2/16/10, "FCC's 100 Megabits to the Home:  What It Means To You" says:  "Google is planning a series of "experimental" fiber optic networks designed to bring blazingly fast 1-gigabit-per-second broadband -- yes, that's 10 times faster than the FCC plan -- to a small number of U.S. communities."  On 2/10/10 Google announced the:  "Google Fiber for Communities TEST" with their blog piece "Think big with a gig:  Our experimental fiber network".  It starts off saying:  "Imagine sitting in a rural health clinic, streaming three-dimensional medical imaging over the web and discussing a unique condition with a specialist in New York. Or downloading a high-definition, full-length feature film in less than five minutes. Or collaborating with classmates around the world while watching live 3-D video of a university lecture."  Between this coming Internet Revolution milestone, and the possible Energy Revolution milestone, THIS IS EXCITING!!  It's like being around for the beginning of the American Industrial Revolution!

The Media, Business, and Politicians All Need To Stop the Hyperbolic Discounting of God! - Brokerblogger

In my blog post entitled "What The World Needs Now.." Is More Than "Love, Sweet Love", I point out that the United States and the world has bought into short term thinking, and that deception, and corruption, are all around us.  While greed, for lack of a better keyword, may be "charming and beautiful..", it forces people to make one small compromise after another.  While all this is true, one might ask "Why?".  Obviously, there are many reasons, but the one that comes to mind now, "Separation of Church & State", or "leaving God out of the equation", is based on a recent sermon at my Catholic Church last Sunday.  The deacon talked about Madalyn Murray O'Hair, an American atheist, who was a "Separation Of Church & State" "activist".  Bill Murray, her son, is a self-asserted "Born Again Christian", who now heads up the "The Religious Freedom Coalition".

"Separation of Church & State" has been taken too far, and in inappropriate directions, in my opinion.  In Wikipedia's "Catholic Views" on "Advocacy" against it, it says:  "The Catholic Church's 1983 Code of Canon law, while not laying down general rules about relations between Church and State, considers that a religious and moral education in harmony with the conscience of the pupils' parents is an integral part of education, and obliges Catholics to try to secure its inclusion: "Christ's faithful are to strive to secure that in the civil society the laws which regulate the formation of the young also provide a religious and moral education in the schools that is in accord with the conscience of the parents" (canon 799)". 

So, when "Madalyn Murray O'Hair won her Supreme Court Decision back in 1963", Wikipedia says:  "The Court voted 8-1 in Murray's favor, which effectively banned coercive prayer and Bible verse recitation at public schools in the United States."  I think that that extreme decision which pleased only a small percentage of the entire population of the United States caused the generations that came after it (46 Years Ago!) to DISCOUNT in a HYPERBOLIC way, God.  The media, business, and politicians are all influenced by, and are some of these people, as well as their parents who did not transfer the saying of prayers to their family homes at the beginning of each day.

In Wikipedia, the "HIstory" section of "Hyperbolic Discounting" says:  "Notice that whether discounting future gains (of getting to Heaven) is logically correct or not, and at what rate such gains should be discounted, depends greatly on circumstances. Many examples exist in the financial world (and the spiritual world), for example, where it is logically reasonable to assume that there is an implicit risk that the reward (getting to Heaven) will not be available at the future date (lack of Belief, Faith & Hope), and furthermore that this risk increases with time." (the more you open yourself to sin, because of the omission of prayer to God, the higher the risk that you won't be ready at the moment of your death).  The way I figure it, you're either moving towards God, or away from God.  There is no "status quo", or spiritually staying where you are.  The same goes for business.  Companies are never stagnant.  They are either growing or diminishing!

The "Activism" section about Madalyn Murray starts off by saying:  "In 1960, Murray filed a lawsuit (Murray v. Curlett) against the Baltimore City Public School System in which she asserted that it was unconstitutional for her son, Bill Murray, to be required to participate in Bible readings at Baltimore public schools. In this litigation, she stated that her son's refusal to partake in the Bible readings had resulted in violence being directed against him by classmates, and that administrators overlooked it."  It is my opinion that the Supreme court wrongly discounted "Freedom of Speech", and actually got into Censorship (the suppression of speech or deletion of communicative material which may be considered objectionable, harmful or sensitive, as determined by a censor).  In this case, Madalyn Murray was the "censor", or at least, a major influencer on the "censor".  

So, while it was wrong for Bill Murray, her son, to have violence directed at him, two wrongs don't make a right!  But, alas, I am not an attorney or a judge on the Supreme Court, and I don't know the details of the case.  All I do know is that "THE MEDIA, BUSINESS, and POLITICIANS ALL NEED TO STOP the HYPERBOLIC DISCOUNTING of GOD!  If you need some proof of that, just look at the stock market right now, which appears to reflect negativity, short term thinking, a lack of confidence by investors, as well as consumers, and an overall lack of Faith in God, as well as the future.  Here is an article by Ivan Fail with speicific proof called "While the Cop’s Away, the Crooks Will Play" in the DCInsider.com.  The author is more informed about Washington DC politics than I am, and I think he speaks for many people.  

Charitable CEO's With Integrity In a Down Economy; Any Takers? - Brokerblogger

There are many CEO fish in the tank today.  Some do charitable things with some of the money they make.  Some promote integrity within their chosen fields like Chad Dreier does (Ryland Group Inc - RYL - CEO). 

However, this blog post will delve into "Paycheck Traditions, from Banking to Broadcasting".  It is a 2/13/09 blog post from the "Howzit Howard" blog.  Howard starts off saying:  "The nation’s leading investment house CEOs went before the House Banking Committee this week and were asked to explain why they continued to pay massive bonuses to themselves and their people at a time when the their own greed and incompetence has thrown the entire world into economic crisis."  He examines "why each profession pays what it does", and ends up saying that it is "because it’s used to doing that."  Here is my take on the subject.

When I was younger, and being tested for a straight commission, "point of purchase" advertising, sales management position, a 6 hour psychological profile test told my upper management that “I believed that everyone should be on straight commission.”  Now that I am older and hopefully wiser, I realize that some positions, like “dirt digger” would be hard to quantify the total yearly "value added" aspect of that basic, but important in some circumstances (archaeologist's helper carefully digging dirt away from a “find”), job function.

Yet, in a 2/13/09 NY Times article entitled “Jack Welch and the Lone Ranger Theory”, there is a quote from a Mark J.Perry, economist, blog post entitled "Maybe CEOs Like Jack Welch Are Underpaid?" that says: “When Jack Welch became General Electric’s CEO in 1981, the company was worth about $14 billion. Through hiring and firing, buying and selling decisions, Welch turned the company around and when he retired 20 years later, GE was worth nearly $500 billion. What’s a CEO worth for such an achievement? If Welch was paid a measly one-half of a percent of GE’s increase in value, his total compensation would have come to nearly $2.5 billion, instead of the few hundred million that he actually received.
Bottom Line: You could probably make a stronger case that Jack Welch was underpaid and exploited by his shareholders GE’s Board of Directors than making a case that he was overpaid as a CEO.” This general concept agrees with my basic feelings of “Pay For Performance”, and my test results.

However, a 1/2/08 comment on that same Mark J. Perry’s blog post by “Walt G” says: “The premise of pay for performance is negated when there isn’t any positive performance (golden parachutes). If the CEO is taking credit and PAY for things when they are going well (whether he or she is actually the reason), then, let the CEO take the blame and NO PAY when things are going poorly (whether he or she is actually to blame).” I like that concept because it brings into play the higher concepts of Charity and Integrity. Why wouldn’t a financially successful CEO who will probably never be a “beggar in the streets” agree to temporarily reduce his/her total earnings to $1.00 per month or even per year? He’d still have his “perks”, but that charitable show of goodwill, and self sacrifice, would actually be the best PR that he could do to sell himself to the next large corporation he’ll work for.  It would prove his love of what he does for a living, while giving back to one of the compainies who made that CEO well off.  It would, also, help change the current negative press about "CEO Compenstion" into positive press.  Plus, that money saved by the corporation could be reinvested wisely in some way as to try to increase sales!  Now THAT would be showing CHARITY and INTEGRITY (most looked up word for the 2005 Mirriam-Webster Online Dictionary).  (On 4/23/09 Ethisphere.com's article "Jeff Immelt, CEO of General Electric, Agrees to Eliminate Multi-Million Dollar Bonus" proves that Jeff Immelt has integrity, as he became "a taker"!)

