Woodbury Junction Ignorance - Orange County, NY

Great story Morgan! I can't imagine why the sales manager for Woodbury Junction would not want Realtors to tell their customers about the development. Buyers should always have representation - no matter how bad the builder's salesperson wishes they didn't! Orange County, NY home buyers should be skeptical of any home builders that discourage buyer representation!

We were practically run off of a new construction neighborhood in our area when we visited their development's agent luncheon and mentioned we might do a featured neighborhood page on out site. The onsite agent actually told my wife we couldn't take any photos there. This behavior is ridiculous and is obviously driven by greed and not the consumer's best interest. Thanks for bringing this to light.

I had something similar happen to me with pre-construction condo hotel project with an affiliated major chain. The big chain company didn't want me to use their names so I had to change it to general terms.

You know I have brought buyers to new construction communities before, and also tried to help buyers who went in without buyer representation as well. It has been my experience that more than anyplace else it is very important to have independent buyer representation in the form of a Buyers Agent Realtor when dealing with a builder. This sales manager at Woodbury Junction, Orange County New York sound as if she is a very untrustworthy person and as a buyer it is ill advised to deal directly with anyone who you cannot put your full trust in. I would strongly advise that anyone wanting to visit the Woodbury Junction New Home Community, get a good Realtor as their buyers agent first if for nothing else but to protect their interests. Very good article, I think I will Digg it and add it to my Delicious favorites. James Boyer Keller Williams Real Estate Summit, NJ 07901

Great article. Makes me want to create blog entries/web pages for our area's new construction developments.

Morgan, That was a fantastic blog. Thanks for standing up for the little guy. We had a similar situation when the market was good here. A local builder sent out an email to all agents in the MLS that they would no longer be doing business with real estate agents... Now that the market has changed they are begging us back! I don't forget easily though..

Spot on! It takes a real estate PROFESSIONAL to facilitate the transfer of property between Buyer & Seller (or builder in this case). The greed of a few key people will prevent this effective transfer and then nobody wins. How pathetic.

Ha! You showed them! This blog post is now #1 in Google for: - Woodbury Junction Orange County - Woodbury Junction Orange County, New York and #3 (behind Eric Bramlett dot com) for: - Woodbury Junction That will probably get their attention.

I agree with everything said here by people posting before me. I would just like to add to this that all home buyers should have a Home Inspection done by an independent home inspector, not just a walk through with the builder. I took a class once put on by a structural engineer in business for 20+ years, and one subject was about New Home Inspections and just how many problems they find. Don't assume city and county building inspectors will catch many problems, they don't. This community sounds like a Certified Home Inspector or Structural Engineer should be a must BEFORE closing. My experience has been that for - 0 more than a home inspector you can hire a structural engineer for a much more thorough inspection. This may not be available in all areas, but you should check into it.

Thanks for bringing this story to light. Sounds like someone may have over stepped their boundaries at Woodbury Junction in Orange County New York, USA. Good post Morgan! Somebody Digg this one...

Spot on Morgan; Exposure on the web comes from MANY angles. Truth coming to light on the web does as well! (grin) Kudos

Nice post Morgan. If it's true its gotta have something to do with paying commissions. Maybe the sales manager gets paid more when sales aren't connected to an outside professional? It might also have something to do with optimization... the poor community might not be able to beat out the real estate professionals online.

Excellent post highlighting what happens in communities all over the country. Buyers must beware, hire your own representation! Do you really want the site agent at Woodbury Junction, Orange County New York negotiating for you when they represent the builder? Ditto for any community in the country....it costs you nothing and could save you thousands! Hire a skilled negotiator who is looking out for you.

I was at the Woodbury Junction opening in september and was prepared to make a purchase. It was the worst presentation I have ever witnessed. No actual models, no info on taxes or association fees untill I asked and they weren't sure about those. All and alll not a very professional operation.

Great article. A case of sour grapes, look up almost any new home subdivision in Atlanta and the actual subdivisions website is almost always buried. Perhaps they should concentrate on presentation and product, that is what the on-site is there for!

You have some stones Morgan... cracks me up... Way to go. I like the way you think (and act).

Okay I'm a little behind on some of my reading here but WOW, this is a great post and well worth the read. I had no idea this type of behavior was going on. Like Spoken Softly said, really makes me want to go out and profile all the new construction in my town to see what happens. Of course things have changed a LOT in the past year and maybe this kind of behavior isn't as prevalent anymore. Builders need us Realtors worse than ever, is my guess. In any case, thanks Morgan for bringing this story to light about the selfish, anti-consumer behavior of the builders at Woodbury Junction in Orange County New York, USA. P.S. Any anybody Dugg this yet?