My husband and I signed a contract with Canterra Homes in good faith that the home would be built to our specifications. We had never contracted for a new home before and were flabbergasted at the amount of paperwork involved. Our list of additions was the size of a small novel.
When we met with the builders superintendent prior to start of construction, we went over all of the options that we had added to the contract. We asked him what happened to the French doors we had ordered. He said that they had been "accidentally left out" by the sales associate, and told us to call the office the next day to have them added. We called, and there was no indication that there would be any problem. Two days later we got a phone call saying that the doors could not be put in the home as it was "too late". Bear in mind that construction had not begun; the floor had not even been poured!
We contacted the owner of the company and said that we only wanted the home that we had ordered - nothing more and nothing less. We felt that we should get what we ordered since that was the reason for having a new home built and we were not asking for anything unreasonable. We offered to pay for any additional fees involved and were still told that it was, "impossible" to add the doors.
It was clear that we were not going to get the house that we had ordered. We had no choice but to cancel the contract as this was actually the third issue we had encountered where Canterra Homes was unreasonable.
The housing market is out of control in our area. Homes are worth tens of thousands more when completed than when construction starts. Builders offer the first lots for much less money at the start of a subdivision than at the end. If you wish to make money, you need to get in at the beginning of a community. This is what we did.
Canterra clearly wanted to cancel our contract so that they could sell the home on the oversized lot for more money. We think that this is just one way builders use poor unsuspecting buyers that happen to be first into a subdivision. They make some "mistake" in the hopes that the buyer will cancel the contract. Then they increase the price substantially on the home and sell for much more than the original price. Builder wins - buyer loses.in short, we were USED by Canterra Homes.
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