April 26, 2017 – Top five ways to protect against builder and new home construction problems, by Anthony Powell, Vice President of Operations AAFMAA Mortgage Services. Receiving phone calls over the last thirty years regarding builder and lender shenanigans, Anthony Powell has seen just about everything. Here, Anthony Powell describes how military families can insulate themselves when building a new home.
The primary method of insulation is to make certain the military mortgage family has selected the right team. Too often, military families select one person and then trust everything recommended. Questions regarding marketing service agreements (or controlled business arrangements), contract law, fiduciary responsibility, and of course money are limited to the one person selected. Other team members (Realtor, Lender, Appraiser, Attorney, Insurance) should not be selected by the one person. Ask for multiple names and select the right team.
The second risk to mitigate is not to write a big down payment check to the builder. Too many times, Anthony Powell has consulted with home buyers at large developments to find that the builder cashed the down payment check and kept it. There are many contracts to negotiate and the military family must be underwritten and qualified for a mortgage. Writing a check simply puts that money at risk. Consult with the team of professionals before writing a check to the builder.
The third risk in building is to study the risks involved and become educated. Google the builder, the team, and the problems in new home construction that can go wrong. Regional weather risks combined with normal construction risks are ultimately the responsibility of the home buyer.
The fourth risk is a builder that isn’t properly vetted. The home buyer needs a back-up plan if the builder defaults either financially or from a quality of construction standpoint.
The fifth risk is an inability to understand that building a home is similar to negotiating a new home purchase. Understand what is customary for profit for a home builder, and the ways in which a home builder may increase profits. Land, labor, capital, materials are all areas of mark-up and may cause the military family to substantially over-pay for a new home. The lender selected should be able to illustrate standard targets for post- certificate of occupancy market values for the new home.
AAFMAA Mortgage Services offers a construction mortgage to well-qualified military families interested in building a new home. Anthony Powell, an experienced state-licensed loan officer and Vice President of Operations of AMS, can help military families achieve homeownership. AMS competes on rates and service and takes pride in continuing the tradition of zero BBB complaints ever to date.
Military families can get the most value out of a home sale or purchase by working with unique tools like the AMS mortgage calculator, the AMS Relocation site, and experienced state-licensed mortgage professionals.
Anthony Powell further stated, “You owe it to yourself to explore rate and cost options. You are your own best advocate for getting the best mortgage product. We are here to serve your financing needs at a very competitive rate.”
Competitive, accurate, honest, transparent, and member-owned. Experience the difference at AAFMAA Mortgage Services. AAFMAA Mortgage Services LLC is licensed in the states of Connecticut, Florida, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia. (NMLS: 1423968).
The team operates from 639 Executive Place, Suite 203, Fayetteville, North Carolina 28305. Call 844-218-6926 (844-4-AAFMAA), email mortgage(at)aafmaa.com or visit the website at http://www.aafmaa.com/mortgage to reach AAFMAA Mortgage Services. Equal Opportunity Lender. Lender NMLS: 1423968. Anthony Powell, NMLS ID 78385.