livinintheburbs, (10/28/2009 9:58:12 AM)

$8,000 tax credit...Cash for Homesters.Let it expire and give the rest of us a tax credit for bailing them out.
Time to sell those hummmers home builders...it's fixing to get slow...

Few Clothes, America (10/28/2009 6:29:04 PM)

I see the same thing in Oklahoma and Texas. Builders throw up houses that have the same color roofs, and paint jobs, and look like a Stalag 13 movie set. Where's the imagination? Where's the craftsmanship?

my view, Sand Springs (10/28/2009 10:43:19 AM)

What's changed? My Father was a carpenter he always had tough winters. They made their money during the spring, summer and fall working 12 hour days and working Saturday's also. They prepared for the lean winter months. We hardly ever notice except he was around more.

Local Yokel, Tulsa (10/29/2009 11:39:23 AM)

You get what you pay for. Everyone wants the most size for the buck. The successful builders figure out how to build more house for less dollar and the creativity suffers tremendously. It has been awhile since I have seen anyone trade size for style.

yep, Tulsa County (10/29/2009 10:28:06 PM)

I live in a home built in the 80's. Terrible construction. Previous home was built in '73, and it was cookie-cutter but well built. I've remodeled some ones built in the 40's-50's. Had a lot of character, and old-time craftsmenship, but there were few building standards then so some things are overbuilt but some things are clearly not what they should be. Those homes will be around a long time though. This 80's home...won't last as long. The new homes I've walked through nearby in partial construction are even worse. Some of the big homes in the fancy neighborhoods are the worse....reminds me of a cheap, tasteless cake with a lot of icing and colorful designs on top. All looks, but not much quality beneath it. Like many things (customer service for example) building has become impersonal...the people doing the construction don't know who you are and a lot of them don't care.

The A Team, (10/28/2009 3:38:36 PM)

These cartel builders also employ illegal alien labor and misclassify them as 1099 employees or just pay them cash under the table.

Corvetteguy, Tulsa (10/28/2009 9:30:59 AM)

I sincerely hate to see any of the rank & file construction workers losing their jobs,.... that work hard to get these homes built. Also, every home built in Tulsa, is another part of the tax base, which Tulsa needs.
Having said that however, has anyone gone out and looked carefully at the homes that are being built in Tulsa right now? I've looked at them, and they are nothing but a bunch of "cookie cutter" copies of each other. Plus, the quality, at best, is very mediocre.
Talking to construction workers, they tell me that the great builders of the past 20 to 25 years, were run out of business by some new "cartel" of builders who only care about mass-producing houses of low quality, at quick profits. I understand that if a potential buyer asks to talk tot he builder of one of these mass-produced houses, the buyer is told NO, you cannot talk to the builder, only the pressure sales people.
The workers tell me the high-volume builders ran the former, great quality builders out of business by literally selling at showstring budgets,... cheap-quality houses, right beside the good builders. In short, they ran those guys out of Tulsa, and Owasso.
The workers also tell me the local Home Builders Association is ran by these same builders, and is not even remotely objective. It's like a union for the homebuilding company owners. It's sole mission is to "prop up" the builders who are members, and arrange "parade of homes shows".

Maybe a slow-down could help thin this group of cookie-cutter builders out of Tulsa. Maybe some better builders will have a chance to start up. Which could mean more jobs for higher-quality houses.

Posibly there is a silver lining.

Corvetteguy, Tulsa (10/29/2009 10:39:01 PM)

T5000,

I'll agree with you on Sam Holinger, but that''s where I stop with your list.
one of those on your list of "good builders' paid out a hefty lawsuit settlement for putting the britches on a home buyer. A big, big, settlement.

The best ones are now gone.

T5000, 'burbs, Ok. (10/28/2009 4:08:40 PM)

Corvetteguy, Your comments have some truths, but also some untruths.

It's true that some 'cartel' builders came in and were stackin' em deep and sellin' em cheap. I won't name names, but it's obvious who some of them are. People who bought from the Cartel were often victims of bait-and-switch tactics & high pressure sales.

However, saying the Homebuilder's Association is run by these guys is untrue. The board of directors and officers of the HBA gets shuffled around with regularity.

There are still plenty of great builders in the Tulsa area. Builders such as Bill Rhees, Wayne Farabough, Gary Soderstrom & Sam Hollinger are still kicking and still producing top-notch homes.

nuffsaid, Tulsa (10/28/2009 4:41:25 PM)

The A team is right. I used to sell construction tools and all and I mean ALL the drywall, roofing and lawn workers were let's say people who could not understand any English. I'm actually glad to see the slow down. Maybe some will go back home with their fat pregnant wives and five kids.

Stratolifter, (11/8/2009 5:50:20 PM)

whatever you are looking to buy, do your "homework" (no pun intended) before buying a home located in an HOA (homeowner associations) and especially one with gates! those gates will NOT protect you from the problems (financial risks and liabilities) that lurk behind those gates! go to nohoa dot com, or ahrc dot com. get educated!!

Chief1998, (10/29/2009 7:39:22 PM)

I have to agree with Corvetteguy. The big builders are putting up some shabby houses that will be problems in the future. Either the code inspectors are asleep at the wheel, incompetent, or on the take to allow this trash to be built in their areas. Limmons homes may be the worst. High pressure sales personnel get you to sign a contract at one price and after the contract is signed you go to a "Design Center" and realize the house you contracted for is not liveable unless you agree to pay for "upgrades" and you end up paying significantly more for the home than you planned.
Buyers beware - never contract to have a home built by one of the cookie cutter builders. Once they get the contract they really don't care about the quality of the home they throw up.