We spent over two months working with Cactus Nectar on a residential addition and ultimately decided not to move forward.
While everyone we interacted with was polite and responsive, the overall experience was extremely frustrating and time-consuming. Pricing never seemed to meaningfully decrease, even when scope was reduced, and critical line items repeatedly appeared, disappeared, or were left ambiguous in contracts. Each revision felt less like clarification and more like moving numbers around to hit a target price rather than clearly defining scope.
We also found that important cost drivers were not consistently spelled out in writing, requiring us to repeatedly "catch" omissions and ask for clarification. That level of vigilance shouldn't be required of a homeowner -- especially on a project of this size. By the end, it became clear that the contract structure and process primarily protected the company, not the client.
In our case, this resulted in a significant waste of time and energy, with little confidence that the final cost would stay within the stated budget. We ultimately chose to walk away and pursue a more straightforward, transparent approach.
This may be a better fit for clients who are comfortable with a design-build model and flexible budgets, but it was not the right fit for us. read more