We were disappointed in the outcome of what was supposed to be our new home at Amblebrook. Fortunately there are other 55+ neighborhoods in the Gettysburg area. We are very happy with our new neighborhood elsewhere! We wish Caruso the best, but are relieved we do not own one of their properties. read more

We built a home (Coverdale) with Caruso's build on your lot program. We were and remain extremely happy with the layout for the house, the build quality of the house, the communication process through the build, and our Project Manager (Preston). We were looking for a semi-modern rancher that offered first level living and 9' ceilings throughout and privacy. This led us to building rather buying in a development. We looked at a number of options and Caruso won out. To us, Caruso offered a great mix of layout, quality of build, and value. The sales process was painful, though. You need to know that their model is like Spirit Airlines. The base build is really inexpensive but you need to plan for EVERY upgrade...even ones which are not on their pricing sheet. For example, recessed lighting, comfort height toilets, raised countertops, and the list goes on. We think we caught all items we thought would be either standard or packaged, but you need to be aware of their business / pricing model and mentally walk through every room and what you would expect it to have. Most of our sales team members left or were exited from Caruso during our build. All of that said, you live with the house built by the Project Manager. Preston / Caruso was awesome. He made a couple of great recommendations which increased our satisfaction in the house. We would have preferred a non-Spirit Airlines model, but we wouldn't change anything and think Caruso delivered on what we expected. read more

We built a home with Caruso in Penn National (Fayetteville, PA), and I would not recommend this builder to anyone who values quality or attention to detail. The workmanship is poor across the board--baseboards and crown molding are separating, and caulk seems to be the go-to solution for joining trim and moldings. The subcontractors (plumbers, electricians, carpenters) all delivered subpar, rushed work with no craftsmanship or pride in what they did. Although we were in no hurry to complete the home, Caruso clearly was, and the results show it. Their team has been unresponsive to multiple attempts to address these issues. In just two years, I've already had to repair plumbing, HVAC, and electrical problems myself, and now window seals are failing due to improper installation. If you care about quality, professionalism, or long-term value, avoid this builder. read more

We've had our house for more than two years now and love it. The process of building was definitely a test of patience but Caruso stood by their product and what we received was a fantastic, quality built home. If only they built in the part of the country we're moving to, we'd build with them again. (And we have asked :) ) We have made a lot of great memories inside--and it fits our family perfectly. A special thank-you to Joel and Tim, who helped make the experience so much better. read more

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Caruso Homes provided a comprehensive template to choose, modify, and establish a semi-custom home. The staging process was local, the project management was local, and the contracting was local. Key aspects to adapting the template your particular build and location. Indeed, the experience was tailored to our specific needs during a time when rates were increasing an entire point by the week and the market as a whole (including developers) were adjusting to life after a generational pandemic. Our particular build and circumstance put their model to the test and despite the usual construction nuances, surprises, and changes on top of what was described above, shown to be impressively steadfast, even with some change over on the design and project sides of the business. Most welcoming was the persistence of the quality above all else and the execution of the phases carried through with the oversight of an exemplary site foreman. Warranty and guidance post-construction notwithstanding; all comforts and assurance, at the end of the day they built our home, and we are forever grateful. read more

As per Jeff Reev Manager Construction Division, Customers are not allowed to park their vehicles on the driveway they build for at least two years. If vehicles has deicing salt under it and drip it on their driveway, it will damage the driveway. So you better wash you car on snow days before you come home or park your vehicle on driveway. Just walk to your home on snow day as per their warranty because if driveway got damaged Caruso Homes wont cover it. We have issues with the home build by Caruso Homes we cannot even list all up here. Just stay away from this builder, they will get you by offering low price tag and then will do all the selections with higher price and drag your project if they cant find cheap subcontractor to do shitty job. Just go with better builder and pay extra. Do not hire Caruso Homes. currently in seeking court to help us. read more