Alas, the short term thinking that is plaguing everyone (I fight it myself!) has spawned too many generations of people without meaningful Charity, Faith, Hope, and Love. Let’s all “get back to basics”, as they say, and stop taking “Separation of Church and State” to such extremes that we lose sight of the massive benefits of ethical long term thinking mixed in at appropriate times and with appropriate amounts in everything we do, for all our sake, and for the sake of our future generations.  After all, who will pay for the Stimulus Bill?  Will it be the future generations of the top paying jobs, like CEO's?  Or, will some CEO's figure out "How To Take It With Them"?

In "Sermons that Work", it says:  "Have you a will? Have you taken time to think about who is important in your life, and how you would like to thank them, or be remembered? Have you decided what your treasures are, and how those treasures will be divided - or have you tried to figure out how 'to take it with you?'"  It goes on to say: "The night before the flight from Egypt, and the night before the crucifixion." that "This is still God's night. His night to prepare us for a life where death is identified not with the end, but as a beginning. He prepares us by commanding us to love one another as he loves us, see in each other what he sees. Seeing through his eyes allows us to let go of our prejudices, our fears and expect life where we did not know it before. Seeing through his eyes allows us to die and live again, live again in love, in resurrection."  It ends up saying:  "Say "Amen" by allowing his eyes to become our eyes, his hands to become our hands, his life to become our lives. Say "Amen" and know the treasure of his love." 

Yes, "Howzit Howard", “..each profession pays what it does because it’s used to doing that.”, and we all should (in the case of some overpaid jobs), and have to (in the case of some not overpaid jobs) NOW get UNUSED TO many things that we are very USED TO!  I wonder if God’s “tough love” had something to do with that?

Fish Tank Image Courtesy of "Dream Aquarium Screensaver" (No Affiliate Program Established!)

"What The World Needs Now.." Is More Than "Love, Sweet Love" - Brokerblogger

The United States and the world has bought into short term thinking.  Also, no one believes in Joan of Arcadia's definition of "evil" (Evil is charming and beautiful. It makes you doubt yourself. It asks for one small compromise after another until it whittles you down, and, it functions best when no one believes in it.").  So, evil is functioning at its best right now.  Deception, and corruption, are all around us.  While greed, for lack of a better keyword, may be "charming and beautiful..", it forces people to make one small compromise after another.  It also operates best when no one believes that GREED is evil.

So, while short term thinking is a result of "doubting yourself" for the long term (a Kahil Gibran quote - "Doubt is a pain too lonely to know that faith is his twin brother."), all those compromises to the highest level of Christian ETHICS can whittle down politicians, wall street, and even main street.

President Elect Barack Obama ("PEBO") has great ideas! Certainly, TRANSPARANCY is one of his best.  But, he also recognizes the need for all kinds of CHANGE. GOV.  Here is what "The Rebbe of Apt" said about changing yourself, "As a young man, I was determined to change the world. As I matured, I narrowed my goals to changing my community. Still later, I decided to change only my family. Now I realize that it is all I can do to change myself".  In effect, PEBO is also saying what Marshall McCluhan says:  "There are no passengers on spaceship earth. We are all crew."  PEBO, again, knows what Margaret Mitchell said:  "Every problem has two handles. You can grab it by the handle of fear or the handle of hope." 

All the world can do is to HOPE (Helen Keller quote:  "It gives me a deep comforting sense that ‘things seen are temporal and things unseen are eternal.") that PEBO realizes how sage the question is that St. John Vianney asked years ago:  "Do you know what is the first temptation the devil presents to someone who has begun to serve God better? It is human respect."  Because, if he does, he will understand in a clear and complete way what Thomas Merton said:  "Pride makes us artificial and humility makes us real." 

Let's all wish PEBO "Godspeed" in his dreams of a better future for us all, while he pragmatically carries out his plans.  Let's HOPE that "The hardness of the human heart.." does not get in the way.  Maybe Abraham Linclon will inspire PEBO with "Nearly all men can stand adversity..."

As for me, a humble Catholic, I love what Mother Teresa said in "Be Anyway..", as it is, IMO, the true definition of INTEGRITY!  Oh, and what Mother Teresa would probably also say today is that "WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW in addition to LOVE is HOPE, FAITH, AND CHARITY!"

Kindness, Joy, Peace, Love (Hope - Faith - Charity), and Happiness to ALL,

Brokerblogger 

PS - You May Have To Scroll Up or Down a bit to get each quote centered to read! 

My New Home Aftermarket Great Contractors - J.S. Elite Flooring - Brokerblogger

J. S. Elite Flooring's new building doesn't have a sign up yet, and it is actually longer than this photo shows (I don't have a wide angle lens).  It will have a great big showroom to feature their new Granite Countertops, along with their Carpet & Rugs, Ceramic, Natural Stone & Porcelain Tile, Hardwood Flooring, Laminate Flooring, Vinyl Flooring, and many other flooring related products.  They now cover the Myrtle Beach and Charleston, SC areas.  Click on the name of the company above for contact information.

I found J.S. Elite Flooring through a referral from a friend's son who knew the owner, Jeff Schassler, and I can't say enough about their great prices (I shopped them extensively), quality installers (it's done right the first time), and dedication to pleasing their customers (great selection & patience with interior design suggestions and with customer changes of mind).  My wife and I can testify about all of these, as we just changed our mind on our backsplash tile when we saw what the manufacturer delivered to J. S. Elite.  Immediately R. T. Bayles said to us (without having to ask), "You can come into our showroom and pick something else out."  Cassandra Carlson has been great in helping with interior design selections from the start.

I usually don't promote the sellers I deal with but J. S. Elite Flooring fits my Brokerblogger slogan of "My views on bringing loyal, long term buyers together with ethical and value driven sellers."

My Ryland Homes Good Contractors - Brokerblogger

Before you read this post, please keep in mind that my wife and I did not enjoy our first year of Ryland Home ownership.  See "My Last Ryland Homes Blog Post & My Attempt To Help Ryland Homes!" to get a better overview of our Ryland Home complaint to the BBB, and links to the over 100 Ryland Home problems that were all eventually fixed after 13 months of having much of our time wasted.

So, any new homes builder is only as good as all the contractors and subcontractors that work on the houses they sell.  Yes, there can be some repair work after a customer moves in.  But, it should be kept to a minimum with a detailed builder inspection (before the owner moves in), and certainly getting it right on the second time around, without having to inconvenience the customer with a third come back (unless something new is discovered).

In any case, the contractors for Ryland Homes that stand out as good and professional are:

1. Their "Punch List" person, Mike.  He has always showed up on time, completed his quality work in a timely fashion, and has represented Ryland well, since he used to be a builder himself.  He stays until the job is done right.  His communication skills set him apart from most people working for any builder.  I believe this because I have bought other homes from track builders who have not had the benefit of a quality, experienced person like Mike Sipio who can explain why he uses certain products, or does his repairs in a certain way that will make the repair last.  The fact that he is a Ryland Home owner is another big plus for Ryland and their customers, as he has first hand experience with a Ryland Home himself.

2. Ryland's landscape contractor was great at bulldozing my backyard to re-grade it so the 10 foot flooding area that was away from my house, and in the back yard, was regraded properly the first time.

3. Ryland's Aristokraft Cabinet people are very cooperative in replacing any doors or draws that have minor defects in them. 

4. Ryland's fiberglass tub repair people are great at fixing minor nicks and gouges in tubs and showers.

5. Ryland's marble composite vanity countertop person is great at filling in holes,  getting out swirls, and taking off glue from vanity countertops.

Ryland Homes Air Filter Constructive Suggestion - Brokerblogger

The caption to the side of the photo of a low cost, fiberglass, Ryland Homes initial HVAC air filter above says:  "THE WORST AIR FILTER" on the "AMERICAN ALLERGY SUPPLY HOME PAGE" entitled "Pleated Air Filter Testing Using Dylos Air Monitor Laser Particle Counter".  That photo is near the bottom of that page, and  a little further down it says "FIBERGLASS  PRICE 50 CENTS The Worst Air Filter". 

Before you continue reading this post, please keep in mind that my wife and I did not enjoy our first year of Ryland Home ownership.  See "My Last Ryland Homes Blog Post & My Attempt To Help Ryland Homes!" to get a better overview of our Ryland Home complaint to the BBB, and links to the over 100 Ryland Home problems that were all eventually fixed after 13 months of having much of our time wasted.

