Burnt Orange Report

Our House, Is a Very, Very, Perry-fied House

By Jim Dallas

The Houston Press has an article on Perry Homes' business practices, which is a bit one-sided because Perry wouldn't respond to the Press's questions.

That said, the article makes clear that Perry Homes is, "by no means the worst home builder in Houston. In fact, building inspectors interviewed for this story described Perry's construction quality as slightly above average." In fact, it seems the only reason why they are even remarkable is that (1) they're one of the region's largest builders and (2) Bob Perry's political activities.

And in the end, there almost seems to be a bit of a Greek tragedy involved in all this. Bob Perry (no relation to Rick Perry) has a great bio, at least from what we can gather from the public record. And as noted, heads a multi-million dollar respectable business. Why then would anyone think ill of him?

The answer, I think, is two-fold. First, any major contributor to the GOP is pretty much persona non grata round this here blog, because we are, let's face it, given to partisanship and occasionally even outright hackery. That's the honest truth, and I don't see any sense in spinning that.

But, secondly, and more importantly, there's a certain kind of arrogance that seems to underlie his company's policies. To wit:

The [Texas Residential Construction Commission] and the law that created it have destroyed the credibility of Texas home builders, critics say. And for that, they heap much of the blame on home builder Perry. "When he has a defect, he should have enough integrity to stand up and fix it," [Texas HADD President John] Cobarruvias says. "And the reason we have this commission is he hasn't done it. He would rather stand behind his attorneys than stand behind his homes."

Almost all home-builders, like most professionals, tend to believe that they should be treated with a higher standard. After all, they are crafting with their hands and skills and tools - from nothing! and at the most affordable price! - a new home in which families will grow, prosper, and live. And the result is that they tend to look at lawyers as deal-breakers and at regulators with disgust; who are they to tell the builder what to do and what not to do? Mix in that gut feeling with millions of dollars and the cultural over-the-top ostentatiousness of Houston and you've got a very explosive political situation.

And let me emphasize the cultural aspect of this; the article does a wonderful job of doing so:

Some architects believe the problem is cultural. Perhaps more than any city in the United States, Houston fashions itself as a mecca for inexpensive housing. The region consistently ranks among the most affordable major urban areas in the nation for home buyers. "I think, at least in the present, Houston has really bought into the idea that this is the place where you can get things the cheapest," says Rice University architecture professor Stephen Fox, "and that is promoted as a great virtue of Houston, without understanding the price you pay for cheapness."

Some building inspectors say new houses in Houston are so shoddy that they're dangerous. When Hurricane Alicia swept through Houston in 1983, it brought 125-mile-per-hour winds. "If that storm would have come through now," Black says, "you would have seen probably 25 to 30 percent of the houses that are up right now on the ground."

Black, who describes himself as a staunch conservative, isn't the kind of Perry critic to ramble on about aesthetics in the manner of artsy architecture professor Williams. But his concerns about building quality have led him to even starker conclusions. "I like to believe that, in some of these subdivisions," he says, "we're building tomorrow's slums today."

For the price of all the lawsuits and all the regulation, the consumer (in the long-run) ends up getting a higher-quality product. And as the article mentions, the cultural shift away from holding builders accountable (in the form of binding arbitration) is resulting in lower-quality work. And the creation of the TRCC (to give builders cover) will probably only make things worse.

But that's only half the tragedy (albeit the one you and I will primarily be suffering through). Afterall, I called this a Greek tragedy, so there has to be a hero's downfall. Right?

So what's the downfall? Bob Perry is the go-to man in Austin, a millionaire, and would appear to be living out his days relatively happy.

The downfall is, I think, that Perry has a product that he wants to take pride in (after all, they do make a big deal about their attempts at quality control) - and takes too much pride in. And this isn't good for business.

First, you lose business when half of Houston thinks you're a jerk.

Second, the fact is that for every Perry home that falls apart, there are many, many more crap homes constructed by lower-quality contractors. Quite frankly, if I were in Bob Perry's position, I wouldn't be screaming for de-regulation. I'd be screaming for more regulation (1) because home-building is a bond of trust with the consumer and his family and God and America and apple pie, but also because (2) I'd stand to gain considerably from regulation which drives my inferior competitors into the ground.

Really, as far as I can tell, all this business conservatism and shirking of responsibility is the result of bigotry: the soft bigotry of low expectations. And not just from El Cheapo Houston consumers.