Stay away. This was the worst home buying experience ever! I began the home buying process with Caruso in June of 2021, closed in May 2022. From the start it was a rocky road. The sales Manager Barry Chappelle was the worst sales manager. He insulted me during the very first meeting insinuating I could not afford to live in the neighborhood although I walked in the door already approved well over the price of the new build. Mr. Barry did not show to scheduled meetings and was unresponsive to email/calls/texts. When he was available he was rude and snarkly. Several selections were wrong to include the brick on my house. If I had not come out to check on the house every week, everything would have been wrong, down to the layout in the kitchen. Fast forward to now exactly 1 year later, I have put in several requests to the Caruso Warranty portal, only for those requests to be closed without action. My home was $765k and is considered a luxury home, however luxury did not come with paint on the walls. I have to hire painters to paint my walls as Caruso only covered them with primer. I have too many issues to report in this review as well as others in my neighborhood. Those living in my community are considering a class action suite against Caruso, as so many of us have unresolved issues. I was so happy to be a 1st time homebuyer, however this experience has taught me to believe the reviews! This was a very costly bad experience, that has cost me thousands already and this month marks my 1st year in my home. I should be celebrating but can't b/c I have to hire contractors to finish the work Caruso should have completed before I moved in. read more

We have our house build by Caruso. All we can say please stay away from this company, there is no i mean NO accountability on any thing. First they cost us year and half worth interest on our loan as they were behind on building schedule from the time frame they actually promised. They took 3 years to build my home which was promised to be build in year. After move in we found a long list of issues and were told that warranty department will follow up which is joke. Never ever go with this company. There were no settlement date provided or details on our fund which we paid and were told that will be refunded. Not a single paper with details. We are in talk with attorney now as our driveway has potholes since we moved in. Nobody gives a dam after they got your money. If someone need to talk to me here is my phone 3028987736 read more

I LOVE my Caruso Home!! Every time I walk into my front door I smile Barry Chappelle is an amazing sales manager! He is always so friendly, always smiling, & ready to help in anyway he can. Mr. Caruso should be proud of his company! My absolute favorite builder ever read more

This is not the review I thought I'd be writing six months after moving into my new house. My wife and I really love our Hayes model house in the new Amblebrook community outside Gettysburg. The house feels roomy, has lots of natural light, and has a great location. We decided to work with Caruso due to its reputation as a quality builder. However, Caruso is destroying that reputation in the Amblebrook community. Working with Caruso has been so stressful that I cannot recommend the company to anyone looking to build a new house. The problems lie in three main areas. First, poor communication among the sales staff, site managers, and building subcontractors who actually do the work. Second, poor oversight of those subcontractors working on-site. The result of these two factors is a cascade of mistakes during the build that we as the customer had to constantly catch. Some of the time the errors could be corrected, other times errors could not be rectified, and we had to live with the result. Third, poor customer service after the project was completed. All of this led to enormous anxiety and stress for us that I would not wish on anyone. Let me provide some examples of problems during the build: * As soon as the initial framing was done we could see a bathtub was being installed where we had asked for a shower. Caruso had to remove the tub and then redo the shower floor to accommodate a shower drain. * As the electrical work was being done, we could see them installing the wrong electrical connection for the garage door openers we requested. Again, being onsite we were able to correct the error. But we were quickly learning that we had to be onsite often, at least once or twice a week, to catch mistakes. * The framing for sunroom doors we ordered was incorrect. That required a reframing of the doors, which were not installed until a month after we moved in despite being in the initial work order. * A tray was installed in the garage ceiling for wiring, but it was not properly supported and we asked for it to be shortened for better support. The cuts made by the carpenters to shorten it looked like something out of 7th grade shop class, uneven, with boards just poorly nailed together. * When the minisplit unit was installed in the 3rd garage the workmen cut holes across the support 2x4s on one wall, destroying their integrity. * The concrete poured in both the garage and for the front walk of the house is riddled with spider cracks. * The wood stairs were stained the wrong color and had to be restained. * The wrong faucets were installed in our upstairs bathroom--twice!, before the error was corrected. In the same bathroom the tile floor was laid the wrong way and eventually had to be torn up and corrected. * Through poor oversight the carpet company installed the wrong padding under the carpets. We only caught that error because they were still fixing mistakes they made in a bathroom that allowed me to see the padding. That was corrected. * The venting pipe for the stove was installed in the wrong location, despite us specifically telling the site manager where we wanted it. Contractors finally had to come back and move the pipe after closing. * The kitchen sink was installed slightly offline, an error we chose to live with because repairing it could damage the granite and sink. Since we have moved in new problems have developed. * Caruso dug up the sidewalk in front of our house to install a gas line on the house across the street on November 4. The technician assured me that the dug-up sidewalk would be fixed the next day. Then Caruso told me Colombia Gas was responsible for the repair. After 5 weeks I finally got Caruso and the gas company on a conference call to sort out the problem. It was Caruso's responsibility. The site manager in Amblebrook, said they would have it fixed, but only after 12 weeks was it finally repaired. * In early December, our upstairs ceiling developed a huge crack in it. Customer care has declined invitation to come out and look at the problem, instead assuring me that Caruso looked at a similar problem in another build, know how to correct it, and will just send a crew out to do that without having seen the problem beforehand. As of now, it has been 7 weeks and the crack is only getting worse. Work is scheduled on this issue. * Last week the ceiling cracked in the downstairs bedroom. The driveway surface is now also shredding. With better communication, improved customer service, and most importantly, better oversight of subcontractor work, Caruso could drastically improve itself. However, as of now, Caruso's reputation at Amblebrook is cratering and if I were to do it over, I'd definitely look at other builders here to avoid the problems I've had with Caruso. read more

