Houston Home Builders

"DISASTER!! We lived close to the neighborhood we wanted to build. We started looking for builders and lots in Garden Oaks in the Spring of 2009. His sign was on quite a few new homes in that area at the time and he lives in that area. We approached him to discuss building a home. He was very attentive during this process and really bent over backwards ...more to help us find a lot. He seemed to know the neighbors and who was selling and could make deals directly with the home owners planning to sell. He showed us lot after lot, but we had to agree to use him to build. We were unsure about this process as we wanted to wait until we had the house designed and then put it out for bid, but the architect couldn't design the house until he knew the shape/size of the lot, which we hadn't found yet. It was a "chicken or the egg" situation. We couldn't talk to anyone he built with from the beginning only those who had purchased spec homes from him and they said he was fine. As he continued to show us properties we liked, but could not buy without using him, we determined it would be crazy for him to mess with us since he lived in the neighborhood and Garden Oaks was really taking off with tear

, so he would ruin his business with a bad customer experience. We decided to go with him. WHAT A MISTAKE. Once he had our name on the paper, everything changed. He bought the lot and carried the construction loan. At first we thought this was a nice gesture, then we came to realize he did this to control the situation. He fenced in the property and would not allow us access. We poured our foundation in January and closed in Nov. We were in the house less than 15 times during the build. We began to hear stories that he didn't like people questioning his methods so he just kept them off the property. His guys would actually confront us and physically prevent us from going on the property and then call him if we ever showed up. It became clear very quickly he was in over his head with the house. He clearly underbid it and started charging us extra for everything trying to make up. We asked him repeatedly to sit with us and the architect to work our issues so we could keep the price under control. He refused, nor did he make any attempt to work with us on things. The final price was well over the plan and we've had to pay tens of thousands to finish things he wouldn't (like hang light fixtures!!) and correct mistakes. We're still paying contractors to clean up his mess and finish things and he's refusing to honor warranty. Things got so bad toward the end we had to engage attorneys to get out. Dealing with him was like dealing with a tired and hungry 3 year old. He would blow up over things and would never sit down to work things out with us. He's a control freak and only interested in himself. He just wants everyone to stay out of his way and cut him checks. We only continued with him to avoid losing a substantial downpayment and a nice lot, but in the end, that would have been a less costly approach. We had two friends building at the same time as us. Both had "normal" building experiences. The occasional problem or price disagreement, but their builders worked with them to make things fair. They were allowed to go into their homes as often as they wanted and whenever they wanted - without being escorted by their builder. As they noticed problems or things they were expecting, they were able to work it out then. Our whole experience was one big nightmare. STAY AWAY FROM THIS GUY!"

"Real pain to deal with at the sale. In 2008 my neighbor began watwer leaks in one wall (west). He had "apparent damage repaired at a cost of $20,000+. in 2010 I had a water leak and pulleed some of the sheet rock off the west wall. The damage was too much for me, so I called in a builder. To make a long story short, BOTH my neighbor and I had to ...more tear the EFIS (stucco, and sheathing) off two stories up, demo the corresponding sheetrock, insulation, wall studs, window framing and two supporting wall headers. Cost about $55,000. Insurance on both homes refused payment on the basis of neglience on the builder's part. Reasons: Negligence on the part of the builder. 1. Windows not installed properly and seal properly; 2. Deck design was such that it leaked into the walls. Texas has a ten year statute of limitations on such shoddy work. Builder is still in business,but has not returned calls from neither my neighbor nor me."