Clint Miller of Megatel Homes in Dallas Texas: No Full Inspections of our Homes Allowed!

2017-05-04 11_40_39-(2) TOP 3.0 User Group CONFIDENTIAL.jpg

Per Clint Miller, Construction Manager of Megatel Homes, Inc. out of Dallas Texas (See attached shot directly from his email):

"Hi,

I want to inform you of the rules of any and all outside Third Party Inspectors. They are not allowed to get ON the Roff. They are NOT allowed to open any Electrical Panel Boxes, A/C Unit Panels, or Water Heater Panels. If any of these are opened without having a Certified License from the State of Texas of all types, will automatically void any and all warranty's. Appliances are not allowed to be opened up and tampered with or the Warranty is also voided by Whirlpool. Megatel Homes does not recognize and Third Party Inspections other than our own. Secondly, The Buyer Orientation that we will be having is between Megatel Homes Representative and the Buyers only. Having multiple people involved does not allow us to properly inform you about the home. This orientation is not a nit-pic session. This home is complete. The home meets and exceeds Megatel Homes and industry standards. Any other people that get involved in the orientation will be asked to leave or the orientation will not proceed and will be cancelled.

Thanks
Clint Miller
Construction Manager
Megatel Homes, Inc."

If you'd like to contact Megatel Homes to confirm this is accurate, or send them your thoughts on the matter, here is their contact page:

http://www.megatelhomes.com/contact-us

This is really pretty incredible and in the 150,000 transactions we are involved in monthly throughout the U.S. and Canada I have yet to see such an aggressively terrible stance from a builder. Read the above twice over-- besides the fact that Megatel is basically saying inspectors (licensed by the State of Texas by the way) can't actually inspect the home, they go on to suggest (falsely) that Whirlpool would "void" warranties if they were "opened".

To anyone looking to buy or any agents looking to represent a buyer of a Megatel Home: Get in writing, upfront, before any deposits are made or other documents are signed, the following in order to be protected:

"Megatel agrees to allow (buyer) to have any licensed third party inspector do a full home inspection of the home during any phase of construction including but not limited to a final inspection and an eleventh month inspection prior to any warranties from Megatel expiring. Megatel further agrees to address any material defects noted by such inspectors which shall have the right to inspect up to and beyond the typical and customary scope of an inspection including a full examination of any and all mechanical and structural components and will not void any part of any warranty in retaliation for having such service performed."

Don't just get the sales person to sign it either. Insist on a wet signature from both Aaron and Zach Ipour, the founders and co-owners of Megatel Homes.

I realize there are errors in the typing of the email. You would think this form email would at least have no misspellings and possibly even avoid the whole ALL CAPS thing

This attitude needs to change. They are eliminating verification of their self-described high standards. This is akin to a restaurant conducting their own health and safety inspections and giving themselves an A every time.

There's almost always something that wasn't done properly, and frequently these items cause damage to the property which the builder ends up paying for any way. Buyers are looking for honest behavior because they're putting a lot on the line.

Here's an example of what I mean: Recently, we inspected a custom home built by a very reputable builder in the area. It had a brand new $60k roof and we discovered, during the course of the inspection, a damaged vent flashing that would have allowed rain water to pour directly into the kitchen through the vent where a $6k Wolf range would have been soaked, not to mention the custom woodwork and cabinetry that would have likely been damaged. It was a $40 fix since we caught it before the big rains in Southern California. No big deal. How's that for ROI?

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 05/04/2017 12:57 PM EDT

Megatel Homes Construction Manager Clint Miller cannot possibly be speaking on behalf of Megatel Homes ownership or the Megatel Homes marketing staff. His position while intended to eliminate home inspections, is one that eliminate sales of Megatel Homes.

The relationship of builder, buyer and inspector is to work collaboratively to ensure a satisfied home buyer refers friends to Megatel and eliminates call-backs by Megatel to fix problems discovered by the home buyer after closing. Call backs upset buyers and are expensive to builders. And to Mr. Miller's point, most call backs are "nit picky". If he prefers the fastest route to closing and is willing to have call-backs from unhappy home buyers, so be it!

IF Mr. Miller's position truly represented that of Megatel ownership and marketing staff, they would use his words in their marketing and be appreciative of all inspectors sharing his position on their websites and social media properties.

It is my belief that ownership and management at Megatel Homes are more customer focused than to be so short sighted as support the position of Mr. Miller.

Few agents would show Megatel homes if this is in fact their true position and and fewer buyers would be interested in purchasing Megatel homes.