If I could give negative stars I would. I purposely waited a year after move in to write this review to be sure it was comprehensive. I wouldn't recommend them to build a birdhouse of tongue depressors. Starting with signing the contract there were countless issues and delays! Timelines were ignored and disregarded and so were we after our deposits was received. It took 14 months to build our home after we were told we were looking at about 6 months. Our cost skyrocketed over 100k because of their mistakes after signing our initial contract. They put mismatch appliances in a brand new home and threatened us to lose our deposit if we didn't accept them. Lied about the specifics of our lot. Our house is held up with wood shims, everything from our kitchen sink to ours steps. Our basement has flooded twice There are holes in our subfloor you can feel when walking They used the cheapest lowest quality materials Run dont walk to a more reputable builder. This is NOT the experience you want in building a new home. The proof is in the pictures. read more

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Working with Caruso was a great experience. The sales process was seamless.. Tim Carle met me an hour away to show me a similar model that was almost finished with construction before even knowing if I was a serious buyer or not. He walked my wife and I through the house, explained what was standard and what was added as an upgrade. He gave us insight on things he has seen that are necessary and things that seem to be a waste of money when building. We were set up with Preston as our PM... this guy is great. He follows through on commitments. He keeps the subs in check and he has his schedule on lock. He kept my build moving, constantly calling on his subs, bge, the county when necessary. The guy made this entire experience better. Jeff Rees was also in constant communication with Preston and myself. I was lucky to work with these guys, they have built a home for me and my family to enjoy for many years to come. I would recommend Caruso to anyone who is looking for a builder. Their processes are in place to keep the build moving forward and their quality is very good. I do believe they care about the house they are building for you, you could see they were just as excited about the build as I was. Great company and a great team. read more

I'm only giving one star because it's the lowest one available, if I could I would give them a negative 5. Caruso built my home in Amblebrook, Gettysburg Pennsylvania and it has been the worse experience of my life. Amblebrook is a great retirement community but if you're considering living here research your builder well and don't even consider Caruso. The list of problems is never ending. Just to add a few Ive had to: replace my entire roof and gutters due to faulty installation, replace all the horrible doors and windows, repair the garage floor and driveway, all at my own expense. Electrical and plumbing issues as well has hvac issues are constantly ongoing. I had my home tested for radon and the test came back dangerously high. After close inspection I found that they never ran the radon vent thru the roof, just left it open inside a wall. I questioned my contact at Caruso, Lisa Gilfillan and was told that because my warranty had run out it wasn't their problem and after I got a little upset she hung up on me. If I could give any advice to someone considering building at Amblebrook it would be DON'T Consider buying a Caruso home!! You'll be SORRY! read more

