Another Omaha Home Builder Out Of Business
According to a news story on WOWT here in Omaha, high-end home builder, Lifestyle Homes, is out of business.
Now, Lifestyle Homes owner, Don Fuller, isn’t declaring bankruptcy and liquidating assets to pay off creditors – instead he’s just shutting his doors and stopping work until someone wanders into town and buys a home from him.
From the story:
Brian Waugh says the garage floor in his four-year-old Lifestyle Home near 103rd and Harrison keeps raising concerns. “When it heaves up to where it’s cracking, heave up and starting to separate, I think it’s unacceptable.”
Bad garage floor! Bad!
According to Brian Waugh, the heaving started inside his first-year warranty and the builder has been promising to replace the garage floor ever since.
After being contacted by Six On Your Side in early September, the owner of Lifestyle Homes responded with an e-mail saying his project manager was working on a plan to replace Waugh’s garage floor by mid-October.
Last week, Waugh got a message left on his voice-mail from Don Fuller of Lifestyle Homes. “Got some bad news yesterday, looks like I’m going to have to shut down Lifestyle.”
Fuller said the government tax break for first-time homeowners hasn’t help him, a builder of homes worth $300,000-$700,000 usually purchased by second or third-time buyers.
So Lifestyle has shut down, laid off two full-time employees and can’t afford to hire a concrete contractor to fix Waugh’s garage floor.
“I was extremely shocked, actually upset about it,” said Waugh. “My wife and I, we had a good experience building the house, a quality home, but this kind of ruined the whole thing.”
The best quote from the story:
Waugh said he an his wife are pleased with the quality of the rest of the home, but the garage floor that continues to slowly heave upward doesn’t fit his lifestyle.
Really, I’d think that a garage floor that did anything other than just sit there wouldn’t fit anyone’s lifestyle. Of course, maybe Mr. Waugh is just making a statement.
Although Fuller has shut down Lifestyle Homes, he’s not giving up completely and refuses to file for bankruptcy, hoping the market for his type of home will improve so he can pay the subcontractors he owes and replace Waugh’s garage floor.
I’m sure that will happen.