Now, granted, while American Allergy Supply is trying to promote their own high end home air filtering devices, I really don't believe that their statistics are too far off.  Why, because my wife and I experienced some terrible night's sleep with much dust being recirculated into our faces at night in our new Ryland home.  Our noses were stuffed more than expected (all new homes give off chemicals from carpets, etc. that can cause stuffiness) until we put a pleated MERV10 air filter in on a temporary basis until we go to MERVE 8 to be less air flow restrictive.  Then, our noses were still stuffed like in our other previous new homes, but much less than before.  I then bought new air directing register vents that directed the air away from our faces at night.  That helped, too.

12/09/08 UPDATE:  Before you continue reading the second page of this post, I wanted to let you know that in a 12/09/08 press release from Ryland's Jacksonville, Florida public relations firm, it says that the Ryland Homes there have "14-SEER HVAC systems" while the South Carolina Ryland homes only have 13 SEER.  But, most importantly, it says that in Jacksonville, Florida, Ryland puts "4-inch hospital-quality air filters", while in South Carolina they put the cheapest 1 inch fiberglass air filter, and sometimes don't even change it out (as mine wasn't) after all the construction dust, etc. accumulated from building the house!  Ryland's Florida homes also come with programmable thermostats which is an extra expense option in SC.  See the "About Ryland Homes" section two paragraphs down after the press release, "Ryland Homes Jacksonville Division President accepts “Good Neighbor Award”.  Maybe the Ryland Division Presidentin Charleston, SC needs to be more like the Ryland Division President  in Jacksonville, FL in many ways?

Here is what happened, in our opinion (See Next Page!)      

 

Corporate Assigned Power vs. Responsibility - Brokerblogger

Before you read this post, please be aware that my wife and I did not enjoy our first year of Ryland Home ownership.  See "My Last Ryland Homes Blog Post & My Attempt To Help Ryland Homes!" to get a better overview of our Ryland Home complaint to the BBB, and links to the over 100 Ryland Home problems that were all eventually fixed after 13 months of having much of our time wasted.

Since this topic can relate to most medium to large corporations, in my opinion, I am not singling out Ryland Homes or limiting this post's topic to the new home building industry.

The totem pole depicted above shows the image at the top having wings.  You could analogize this to the corporate "golden parachute" concept in that it is too easy for the people at the top of the corporate totem pole to blame the people at the bottom.  Why?  Because, many times the people at the bottom who deal directly with the customers don't have the power or authority to make improvement changes, but they do appear to have the most responsibility to make customers happy. 

In the new home building industry, I believe that the most important people to the consumer are the sub-contractors and "sub's" of the sub-contractors who actually work on your house.  If any builder is in a cost cutting mode determined by say a Chief Financial Office at the top, then it may be hard for the person dealing directly with the customer to get that CFO, or managers underneath the CFO, to give the OK to even look for a better sub-contractor.  Why?  Because, some "customer irritating" sub-contractors provide the lowest cost to the builder.  They do eventually fix the problems they cause for the new home owner ( See "My Ryland Homes Initial Repairs "Punch List"), but while the builder doesn't get charged for the fixing, the customer is inconvenienced, and his time is wasted, at the very time he's dealing with many other challenges related to his move! This was partially my point in "New Home Builders Deliver "Cleaner Upper" Homes". I did not mention in that post two Ryland Homes sub-contractors who did a poor job, at first, on my foyer wood floor, and my Silestone Kitchen counter tops.

Requests for customer product and service satisfaction feedback are often sent out too soon.  New home owners are very busy, and the best test is the "test of time".  Opinions of customers can change over time, especially if the repairs are not long lasting.  There is also the dilemma for the customer that if he says anything that even appears to be negative about the specific people that represent the builder, those comments will be the perfect excuse to blame those people at the bottom of the totem pole.  Therefore, there should be the option of total anonymity in giving feedback, with plenty of space to comment on each line item of the feedback form. 

Now, in some cases it may be the fault of the employees of the builder who deal directly with the customer, but more often, in my opinion, it is the sub-contractors and their "sub's" that cause problems, complaints, and waste the time of the customer.  Builders know very well that "time is money", so it would be a great opportunity for any builder to think a little more long term, invest a little more money upfront, and have the probability of more positive word of mouth advertising from their customers.

I think the saddest thing is for customers to give good reviews and feedback on their buying experience (of any kind), when the whole truth is not as positive.  But, just wanting to be "nice", fear of being misunderstood, fear of a possible "kill the messenger" mentality with some kind of retaliation by anyone involved in the selling process can cause the customer to not tell "the whole truth" as they see it.  It is a shame, since sometimes the customer may just need to be educated about something, and some specific item negative misperceptions may be changed into positive, or at least, neutral ones.

My Ryland Homes Follow Up "Warranty Service Requests" - Brokerblogger

The photo above shows the area in my backyard on the far left before the trees that got flooded in a heavy rain.  It happened soon after our Pre-Settlement Walk-through with Ryland Homes, so I asked to have it fixed in my first "Warranty Service Request" on 1/23/08.  These "WSR's" are repair items discovered after My Ryland Homes Initial Repairs "Punch List". 

Carolina Landscaping Group came in with a "bobcat" and regraded a good size area of my back and side yard with the water now (hopefully) flowing out into the woods behind my back yard.  Kudos to Ryland for having that sub-contractor, but there are other sub-contractors that I will elaborate on later that were less than desirable, in our opinion.

Before you read the rest of this post, please be aware that my wife and I did not enjoy our first year of Ryland Home ownership.  See "My Last Ryland Homes Blog Post & My Attempt To Help Ryland Homes!" to get a better overview of our Ryland Home complaint to the BBB, and links to the over 100 Ryland Home problems that were all eventually fixed after 13 months of having much of our time wasted.

Here are my three "Warranty Service Requests" as of 2/14/08:

1/23/08= On 1/22/08 we met with Mike from Ryland's landscaping contractor (Carolina Landscaping Group), and noted the following to be done by Monday, 1/28/08. 

On a previous day when it was raining, we noticed, as well as Mike noticing, that there was a good amount of flooding in the left rear portion (as you look at our house from the street) of our back yard.  Mike said he will re-grade that entire section so that the water flows back to the treed area behind our house.  Mike said the back yard also needs more dirt to be put under the sod in a larger area of the back yard near the flooded portion so that the grading is more conducive to water flow to the sides, and then away from the house.  New sod will then be placed over that new additional soil area.  Evidence of free standing water was also noted along most of the left hand side of the house near the property line from the center of the house on back.  Grading will be adjusted there too, to get quicker flowing water. = GOOD FIX APPEARS TO HAVE WORKED WELL AS OBSERVED IN THE LAST DOWNPOUR OF RAIN.

All zones for the sprinkler system were turned on and tested.  Some sprinkler heads need adjusting as they are "bent over" and not providing proper coverage.  One "rotor" head in the back is spraying too far, and will be adjusted down.  Another sprinkler head on the front left corner of house needs moving away from the gutter downspout, as the coverage is now being blocked by that downspout.  All sprinkler heads will be checked for damage, as the sprinklers came on the day before when it was 24 degrees out, and all the water froze into ice around the entire house.'

Lastly, Mike said that we were shorted three 7 gallon "Ligustrum" plants in the front, and they will be brought in and planted at no charge to us. DONE WELL! 

1/25/08 = Yesterday, the utility sink in the garage began leaking out of the bottom drain area.  We have shut off the water, but need to have this fixed ASAP, as contractors use this sink to wash up. = BROKEN PART FOUND AND FIXED QUICKLY!

Due to the fact that two framers were called out to inspect the wood frame 2 X 4's on both sides of the house (due to hardi-plank buckling on the outside of both sides of the house), the "blown in" insulation in the attic was compressed down and moved around to the point that I can see the ceiling of rooms in some areas.  Please have more insulation blown in to insure proper insulation of the attic once the framers come back to be told exactly where to look on the outside of the sides of the house, so they can determine where to put additional 2 X 4 bracing to eliminate the buckled areas.  This "Buckled Hardi-Plank" issue was part of the original 67 repair items given to Dave for "production repair" follow up. = RYLAND HAS AGREED TO BLOW MORE INSULATION IN SHALLOW AREAS, ONCE THE FRAMERS COME BACK OUT.  (UPDATE - On 4/9/08 framers came out unexpectedly, and I told builder in an email to have them come the following week.)  More insulation was finally put in on 10/31/08 after the warped hardi-plank was fixed.

