Thursday, December 13, 2007

Hating on Builders

Sort of amusing.

One mid-sized private builder told a friend of mine that potential customers coming through their model-home doors are openly hostile. They’re not just looking for good deals; they’re looking for payback.

Apparently some of today’s new homebuyers blame the builders outright for the current housing predicament. They are telling unwitting sales reps that they are to blame for running up prices and foisting untenable loans on clients during the latest housing boom. Buyers are telling the sales people stories of how rudely they were treated during the boom, how they were told that if they didn’t want to take the deal they could stick it, because there was a line of buyers right behind them.


It's not obvious to me that builders are the biggest villains in this tale. They can certainly be evil for other reasons, but I think real estate agents and mortgage brokers come ahead of them in this story. Still I imagine that they're the ones that home buyers can express a bit of hate to.