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My first house was a condo in a building which had been built about ~2 years before I moved in; I joined the board as the developer was transitioning out and ha

My first house was a condo in a building which had been built about ~2 years before I moved in; I joined the board as the developer was transitioning out and handing over responsibility to the tenants. This sounds exactly like what happened with us, just on a grander scale. Things like the post-tensioned concrete construction where the steel post-tensioner cables were left exposed to the elements, severe life-safety issues, electronics and machines which died far too early from being under-spec'd and improperly installed. The developer, of course, had incorporated a new company just for the building, and it was super easy for them to let it go bankrupt. In the end we managed to recoup some costs, but had to raise everyone's fees to cover the reduced lifetime of some of the major structural elements of the building.

nemo44x 6y ago
It’s interesting because I’ve heard from numerous people that work in construction that they would never buy into most of the new construction they worked on. Especially expensive condos in popular urban locations. Bare minimum construction that saves on both material and labor costs. Buy old and renovate has been something I’ve been told by various people.
- Breza 6y ago
  I absolutely love my ninety year old house. It's remarkably solid and there's no sound of settling or anything like that. Although apparently it was in vogue to put broken glass along fence lines during the eighties for security, which makes gardening adventurous...
jberryman 6y ago
I had a summer job in college with a real estate partnership that consisted entirely of filing unopened bills and liens into four different bins based on the project, each a different company that presumably was about to go bankrupt. The only time I saw the two owners was when I started and when the take me out to lunch when they abruptly (but not unexpectedly) let me go. At that meal one of the two was really excited about a new project: some turn-key restaurant idea, and how he'd only hire "hot waitresses".

nemo44x 6y ago

It’s interesting because I’ve heard from numerous people that work in construction that they would never buy into most of the new construction they worked on. Especially expensive condos in popular urban locations. Bare minimum construction that saves on both material and labor costs. Buy old and renovate has been something I’ve been told by various people.

Breza 6y ago
I absolutely love my ninety year old house. It's remarkably solid and there's no sound of settling or anything like that. Although apparently it was in vogue to put broken glass along fence lines during the eighties for security, which makes gardening adventurous...

jberryman 6y ago

I had a summer job in college with a real estate partnership that consisted entirely of filing unopened bills and liens into four different bins based on the project, each a different company that presumably was about to go bankrupt. The only time I saw the two owners was when I started and when the take me out to lunch when they abruptly (but not unexpectedly) let me go. At that meal one of the two was really excited about a new project: some turn-key restaurant idea, and how he'd only hire "hot waitresses".