2/9/08 = 1.  When the "stand alone shower" people come out to switch out the rollers, and/or glass door for the master bedroom shower, please have them reverse the doors in our second bath tub/shower, as the handles to open the glass doors on the inside are located on the door that leads to the toilet.  I think the hardware and the doors can be easily switched around so that the handles on the inside are for the door that leads to the floor in front of the toilet.  Please reverse the doors on the "stand alone shower" in the master bath too. = NOT DONE AS OF 4/18/08, BUT I LEARNED THAT THE DOORS CAN'T BE REVERSED DUE TO WATER FROM SHOWER HEAD COMING THROUGH. ADDITIONAL METAL HANDLES NEED TO BE INSTALLED ON BOTH SHOWER DOORS TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM.  These were finally put in many months later.

2.  While we had the guy who fixes the plastic drains in the vanity sinks out once before, please send him again with a replacement for the drain plug in the secondary bath as it is scratched up compared to the ones in the master bath.  He said to my wife that that is the way they all are, and that is not true, as the master vanity drain plugs are fine. =DONE end of 3/08.

3.  Please replace the threshold at the bottom of the front door as it has a big mark in it. = DONE end of 3/08.

4.  Please power wash the front driveway/walkway so that the chucks of cement missing from many areas can be easily seen for the punch list person to do his cement repairs.  The rear cement patio does not have to be power washed to get the big stain off of it, as I will be doing a brick stencil stain coating over it. = NEVER DONE with my OK, as cement repair was done at the end of 3/08.

5.  I ordinarily would not ask for another good cleaning of our house, but two things have happened that has made most of my window blinds, floor, kitchen counter dusty and dirty.  When Creative Countertops replaced the Silestone countertops they had to drill a hole in the faucet area.  That dust was minimal, but yesterday Builder's Wholesale Flooring ripped out the entire Foyer wood floor and dust and dirt went everywhere.  The plastic curtain that they put up did not stay taped down and the draft coming through the opened front door found its way under and around that thin plastic "drop cloth" curtain. = NOT DONE AS OF 3/29/08, BUT I PREFER TO WAIT UNTIL ALL OUR MOVING BOXES ARE OFF THE FLOORS.  I requested week of 4/21/08 for this to be done and it was. 

2/11/08 WARRANTY SERVICE REQUEST:

1. The electric eye mechanism for the garage door has exposed wires that need to have a twist on caps at both sides of the garage door. = DONE BY PUNCH LIST PERSON.

2.  Front Door dead bolt lock does not close completely, and the back door to the Lanai needs some dead bolt lock adjustment as it is hard to close properly and easily. = FRONT DOOR IS ONLY DOOR THAT NEEDED TO BE FIXED AND IT WAS DONE BY PUNCH LIST PERSON.

3.  When the person who filled the holes in the master bath vanity countertop comes back to buff out the repair, please have him buff out the swirls and streaks on the top of the secondary bath vanity countertop. = DONE AS OF 2/21/08


4.  On the inside bottom corners of the Lanai screen frame, there is some "pushed in trim" that needs repair. = DONE at end of 3/08

Again, all Ryland emloyees (vs. all sub-contractors) are doing everything possible within their powerto make us, a Ryland customer, happy.  In my next post I'll discuss my opinions on how employees at the "low end of the totem pole" in any medium to large corporation usually don't have a lot of power to make changes, while often times having a lot of responsibility to make the customers happy.

ALL FUTURE NEW WARRANTY SERVICE REQUESTS AFTER 2/14/08 ARE SHOWN ON THE NEXT PAGE.

My Ryland Homes Initial Repairs "Punch List" - Brokerblogger

The "sea of blue tape" that points out areas needing attention which I mentioned in "New Home Builders Deliver "Cleaner Upper" Homes " is partially shown above (click on photo to enlarge).  Please keep in mind that my wife and I are happy with our lot location and Ryland in general, as the Ryland employees that we deal directly with have all tried their best to make us happy.  But, I want to help Ryland Homes by noting, constructively, areas for improvement like less things needing attention before delivery.  The specific problems of the Silestone Kitchen countertop that was removed for a week while we were living in the house are detailed in item #6.

Before you read the rest of this post, please keep in mind that my wife and I did not enjoy our first year of Ryland Home ownership.  See "My Last Ryland Homes Blog Post & My Attempt To Help Ryland Homes!" to get a better overview of our Ryland Home complaint to the BBB, and links to the over 100 Ryland Home problems that were all eventually fixed after 13 months of having much of our time wasted.

Today, 1/12/08, here is our updated "Punch List" with "DONE" notes put together around our "close of escrow" on 1/18/08:

1.  The exterior hardi-plank has many separations and minor buckling on the upper sides of the house.  It cosmetically looks worse than our neighbors smaller buckling situations.   We met with the Hardi-Plank rep on 1/21/08, and the reassurance letter from the rep that we were promised never came.  The framers said they did not find where buckling was located from the inside of our attic, so our initial builder said he would bring them out again and show them exactly where the problem areas are.  An attempt was made to bring the framers out again, but the date scheduled was not good for us.  So, I emailed our initial builder to pick another date.  He said he never got my email, and the framers showed up on that same bad day for us.  We sent them away.  Our initial builder said he would fix the problem before our one year warranty was up.  * FINAL UPDATE = Finally, on 10/30/08 9 months later, extra 2X4's, 2X6's, and 2X12's were put on both left and right insides of our attic by new framers as "back braces".  This solution came from our new builder, who quickly spotted the problem, and had it fixed in a few days.  He had about one third of the hardi-plank removed and replaced with new hardi-plank along with additional Tyvek insulation.  Both entire sides of the house were painted with two coats of paint.  Additional insulation was blown in the entire attic area to fix the "stepped on" blown insulation that was there.  The net effect was extra attic insulation and wood bracing for both sides of the house. 

2.  The flashings along the roof have many gaps that could let rain in. (Previous flashings fixed, but a newly discovered problem is on the front inside porch near the "right inside corner ") = DONE

3.  The "pull down stairs" from the garage ceiling is very wobbly when climbing, and presents an injury/safety hazard.  The base of it rests only on the corners of the side braces, and the middle needs reinforcing to prevent "side to side" wobbliness.  (DONE by great "PUNCH LIST" person)

4.  There is gutter and downspout missing from the front of the house right above where the front porch steps are located.  Rain would pour down on people on the right hand side of the steps as you enter.  (DONE) 
 
5.  Even though we have two vanity sinks in the master bedroom, and paid $200 to have the upgrade of "Eva Chrome Accessories" in the full bath, there is only one (on the left hand sink) chrome hand towel ring. This is not functional or convenient.  (DONE)

6.  There are numerous cosmetic details noted with "blue tape" that need to be fixed with the Kitchen Counter Silestone.  Corner joints are out of alignment, with too thick of a seam, glue is on many spots, and there are many uneven spots on the bullnose surfaces.  ( All Silestone countertops to be removed and replaced with new ones.  All Silestone backsplashes to the left and right of stove are to be permanently removed.  Underneath of bar area countertop needs painting, as noted previously by blue tape. ) NEVER RECEIVED DOCUMENTATION ! ( BUT DONE A WEEK LATER WITH THE CENTER ISLAND STILL NEEDING BUFFING WHICH WAS DONE IN CONTRACTOR'S TRUCK.  OLD, SCRATCHED STAINLESS STEEL SINK WAS BROUGHT BACK EVEN THOUGH THAT CHANGE WAS IN WRITING - A NEW SINK WAS BROUGHT BACK AND INSTALLED FEW DAYS LATER.)

7.  Heat Pump has frost all around the outside, and probably just needs more refrigerant.  (DONE)

8.  Shorten cord on pull down stairs in the secondary bedroom.  (DONE)

9.  "Water Valve Shut Off" compartment box in the front of the house needs all mud cleaned out of it.  (Done by punch list person at the end of 3/08.)

