STAY AWAY FROM THESE BUILDERS! Not only ended up losing $5K but also no home after a year of…read moresigning our first contract. I want to write this review in four parts so that I can at least save few people from the same agony that we have been through with this builder for over a year now.
In addition, I feel it is a safety concern also with all the high tension wires underneath the lots 1, 2,3 4 and 21. Here you go...
Part 1: We signed our first contract with them in June 2018 for Yellowstone and 2060 sq ft on Lot 24 and paid $5000 earnest money. While signing the contract, all the sweet talk and said within 6-months your home will be ready! They said 2-3 weeks to get the permits, but literally took 2-3 months to even start the construction. Finally, in November, they poured the slab and when we visited the site, the house perimeter looked smaller than a typical 2000+ sq. ft home. Naturally, my wife and I asked for the blue print, and to our shock, the house is actually 1620 sq. ft only and they added 440 sq. ft of garage area into the total sq ft. Of course we confronted, and their response, "Oh, sorry it's a mistake". Note that this is from a "Home Builder"! They did cancel the contract and returned the check.
Part 2: They offered me a 1995 sq ft home on a different lot for a similar price per sq. ft, and they said this is a premium lot and we are doing you a favor! I did not care if it is a premium lot or not, my wife and I just wanted my 2060 sq ft house in a lot we chose in the first place. Nevertheless, we took it and paid again $5K with new contract for Lot 4 in November 2018. The owner of this building company said, your house would be ready by end of April 2019, or worst-case end of May 2019. Soon it turned out be a nightmare and we realized the biggest mistake of our lives. Not only ended up losing $5K but also no home after a year of signing our first contract.
Part 3: Three months into signing the contract, forget about the completion of house, they do not even have permits to start the construction. Remind you, while signing; they said 2-3 weeks for the permits! Finally, in March 2019, I get a call saying, "the permits are approved and you will see construction move so fast". As usual, nothing happened until April 2019 and the reason by them, "Oh bank is taking time to release funds". Now the twist in the plot, in April, they said we found a high-tension wire underneath your lot that is going from Lots 1, 2, 3, 4 and 21. We cannot build anything until CenterPoint removed this dangerous wire, otherwise our workers may die if we hit this wire while digging during construction. Again, nothing moved until June 2019.
Part 4: The builder called me in May, and said, "Centerpoint is asking us to pay $9K, and we told them we are just going to build on top it". I said "Absolutely not, and I don't feel safe having a high-tension wire underneath my lot!" They immediately changed the story, and said it is just a normal wire and is not dangerous at all. Naturally, I asked them to provide a letter from both CenterPoint and the builder saying, "The wires are removed from lot 4 and it's safe to construct/live & a genuine date of completion of house". Not only they did not provide any letter but the response we got, "With regards to "the history" and your feelings that ESQ has been dishonest. You signed a contract which our company has abided by. This contract clearly states all of the things that you now are having issues with. Namely, that our only obligation with regards to timing is to acquire permits within 180 days and to build the home within 2 years. The contract also clearly states that time frames given to you by us are estimates at best."
July 2019, we have neither a house nor the state of the construction, and needless to say, we canceled the agreement and lost our $5K. We not only suffered financially, but also mentally and emotionally! I hope and wish no one goes through this hell again.