Caruso heard my complaints and rapidly took action to right all wrongs. I am very appreciative of the way they handled the outstanding issues we had with our home. While I wish we did not have to go to the lengths we went to, I have to give Caruso credit for getting their ducks in a row and changing my experience from negative to positive. read more

The overall experience we had in building our home with Caruso was not the greatest. From the paperwork to construction, it definitely could have been better. The ONLY reason we are giving a good review is because of the after care manager Mr. Joel Smoot. After we moved in, he was assigned to us to assist with any issues that needed to be taken care of. Believe me, there were countless issues but thank goodness we had Joel. He was phenomenal to work with and whenever he arrived at our home, we knew we were in good hands. Joel was extremely responsive and super knowledgeable. He and the service team helped us with numerous problems and they resolved them promptly. Caruso is very lucky to have him on the team and we are just as lucky to have him be assigned to us. Joel definitely deserves 5/5 stars, however, we can't overlook our experiences prior to Joel coming into the picture. read more

When you call them out about simple communication, or the fact that this company doesnt answer the phone or return emails this is response you get from Caruso Homes ...."We're sorry that our services do not match your expectations at this time." Its not my expectations your company doesnt match. YOUR COMPANY DOESNT PROVIDE STANDARD practices/ communication. You the company try to claim its my expectations but yet have not taken responsibility for the fact that for weeks your company has been unresponsive and then rude and unprofessional once called out on it. If you cant get a company on the phone or get them to answer emails, why would you want them to build your house?? BEWARE!! BEWARE!!! read more

We had a lot of difficulty with Caruso because we built our home during Covid. Lots of delays, slow communication, very frustrating. But in the end our home turned out great, especially because of Joel Smoot, who was our after care specialist/advisor/director. Joel went out of his way to serve us above and beyond to make sure everything we needed to be fixed or was overlooked during the building stage that was missing. If it wasn't for Joel, there would much to complain about the way Caruso and they handled customer relations, but Joel went through every single thing we needed fixing and served us well, the way we were agreed from the beginning. Home buying/building process is a very hard process and helpful to have good people like Joel. Very thankful for caruso hiring Joel for after care service. In the end happy with our home. read more

Caruso Homes? Nothing compares to their quality of design. Feeling blessed with my home of 5 years so far. All the components are there for luxury living. I love my home. read more

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if i could giv zero stars i would i bought a lot and gave caruso my designs and they took it up on themselves to do what they wanted to do then call me with extra costs on things i didnt want nor ask for. i have called and called trying to get them to stop doing what they are doing and build the home that i asked for and they havent. they have changed managers at my lot 3 times i wish i would have never started with them stay away from this company far away read more

Everyone who is considering using this company needs to read the reviews here and on the BBB. We used the "on your lot program". WE ARE TRYING TO SAVE OTHERS FROM GETTING SCAMMED. They will lie to you to get you to sign the contract and get your money. They will delay and blame it on everyone & everything but themselves. The company is a complete disaster AND IT WILL COST YOU IN THE LONG RUN. Process below Month 1-2 They will sell you on great floor plans. They will have an open line of communication. They will tell you ANYTHING you want to hear to get you to sign the contract. Month 2-3 You close. They make you sign a document that states communication has been no longer then a few days. Month 3-8 YOU NO LONGER EXIST. Emails/calls take weeks to get responded to (if at all). Permit processing begins. During this time the unorganized company will miscommunicate with each other and will cause MAJOR delays. This will cost YOU the buyer. (The delays cost you b/c of monthly MIR) Month 8-12 Lot finishing estimates for EVERYTHING start coming in over. The estimates were "supposed to have a cushion"" incase of any overages but we were told this is a "rare" occasion for them to be off. THIS FALLS BACK ON YOU, THE BUYER. THEY DO NOT CARE AND EXPECT YOU TO EAT ALL COST. A year later... Finally shovel hits the ground. Month 12-13 Concrete, Framing, plumbing, electrical,etc. Poor contractors lead to failed inspections. This cost the BUYER MORE MONEY BECAUSE OF DELAYS. Month 13-15 Drywall, paint, trim. The trim we had installed was off in multiple locations. Very poor finishing and many walls were not straight. THEY DO NOT CARE! If you want it fixed they will fix it after begging them to do so and THIS WILL COST YOU THE BUYER MORE MONEY BECAUSE OF THE DELAY. Month 15-20 Floors, cabinets installation, 2nd round of paint touch ups. Cabinets are not level in many places. Appliances get installed, do not fit properly because the cabinets are not straight. Solution they use is to hack up the cabinets to make things fit. Month 20-25 There internal business is so unorganized that it will take months for you to finally close even after the house is completed. THIS COST THE BUYER MORE MONEY. THEY DO NOT CARE. After they have underestimated all LOT FINISHING FEES. ( 50-80K) This falls back on you at the end and there is absolutely nothing you the buyer can do about it. All the delays have pushed this process to run 2 years. This is roughly 10-20K in interest payments. The warranty side of the company is an absolute joke. Once you do the key exchange you don't exist. PLEASE, DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND STAY AWAY. READ THE REVIEWS ON YELP AND BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU. read more

