The Salesperson is not a realtor. What this means is that the Salesperson for the Builder is not obligated under the same laws and ethics of a realtor. They can "sell", meaning say anything, do anything. If you want to purchase a home, go in with a realtor. Don't go it alone under any circumstance or you'll have no one ethical involved in the deal. ______________________________________________________ Former Long Lake Salesperson Speaks Out Here's an email that I received from a former Long Lake salesperson: Lynn, I worked for Long Lake, LLC for a very brief time. I was a salesperson. I am a christian and I could not sell their product and keep my christianity, morals, and ethics. They have a horrible product and they should be put out of business. I was to sell one house that did not even have a 5 foot backyard. I could stand out the backdoor and literally touch the back fence. Their product is horrible in construction and quality. I had to help someone do selections and I realized these poor buyers don't even get a light in the bedrooms. I mean there is no light fixture. Buyers don't realize that Long Lake, LLC develop their own land so they don't have to follow anyone's restrictions. They always build outside a city limit so inspections are not followed. Former Long Lake Salesperson Realtors Get Burned: Here's an email that I received from another realtor who gets burned by Long Lake: Lynn, I am a professional realtor, and I have never met a company so unprofessional and completely absence of ethics. IT IS HORRIBLE to even talk to them. I have a buyer who was due to close this month. Suddenly, Long Lake said the house is ready and we must close NOW or we will default. We speed up the loan process to accommodate Long Lake and we have nearly everything complete except that we DO NOT HAVE A SURVEY from the Title Co chosen by Long Lake. So, they want my client to pay a $500 fee plus $100 per day for the delay. MY CLIENT IT IS NOT RESPONSIBLE for not having THE SURVEY. Why should she pay for [Long Lake's lack of follow through]. On top of everything, we did a walk through and there are problems with the house that need to be fixed. They said the house was built [with these flaws] and that the flaws have nothing to do with closing. [There is one wall that is bowed in and out] where the water pipe goes to the master bedroom. The [project manager] said that he has built 250,000 houses that [look just like it and the poor craftmanship is just fine because all of the other homes have the same flaws. There is a window that is completely] out of its frame. It is a joke, you should see it!!!!! [The project manager] says there is nothing he can do about it. Long Lake says that they are terminating the contract because we were in default and my client it is not paying for something it is OUT OF HER HANDS!! This is the Lakeridge product line and the home is in the Saums and Greenhouse area of Houston, near Katy. Houston Area Realtor Long Lake Advertisement for a Project Manager This advertisement for a Long Lake Construction Supervisor says it all. Note the "Previous home building experience "NOT required" and the minimum years of experience required for the position is 0-1 year. The bottom of the advertisement informs us that the position pays based on experience. So if you'd really like to know why the houses are so cheap, it's because they're built by managers who have no experience...... Here's the link to the advertisement: http://www.jobtarget.com/c/job.cfm?site_id=201&str=26&jb=996084 Other things you need to know: "Binding Arbitration" is built into your contract as it is with nearly every builder's contract in Texas. Up until just recently, there have been absolutely no wins for homeowners in arbitration. In fact, Carole Strayhorn has referred to the agency as a protective agency for builders. You will spend more money in arbitration with the builder than you would have in a regular court, but signing Long Lake's contract that binds you to arbitration, removes your right to take Long Lake into the court system. New Number for Craig Jones! Got a new phone number to Craig Jones, VP Construction for Long Lake. Found this through Google for a teen baseball team in Missouri City. Craig claims this is his work number, so there should be no problem in calling it for the homeowners who have been asking me as to how to contact him: 281-431-5704. Marketing BS & Stuff to Know