Agree with camlan about starting new post. Know it's old but wanted to clarify something said above for anyone just reading: What most small owner/landlords fail to understand it that while they do retain ownership of the property, once they enter into a lease the leasee is the one who has exclusive access to the property for the duration of the lease and under those circumstances a landlord is bound to the same rules as a perfect stranger in regards to entering the property. They must knock, announce their intentions and you have the legal right to refuse entrance. They may argue with you on that point, but let it go to court and see how fast a judge will set the landlord straiht. I'm an owner/mgr of several rental houses, I've never seen in any state statutes I've read, certainly not in mine, that once a lease is in force a LL is bound to the same rules as a perfect stranger as far as entry. My state requires "reasonable verbal notice". Many states say xx hours or days written notice. So I always give minimum 24 hours, but that's for taking care of an issue that we need to address (say we're checking up on a repaired roof leak after a rain to make sure it's all good). If tenant calls with a problem we get it taken care of asap. I have good relationships with my tenants, so it's typically not a problem to come over same day. Everyone's happy and I don't have a small problem get bigger from not being addressed. If it's just a routine inspection, I'll give at least a week's notice. But I rarely do those, since one of us is in the house commonly several times a year when tenants call when something needs tending to. We just take a quick look around then. (I don't do white glove tests, nor walk all the way through if working in only one area of the home. If tenants are prone to doing damage, it's typically not isolated to one room. So it's easy enough to spot problems in any room, e.g. evidence of holes in walls, broken windows, etc.) Also in the lease is tenant will not deny entry or make unreasonable delays for entry when LL gives due notice. In case of an emergency, no notice is needed. That's our state statute and in each lease. In the towns our rentals are located, they require registration of the property as a rental, as well as all contact info for owner. It's kept on file in building or water department. Should an emergency arise, such as a fire, they know how to reach the owner. The best thing anyone can do is read and know your State's statutes on Landlord/Tenant law.

sparklegirl - the wet marks on the ceilings were not there during the viewing of the home or the HI and they have been painted over? Sounds to me that the seller is attempting to cover it up, especially since it's been painted. Was this in the disclosure? You definitely need a lawyer pronto. DO NOT CLOSE on this house until this situation is rectified and there is a significant money held in escrow. Do not rely upon your realtor to advise you on this. Listen to logic. Get the lawyer to write a letter asking for a disclosure about the water on the ceilings. I also agree that the tree is a non-issue. Unless it is dangerous or could fall onto the house, I wouldn't bother with it. You could ask that money be set aside for its removal if you feel that it could pose a danger to the house. Since it was winter when you viewed the home, it is impossible to tell if the tree was dead at the time, so I think you should have the right to at least mention it. But it's a pick your battle kind of thing.... the water marks are most important. Logic - get yer mind outta the gutter! ;) terrig - thanks for the offer. We just found out that we're going to the Twin Cities now. *sigh* The joys of the federal govt!! lol

I think the distinction between semi-custom home and truly custom construction is significant. I've done both plus lots of renovations. In our custom build, we had a fabulous GC. The way he liked to do business was to spend countless hours up front getting into excruciating detail about building products. Once we had cost out our desires, it became apparent that this house was going to cost a whole lot more than we had anticipated. We owned the land. The unknown costs lay in porches and basements. We all agreed that we needed another plan. (We were using William E. Poole plans) I went home and quickly found another plan that would work with a few modifications. It had smaller porches and we ditched the basement in favor of a FROG. It was a smarter build thanks to my GC. We owned the land and had more than 60% of the construction cost in cash. The bank loved us. Low risk. They only got involved when we were close to finishing up. I think we had one construction draw and a final inspection. Our GC suggested that we mutually determine his fee up front. It was a flat amount. This way, he was assured that he would be paid and make his profit. We paid him in monthly installments. The last payment would be withheld until we had release of liens from all of the subcontractors and the GC. Any costs would merely be passed through his accounts. There were no mark up on materials and services. They were entirely at his cost. I was given a copy of all of the receipts. He would present a months worth of bills and receipts at a time. There was one or two items that he needed the money a little faster. I think the framing material was an example. It was a pretty big bill as I recollect. In the areas where a guestimate was required in the budget, he would tend to overestimate. This way the surprises were pleasant. The hard work was done up front. We used those surprises to finish out the FROG. I ended up sourcing the appliances, the plumbing fixtures and the decorative electrical fixtures. He was a little leery about that, but I had everything ordered and stored in my garage ahead of time. I would take them over the day before they were needed and have them on site. The appliance dealer kept my appliances in storage until I was ready. The only plumbing fixture that I had the plumber order was two real cast iron tubs. I didn't want to be responsible for transport or installation of those. The GC had such a great time working with us, he and his brother, decided to do all of the interior finish carpentry themselves. They were used to working on projects that were 50% bigger than our home. We fit right into their schedule. It had been a long time since they had gotten to work together, they wanted to do it. They did a beautiful job. They built my mantle and an arched pocket door from a picture I provided them. They did a beautiful job. Semi-custom building, now that is an exercise in frustration. I'll never do that again. The answers in semi-custom building always seem to be no.

I agree that even if you test and inspect as much as possible, there will be items missed and/or will only come up after you move in and use things for a while. Thankfully, our builder appears very responsive. For those in a similar situation, here are a few things we experienced only after move in: 1. A few lights flicker, we think during air handler coming on, but not really sure yet 2. Toilet bubbles and eventually clogs or flushes poorly after washing machine has drained several times. The nearby tub drain also gurgles when washer is draining. Per my research here on Houzz, it could be a clogged vent stack on roof. Edit: plumber said it was construction debris that were allowed to go down both tubs that caused a clog. They cleared it. Hopefully, that was it. 3. Dishwasher was hooked up to cold water, instead of hot. 4. Hot water eventually failed to come to faucets. Water heater element was replaced to fix. 5. When turning on tub spigots, water leaks from shower head. Builder suspects faulty valves. Requires cutting through interior drywall to repair. 6. Oven part of gas range smoking upon first use. The amount of smoke is not typical and is not attributed to burn off of protective oil layer from factory. Appliance repair scheduled.