There is a story I tell my new home clients about and the need for an inspection. I inspected a 3 million dollar new build and during the inspection of the basement I observed severe damage of the ductwork near the registers where the gas fitter installed a black steel gas pipe in several places by pushing up crushing the ductwork. The engineered floor joists in another area of the basement, for a sunken living room, had the entire web and the lower structure cut out 14" wide to allow the ductwork to pass through and then someone put pink insulation around the ductwork to "seal" the penetration. There is a good reason why inspecting a new build is always something I recommend.

wallyconway wrote:Megatel Homes Construction Manager Clint Miller cannot possibly be speaking on behalf of Megatel Homes ownership or the Megatel Homes marketing staff. His position while intended to eliminate home inspections, is one that eliminate sales of Megatel Homes.

The relationship of builder, buyer and inspector is to work collaboratively to ensure a satisfied home buyer refers friends to Megatel and eliminates call-backs by Megatel to fix problems discovered by the home buyer after closing. Call backs upset buyers and are expensive to builders. And to Mr. Miller's point, most call backs are "nit picky". If he prefers the fastest route to closing and is willing to have call-backs from unhappy home buyers, so be it!

IF Mr. Miller's position truly represented that of Megatel ownership and marketing staff, they would use his words in their marketing and be appreciative of all inspectors sharing his position on their websites and social media properties.

It is my belief that ownership and management at Megatel Homes are more customer focused than to be so short sighted as support the position of Mr. Miller.

Few agents would show Megatel homes if this is in fact their true position and and fewer buyers would be interested in purchasing Megatel homes.

That's an interesting take. This is an open forum, ownership could come and make comment for sure.

If you spend any time at all in Texas inspecting new construction, you know it seems builders are always trying to throw roadblocks up to having their homes inspected by independent inspectors. This doesn't surprise me at all.

Builders do stuff like this all the time. Another tactic they employ is asking the inspector to carry a ridiculously high liability policy, before they can even step foot onsite.

Thanks Nathan for giving this the attention this deserves.

Clint obviously did not play nice with others in the sandbox as a child.

Here is another Texas builder, applying a much more reasonable standard. Darling Homes in Houston Texas. They want the inspections done on time and by a licensed, insured provider...and I take no issue with that. Some buyers might take issue with #5 (inspectors generally don't list citations to code) but it is fair to ask for the same standard they build by be the standard by which they are judged.

Darling Homes. Tough but fair

On behalf of Megatel Homes (“Megatel”), we would like to apologize for any confusion caused by the Clint Miller, Construction Manager, post. This post is not representative of Megatel’s Third-Party Inspection Policy (the “Policy”). As mentioned in our Policy, Megatel is a proud partner of Burgess Construction Consultants, Inc. (www.burgess-inc.com) and they provide independent third-party inspections throughout the building process. At Megatel we appreciate and value third-party inspections and welcome purchasers to have a second independent inspection. If you have any questions or require additional information, please contact Megatel directly at Info@MegatelHomes.com. For your convenience we have included the Policy excerpt from our New Buyers Guide as part the Build Residential Construction Contract V. 1018/ Spec Residential Construction Contract V.1018 that is signed by all purchasers.

Megatel Homes wrote:On behalf of Megatel Homes (“Megatel”), we would like to apologize for any confusion caused by the Clint Miller, Construction Manager, post. This post is not representative of Megatel’s Third-Party Inspection Policy (the “Policy”). As mentioned in our Policy, Megatel is a proud partner of Burgess Construction Consultants, Inc. (www.burgess-inc.com) and they provide independent third-party inspections throughout the building process. At Megatel we appreciate and value third-party inspections and welcome purchasers to have a second independent inspection. If you have any questions or require additional information, please contact Megatel directly at Info@MegatelHomes.com. For your convenience we have included the Policy excerpt from our New Buyers Guide as part the Build Residential Construction Contract V. 1018/ Spec Residential Construction Contract V.1018 that is signed by all purchasers.

You picking the inspector makes them by definition NOT an independent third party.

Are you retracting Clint Miller's statement and allowing full inspections for home buyers to include all TREC SOP's as well as walking the roof, testing appliances, opening electric panels and air conditioners, etc?

We do appreciate your commenting, however, your policies disadvantage home buyers and need to be corrected.

Why the 30 days notice? If they give you 29 days notice there are no inspections allowed?

Please review the policy and previous post. To reiterate, yes, we allow the full inspection. Moreover, as outlined in the Policy, the 30-day requirement serves to ensure appropriate scheduling for Megatel, its contractors, its insurers, etc. Megatel exercises flexibility and appropriate accommodations for its customers.