People can be divided into two groups: people like my friend Ryan, and people like my friend Eric. Names have not been changed. Ryan lives in a home a contractor built, Eric’s home was shall we say a modular home builders buncombe county construction project. They had decidedly different experiences which, I believe, has a profound lesson for us all.
Lot’s of people hire contractors to build houses for them. They sign contracts with these contractors, believing (or at the very least hoping) that their home will turn out the way they want. I know. I used to work for a contractor. What the home owner doesn’t realize is that they have basically shook hands with someone who doesn’t have the means or abilities to fulfill the obligations he’s promised but will try really hard to come though. Ryan was still living with his in-laws on his two year anniversary (this cannot be completely blamed on his contractor, who was quite incompetent but not the only incompetent one in this section)
Eric and his wife designed their own house on a website, tricking it out the way Eric had his ’92 ford probe back in high school. It was built in a factory, just like all the furniture in it. It was totally finished not seven months after they’d signed papers for the first time. The place is terrific. It has flair and originality, style and was way cheaper than the shall we say ‘ongoing project’ that Ryan is now living in since it’s pretty much done. His words, not mine. Pretty much done? You should see it.
Contractors pick the carpenters, masons, drywall finishers, electricians, and plumbers who win the bid. That is to say who are willing to work for the least amount of money. Which in my experience is not the best way to get the most skilled craftsmen of their respective trades.
I think the lesson is clear. Ryan’s living in the past (literally, with his parents) while Eric is living in the future. I am and always will be a renter. But I think that people who don’t buy modular houses just because they were made in factories are living in the past.