I wanted to relay my experience as a customer with the Maryland branch of Caruso Homes so that you can be aware when your employees are underperforming. I signed the build contract on 9/1/2020 and negotiated with my employer to be remote until I move into this house in May 2021. Nearly 14 months later, we are only now nearing a possible close. The past 14 months have been a complete nightmare riddled with last minute housing changes for my family and me, miscommunication, and multiple mistakes by Caruso Homes. I have detailed the timeline below: - 9/1/2020: signed the Caruso Homes build contract with an expected delivery date of mid May 2021, I was clear that I needed to move in by May 2021 due to moving houses from Baltimore to Gaithersburg. - 10/16/2020: closed on the construction-perm loan with Sandy Spring Bank to build a house with an expected delivery date of 5/2021 - 2/1/2021: No construction until 2/1/2021, multiple unclear delays; I found out from the bank that the house had started construction rather than the builder. Nobody from Caruso homes notified me that construction started on 2/1/2021. - 4/2021-5/2021: Halted all construction for 6+ weeks without my knowledge, due to land survey/engineering permit errors; I was told the land surveyor made a mistake when surveying the land by not taking into account the sewage/drainage system, had to reissue a permit - 6/15/2021: pre-dry wall walkthrough where I was told by the house was going to be completed in July 2021, latest August 2021 - 8/2021-9/2021: the gas permit was never issued because of another clerical error; unclear if this was due to Caruso Homes vs. gas company (blame on both sides), new closing date set for 9/24/2021 - 9/24/2021: closing date came and went; in addition to delays due to gas permit, also the wall tiles were out of stock - 10/16/2021: bank loan expired without a set close date, multiple additional documents provided to Sandy Spring Bank to request an extension on the construction loan since the build part of the loan had expired - 10/19/2021: I was told by the Caruso Homes office manager Monica Lanigan that I could have the final walkthrough and key exchange on 10/25/2021, only to find out the occupancy permit will not be requested until at least 10/25/2021. Further, the bathroom is missing listello wall tiles, then told I could have those empty tiles filled, then again told it was not possible. Again, no occupancy permit has been obtained. Owing to the uncertainties and issues above, I had to make multiple costly arrangements starting in May 2021 including finding last minute temporary housing accommodations in addition to monthly storage fees. I needed multiple rounds of approvals and discussions with my employer to petition for remote work. I certainly hope this is not the standard of practice with Caruso Homes and hope no buyer ever has to go through my experience. read more

When we signed up to build a "luxury" home with Caruso homes, we thought or hoped that's what we would be getting. After all, it is what we had paid for. The contractors they hire do extremely sloppy work. Quality control doesn't exist. Communication is horrible. Very unorganized company. Overall, it felt like this company is one big scam. They sold us a great house on the front end. Then on the back end, there are many excuses, lies and delays. Finally a home gets built, a home with issues. Many finishing issues. It was a complete nightmare! My wife and I regret using this company to build our "luxury" home. Stay away and take your business elsewhere. read more