10.  Shower enclosure doors in the master bath need adjusting and alignment.  Plus, the fiberglass has a nick on the upper right hand side that needs repair.  Shower stall needs rust stains removed.  ( Shower enclosure doors in MB still need adjusting.  Scratch marks from cleaning and polishing on upper left need buffing, but nick removed and stains should be removed by now.) - On my 2/9/08 W.S.Request I said "1.  When the "stand alone shower" people come out to switch out the rollers, and/or glass door for the master bedroom shower, please have them reverse the doors in our second bath tub/shower, as the handles to open the glass doors on the inside are located on the door that leads to the toilet.  I think the hardware and the doors can be easily switched around so that the handles on the inside are for the door that leads to the floor in front of the toilet."  Please add to that, a repair of two small nicks in the secondary bath tub floor.  I thought they were dirt, but are not. = TWO DIFFERENT CONTRACTORS INVOLVED HERE, AND THE SCRATCHING NOISE IS NOW FINALLY FIXED ON 2/21/08.  THAT SAME GOOD RYLAND CONTRACTOR MAY BE ABLE TO FIX THE "REVERSAL OF THE SHOWER DOORS PROBLEM WITH EXTRA "HANDLE HARDWARE".  "Handle Hardware finally installed in June of 08.

11.  Many interior door hinge pins need tapping down to be flush.  (DONE)

12.  Some windows don't open, close, and lock properly, as noted by "blue tape".  ("On order" and documentation never came, SIX windows are not replaced, and the wrong size French Door glass was brought to us.  But, by the end of 3/08, 5 of the 6 widows were replaced and the sixth was too hard to get at due to a heavy desk being in front of it.  The person replacing the windows appeared to us to not want to be doing the work and we had to watch everything he did.  Clear caulking was smeared on two of the new windows during installation, and we had to tell him and his helper to clean that up on the outside of those windows.  We were told that a window that had a spring tension problem would only be the same if it were to be replaced, and that it would be "too much work".  A manufacturer's rep for the window came out later and admitted it was a faulty spring tension problem that could be fixed with new spring tension balance weights.  We don't want that subcontractor back in our house, so we are living with another newly discovered, minorly flawed window because of that.

13.  French Doors to Lanai need moldings, holes drilled into threshold for "locking bolts", and painted to get rid of "dripping stains" at top of both doors.  (DONE)

14.  Numerous Kitchen Cabinetry repair issues of rough edges, wood imperfections, alignment issues, etc. that are noted by blue tape.  ("On order" and documentation delivered.) - DONE.

15.  Drill hole in cabinetry above microwave oven location, so three pronged cord can fit through to special outlet. (DONE)

16.  All three ceramic tiled floors need to be re-grouted, and damaged or uneven tiles replaced.  (Still being worked on.) (NOT SURE IF ALL ARE DONE AS SOME MORE TILES NEED TO BE INSPECTED - I'M FORGETTING ABOUT IT  BECAUSE WE DON'T LIKE THE FLOORING SUBCONTRACTOR'S WORK.)

17.  Numerous touch up painting needs to be done as noted by blue tape. - (All DONE by the end of 3/08.)

18.  Master Bath Shower Head plate needs to be flush against wall.  (DONE)

19.  Secondary Bath Room lighting fixture needs to be centered and hole repaired in drywall from that move.  (DONE)

20.  Secondary Bath Room towel ring needs to be moved to the wall to the right of the sink.  (DONE)

21.  Utility Room has white electrical cover plate on the left as you come in from the garage that needs to be removed, and the drywall hole repaired.  (DONE)

22.  Reinstall light fixture over right sink in Master Bath to make flush to wall, and position the center plate within to be flush.  (DONE)

23.  Master Bath towel rings to be relocated per our discussion.  (DONE)

24.  Lawn in back yard has small patches missing where sod did not cover.  Sod in is winter condition, and may need help come spring.  (Extra patches of sod put down in the Spring).

25.  Repaint base all around the house.  (DONE)

26.  Repair jagged edges and concrete all around the base of the house.  (DONE)

27.  Repair Foyer ceiling where "paint chips" are missing.  (DONE)

28.  Repair jagged edges on garage drywall.  (DONE by my contractor putting wood trim all around.)

29.  Roof stacks painted as they are white now while neighbors are a dark color.  (DONE)

30.  Water stains on outside rear steps and outside concrete patio in back need cleaning and the source of the water stains detected.  (Pressure washing NOT NECESSARY AS I AM HAVING IT STENCIL STAINED)

31.  Front porch and driveway concrete gouges need repair.  (Punch list person did by the end of 3/08.)

32.  Wood steps and landing leading from garage into Utility Room need painting with a beige color.  (DONE)

33.  Overall clean up of paint smears and dirt needed on all doors, walls, hardware, windows, etc.  (Completion of clean up still needs to be done due to FOYER WOOD FLOOR REMOVAL DUST/DIRT BLOWING IN ON VERY WINDY DAY - 2/8/08.  I told Ryland that only the portions of the house that got dirt and dust from the Foyer wood floor removal need cleaning by their clean up crew.  I also said that there are still too many moving boxes unopened on the floors, so please hold off on this until we get unpacked).  UPDATE:  I got the cleaning done by the week of 4/21/08).

34.  Fiberglass utility sink in garage needs cleaning AND LEAK REPAIRED.  (DONE)

ITEMS NEWLY DETECTED ON 1/17/08:

35.  Molding around left panel of French Doors to the Lanie needs painting. (DONE BY CLEANING)

36.  SS sink was newly discovered to have many scratches, so that needs replacing. (DONE)

37.  Handles/bars/framing on MB and 2nd Bath shower sliding door needs cleaning on the inside. - DONE

38.  Newly discovered "high ceramic tile" needs replacement in second bath. (DONE)

39.  In second bath baseboard/beam to be squared. (DONE)

40.  Right front foundation, outside corner, needs cleaning or painting. (DONE)

41.  Lanai flashing on inside/upper center needs flattening. (DONE)

42.  Lanai ceiling has obvious holes around can light. (DONE)

43.  Lanai inner molding door frame on the outside needs painting.  Also, on the bottom left and right corners of the inside of the screen frame, there are "pushed in" frame moldings. PAINTED AS OF  THE END OF 3/08.

44.  Family Room crown molding seam by TV area needs caulking and painting. (DONE)

45.  Front porch ceiling has obvious holes around can light. (DONE)

46.  Replace den window due to hole in framing on upper left section.  Other window replacements due to various reasons previously noted by blue tape.  Documentation to come. - NEVER GOT DOCUMENTATION AND ONE ATTEMPT AROUND 2/20/08 WAS MADE THAT I RESCHEDULED DUE TO OTHER CONTRACTOR JOBS GOING ON.  I WAS NEVER TOLD WHEN THEY WOULD COME UNTIL THE LAST FEW DAYS BEFORE.  NOW, ALL MY OFFICE DESK WILL HAVE TO BE MOVED WITH EVERYTHING ON IT TO GET AT ONE OF THE SIX WINDOWS.  WHEN I BROUGHT THIS UP THE THE RYLAND WINDOW CONTRACTOR, HE SAID ABRUPTLY "YOUR GOING TO HAVE TO MOVE YOUR DESK".  WOW, SIX DAMAGED WINDOWS WEREN'T CAUGHT BY RYLAND BEFORE I MOVED IN, AND NOW I'M BEING INCONVENIENCED WITH NO EMPATHY FOR THE CUSTOMER.  LUCKILY, THE PUNCH LIST PERSON WAS THERE TO OFFER HELP AND DIFFUSE THE SITUATION.  By the end of 3/08, 5 of the 6 widows were replaced and the sixth was too hard to get at due to a heavy desk being in front of it.  The person replacing the windows appeared to us to not want to be doing the work and we had to watch everything he did.  Clear caulking was smeared on two of the new windows during installation, and we had to tell him and his helper to clean that up on the outside of those windows.  We were told that a window that had a spring tension problem would only be the same if it were to be replaced, and that it would be "too much work".  A manufacturer's rep for the window came out later and admitted it was a faulty spring tension problem that could be fixed with new spring tension balance weights.  We don't want that subcontractor back in our house, so we are living with another newly discovered, minorly flawed window because of that.

47.  Foyer wood plank too high near front door in two spots.  On 1/23/08 "hollow sounding" areas of the Foyer floor were discovered.  Glue not keeping the planks of wood down properly. =  OVER 20 HOLES DRILLED WITH GLUE IN THEM INSTALLED ON 2/8/08, BUT BUILDER WAS NOT HAPPY WITH THE JOB, SO HE ORDERED A WHOLE NEW FOYER WOOD FLOOR. MUCH DUST CAME INTO MY LIVING ROOM AND KITCHEN DUE TO THE THIN PLASTIC DROP CLOTH NOT WORKING 20 % OF THE TIME.  BASE VINYL FLOOR HAD TO BE SCRAPED UP SO NEW FLOOR COULD BE PUT ON THE SLAB.  MUCH INCONVENIENCE FOR A WHOLE DAY, SINCE ONLY ONE PERSON WORKED ON IT.  (DONE)

48.  Lanai French Door Glass on right will be completely replaced. = ON 2/20/08 THE GLASS CONTRACTOR FOR RYLAND BROUGHT OVER THE WRONG SIZE REPLACEMENT GLASS THAT WAS DISCOVERED ONLY AFTER THE DAMAGED GLASS WAS ALL TAKEN OUT.  (This is same problem as noted in item # 46.)

