Don't build with Sierra Homes.
Update, after being in the home over 6 months:
The low-quality of workmanship is starting to show.
* The *wired* garage door opener no longer works
* Drywall screws are backing out in 5+ places
* Anything which touches the paint becomes stuck in the paint once it's been there awhile (I fear the day when we want to move the pictures on the wall)
* Paint is peeling off the siding by the front door
* Fairly large cracks are appearing in the basement floor (multiple, not just one)
Note that the construction super which worked on our house (and was the only good part of the process) may no longer be working on houses in our subdivision. You may end up working with a super which gets paid per house completed (and has no incentive to keep quality high) instead of a super who is a salaried employee and cares about quality.
Original review:
The number of issues which I encountered during construction were just unbelievable. We drove past the house during construction nearly twice a week, just to make sure that things weren't being messed up.
Here's a small list of things which we discovered were wrong (before construction was finished, thank goodness):
* Garage 'man-door' was marked wrong and would have been installed several feet off of the planned location
* Kitchen window which should have been behind the sink was installed where the microwave was supposed to be hanging (not kidding - they framed the window behind the oven install location)
* Lights in the kitchen were significantly off of the planned locations
* Several load bearing elements in the house were split by nails being fired into them at an angle instead of vertically, requiring them to be shored up with more materials
* The construction superintendent told us that he would have better results from contractors if he could speak their language (implying that only cheap contractors are used)
* The foundation was delayed three weeks because a contractor didn't order enough windows for the basement. We were not told there would be a delay.
* Hardi Board on the side of the house was messed up and took weeks to resolve
* The basement was not cleaned before we moved in, so everything down there is covered with dust
* Plumbing contractor literally just bashed holes through things to install the plumbing. Worst job I've ever seen. He damaged load-bearing elements, most of which have been repaired now.
Those are just the issues with the construction. Now let's talk about the issues with the seller agent. He was useless. Completely useless, and a liar. He repeatedly told us that everything was on schedule when he knew they were behind. The construction superintendent holds weekly meetings with this agent and tells him the actual construction completion dates - and this agent ignores them until he can't hide it any longer.
Issues with the 'preferred lender' which Sierra pushes you to use (and may be in violation of real estate law in doing so):
* Academy Mortgage tried to deny us certain benefits which were promised (and in the contract) because we didn't close with them. Our agent set them straight.
* Academy refused to give us our construction deposit and earnest money in cash at closing because we closed with UCCU instead, even though we gave them those amounts in cash
* The seller agent had the gall to tell us that "Academy is really frustrated with you guys". Seriously? When Sierra and Academy seem to be conspiring against me to get me a bad interest rate and steal away incentive cash, you say that they are frustrated with me.
* Academy will give you a bad interest rate, tell you that you need a ton of closing cash, and then say that's on top of the incentive money for closing with them. Screw that. This feels like a violation of the law, and I think Sierra and Academy should be punished.
Post move-in issues:
* The basement flooded because the yard was graded improperly, which caused over $1000 in personal property damage
* It's been less than two months, but the floor is already creaking in some places
* The carpet is not glued down to the pad, so if you scoot around furniture you're going to make seams
* The granite countertops were not sealed by the builder (they said they would be sealed)
Several other people in the subdivision have had similar issues with flooding and crappy build quality.
In short: Don't trust Sierra Homes, don't use Sierra Homes, stay away from Sierra Homes. They and their 'preferred lender' will try and trick you out of money and incentives which should be yours. My opinion is that they are unethical, immoral, and just plain bad people.
The one ray of sunshine in this process has been the construction super. He actually cares about building things to the plan and if you bring up something which is wrong, he immediately made plans to fix it. But a good super can't fix crappy contractors. read more