Overall, we had a very positive experience with Caruso, who built our current home on our own lot. After reviewing plans and prices from different home builders in the Southern MD area, we decided on Caruso because they had the nicest home plans for the best price. Our sales person was Tim Carle who was fantastic and stayed with us every step of the way. He did an excellent job laying out our options and helping us throughout the entire process. On the contrary, our construction manager, Dan Roys, was a total nightmare. He cut corners, made decisions without asking us (including changing the stone we chose for the front, changing the stain color on stairs, and throwing out custom shelves we ordered because he didn't want to be bothered installing them), and lost his temper several times with us. This culminated in us having to have him removed from our property. Caruso, to its credit, saw the issue and made it right. Tim took care of everything initially, and then Caruso's Service Team brought in Joel Smoot as our quality assurance professional, who was FANTASTIC and I cannot stress that enough. As disappointing of a building experience we had with the construction manager, Joel went above and beyond to make sure everything was corrected and to make sure we were fully happy with our home. I cannot even count the many hours Joel spent at our house making sure everything was fixed to our satisfaction, and he personally oversaw every repair and remediation. We are truly happy with our Caruso home now; it's a great layout and it looks great. And I honestly couldn't be happier with Caruso's Service Team / Quality Assurance team and how they worked hard to ensure the home was finally delivered the way we wanted it. We are truly grateful that Caruso has someone like Joel Smoot who comes in after construction to ensure customer satisfaction. read more

Caruso Homes On-your-lot delivered an outstanding job on my property, setting a high bar with their post-completion service. Typically, one does not see the vendor once a job is done. I was pleasantly surprised to receive exceptional post completion care. My service representative, Joel Smoot, exhibited exceptional dedication in addressing all of my concerns, greatly enhancing my overall experience. I highly recommend Caruso Homes on the lot and especially their excellent service. read more

We signed the contract at the end of 2020 and closed in March 2022. Now we just passed the 1-year new home warranty services. Although we were very frustrated during the construction phase, we are very delighted with Caruso Homes' new home service. Home Delivery Manager Joel Smoot actively coordinated the services, answered our call promptly and provided useful guidance. All our issues were addressed properly. We are very impressed by the Caruso Homes' new home service. read more

Caruso review I built my home in September 2017 with Caruso. Probably the worst decision I've ever made. Ever since move in it has been problem after problem. The main issue is the grading of the land and poor plumbing design. When installing the exterior pipes for my basement sump pump they created such a poor design that water exiting the house would need to "fall" into another pipe. This causes the lower pipe to back up constantly which caused overflow of an exposed pipe. The soil surrounding that pipe has since degraded from excessive moisture and has caused mud to flow into the window well (egress) which was poorly placed super close to the sump pump exit. So now the mud is flowing into my window well(egress) causing blockages of the drain, causing CONSTANT flooding of my basement and backyard EVERYtime it rains. The first time I tried to address this issue with the warranty team in 2019, the lady I spoke with, she was EXTREMELY rude and denied any actual responsibly without even seeing the issue. She said she would have a director call me to come out and look, never heard from anyone. So I handled the cleanup myself via a family friend. Fast forward to today, yet another flood. This time 6in-1 ft of water in my basement(water receded thankfully at time of pictures). I called to explain and ask for someone to come out to really assess the situation. She was again was very rude and dismissive. Her tone is unacceptable and does not to need be someone handling customer complaints or issues. It is disheartening that she is a representative of this company. Instead of listening to my issues she instantly denied the problem being from their workmanship and said that it was my fault as the homeowner. I explained to her that no this is how the house came. She claimed "she would not be going back and forth with me" in a very disgusting tone. We will see if I actually get a call back. This neighborhood has had its fair share of issues due to their incompetence and we will not be afraid to bring this to media attention. BUYERS BEWARE -Overlook at Hunters Mill Resident read more

After several days of playing phone tag with Tom Baldwin VP at Caruso (who initiated contact based on my review) we were able to come to a resolution of fixing the porch/settlemet issue. Caruso will now be sending landscape company to address issue. Mr. Baldwin also discussed ALL the other issues in my previous review. Though many can NOT be resolved, I do appreciate the acknowledgement. I'd like to thank Mr. Baldwin for taking time out to resolve this matter for me. I have now changed my review to 5 , based on Mr. Baldwin's and Caruso homes due diligence to assure a customer's satisfaction. read more

so tight on cash they need weekly draws increasing your cost over $5,000 in interest and fees. almost every other builder is monthly

I like their floorplans. The dual water closets in the owners bath are a must- have.