49.  Flooding problem in back left yard needs re-grading so that rain water flows out to the woods behind Lot #74.  Soil will be placed underneath sod in certain areas of the back yard in order to elevate entire back yard (as neighbor's back yard sod is elevated.  ON 1/24/08  GREAT LANDSCAPING SUBCONTRACTOR REGRADED BACK AND SIDE AND MAJOR FLOOD AREA NOW GONE.

----------
NEWLY DISCOVERED ON 1/18/08 ITEMS # 50-52. 

We are looking forward to most of these repair issues being properly fixed before we occupy the house on 2/3/08.  That allows for 15 days more to have most, if not all, things fixed.  (UPDATE - Almost nothing was done while we were away!)

ITEMS NEWLY DETECTED ON 1/18/08:

50.  No power to three electrical outlet plugs in Breakfast Nook NE corner (above new countertop and on wall below window).  (CAUSED BY MY OWN "EXTRA CABINETS" PERSON - (DONE)

51.  No light switch to outdoor garage lanterns, and only one of two can lights working on porch ceiling as you walk out front door.  (Light switch found in garage, so this was never a problem, and my own electrician fixed the can light - DONE)

52.  Painting needed on 2 X 6 board across the top of the inside of the garage door, and extra drywall needed to enclose two portions of garage wall on either side of the garage door. (DONE)

ITEMS NEWLY DETECTED ON 1/19/08:

53.  4 Entire outlets in Breakfast Nook do not work (two on back walls and two by new countertop area. (THIS IS DONE AND WAS A DUPLICATE REPAIR NOTE TO # 50)

54.  Only one of two can lights working on ceiling of porch near front door. THIS IS A DUPLICATE TO #51 & DELETED AS MY OWN ELECTRICIAN FIXED IT.

55.  Bedroom closet facing front street needs door stopper to prevent door handle from hitting window molding. (DONE)

56.  Can lights in Kitchen provide different height extensions for bulbs and need adjustment, since one bulb could not be unscrewed easily. (DONE)

57.  Adjust Foyer electrical switch tension (too tight) by front door. (I REPLACED SWITCH WITH A "DECOR" TYPE SWITCH, SO IT IS FIXED)

58.  Please "ACID WASH" all three ceramic tiled floors installed by Ryland to properly clean grout and ceramic surface area. (NOT NECESSARY SO NEVER DONE.)

59.  Almost all YALE DOOR LEVERS have too much "play" in them and need adjusting. (YALE SAYS THIS IS NORMAL.)

ITEMS NEWLY DETECTED ON 1/20/08:

60.  Leveling of the living room concrete slab floor, so that my wood floor can be installed properly.  This will be done by my own flooring company on Monday, 1/21/08 so that wood floor install only loses one day. - DONE AND RYLAND DID REIMBURSE ME THE $270 IT COST ME TO GET IT DONE QUICKLY,AND I BELIEVE WITH MORE QUALITY, SINCE I HAVE VERY LITTLE CONFIDENCE IN RYLAND'S FLOORING CONTRACTOR.

61.  Three screws missing from porch railing on right as you enter (by steps). - ALL DONE by the end of 3/08.

62.  Buff sink top to remove scratches and swirls on second bathroom vanity countertop. - DONE

63.  Faucet downspout fell apart when pulled up to get closed position in second bathroom. (DONE)

64.  Chrome sink plug scratched and discolored in second bathroom.  (PLASTIC vs. CHROME SINK PLUG NEEDS REPLACING, SINCE WE WERE TOLD IT CAN'T BE CLEANED) - DONE

65.  Chrome sink plug scratched and discolored in both master bath vanity sinks.  (PLASTIC vs. CHROME SINK PLUG NEEDS REPLACING, SINCE WE WERE TOLD IT CAN'T BE CLEANED) - (DONE)

66.  Buff sink top to remove scratches and swirls on master bath vanity countertop. - DONE ON 2/21/08

67.  Nails in garage attic sticking out two inches or more need bending back on 2 X 4 where insulation notice was posted. (DONE)

SINCE THERE IS DUPLICATION AND SOME THINGS NOT NEEDING ATTENTION IN THIS LIST, THERE ARE ONLY ABOUT 60 vs. 67 ITEMS IN TOTAL!

All comments welcomed regarding this list, THANKS.

PS - Before you finish reading this post, please keep in mind that my wife and I did not enjoy our first year of Ryland Home ownership.  See "My Last Ryland Homes Blog Post & My Attempt To Help Ryland Homes!" to get a better overview of our Ryland Home complaint to the BBB, and links to the over 100 Ryland Home problems that were all eventually fixed after 13 months of having much of our time wasted.

New Home Builders Deliver "Cleaner Upper" Homes - Brokerblogger

While there has always been a clean up challenge for every new home builder, it is my opinion that limited resources due to cost cutting has caused my new Ryland Homes house to be delivered with many clean up issues that should have been addressed before our move in date (Original estimated completion date = 12/15/07, Actual "Close of Escrow" delayed by Ryland = 1/18/08, Move In date = 2/3/08)  .  The photo above (click on to enlarge) shows a note placed by my wife that says:  "Glue inside & on edge of sink from before we closed on house." 

While Ryland Homes has been great about cleaning things up, and we are happy with our lot location and Ryland in general, there have been so many things to clean and touch up that from 1/18/08 to today, 2/12/08, there are still many things like shower/tub framing, etc. that still have "blue tape" noting where the cleaning and touch up need to be done.  Cleaning products like "Goof Off", Fantastic, Low Odor Mineral Oil, razor scrapers, "Solid Surface Cleaner and Polish" for vanity areas, etc. are all being used to get glue from tape, cement, "mud", paint, etc. off the inside and outside of our new home.

Potential buyers of new homes look at model homes that don't have clean up or touch up paint issues, and for most prospects that sets their expectations of how their new home will be delivered.  While I have had previous new homes that needed clean up and touch up paint, my wife and I started off living in a "sea of blue tape", and we are still finding more things to touch up and clean as we live in our new Ryland home.  Some may think this should be expected, but it's the amount of things needing attention OVERALL that has disappointed us.  See my next blog post for specifics.

Admittedly, we are detail oriented, and this can cause us to try to find more things quicker to clean up and touch up. Also, some people don't care if little nicks and scratches, little pieces of glue/"mud", paint on door hardware and tile floors, etc. are ever cleaned up, but we do.   But, what a marketing opportunity for some new home builder to make it a point to deliver homes the way they deliver their model homes.  While it may cost more money up front and delay delivery a bit, the word of mouth advertising would be worth it, in my opinion.

Before you finish reading this post, please keep in mind that my wife and I did not enjoy our first year of Ryland Home ownership.  See "My Last Ryland Homes Blog Post & My Attempt To Help Ryland Homes!" to get a better overview of our Ryland Home complaint to the BBB, and links to the over 100 Ryland Home problems that were all eventually fixed after 13 months of having much of our time wasted.   

Ryland Homes (and All Builders) Price Reduction Problem - Brokerblogger

I got a quick answer to my request for a refund of $9,000 (See "Will Ryland Homes "Price Protection" Continue?" from a manager at Ryland Homes.  He said:  "We did just lower our price's of our homes here to try and generate more sales and traffic.  Per our contract, we reserve the right to change our pricing and marketing strategies as we deem necessary.  I do understand your concern but please keep in mind, once things begin to pick up, we will once again begin to raise pricing on our homes.  With all this in mind, Ryland will not be refunding any of the difference in your base price and our new base price."

While this is NOT what I wanted to hear, I was given a quick answer, and I now know that there may be legal a problem for any builder to give a "refund/rebate" to their "already closed escrow" customers.  However, the possibility of any new home buyer having the value of their recently purchased new home going down thousands of dollars due to a price reduction soon after close of escrow is a real problem right now for both the buyer and the seller.  Another possible problem with Ryland Homes or any builder is the quality of "home readiness".  Make sure you read "My Last Ryland Homes Blog Post & My Attempt To Help Ryland Homes!"

