The Hidden Problem With New Construction

Michael is joined by Blair Keeter, who spent 25 years in supply chain and operations, starting at General Electric and later running global operations at Cleaver-Brooks, where he integrated five acquired companies into one organization. Today he applies that same discipline to electrical and HVAC trades that sit on the critical path of nearly every new home and development build, leading operations at the Romanoff Group, an employee-owned trades company operating from Ohio down through Florida. They get into why new construction quality varies so much even within the same neighborhood, and why coordinating plumbing, HVAC, and electrical is often the hardest part of a build, what Blair calls "the three-headed snake." He explains how cheap contractors can actually cost more over time, why a builder's standardized trade practices show up in resale value over a decade later, and the practical checklist buyers should look at before trusting a new build: water heater age, HVAC install date, and who actually built the house. Blair's advice to anyone in the industry: find out who the builder's trade partners are before you recommend the house. It tells you more than the paint on the walls ever will.