Delays & Waiting
Delays have become synonymous with construction at this point. Everyone is experiencing them and all we can do is wait. This affects me directly due to my working in new construction, but we’ll just be focusing on the investment property for today.
We have been under contract for our townhome investment property since January. In that time, it has essentially been at varying points of the same stage of construction: rough mechanicals. For the last three months, it has been working on rough electrical, rough plumbing, rough HVAC, termite protection, shingles, and, of course, windows. The delays on windows have been extraordinary in my area. We also have a huge shortage of labor and other materials. When I bought, one of my managers said it should be fine to close in June most likely. I laughed and countered with August/September as a best case. I seem to be accurate so far since there is no way in hell that this thing is closing in June.
The morbidly funny thing about all this is that all of those things I mentioned are already completed on our property. We are waiting on insulation. They are also delayed. The delays keep on coming. I 100% expected all the delays. It’s not a shock. It’s just interesting to note how much of this is barely hanging together while we still have a huge shortage of homes. This is gonna get worse before it gets better.
Rates have also gone up since we went under contract, but since I don’t have a normal loan (see here for more on that), my interest rate isn’t as affected since the lender handles everything. Silver linings I guess.
I am actually totally fine with the closing being pushed since my personal closings as also being pushed. My homes that should have closed in April are closing in June/July best case. That’s a large chunk of my income that keeps getting pushed back. Some of these homes were originally slated for February or March closings. With waits of three months (or more) for windows, there was no way in hell that was going to happen. Even if we could close now, I would prefer not to wipe out our other investments, even temporarily, to do it.
So, the overall theme here is delays and waiting are life in 2022. Yay.
You have such a realistic outlook on this construction timeline. I would be feeling so impatient! (Which would be pointless, clearly.)
Thanks. I am impatient for my homes that I will actually get paid for. For the one I need to pay for, I am mostly okay since I need the other homes to close. Once they close, I will probably be more impatient. Closing letters for May came in so yay!