My wife and I are planning to be looking for a hosue in 2008, I have already told her and she arees we will be looking at houses over 10 years old with home inspections.
A doctor friend had a new McMansion built ($850K in 2001) in the next town. As soon as they moved in, the roof opened and two of the rooms started migrating away from the rest of the house. Plumbing tore loose. Electrical wiring tore. The jacuzzi leaked into the master bed room. They tried to go after the builder but he just told them to f*** themselves and moved back to Russia. They have since put an additional $300K into the place to make it livable. Meanwhile, their 30-degree incline driveway is unusable in winter...
You are absolutely right on. (Make it 15 years with warranty)