In my area of the United States, this 1/23/08 article "Fall in MB Home Prices Forecast" says that a 2008 report from PMI Mortgage Insurance Co. is predicting that there is a 56% chance that prices will be lower in two years.  So what is a new home buyer, and a new home seller to do?  If you are a buyer, you may want to offer a lower price for a new or resale home no matter what the asking price is.  If you are a seller you may want to offer some big incentives that mean real savings.  Resale home sellers may want to take their home off the market, or be ready to accept a much lower price depending on the local market you are in.

On top of the pricing quandary, there is the possibility of cost cutting going on at all new home builders.  This could affect how the new home is delivered.  It could be a matter of how many legitimate structural and cosmetic complaints the new home buyer has, or just less variety and lower cost materials being used.  This 1/28/08 Indianapolis Indiana article "Battered builders retrench" says:  "California-based Ryland Homes has cut about 20 percent of its work force the last two years, and now employs 75 locally."  This 1/3/08 article "Lowly Faucet Gets A Whack As Home Builders Take Ax To Costs" says:  "The savings potential goes beyond simply substituting lower-quality kitchen cabinets or cheaper carpet. Limited the number of faucet styles, for example, lets builders order earlier and negotiate bigger bulk discounts from suppliers."

I'll be blogging about my Ryland Homes new home buying experience soon, as it relates to how my new home was delivered at the time I closed escrow, and how over 60 repair items (mostly cosmetic, but some structural) are being handled.

1/9/08 Update:  A good friend of mine who is about to buy a new home in the Myrtle Beach area of SC does not like having no price protection after he closes escrow.  So, he has decided to offer a builder, other than Ryland Homes, a price even lower than the newly lowered price set on a "quick move in" home.  He feels that he has the most price protection that way.

Will Ryland Homes "Price Protection" Continue? - Brokerblogger

Before you read this post, please be aware that my wife and I did not enjoy our first year of Ryland Home ownership.  See "My Last Ryland Homes Blog Post & My Attempt To Help Ryland Homes!" to get a better overview of our Ryland Home complaint to the BBB, and links to the over 100 Ryland Home problems that were all eventually fixed after 13 months of having much of our time wasted.

What difference does it make to the Ryland new home customer if Ryland Homes reduces the price he's agreed to pay before he closes escrow (as depicted in unfinished house photo above) or just after?  None! (2/7/08 Update:  It may make a big legal difference to any new home builder though, as a title insurance officer in Tx. recently informed me.  Since the home's loan, especially if there is one from Ryland's own lending division, is based on the original selling price.  Therefore, a post COE refund/rebate could present problems for the home builder with all the "sub-prime" lending allegations going around .  Instead of Ryland being the "good guy" in wanting to do the "right thing" by its recent home buyers, they could be incorrectly perceived as the "bad guy" who interferred with the loan amount to "value/original selling price" relationship!)  The customer still wants what Dana Rogers (VP of Sales and Marketing for the Las Vegas area) said is most important in this 1/19/08 article:  " 'We asked hundreds of customers what was most important to them and they said they wanted assurances they were getting a great value and that they would be protected in the event of price or rate adjustments,..' ".

Well, Ryland Homes just reduced the base price of my new home by $9,000 within 18 days of my closed escrow, and I sent off this e-mail to Don McDonough and Pat Recio, with copies to Chad Dreier (Chairman of Ryland Group), Gordon Milne (CFO of Ryland Group), LT Nichol, and Eric Elder.  These are all Ryland managers who should have some say in repeating the price protection that may have been given Ryland homeowners in my development who had already closed escrow , sometime around May of 2007.  (2/7/08 Update:  There's now, all of a sudden, seems to be a possibility that I misunderstood some of the many people that I spoke to in my development.  The rebate or refund may not have happened at all, and there may only have been a downward price adjustment BEFORE they closed escrow.  I will do more research on this.)   

I said something like this:  "My wife and I are closing on a new style house in S.C. on 1/18/08.  We are Ryland Home fans, because when I found out from a current Ryland home owner that had already moved in that Ryland (without the homeowners having to ask) gave back the difference between the new lower sales price and their (already paid) higher price, I knew that Ryland had INTEGRITY (Merriam Webster's Most Looked Up Word for 2005 = http://www.m-w.com/info/05words.htm).   We are counting on that same kind of INTEGRITY, as we close escrow next month with Ryland at possibly a little higher price than market value......  I am sending this to you (Gordon Milne), because I read what you said in this 12/20/07 article, "The Current State of the Real Estate New Construction Market":  "There is definitely a lot of discounting going on in some cities, Milne says, adding that many builders are offering 5 percent to 20 percent in incentives and price cuts, depending on the community."  It goes on to say, "It's hand-to-hand combat out in the field, Milne says. We look at the competition down the street, what they're doing, and we've got to match it."
Please let us know ASAP if my wife and I will be getting a check back for at least the $9,000 difference in base price.  If the upgrade/option pricing that we paid has been reduced, there is no way for us to know, but I'm sure Ryland's integrity will make sure that Ryland's recent customers have price reduction protection on everything that they just paid to Ryland Homes."

Time will tell, and I will report the results either way.  What is interesting is that Ryland Group Inc. is now on a general upswing curve with its stock price, as shown with this (RYL) 1 Year Stock Chart .  One of the best ways to continue that upswing, in my professional marketing opinion, would be to continue to give "Price Protection" to their customers even up to 6 months after Ryland Homes has the customer's money. (2/7/08 Update:  It may hint of illegalities though - but, in my opinion, it would come down to the intent of the new home builder, and I really believe that if Ryland or any builder did do a "refund/rebate" that their intent would only be to have satisfied customers.  However, I am not an attorney, and I know it is hard to prove "intent".)  "Refunds/Rebates" would assure "great value", and increase sales, I believe.  Online POSITIVE "WORD OF MOUTH" ADVERTISING, as well as Ryland customers talking to Ryland prospects would definitely happen (as it did with me).

See:  "My Ryland Homes New Home Buying Experience "

Praise For Ryland Homes Homeowner's Insurance - Brokerblogger

If the "wind and hail" of a hurricane came along and replaced your house with a pile of sand from the beach (as simulated in the photo above), you would need a good homeowner's insurance policy.  The problem is that it can cost a lot of money if you are in Zone 1 or 2 of the "Windpool" as determined by the South Carolina Wind and Hail Underwriting Association.

Ryland Homes passes on their buying power to their new home buyers by having a relationship with Balboa Insurance Company.  Even though my wife and I are located within Zone 2 of the S.C. "Windpool", our Homeowner's Insurance policy is only $958 per year which includes "wind and hail" insurance.  We got this insurance as a result of a contingency by Ryland Homes that we had to buy homeowner's insurance through them if we wanted up to $3,000 in non-recurring closing costs, and $10,000 in free upgrade options on our new Ryand Home.

When sellers pass on their buying power on anything which results in saving for the consumer, this is a "win-win" situation.  Of course, those savings are not passed on when it comes to the pricing of those upgrade options.  When I comparison shopped some of them, they were very high priced by Ryland Homes (as they are with all new home builders).  But, you do have the convenience of having them in your new home when you close escrow vs. having to deal with them afterwards.  The plus side to doing the upgrades afterwards is that your property taxes will be lower, since they are based on the selling price you pay a builder.  The downside is that you should contact your homeowner's insurance company to make sure you are not under-insured.

Before you finish reading this post, please be aware that my wife and I did not enjoy our first year of Ryland Home ownership.  See "My Last Ryland Homes Blog Post & My Attempt To Help Ryland Homes!" to get a better overview of our Ryland Home complaint to the BBB, and links to the over 100 Ryland Home problems that were all eventually fixed after 13 months of having much of our time wasted.

Ryland's Verbal vs. Written Sales Incentives - Brokerblogger

The photo is of a graphical depiction of a park that will be built close to the Ryland development they are selling.  It is an "in writing snapshot" of future plans by the developer to build a "buyer benefit" for all the new home builders in the development.  This is what new home buyers need to have a visual, permanent record of what they are being verbally told should happen eventually.

However, when it comes to sales incentives like Ryland Homes paying up to $3,000 in "non-recurring closing costs" (Ryland's definition of what specifically is "non-recurring" should be in writing), and $10,000 in free Ryland upgrades, there are no written documents (online or on paper) that state the details and contingencies of those incentives to get them when someone buys a Ryland home.  This places a burden on the Ryland sales agents that have to remember to verbally tell all prospective buyers all the contingencies that materially affect that incentive offering in a clear, conspicuous, comprehensive, comprehendable, and upfront way.  Hopefully, no buyer or seller wants any "misunderstandings", and last minute surprises.

