As we enter 2025, the U.S. housing market remains tight. Inventory remains below the historical average. Amid fluctuating pricing, understanding the complexities of mortgages is crucial for today’s homebuyers.
Yet, one man believes that it wasn’t his lack of mortgage knowledge that led to his financial hardship, but rather Ryan Homes, one of the largest homebuilders in the U.S.
“My mortgage went from $3,200 t0 $5,600 a month,” titles the video.
Alonzo Massey (@alonzomassey) recently opened-up about his recent property loan endeavors via his TikTok platform. Quickly gaining traction, Massey’s post has already garnered more than 2.4 million views and 64,400 likes. As his story spread to homebuyers and realtors, Massey began to create a multi-part series to better explain just how this can be avoided.
“Don’t make the same mistake I did! Ryan Home Nightmare story,” Massey explicitly states.
Sitting at a desk, Massey looks toward the camera and tells all. Passionate, he talks with his hands, pleading homebuyers to ask the right questions when purchasing. After briefly explaining his backstory, Massey cuts to the chase.
Why did Ryan Homes do this?
“Long story short, I bought a new home with Ryan Homes,” Massey begins. “The worst decision I’ve ever made in my life.”
While initially having a realtor for the process, Massey explains that because Ryan Homes allegedly does not provide commission with new builds, he decided to not utilize the realtor.
“I [was] the last house that’s built in this subdivision. When I signed the dotted line my mortgage was $3,200 and some change,” Massey says.
Aligned with the location and size of the home, Massey expected the mortgage to be along the lines of this price. However, this quickly skyrocketed to $5,600 due to unexpected property tax increases and errors in the home’s tax estimation.
“I get the first tax on the property with the home build. The taxes were $16,000,” Massey says. “And that’s not the half of it.”
After calling and asking if this was correct, Massey explained that Ryan Homes should have informed him about this prior. However, when given the initial estimation, allegedly Ryan Homes gave a hypothetical number for what the amount could be, rather than what it truly was. With the underestimation for the 2022-2023 year, Massey quickly fell into debt.
“My escrow account is negative $11,000 because Ryan Homes only uses property taxes on the land,” Massey explains.
“So now, not only do I have to get my current property taxes updated into my mortgage, now I have the rear’s back taxes in my mortgage,” Massey continues.
Understanding that he should have had an attorney or realtor with him throughout the process, Massey shares how this was never initially explained to him in regards to purchasing new construction. Trying to avoid out-of-pocket payments to his realtor, Massey’s mortgage went from $3,200 to $5,600 monthly.
So what next?
Located in Antioch, Illinois, Massey compared his taxes to surrounding areas that are generally considered nicer. Because Antioch held none of the similar traits to these areas, Massey was perplexed at the situation.
“Unfortunately, the home that I thought I was gonna be in for 10 years, that my kids will grow up in, I’m selling. I’m selling that home because we can’t afford it,” Massey says.
Even without the taxes, the mortgage was still higher than Massey expected. Refusing to live in perpetual debt, Massey decided it was best to let go of his once dream home. Summarizing the rest of his video, Massey left viewers with one main piece of advice.
“If you are thinking about going with any new construction, make sure to ask them: Is this property [tax] on the house after it’s built, or before?” Massey says.
Massey then continues on to share his frustrations one final time.
“This has set me back tremendously,” Massey says. “There should be something in the laws that says new construction builders should have to show you property taxes on what the home value is, [and] what your property taxes are gonna be. That would change everything.”
Trying to remain optimistic, Massey concludes his initial video in hopes of warning others. However, he was quickly met by a stream of seemingly less-than-supportive comments.
What did viewers say?
“So you didn’t do your own research?” one viewer responded to Massey.
“The builder’s responsibility is not to educate you on taxes,” another argued.
Massey even had multiple realtor’s react to his video, explaining a few tips to remember when going through this process.
“Always remember that the sales reps with new construction don’t work for you, they work for & represent the builder. Have your own people that represent you! ALWAYS!” one realtor commented.
“As a realtor, this is why I don’t like buying new construction homes,” another realtor said.
From realtors expressing their options to homebuyers sharing their own similar experiences, Massey had one overarching response to provide.
“Lesson learned,” Massey responded.
Massey created not one, not two, but three response videos.
How did Massey respond?
Within these videos Massey explains how he purchased the home with a fixed FHA rate for 30 years with the only mortgage variable being his 1% buy-down in his rate. He also explains how much research he did prior to the purchase, from different homes to different subdivisions, compared the different tax levels to make sure the costs were all within range.
“There is not one house that I found that has taxes of $16,000 a year. Not one,” Massey responds.
Massey even shares that Ryan Homes was able to convince him to sign due to their alleged use of the Mortgage lender NVR. Through using this company, Massey claims he was offered an incentive of $10,00 toward his closing cost. With the relationship between Ryan Homes and NVR, Massey further explains his initial reasoning behind not using a realtor.
“That’s how that all happened,” Massey concludes.
It wasn’t just Massey who had trouble with Ryan Homes
Following up with parts two and three of Massey’s video-series, he explains that he wasn’t the only buyer to be struck with these unexpected property taxes. Allegedly, many of his new neighbors had to also sell their homes after move in, leading him to further investigate.
“I noticed that next summer, I saw three ‘for sale’ signs, and I couldn’t make sense of it all,” Massey says.
As the next spring came around, the amount of “for sale” signs continued to increase, cluing Massey in about just how many buyers were caught off guard. Massey concluded these videos once again expressing his lack of trust in Ryan Homes.
“I will never buy from Ryan Homes again,” Massey says.
Massey even explained some further issues he had with the company, from lack of communication to never-discussed problems with home upgrades. Then in part four, Massey once again explains the backstory of how this all occurred.
With the ultimate goal of warning future homebuyers, Massey concludes his series with its final segment assuring his audience won’t make the same mistakes he did.
So what should you ask when buying a new house?
“Questions to Ask When Buying a New Construction Spec Home,” Massey titles the final video in his series.
Before getting started, Massey clarifies that he is not a professional, but rather simply trying to help. With his notepad, Massey sits down and shares all.
Posted just days ago, here are some of the questions Massey provided:
- Do you match my current pre approval? (If the rate is lower than what the seller is providing.)
- If so, are you going to lose any incentives by going with an outside lender?
- Can I negotiate the financing to include the incentive?
- Do you offer a rate-lock?
- Is the mortgage estimate on unimproved land or improved land?
- Do you pay your realtors?
- What happens if the tax estimate is significantly short? If so, who is at fault for this?
- Can I have my own appraiser foreclosing?
- Is the deposit refundable if the house isn’t finished by the contract date?
- Is there an SSA tax?
@alonzomassey Please ask the right questions when buying a new construction home! #ryanhomes #fyp #foryoupage #ryanhomesnightmare #startingover #chapter2 ♬ original sound – Alonzo Massey
“Take this with a grain of salt, but you want to look for consistency,” Massey explains.
In hopes that none of his viewers will make the same mistakes Massey did, Massey tried to cover every base he could. After sharing his story, Massey finally concludes his videos by simply thanking his viewers and wishing them the best.
“I hope this helps someone out there,” Massey concludes.
The Daily Dot reached out to Alonzo Massey (@alonzomassey) via TikTok direct message for comment. The Daily Dot also reached out to Ryan Homes media relations via their NVRINC email.
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