I bought my first home about two years ago, in Tennessee, after watching our Florida neighborhood degenerate into a crime-ridden hell-hole. Unfortunately I was fairly desperate to get out of there, and as often happens when you're desperate, things usually just get worse, despite your best efforts.
I had been hunting for a house in the area of my wife's relatives, hoping we could find some kind of fresh start in a new town, and I spotted these affordable town-homes just south of Murfreesboro. Having just a few days left before I had to fly back to Florida, I grabbed the opportunity to be first in on a newly constructed town-home.
After we settled on our choice of three town-homes available, we picked the one near a patch of woods, which was in full view of the dining room window, which Mr. Mitchell assured us would remain between our units and future phases of town-homes in the next patch of ground. It was a prime spot. We were delighted with our decision. I left a deposit, and headed back to Florida to arrange the financial logistics of the deal.
We chose the rest of our options online, which actually worked out pretty well. When it came time to head back to Murfreesboro for the closing, we were so excited. We had about four days to accomplish our mission before we had to go back to Florida to pack up. That's when the Big Real Estate Con Job went down.........
We had been set up. I have to hand it to Mr. Mitchell. He is a smiling con-artist of the highest order. Everything seemed fine until the day of closing. We had arranged to do a walk-through, which seemed to surprise the realtor, but which everyone should do before closing, of course.
Anyways, we spent several hours looking at what should have been a pristine, ready to move-in condition place, and yet finding the house unprepared, portions unfinished, and in general, filthy; appliances were not in place, light fixtures were not set up in their rightful place as we had pointed out the first time we were there. The venetian blinds, which we had paid for that would be included in the closing costs were not installed in the windows and doors.
The complementary "deluxe" refrigerator which had been promised by Mr. Mitchell upon submitting our deposit, was nowhere to be seen. None of the sinks and tubs in the three bathrooms were clean, showing remnants of caulking-splatter and construction dust. Carpets were not vacuumed, floors were not washed. Exterior window screens had construction chalk markings all over them. Miscellaneous spots were missing paint, such as inside closets, attic doors, and trim.
We should have walked away at that point, but Mr. Mitchell was adamant that all these things would be taken care of in the next 24 hours. Meanwhile, we had to change our closing date, and coordinate the change with all parties involved. Unfortunately, our options were limited, as far as going somewhere else at that time.
We had to spend another night at our hotel room, instead of staying in our new house. The next day, we did our second walk-through an hour before closing, and to our amazement, most of the tasks had been accomplished. We were guaranteed in writing that the rest of it would be finished before we arrived from Florida with our moving van. We entrusted Mr. Mitchell to monitor the activity and remain in communication with us regarding the property.
During the walk-through we were concerned about the temperature. It was unusually hot, and Joel explained that they had turned the heat system off, and that the air would be nicely cooled by the time we finished closing within the next hour or so.
Closing did not go smoothly of course, and by the time we returned to our new home, the house was even hotter, and the temperature had risen to nearly 85 degrees, even though it was near dark out. We made a call to Mr. Mitchell, and he said that someone would come out the following morning to check it out. With all the windows open, and the ceiling fans on, we had the most uncomfortable and sweaty night, sleeping on the floor.
The next day, we found out that we'd been lied to about the heat and air conditioning system. We found out that there had been issues with the unit earlier in the week, and even within hours of our final walk-through, and Mr. Mitchell had never said a word about it. The repairman indicated that he had seen our unit the same day as our final walk-through, and that a part might have to be replaced, but that it would not be available until Monday, the day we were flying back to Florida.
After all we had been through, we were livid. My wife just said "that's it", and demanded that they get the A/C fixed that day, or we would kill the deal, under the three day law. The owner of the a/c company came out and replaced the entire air conditioner that day. We were satisfied at that point.
As time unfolded, the deceptions were revealed. Within just a few months, they tore out every single tree in front of our new place, and in fact, every tree on the entire hillside behind the complex. The vast greenery of the acreage was substituted with bare limestone rocks, mud, and tree stumps. Then shortly after that, underground blasting went on for months, due to the limestone, which must be blasted out to place the foundation for the next phase of town-homes. Our place rocked and shook at every blast session for months. Even the old neighborhood around the complex began to complain. They even blasted a huge rock through our roof-a basketball-sized boulder, which still remains somewhere in our attic, even though they patched the roof. Nothing was ever mentioned that blasting would be done.
And here it is two years later, and they're just now paving the road from the entrance back to our place. Finally we will no longer have to dodge the exposed manhole covers, which were a real obstacle course.
By this time, the first two phases of construction were supposed to be finished, according to Mr. Mitchell. However, due to unknown factors, construction has been intermittent throughout the past two years. New construction has just resumed on the second phase now that the nice weather has started, and the end of construction is nowhere in sight. Dirt and dust continues to regularly cover our vehicles. Heavy equipment rumbles the ground during the week, and our view continues to resemble a moonscape.
Construction workers incessantly hang around around and eyeball our every move, fly by on heavy equipment as we enter and exit, block our access roads, and occasionally blast loud music.
