This review is based solely on our own personal experiences and contains only our opinions. Please make your own decision when contracting with a home builder, and assume all responsibility and risk associated with that decision.
We personally had a very bad experience with Keuler Construction and strongly recommend you steer clear of entering into a contract of any kind with them. We believe there are many better options available in the area when it comes to selecting a home builder.
Here's our experience from our perspective:
In 2013 we wanted to build a home on a Keuler owned lot in the Westport subdivision of Tuscany Ridge. We put money down on the lot (which was later fully refunded), and began the design process.
We next signed a drafting contract with Keuler, who independently contracted with a draftsperson to draw up our plans (our first mistake). Keuler looked me in the eye and assured me that the drafting charges I was agreeing to were fair and customary (our second mistake; I never envisioned that in my opinion he would be trying to gouge me for profit at this point).
We also specified and reiterated what our max budget was, as we were hoping his experience and knowledge as a builder would translate over to help us design a home that was in our budget. After the plans were nearly complete, Keuler sent the project out for bid, and to our shock the bid came back $70,000 over our budget. We were upset and angry.
In the meantime, after talking with other builders and anonymously approaching our same draftsperson, we found that Keuler's drafting charges were NOT reasonable and customary. They actually were nearly DOUBLE what that draftsperson usually charges (based on our anonymous inquiry to the draftsperson). Additionally, the feedback we received from other builders confirmed that we appeared to be overpaying, and after talking to other drafting companies, it was my opinion that indeed I was being overcharged.
That, along with the fact the bid wasn't even close to our budgeted price, permanently damaged my desire to continue to work with Keuler. I figured that if he did not appear to be listening and we felt we could not trust him at this point in the process, there was no way we could trust him at any other point along the way as well.
Nevertheless, my wife convinced me to continue to 'see the process through', and see if Keuler could get the home price down to meet our budget. In the end, Keuler said 'he made a few calls' (sure, ok), and in my opinion, offered us a 'reasonable' price. However, many of the upgrades we were hoping for in our next house were taken out, and we chose not to move forward.
Note there are many other things I would love to add here regarding Keuler's 'methods' after talking with others (clients and others in the homebuilding industry), but unfortunately I am not at liberty to disclose them as they would be hearsay or speculation. However, I will speculate a little here myself, and say it is my opinion that had I continued the process with Keuler, I would have continued to see charges that I had not planned or budgeted for. Whether or not that would have happened is not fact and is pure speculation and opinion on my part.
In conclusion, after all that transpired via this miserable experience, from my viewpoint Keuler lacked integrity. If these types of scenarios were happening early on, one could speculate other issues would appear throughout the entire process - we personally couldn't trust him. While I think Keuler does build a very nice house, in my opinion the Keuler experience simply is not worth the quality he provides. In the end, we personally have decided to move forward with another builder.
Good luck on your home building project regardless of which builder you choose! Hopefully it's a builder who listens, understands your budget, and in my opinion wants to help your dream come true, not theirs! read more
