Heebee Jeebees

Yesterday I received a nice email from a man I used to work with. He has been reading my blog and knows of all the things I am finding to worry about concerning the move to Frisco. He told me to not let the heebee jeebees get me down. I had not heard that term in years. It made me laugh. I think it pretty well describes what I am going through.

 

Yesterday I did Google searches on Pulte, the company that owns Del Webb, and lawsuits. I found websites where complaints against builders were posted. I also checked out Pulte and Del Webb on the Better Business Bureau website. Pulte has very few complaints in the Dallas area. In that market they have been rated number one in owner satisfaction by J. D. Powers. However, I found quite a few complaints. There have been lawsuits against Pulte and Del Webb in Arizona. I became even more alarmed when I saw that the Better Business Bureau gave Pulte an unsatisfactory rating in Houston. When I read further, I found that the unsatisfactory rating was due to their failing to respond to the BBB regarding one complaint.

 

If I remember correctly, I read in The Wall Street Journal that Pulte is the second largest home builder in the country. However, at the seminar I attended in January they said Pulte was the largest home builder in the country. Considering their size the number of complaints I saw probably were not significant. If you deal with a small builder, there is always the danger that they will go belly up. It appears that the real estate market is going into a decline at least on both coasts of the country. The financial stability of the builder is an important consideration.

 

I also worry about buying one of the very first houses in the new development. Who knows what pitfalls wait for one of the first residents. I worry about bugs and field mice. I have studied the plot plan. I think the lots are far enough away from the main roads that traffic noise should not be a problem.

 

I am also worrying about moving my crystal and china. I have a large collection of Waterford crystal and Minton china. I looked up current price lists on the Waterford Powerscourt stemware. I nearly had a heart attack after I did a few calculations and found out what it would cost to replace my crystal. I then looked for the Minton Henley pattern which has been discontinued for many years. When I found one place that wanted $215 for the sugar bowl, I nearly croaked. When I made my moves to and from Houston, I packed the crystal and china myself and took the boxes in the car. I have much more than I could carry in one trip. Frisco is three times farther from Beaumont than Houston. I considered renting a storage locker in Frisco and taking the crystal and china during several trips during the construction process. My neighbor told me that Lowe's sells packing boxes for china. I am going to look at that. I will need to talk to the movers and see what they have to say about moving this stuff. I bought the china from a local department store. It was packed and shipped to the store. I bought the Waterford crystal via mail order from companies in Ireland way back in the 1970's. All of the crystal made it through the Irish and U.S. mail systems without a single broken piece. It can be moved safely, but still I worry.