Joel Mitchell Reviews
I bought my first home about two years ago, in Tennessee, after watching our Florida neighborhood degenerate into a crime-ridden hell-hole. Unfortunately I was fairly desperate to get out of there, and as often happens when you're desperate, things usually just get worse, despite your best efforts.
I had been hunting for a house in the area of my wife's relatives, hoping we could find some kind of fresh start in a new town, and I spotted these affordable town-homes just south of Murfreesboro. Having just a few days left before I had to fly back to Florida, I grabbed the opportunity to be first in on a newly constructed town-home.
After we settled on our choice of three town-homes available, we picked the one near a patch of woods, which was in full view of the dining room window, which Mr. Mitchell assured us would remain between our units and future phases of town-homes in the next patch of ground. It was a prime spot. We were delighted with our decision. I left a deposit, and headed back to Florida to arrange the financial logistics of the deal.
We chose the rest of our options online, which actually worked out pretty well. When it came time to head back to Murfreesboro for the closing, we were so excited. We had about four days to accomplish our mission before we had to go back to Florida to pack up. That's when the Big Real Estate Con Job went down.........
We had been set up. I have to hand it to Mr. Mitchell. He is a smiling con-artist of the highest order. Everything seemed fine until the day of closing. We had arranged to do a walk-through, which seemed to surprise the realtor, but which everyone should do before closing, of course.
Anyways, we spent several hours looking at what should have been a pristine, ready to move-in condition place, and yet finding the house unprepared, portions unfinished, and in general, filthy; appliances were not in place, light fixtures were not set up in their rightful place as we had pointed out the first time we were there. The venetian blinds, which we had paid for that would be included in the closing costs were not installed in the windows and doors.
The complementary "deluxe" refrigerator which had been promised by Mr. Mitchell upon submitting our deposit, was nowhere to be seen. None of the sinks and tubs in the three bathrooms were clean, showing remnants of caulking-splatter and construction dust. Carpets were not vacuumed, floors were not washed. Exterior window screens had construction chalk markings all over them. Miscellaneous spots were missing paint, such as inside closets, attic doors, and trim.
We should have walked away at that point, but Mr. Mitchell was adamant that all these things would be taken care of in the next 24 hours. Meanwhile, we had to change our closing date, and coordinate the change with all parties involved. Unfortunately, our options were limited, as far as going somewhere else at that time.
We had to spend another night at our hotel room, instead of staying in our new house. The next day, we did our second walk-through an hour before closing, and to our amazement, most of the tasks had been accomplished. We were guaranteed in writing that the rest of it would be finished before we arrived from Florida with our moving van. We entrusted Mr. Mitchell to monitor the activity and remain in communication with us regarding the property.
During the walk-through we were concerned about the temperature. It was unusually hot, and Joel explained that they had turned the heat system off, and that the air would be nicely cooled by the time we finished closing within the next hour or so.
Closing did not go smoothly of course, and by the time we returned to our new home, the house was even hotter, and the temperature had risen to nearly 85 degrees, even though it was near dark out. We made a call to Mr. Mitchell, and he said that someone would come out the following morning to check it out. With all the windows open, and the ceiling fans on, we had the most uncomfortable and sweaty night, sleeping on the floor.
The next day, we found out that we'd been lied to about the heat and air conditioning system. We found out that there had been issues with the unit earlier in the week, and even within hours of our final walk-through, and Mr. Mitchell had never said a word about it. The repairman indicated that he had seen our unit the same day as our final walk-through, and that a part might have to be replaced, but that it would not be available until Monday, the day we were flying back to Florida.
After all we had been through, we were livid. My wife just said "that's it", and demanded that they get the A/C fixed that day, or we would kill the deal, under the three day law. The owner of the a/c company came out and replaced the entire air conditioner that day. We were satisfied at that point.
As time unfolded, the deceptions were revealed. Within just a few months, they tore out every single tree in front of our new place, and in fact, every tree on the entire hillside behind the complex. The vast greenery of the acreage was substituted with bare limestone rocks, mud, and tree stumps. Then shortly after that, underground blasting went on for months, due to the limestone, which must be blasted out to place the foundation for the next phase of town-homes. Our place rocked and shook at every blast session for months. Even the old neighborhood around the complex began to complain. They even blasted a huge rock through our roof-a basketball-sized boulder, which still remains somewhere in our attic, even though they patched the roof. Nothing was ever mentioned that blasting would be done.
And here it is two years later, and they're just now paving the road from the entrance back to our place. Finally we will no longer have to dodge the exposed manhole covers, which were a real obstacle course.
By this time, the first two phases of construction were supposed to be finished, according to Mr. Mitchell. However, due to unknown factors, construction has been intermittent throughout the past two years. New construction has just resumed on the second phase now that the nice weather has started, and the end of construction is nowhere in sight. Dirt and dust continues to regularly cover our vehicles. Heavy equipment rumbles the ground during the week, and our view continues to resemble a moonscape.
Construction workers incessantly hang around around and eyeball our every move, fly by on heavy equipment as we enter and exit, block our access roads, and occasionally blast loud music.
Welcome to home ownership.