Like every other business, the homebuilding industry has its share of business owners and superintendents that have no business being the ‘face’ of the company.
On one end of the spectrum a builder can build a mediocre product and yet have their home buying customer believing the builder is a ‘great’ builder simply because the builder addresses the customer’s concerns during the building process or during the warranty process.
This type of builder can be phenomenally successful with very little in the way of construction skills. Simply put, in the context of construction defects the builder can rely on the subcontractors’ skills, install a quality control inspection process, insist that defects and shortcomings be corrected and communicate the process with the customer.
On the flip-side, even a fairly well constructed house can have the home buyer begin to wonder just what they are purchasing.
Builders and superintendents that insist on arguing with the homeowner or the homeowner’s Inspector and downplaying the homeowner’s concerns do themselves a great disservice.
As soon as the Builder or his superintendent utters one disrespectful or snide comment toward their customer, they can quickly lose credibility. This can lead to distrust through the remainder of the relationship.
As importantly, it significantly reduces the chances of the home buyer being a positive referral.
