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Paying your house builder


monica40

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You will end up doing it the way it works for you best.

When we were building, on the coast, we paid two cheques weekly to the contractor... one for labour and the other for materials. We were on site every day. We hired an accountant in Bucerias to make the payments for IMSS and Infonavit... she gave us the receipts every month. Nothing was owing to IMSS when we went to get our Finiquito so we could register the house to the property.

No contract... on time and on budget... and no problems even after living there for six years.

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I am reluctant to comment because most people only want to hear what they want to hear.   I have used a contractor to build a house.  A gringo and proclaimed expert in fact.  Maybe what happened to me can be avoided by you.  So here’s the facts...

1.  Budget was established which he exceeded by over 50%  2. Paid monthly equal payments with one month in advance.   3. He agreed to pay all licenses and imss.  

Reality - he paid no building fees, taxes or permits.  No inventory control was in place and he over ordered, placed the material in a bodega and sold it keeping the money.   

So you can figure out what should be in place to safeguard yourself.   He did this, I later discovered, with several insuspecting clients.    My neighbor and friend used a local contractor.  He falsified documents and sued the client claiming possessionof the house he built.  A house valued at close to 1-million usd.

would I ever build a house again?   Not on your life.   There are deals to be had on existing homes and bought right I could throw 100grand into a reno, get what I want and be money ahead.

 

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We are currently building, pay a fixed labor cost per week. We pay for materials and other services needed ( hauling, excavation equipment) as needed with bids and reciepts. 

No contract, no lawyers. No problems, but I have heard others have  had bad experiences. 

 

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hi  We have built 2 houses..last house..no contract, paid fixed labour each week and then material costs...IMSS payments for workers were handled by an accountant

...no problems!  I guess ..know your builder!  talk to people whose houses have been built by your  builder????

 

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Based on the experience of the people who built our house I would personally or have a qualified person confirm all material deliveries to and remaining on site before paying for same.  What apparently happened here is that material needs were inflated and then diverted to another property.

Only speaking for myself if I were to ever get involved in building I'd hire a guy like Brad Grieve as my construction manager even though I am personally very experienced in all aspects of construction.  That experience does not come from here and I would want someone who knows all the games they play here.

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2 hours ago, Mainecoons said:

Based on the experience of the people who built our house I would personally or have a qualified person confirm all material deliveries to and remaining on site before paying for same.  What apparently happened here is that material needs were inflated and then diverted to another property.

Only speaking for myself if I were to ever get involved in building I'd hire a guy like Brad Grieve as my construction manager even though I am personally very experienced in all aspects of construction.  That experience does not come from here and I would want someone who knows all the games they play here.

We have the benefit of being on site daily, we built the casita first ( rented around the corner from the site) and now live in it. We know what is going on every day. So checking receipts against what is delivered and stays on the job site is easy. And we get receipts as the material is dropped off. The materials scam is a global issue, very common in the construction industry everywhere. Being on site and involved also gives you the opportunity to collaborate with your builder, make changes on the fly. What we started out building on paper evolved into a much more functional and esthetically pleasing home. Not always an option for people building homes, but in my opinion, the best situation.

Every morning, we have an airpot of coffee for the guys, sometimes pan too. Limonada and fresh fruit for energy every afternoon. And we have a twice monthly lunch on Saturday where we cook various meals that the guys have never had, Italian, German, Korean foods. And of course the popular burger day. And in return, we are frequently invited for lunch with the guys in their "executive dining room" under the arches that support the casita. Tortas and tacos their families prep for them daily.

Then the annual May construction workers party at the site, hosted by us and the guys are invited to every big party held at the casita and they bring their families. If you can build like this, its a great experience.

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We did it that way too, but for a major re-build. In later years, the workers remained friends and were always happy to come and do odd jobs for us. When I was hospitalized with a heart attack, right on the Dia de la santa cruz, they skipped having a party, piled into an old car and all came to the hospital in Guadalajara to visit.  That was deeply felt; still to this day. We had a similar relationship with our housekeeper and we did our best to reciprocate whenever there was a need.  Mexico is like that, and we miss it.

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We have not built a house but have totally remodeled two.  We had a written contract that I wrote up myself after discussions with the contractor that we both signed.  We gave a down payment of 25 percent and spaced out the rest as work progressed.  Had no problems and a good relationship with all.  We supplied drinks and snacks ... Plus I love to bake and the workers love to eat ?. Never occurred to us to hire a lawyer or an accountant but did require copies of the permits and the contractor took care of the IMSS.  I suppose we were lucky after reading some of these posts.

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We had a house that was completely gutted and rebuilt. One Mexican tradition which we honoured was to have a party for the workers upon completion. Nothing elaborate - carnitas, chicken, women making tortillas, frijoles and beer. Make it clear their wives are invited, and you and your spouse disappear. If you stay the wives won't come. We stayed, and enjoyed ourselves, but no wives attended. They just peeked in, saw we were there, and walked away.

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When I was on the final wrap-up week of my building project, I told the crew I was going to give them a party and asked if they wanted to do it the afternoon of the last day (a Friday), or whether they would like me to do it on Saturday, when they could bring their wives and kids. They all sort of looked at each other, there was some kind of silent communication between them, then my head maestro spoke up and said "If we bring our wives, we can't get drunk."

I said, "So Friday afternoon then?" Full complement of affirmative head nods.

 

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Have a competent attorney draw up a good contract.  I reviewed a contract yesterday  a "builder" prepared.  There was one contract in English, one in Spanish.  The English one said contractor paid IMSS fees, Spanish one which was valid one said owner was liable for payment, catching that saved the owner $500,000 pesos on a large construction job. 

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