Absolutely the worst experience. Start to (never) finished. Dishonest and terrible workmanship. Stay away.

*Have an independent inspection of your new home! Check the roof and gutters. Found that upper gutters terminate on the roof allowing water to hit the shingles because there isn't a roof tray or downspout extension - wish a roof tray was added to help prevent potential issues! ----If Steve comes to your home to "help" be wary because he's not reliable or helpful. Advised us to get a humidifier to help with siding issues LOL! *Still lovin' my new home, nice community! May, 2018 - Spoke with Mr. Tom Baldwin, Vice President Division Manager at Caruso Homes. I had a very good conversation today with Mr. Baldwin regarding the challenges with getting some items fixed. He was very understanding and caring as I spoke about my experience over the past few months in getting some items fixed. He listened and tried to really understand what happened as well as ask if there is anything that he can assist with to make sure I was happy with my new home. I LOVE that type of customer service. When a company takes the time to reach out actually listen to their customers without trying to make any excuses or justifications, it shows they care about the customer's experience. I left the conversation feeling heard and cared for as a customer. In addition, Mr. Baldwin provided his direct information to me so that I didn't have to worry about trying to reach someone if I was having an issue. I'm very happy with my Caruso home and knowing that Caruso backs-up their product by reaching out to the homeowners if there is an issue. *That's customer service!!!! Thank you!!!! read more

I also had an unpleasant experience with Caruso. The model homes are beautiful yes. But I believe they just need to be more clear and specific with the build on your lot program. I also felt I did not get enough support from them when we were looking for a lot. If they advertise the program then they need to help more with that process. We ended up not going with them and buying another home. We signed a contract in April 2021 and put down a security deposit but by September they called and said we had to find something and close on a lot or our base price would go up over 30k. I understand its a business but its not our fault we could not find a lot. We tried several lots and paid for feasibility studies (which are not cheap) but to no avail all the lots were bad, which is not there fault or ours either. Needless to say we just moved on... read more

Our house is falling apart and it's only a few years old. Still till this day do not recommend using Caruso homes.

I will give the two stars because we are mostly happy with our home, but our downside is significant. We were very happy with the build of our home, but once the keys were handed over, it was like pulling teeth to get repairs and warranty work completed. Our biggest and most DANGEROUS issues were with the gas lines in our home starting from an improperly installed propane tank to repeated gas leaks in our home. The head of the warranty department simply stopped responding to emails and phone calls and we were forced to pay for our own repairs to ensure our own safety. Once we were out of the warranty window - without all the problems being fixed properly within it- I turned to one of the higher ups. He was responsive, but it still took months to get our biggest issue addressed, without a full house gas inspection and one is still lingering- a non-working fireplace that has been failing since we moved in. Yes, a paid upgrade to our home is worthless which also leads to the question "are the gas lines still unsafe??" Our absolute biggest problem with this company was their blatant disregard for the safety of our family. We are talking GAS LINE problems, not nail pops or crooked baseboards, a problem that actually threatens the safety of our family, their customers. read more

The only reason I'm giving 2 star is because we are living in our house. Definitely recommend running if you still can and aren't to invested in this company. They will answer your calls and real you in the first week or two until they know your invested and then won't respond for months and 5 months to be exact, we had to show up numerous times to there office in Crofton to get very little information. The contractors that the sub the work out to are complete garbage shady work and the workers will come to the property after hours and on the weekends late at night and steal from your neighbors... thank god for cameras but Caruso still wants to use their company! They will skip out on any "year later" work they offer. Just when you think your moved in and the nightmare is over it is not. Half of our house potential has damage already on an exterior wall haven't even lived in the house for an entire year yet, as much as I could go on and type a novel I think enough has been said. read more

