I wouldnt say its typical, but I think it depends on the price range you are looking for and if its on the lower end for that area.

If you are in Canada you don't have a mortgage interest tax deduction, right? That could be skewing prices in general. So perhaps you are not comparing apples to apples.

Personally, I've noticed that in affluent areas of the south houses are much more attractively decorated, more tasteful, and better maintained than in the northeast (no doubt in part due to land being more affordable in the south and the fact that more families can afford to have a spouse stay at home and fix the place up). So there are regional differences within the US.

Also, if you are looking at vacant homes and comparing them to your (and your neighbors') furnished homes, that may be distorting your opinion as well. You tend to not notice small construction details as much in a furnished homes.

I'm not saying you are wrong - I have no idea. I'm just suggesting some possibilities other than US construction being inferior in general to Canadian.

We visited a lot of open houses when we were looking to get an idea of what was out there. Saw a ton of sloppy workmanship and cheap materials. I also live in Canada, near Niagara Falls, On.

Part of it I will blame those damn flipping shows. Everyone thinks they can get away with it now. Yes, they advertise new kitchens, but they are the cheapest cubords and counters that you can buy! I remember one house we were looking at half seriously and realized there were no support walls in the basement. We hope they had put in a good steel beam to span the house, but looking at how they fixed up the rest of the house I have my doubts. Scary!

I was wondering if these people were able to pull to wool over anybody's eyes. We were looking at a midrange market, nicer smaller houses.

We bought a fixer-upper. We are doing our best not to go over board with the renovations, but we refuse to totally cheap out and we're getting quality work done. I just hope that people see that when its time to sell the house.

"Personally, I've noticed that in affluent areas of the south houses are much more attractively decorated, more tasteful, and better maintained than in the northeast (no doubt in part due to land being more affordable in the south and the fact that more families can afford to have a spouse stay at home and fix the place up). So there are regional differences within the US."

Or, it could just be you're witnessing first-hand how cheap some of us are in New England! (that's a joke, folks!)

Seriously though...there's a large contingent of New Englanders that would never spend money to redecorate. Even in $1M+ homes you'll see 30 year old sofas & a mis-mash of furniture from several generations. It has nothing to do with land values. It's a mindset. The south has 'Southern Living' & New England has 'Yankee Magazine"! rofl New Englanders, in general, are quite wealthy by national standards. You might not know it though by looking at their houses. :) Here along the SE CT shore...you'll see many old ramshackle homes in dire need of maintenance sitting on $2M sites overlooking LIS with a $500K boat tied to a rotting dock & a twelve year old car in the driveway that hasn't been washed since May. Doesn't have anything to do with whether one spouse stays home, or not.

As a lender, I've had many a laugh at my commercial real estate borrowers. Most don't even have a "Maintenance & Repairs" line item in their budgets & looked at me like I'd just landed from Mars when I suggested they add one! lol I remember one guy who owned two deckers side-by-side. He had $100/year in his "Maintenance & Repairs" budget which I found comical so I asked him what it was for. He responded, "It's for light bulbs but I never spend that much!" Yeah, it's a mindset.

/tricia

/t

I was talking more about the tri-state area, so I don't think it's so much a mindset, as people just not having the time after their commutes nor the money after paying $750k+ and $15k+/year in taxes for a fixer-upper.

I don't disagree with you - I just don't think we are talking about the same areas (my bad - I should have been more specific).

I think it's also just that people tend to go towards the local standard so trends tend to persist. Towns commutable to NYC had middle class populations not that long ago. And the decor reflected that. People weren't using decorators and buying fine furniture. There wasn't a tradition of entertaining formally. Since people don't feel the pressure to have elegant homes, why bother? I guess in that sense it is a mindset.

P.S. I think I might have misinterpreted some posts. Are you guys saying that construction in Canada is poor? Or that construction in the U.S. is poor relative to construction in Canada?

"homes in dire need of maintenance sitting on $2M sites overlooking LIS with a $500K boat tied to a rotting dock & a twelve year old car in the driveway that hasn't been washed since May."

Since moving to Maine (from the deep south) my husband keeps pointing out that very thing to me. We will drive by houses that look like they should be condemned - and there in the drive is a huge boat. Can be a bit confounding to a transplant. :)

MP

I personally don't have any idea about the quality of construction in the US vs. Canada. I know Canada has some very extreme variances in tempurature [at least where I live in Manitoba)so buildings need to be able to handle the expanding and contraction of wood etc. I am sure it would be the same in the northern parts of the US, but then the southern parts have their own specific concerns.

I am sure they are both quality, just different.

These homes we looked at were furnished. People still living in them. My Father is/was a finishing carpenter and I guess I have inherited his "eye" for detail. Blessing or a curse, depending on who you talk to.[husband thinks a curse ;)]

These are middle class homes that 7 yrs ago would of gone for $120-150K, how with our economy being so high $230-250K. Still alot of money for us. I expect quality finishing work as well.

Maybe my expectations are not realistic. These homes were just under 1300 sq/f, one with finished basement, one with partial.

sweeterthan - if you've been used to living in older construction, say immediately post WWII that was built really solid with original growth wood, real plaster etc, what's going up today is going to look cheap. IMHO anyway.

When I was shopping for a house I went in one that was a few years old. I opened the door to the basement, then went to turn on the light. Right above the switch was a non sanded & painted glob of spackle.

We decided to start looking at new homes about 45 minutes away. Just about every new home community had bad craftsmanship. We'd walk the house and see what you were seeing, wondering why a builder would let things like that slide on a model home.

It got to the point where we found one builder that did really nice work. I decided to walk preowned homes to see if they also looked good, they did.

I don't understand how people can take the time to work on something but not prep or finish the job correctly. My new neighbor told me that when they were looking for a house, it came down to little things like better walls & molding.

marys, since I've been married, I've lived 17 yrs in a really old mobile home, and 5 yrs in our new home, and my father did the finishing and solid oak treds on our stairs and quality railings! I guess I am a bit spoiled now *grins*, what can I say!

I guess I will have to learn not to expect "perfection" when we make our initial move into town, and wait till we are ready to build again!

When we were looking at homes, I was surprised by some of the cheap construction jobs we looked at. For new buildings, we went in model units that made me shudder - and if you can't get your guys to tile a straight line or lay a baseboard without gaps in the model unit, what do you think the other units are going to look like when they're done? I also was surprised at some of the cheap and nasty renovations done in order to sell - bathrooms fixtures slapped into place, crooked sheetrocking to cobble together a closet in a room without one. I'd much rather start from scratch and buy a place that hasn't been touched since 1970, instead of trying to fix a remuddling job.