Greystone Estates. Shiloh IL
Beware of sales pitch. Russ claims one thing and delivers another. He lies or "misrepresents" his numbers and then when you call him out on it he tries to claim that your numbers are false, market went up (100%), he was estimating, or was at home. I deal with numbers all day. I understand not having the facts in front of you and saying something that may not be accurate, but I tell them as I quote them things, I dont have the exact numbers in front of me but its around this, and "this" is close. Plus I own any mistake and its not a 80+% differential. I think he felt like he could pull a quick one on us. He even tried to play my Fiance and me on each other. Stating that he didn't say that to me, but rather said that what he was quoting me was all inclusive of everything we wanted to add and not the items we were specifically talking about. Nice try Russ another quick one failed.
He tells you to add additions then come in below asking and he will work something out, by the time you go through everything, select items, deliver an offer, he comes in slightly ($500-$1500) below the increased costs. Its a false gimmick just to get the sales price higher and so you feel invested in the purchase. Further, their website does not represent true sales price. According to Russ the sales price was $2K higher than what was listed online and that they just have not had time to update the website. Mind you we have been looking at this spec for two weeks. No one felt the need to update the website?? Feels slightly like a bait and switch. Come in for this price....spend time, get your hopes up, pass on other houses.... then once he knows you are ready to move forward, wham it switches to another price.
I took screenshots showing the various issues and communication breakdowns but Yelp doesn't allow you to add pictures (or I am not computer savvy enough to know how).
I wish I could contact his boss and have a normal negotiating process, where both parties feel like they got what they were looking for. Its sad because the house is nice. If you can look past the shady deal and focus on the new home, I think it should be a good buy. (Though I would be weary on what the experience would be like if anything was wrong with the development and having to deal with people like Russ after the fact). read more