Question:
John is a friend of ours and his partner Gary (The banker) have done some good things on this deal we worked out with trading one house and buying this new home. One was bumping the price of the trade up to keep us from having to pay PMI, which is a waste of hard earned money.
Now I would like to buy them some rooms for a weekend at the Four seasons at Lake of the Ozarks or some concert tickets etc. I know they are making good money off the deal or they wouldn't be in business, but I feel a tip of some kind is in order.
Lars the builder do agree with tipping your builder?
PK

Answer:

PK, this sounds like a personal deal that has turned out good for ya with the exception of the furniture company and the insurance deal. I took care of some of the laborers who helped build my house, in turn they took care of some change orders. Kinda backwards in my case but same type deal. I'd have no problem pitching a few bones for appreciation. After all, they didn't have to do what they did.

Answer:

Hey PK, with all big ticket purchases like building a house, buying a vehicle, whatever, service really begins after the sale. I'm not saying don't tip, that's totally up to you. But, with buying new construction, there's always things that need fixed, or completed after you've closed / moved in to the house. Faucets that drip, breakers that trip 'cause they're faulty (because they now have a load on them), things like that. So, you've gotten good service up to this point, but a true gauge of how good a home builder really is and the service that's provided, is how that builder responds to the things that happen within the first 6 months of the homeowner being in the house. Our builder gave us a 12 month warranty period that'd he come back and do repairs on things that happened.
As for bankers, wait until you close on the house and know the true amount you're going to pay at closing. I keep hearing to many people that are getting hit with bad estimates on how much they need $$$ at closing and end up paying a lot more than the good faith estimate they originally recieved.
So, I guess I'm saying that you've gotten the service you've deserved up to this point, but why not wait just a bit before you consider tipping to make sure you continue to recieve that same service throughout the process.
HSLD

Answer:

It's obvious that there is no easy answer to your question, PK, so it should be equally obvious that you need to hire a "Tipping Consultant". As it happens, I know such a person so if you'd be so good as to e-mail me 10% of the total amount you've spent on the house to date, I will put you in touch with said consultant. He will then advise you as to how much, and when, to tip the people involved in building your house.
BTW, the consultant will expect a tip.

Answer:

I am sure they would be happy to accept any gift from you, but I would keep it rather modest. A bottle, or more, of good booze is always useful, or concert tickets would be nice, if you know the show would be of special interest.
Tickets to sporting events are also good, if there is an interest in that direction.
Lars; would be leery of anything too ostentious.

Answer:

I have to agree with BOTH Lars & HSLD.
I'd say WAIT a few mnths to see how the AFTER service is, Then if they are still giving good service I would give a gift on a smaller scale.(tickets, gift card, wine/cheze basket, etc.)
By giving a LARGE expensive gift, they may get the impression that you really can/could afford to pay more for their services & may not give you such a "break" next time.

Answer:

I agree with that. Give it some time, as said before. Not only will it give you time to make sure nothing goes wrong, but you will be showing your appreciation, along with the fact that you haven't forgotten about them. Appreciation down the road is usually stronger than the imiediate appreciation, because it shows it stuck with you. I wouldn't go to overboard with the gift though. Just something simple, but nice.
Ah Hem...If you are trying to get rid of some rooms for a weekend at the Four Seasons, I know who you can send there .......LOL jk
Really though, it's great that you have it in your heart to want to thank them like that.

Answer:

One, we never tip the builder. We do tip their crews. We also treat them to lots of good meals.
The the crew working on the church project now. About 6 of them are our own full time employees. Contractors come and go. When the heating and air gontractor came. He had a crew of 4 for 3 days, the electricial has 3 guys for 2 days, on top of our 6 guys and our family or day labor we hired.
We do not like folks to leave for lunch (some times they do not come back). So we either treat at a local resturant that gives us a heck of a deal (we are there every day) or we fire up the grill, order in pizzas and so forth.
Some of these guys with these contractors do not have lunch money so they like being able to chill out eat and shoot the bull with these new folks that are all workers.
Had a tuck pointer come out and he said his crew of 4 could do the job I wanted done in 48 hours. I said cool. Day one they put in 8 hours, day two they show up around 10 am. Around 4 pm I hear they will be back in the am? I told them that Gary the contractor I hired said 48 hours. These poor folks. They said yeas, 48 hours at 8 hours a day. I said you have put in 6. The deal was for 48 hours. I have painters comming the seal this and a inspector comming.
These guys were real nice. Not even a sige. They said they will be back but will have to work all night. I said no one around here cares.
About 6 pm. They show up with like 5 more people two big deisal generators and lights. They went to town.
Now, I tiped these kids pretty good. I also got each of their names and numbers.
I told Gary I would never use him again and wrote out the check. I think I got the names and numbers of some guys that would like to do the next tuck point work I get.lol
The tip the banker gets from us is more work from us. He dose us good we will come back for the next project.
I have been using the same guy for many years.
He made me mad about 4 jobs ago by charging me a new fee. Was only 100 bucks. The next job he knew I had comming up I took to a new guy. Got a check in the mail for 100 bucks and a phone call saying he will cover any other writting fees and documentaion fees for loans in the future.
So we are back with him again.

Answer:

I agree to hold off.
When the wife and I built the house, we were treated very well. Everything was done on time and to our standards. Had an excellent experience
This particular builder services the homes they build every quarter for the first year. unfortunately, they now had our money, so the incentive wasn't there as much as it was before to come back and treat us like king and queen anymore.
Still, we tipped the salesman with a nice basket of goodies at christmas time as he was the only one who made an effort to make sure we were satisfied.

Answer:

Well if he doesn't service me after the deal (wait that doesn't sound right) I will walk five houses down and kick him in the knee. John has a reputation to uphold in a small town where he has built homes for years.
PK

Answer:



Answer:

Well if he doesn't service me after the deal (wait that doesn't sound right) I will walk five houses down and kick him in the knee. John has a reputation to uphold in a small town where he has built homes for years.
So what you're saying, to uphold his reputation, he won't be servicing you?
HSLD

Answer:

Big carpenters hammer and concrate chisles. He will be serviced.

Answer:

Waiting sounds like the best bet.
I did like the pic's of the house, it looks very nice.

Answer:

I do think buying lunch for crews is a great idea. They really really appreciate it (my husband works in construction). The builder is usually making a great profit, even after wages are paid. If the other companies are anything like my husbands, the crew isn't making very much in their hourly wage, so that lunch is very much appreciated. Thanks to all of you who do that for the crew, no matter what your motive is.