I strongly suggest that Ryland Homes insure that they have proof that they are following FTC guidelines about "Advertising" by putting these details and contingencies on their web site, so that they can be easily changed, as the incentive dates and details evolve.  The only thing on Ryland's web site about these things related to Ryland's in house financing incentive of a lower rate when I put a deposit down on my Ryland home, and I did not use Ryland financing when I bought.

Before you finish reading this post, please be aware that my wife and I did not enjoy our first year of Ryland Home ownership.  See "My Last Ryland Homes Blog Post & My Attempt To Help Ryland Homes!" to get a better overview of our Ryland Home complaint to the BBB, and links to the over 100 Ryland Home problems that were all eventually fixed after 13 months of having much of our time wasted.

Ryland Homes Sales Policies (Problems & Kudos) - Brokerblogger

Most of what you see in the photo above of a Ryland Homes model home (as well as with most builder's model homes) is an upgrade, like the wood floor, backsplash, kitchen sink faucet, kitchen cabinetry, and pendant lights.  Yet, there is no way for the prospective buyer to know these material facts.  Some builders put a sheet of paper on an acrylic stand in every room that tells exactly what is an upgrade for each room.  Home buyers want to know what will be the approximate TOTAL COST of their prospective home, so they don't want to be unintentionally misled and have their expectations set improperly. 

Before you read the rest of this post, please be aware that my wife and I did not enjoy our first year of Ryland Home ownership.  See "My Last Ryland Homes Blog Post & My Attempt To Help Ryland Homes!" to get a better overview of our Ryland Home complaint to the BBB, and links to the over 100 Ryland Home problems that were all eventually fixed after 13 months of having much of our time wasted. 

The Ryland sales reps are not always available to deliniate an upgrade from something standard that comes with the base price of the home.  It should not be their responsibility anyway.  Model homes are a form of advertising, and the FTC says that advertising must have clear, conspicuous, comprehensive, and comprehendable disclosure about the "material facts" of the offering.

The Federal Trade Commission has a "FTC Policy Statement On Deception" regarding their "enforcement policy against deceptive acts or practices."  Notice, this is NOT just for the more traditional forms of "advertising".  The summary goes on to say "First, there must be a representation, omission or practice that is likely to mislead the consumer."

Now, as far as kudos goes, Ryland has a wise sales policy that greatly helped in my decision to buy a Ryland home (See Next Page).

My Ryland Homes New Home Buying Experience - Brokerblogger

Since I just closed escrow yesterday on my new Ryland Home, this series of blog posts will be an ongoing dialog of whether Ryland Homes can withstand the "Test of Time", when it comes to "Appropriate Workmanship Standards and Specifications" concerns (See "IMPORTANT FINAL RYLAND HOMES BLOG POST").  But first, let me say that I will do my best to be objective vs. subjective, and to keep in mind that my intent is to help Ryland Homes, since the more homes they sell in my new neighborhood the better it is for me.  Also, I want to make it clear that if I have to use tough love and constructive criticism, as well as praise and kudos, it will be done with research first and comprehensive attention to detail.

Today's post is intended to say that dealing with any new builder is a challenge that requires an INFORMED CONSUMER who has done his homework, and has set his own expectations properly.  I say this because I personally know people who have bought a Toll Brothers luxury home for over one million dollars, and another who bought a Beazer Home for a little less than my Ryland Home.  Both had similar mutual communication, buyer expectation, and  "appropriate workmanship standards and specifications" concerns.  They also had some praise for their builders. 

On the second page of this first post will be a short background leading up to my purchase of a new home from Ryland Group Inc. (RYL - stock symbol), which owns Ryland Homes.  Notice how R. Chad Dreier (CEO) says:  "Our constant aim is to deliver quality, value and an enjoyable customer experience with every home we build."  The upcoming "test of time" will uncover if what Mr. Dreier says is just disingenuous "corporate speak" or the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. 

All new home builders are going to have to learn and adjust to the "Age of Information", and what is said in the "Cluetrain Manifesto".  The beginning of it goes:  "A powerful global conversation has begun. Through the Internet, people are discovering and inventing new ways to share relevant knowledge with blinding speed. As a direct result, markets are getting smarter—and getting smarter faster than most companies."

Here are the events leading up to my Ryland Homes new home purchase in a "buyer's market" with cost cutting going on with most builders during this Real Estate downturn time.

Setting Realistic, Deliverable, and Measurable Expectations - Brokerblogger

Before you read this post, please keep in mind that one of the main reasons for this is that our reasonable expectations for our first year of Ryland Home ownership were not set or met properly by Ryland, our "seller".  See "My Last Ryland Homes Blog Post & My Attempt To Help Ryland Homes!" to get a better overview of our Ryland Home complaint to the BBB, and links to the over 100 Ryland Home problems that were all eventually fixed after 13 months of having much of our time wasted, and much unexpected stress.

If there is one thing that a "broker" or "intermediary" has to do well, it is making sure that buyer and seller expectations are set properly.

If you are on the buying end of a transaction, "Customer Satisfaction equals the Perceived Value the customer receives from the product or service minus the Cost to the customer for that product or service." according to D. Brown Management.  "Perceived" is the keyword, and "Setting Proper Expectations" is key to the evaluation of "Value Received".  The definition of the word "Perceived" says:  "to attain awareness or understanding of". 

So how do you attain "awareness & understanding"? It is done through Open, Honest, Upfront, and Good (O'HUG) Communication combined with empathy for the other party which is imperative in having all go smoothly.  Good communication, by the way, should be clear, conspicuous, comprehensive, and most importantly, completely comprehended!

If you are on the selling end of a transaction, you should get the same kind of good communication from the buyer on payment terms, as well as feedback on perceived value delivered and measured from buyer expectations.  Here is why:

Levitt Corporation's Seasons at Prince Creek West Clubhouse Plans - Brokerblogger

6/21/09 UPDATE:  Seasons Clubhouse had a grand opening on 6/20/09.  To see it, here is a map.

On 6/15/07 I was e-mailed by a Levitt Real Estate agent this information:  "..., please check the Sun News June 28 for press release re grand clubhouse Groundbreaking celebration."  I just did a search on the Sun News (MyrtleBeachOnline.com) and could not find the announcement.  But, that doesn't mean that it didn't run, or that the groundbreaking ceremonies didn't happen.  (See "Levitt's 'Seasons at Prince Creek West' Still Has No Clubhouse")

I hope the groundbreaking ceremonies did happen, but even if they did, it doesn't mean that the building will be finished and usable in 6 months (January, 2008).  I hope that it does happen, as the people who bought into that development early on were promised these "Amenities and Activities", and they are still waiting for them.

This Levitt news release of 1/23/06 says:  "Levitt Corporation Expands Homebuilding Into South Carolina; Subsidiary Levitt and Sons Opens its First Active-Adult Community in South Carolina, 'Seasons' at Prince Creek West."  So, it now is almost a year and a half later and still no Clubhouse, even though this photo of a street full of model homes (courtesy of "LivingChoices.com") shows a very similar street to where the Levitt "Prince Creek West" buyers are now living.

The image of the proposed Seasons at Prince Creek West Clubhouse in this blog post came from the official 1/23/06 "Levitt Corporation News Release" (the images appear to change from time to time, so the Clubhouse image may not show when you look).  The Clubhouse image sure looks nice, though, and I'd bet that the people who buy into this development will enjoy it.  I'd also bet that the Levitt Realtors that sell the properties really want to see the Clubhouse completed, too. 

So, I wish Levitt Corporation well, as it has a well documented and famous history.  Maybe, the information in this 7/12/07 BFC Financial Corporation Press Release will help.  It says:  "BFC Financial
Corporation (NYSE: BFF) ("BFC" or "the Company"), announced today that it sold 10,000,000 shares of its Class A Common Stock at a price of $3.40 per share for settlement on July 17, 2007. The shares sold by the Company are expected to raise net proceeds of approximately $32 million after underwriting discounts and commissions."  It goes on to say:  "The Company intends to use the proceeds of the offering to support Levitt Corporation either as a result of the proposed merger with Levitt or, if the merger is not consummated, in connection with Levitt's previously-announced intention to pursue a rights offering and for general corporate purposes."