From the very beginning, our experience was a nightmare. We signed a contract and made a down payment, fully trusting that plans would be developed quickly. However, months passed with no progress. In desperation, we had to schedule weekly meetings to check in on the status of our home plans. Without fail, 15-30 minutes before each meeting, we'd receive frantic text messages, clearly indicating they'd just started working on the plans. After all that frustration, I ended up downloading a home design software program, learning it, and literally creating the plans myself. This wasn't about us being picky--what was shared with us was just thrown together and didn't match the specs outlined in our contract.
When it came to making selections, we would meet in their office, spend hours picking out details, only to be back in the office a month later and find out our choices were still sitting at the bottom of a massive stack of papers. One employee pointed to the bottom of the pile and said, "You're WAY DOWN here." How does that even happen, even a month later we're just sitting at the bottom of the pile to be worked on?
Their communication was not just poor, but at times it bordered on threatening. We would receive urgent emails with screenshots of our contract, demanding immediate action, and then claiming the build couldn't move forward if we didn't comply immediately. One example was when we were told to secure a construction loan within days. We rushed to get the loan in place - even as we were sitting without finished plans, and then they immediately drew funds on the loan, but construction didn't start for almost four months! So, the loan was sitting there while no work was being done.
By the time our build was finally completed, we had exhausted the construction loan period, and it had converted into a full mortgage. This resulted in us paying two full mortgages for over seven months--one for the house we lived in and one for the house they were supposed to be building. The financial strain was immense, and their response was dismissive.
On top of all this, their internal communication is a mess. We frequently received conflicting information from different employees and had to constantly repeat ourselves or spend time realigning their own team. You'll find yourself not only managing the construction process but also handling their internal communication failures. Different employees will ask the same question over and over, or give you entirely different answers to the same issue. It's chaotic and frustrating, and worse, when things go wrong (which they will), you'll be labeled as 'difficult' or 'excitable,' which feels like nothing more than a thinly veiled way of calling you a "bitch." Their lack of organization becomes your problem and they'll happily shift the blame onto you.
And as for quality? Don't believe their marketing. It's not what they make it out to be. We're still dealing with issues. Our drywall is subpar, and we're now paying out of pocket to fix it. We had so many painting issues that we're now having to paint our windows as they left wood unfinished and bare. Our interior doors are bowed, even after replacements. The materials they claim to be "high quality" are anything but, and their building practices are riddled with oversights. There are countless things we had to figure out ourselves and educate ourselves on because the information they were supplying to us just didn't make sense.
Espire Homes loves to use the excuse, "This is our livelihood." Well, this is our family's life too, and the financial burden they created for us is real. This is the biggest financial investment most families make, and they have no regard for the additional debt and stress they put on us.
I urge you to look elsewhere. The bad reviews you're seeing are 100% accurate. To add insult to this whole situation - Espire is clearly working to actively suppress genuine reviews on Google by having their employees and associates post false, glowing feedback to drown out the negative experiences of real customers.
If you're considering Espire, ask yourself this: What's the worst that could happen if you go with another builder? You avoid all the problems we (and so many others) experienced. I'm not hard to find online-- if you have any specific questions about our experience. I'm happy to share more. read more