Homebuying in Seattle & Washington State
It's a buyers market!
The market has changed dramatically for buyers, and now is the time to insist on getting a fair deal from homebuilders.
Here are some suggestions for Washington state homebuyers:
Insist that the builder provide you with a warranty as follows:
- The home is free of defects in materials.
- The home has been constructed in a workmanlike manner consistent with applicable industry standards.
- The home complies with all applicable codes and regulations.
- Assess the potential damage to tenants
- The home has been constructed in accordance with sound engineering and construction standards.
- Also, insist that the builder agrees to repair at its sole expense any defects and violations of the warranty described above.
Buyer and builder are obligated to comply with RCW 64.50:
Provided that buyer complies with RCW 64.50, builder shall be liable for any breach of these warranties, and buyer shall have up to six years from the date buyer takes possession of the house, or builder completes all initial work on the house, whichever comes later.
With the exception that in the case of latent defects, including water damage and structural defects, seller agrees to repair such defects within four years of discovery by the buyer, up to a maximum period of ten years from the date buyer takes possession, or builder completes all initial work on the house.
If you want help in negotiating the terms of your purchase of a new home, please contact us.
Building or buying a new home:
If you are thinking about buying or hiring a builder to build a new home, we have some important suggestions before you sign any contract.
You must take advantage of the slowing market and insist that your builder provide you with a meaningful warranty.
Why:
Because in Washington state, you have no protection under state law against shoddy workmanship.
Here’s the situation in Washington:
- Anyone can register to be a contractor. No experience required.
- The state does not require minimum standards of workmanship.
- The state does not require any repair warranty, not for a year, not for a month.
- Homeowners cannot enforce the building codes. What this means is that if a contractor violates the building codes, but you don’t find out until after the project has been accepted, there is nothing you can do to force the contractor to return and fix the problem.
- Builders will insist that homebuyers waive all rights against the builder, and state law does not prohibit this.
- Builders often insist that buyers accept a third party warranty, but the warranty is worse than no warranty at all because it forces buyers to deal with the warranty company, not the builder. It also waives your right to go to court if a problem occurs. Finally, you have to pay the warranty company a fee for every defect.
This law firm spent hundreds of hours over the past two years to help pass legislation that would establish minimum warranties for homeowners. The bills passed the state Senate, but the speaker of the state House of Representatives, Frank Chopp, singlehandedly blocked the legislation.
We will continue to press ahead with this legislation, and hope the Speaker will show more concern for injured homeowners than the special interest builders lobby who worked hard to kill the legislation.
In the meantime, if you are contracting for a new home, or a significant remodel, you need to protect yourself. Given the current problems in the housing industry, this may be the best time ever to insist that a builder give you a meaningful warranty. If the company won’t do that, find another builder who is hungrier for the work.
Having trouble With contractors?
Are you building a new, custom home, or remodeling your existing home in Washington? Is everything going well, is the project on schedule, are you happy with the quality of work? If so, consider yourself fortunate. For many home owners, the process of working with a contractor is comparable to hiring a used car salesman to perform heart surgery.
How to Protect Yourself from Bad Contractors
Of course, there are great architects, contractors and craftsmen. The trick is to find them among the many unskilled, or unscrupulous in the homebuilding industry. Never hire an architect or contractor without personally interviewing at least three references of comparable projects. Check to see if the architect or contractor has been sued, and find out why, and what happened in the end.
If you are in the process of building or remodeling, or you are in a finished home and you have discovered leaks, water damage, or other defects, fill out this questionnaire (Prelien Referral Fill In Form) and email it to us. We will review your comments and get back to you with suggestions.
Hiring an Expert:
Before the damage has been contaminated or lost, you should hire an expert to review the evidence, the photos, the physical samples and remaining damage. The expert can explore for areas of dangerous conditions, and assist in assessing the risks to both people and property. The expert can assist in preparing and then submitting a claim.
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