We had a roller coaster of a ride building this house. It was a two year process through the "On your lot" program, which we were told would only take 7 months. In the end, we are really happy with the quality of our home and Caruso (specifically the president of the company, Mark Somerville) came through and worked with us to correct the issues we experienced. For this reason, we're giving 4 stars. We're not giving 5 stars because there are still some issues Caruso needs to work through as a company. There are miscommunications that occur between the different branches of the company. Things that we were told by the sales rep (who was a fantastic person, just misguided or misinformed about certain aspects) came out to be incorrect during the construction phase and ended up costing us loads of extra time and money. We were under the impression that the lot and land had been "vetted" for building suitability more than it actually had been. The contractor who actually oversaw the construction was a great guy and excellent at coordinating with the subcontractors (who seem to have a great deal of respect for him), but we had communication issues over several items during and after construction. He seems spread very thin and communicating with every homeowner for the multiple houses he's in charge of is a lot to put on top of that. Perhaps Caruso could add someone to their team to lighten his load? There was a point in the process of building where we were feeling incredibly discouraged and like the weight (and cost) of everything that went wrong was resting on our shoulders. We tried to go up the chain through the On Your Lot program and were stifled. Fortunately, we finally got through to Mark Somerville and he really made us feel like our concerns were heard and that he cares. I do truly believe he is trying to implement changes in the company to fix many of the concerns I just mentioned. In the end, I love our house. We have a semi-custom home with great quality fixtures at an affordable price and our friends and family love it. We plan to live here for a very long time. We've had a few issues that we've had the various contractors come out and fix (most pretty minor). A private home inspection that we ordered prior to occupancy revealed a great quality home as well. In the end, we would recommend Caruso's On Your Lot program as long as the buyer is aware that the land is not vetted by Caruso (even if advertised as a house/land combo as ours was) and it would be wise to seek extra clarification on anything that seems unclear with their construction team. read more

From drywall issues, painting issues, flooding after drywall installation...there were many issues that could have been avoided. Mostly caused by a mediocre project manager combined with poor contractors. Would not use Caruso homes again read more

Worst company I've ever had to deal with. It has been 5 months since we closed on our new home and we don't even have the 1st permit in hand due to this company's incompetence. We have two young daughters and Caruso has disrupted our family's lives by not doing a single thing they said they would do. Communication has been non-existent. I urge anyone reading this to consider another homebuilder, as we now are. There are certain delays that we are all dealing with right now and then there are the delays caused by unprofessionalism and apathy. Caruso excels at the latter. read more

Tom Baldwin, from Caruso Homes called me yesterday to discuss my latest review update and the roofing problems we are experiencing. He agreed we should not be replacing roofs on these new homes. He said they are 25 year roofs and should not be failing. He said they can't replace our roofs, but he would send me information from the roofing manufacturer and we could talk to them. I woke up this morning to the sounds of another roof being replaced on my street. read more

Caruso Homes was very aggressive in getting me past the contracting phase, I was grateful for that. After this phase everything has slowed down and taken a turn for the worse. The real problems started after signing the contract. The first phase (permitting) was supposed to have been done within 3 months per verbal and written estimates in the contract. I can understand a month or two delay, but they've delayed it to the 8th month and permitting is still not done. We signed the construction contract on April 3rd, 2018. According to a trip I made to the montgomery county permitting office, Caruso's subcontractor did not submit permits until July 26th, 2018. The request sat in the queue for 45+ days because permit fees (~ $1,700) had not been paid. Mind you, Caruso had already drawn $70K from my bank for permitting work, of which I'm still paying interest on. They had more than enough funds to push these fees through, why the delay? Someone dropped the ball somewhere. Permits are still not done to date (December 26th, 2018). Prior to all this, it took months for them to return money borrowed during the contracting phase. I was told to pay the land owner $7,000+ and that it'd be refunded within two weeks. This took 4 months of back and forth, I almost gave up on this. I was tossed from one person to the next. This project has really caused severe headaches for my family. We've overspent $15K in interest payments due to delays. To raise funds for this project I sold my home and moved to an apartment thinking the project would be done within 210 days (per contract), it's now 240 days and foundation has yet to be laid. Something has to be done. This is not fair, their contracts are written to favor them; you can't sue them except arbitration. read more