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Thanks for stumbling across this forum. The information you provided was very helpful. Did you hire and inspector? If so, have you contracted him and asked why he missed these things during his inspection? If not, I'd like to know if you believe an inspector would have helped. I am in the process of purchasing a Rosewood in Hampton's Main Street Common, and although the Sales Rep has been very professional, I'm more concerned with the home. What were your options when you complained about the cabinets during your walk through? They say a picture says a 1000 words, and if you review the pictures of the Rosewood, you'd think that every room is huge. Including the master bathroom. However, according to you, it's small and oddly shaped. What about the other rooms? Are they too small and oddly shaped. I was told that the master bedroom measures at approximately 18x15 with the sitting room measuring 13x12. Bedroom 2:12x15; 3: 12x12; 4: 12x12; 5:10x11.5; Family Room: 18x19, and dining room/living room 12x18/12x22 respectively. Are these measurements even close? Also, outside of the AC and the trash, what other problems are you having. Is there anthing you like about the house? If so, what? Also, in your post you mentioned that some homes are losing their back yards. Can you explain how they are losing their yards? Finally, you mentioned that the contractors that built your home had been replaced. Has there been noticable improvements? Sorry for the 20 questions, but as you can quite imagine, your answers/response are greatly need for those of us considering Legacy. If you search this forum, there's something bad about every builder in Atlanta, with the exception of those building $500K or more homes. Do you believe this is a Legacy only issue, or is this something happening all over?
Thanks again,
Skip
Quote:
Originally Posted by arameth
So it must be fate that I stumbled upon this forum. Here I am, sitting in a warm house today because I had to take time off of work as my A/C has failed for the FOURTH time in less than one year. Only one guess as to who sold me the home: Legacy.
This is without a doubt the worst experience we've ever had with a home, whether it was new construction or a resale. We purchased the Rosewood model, which is nice. The master bath is a bit odd/small, especially the shower. We found it odd that none of the bathrooms had medicine cabinets, nor do the vanities have any drawers. I swear that this house has less storage space than our old one, and this one is 1000 sq ft larger.
I could give you pages upon pages of the problems we've had...leaks, electrical problems, shoddy construction and poor quality, A/C and heatin failures, etc. But even better is the worthless "warranty" that they provide. I was told last summer that when my A/C went out, that I was being unreasonable when they said it would be a few days until someone could make it out. When I got upset at this, they indicated that "humans have lived thousands of years without AC". I responded that this was true, but those humans didn't pay Legacy quarter of a million dollars for a house either. This time around, I called Tuesday for my AC being out...and the tech who called me back indicated I was too far away to come out to do service for (I live in Cherokee County, city of Canton, Curtis Farm subdivision). Wednesday, the AC guys indicated they couldn't make it out again, but scheduled me for Thursday morning. No great surprise when they didn't show, and I had to call and complain in order to get someone out here, as I have family coming to visit tomorrow and will be staying with us.
The really scary part is the things that you don't know. I cannot speak for other subdivisions, but this one is a trainwreck. The laborers they use (of unknown legal status in this country) leave trash everywhere. And when we've looked at other homes that were under construction with relatives that were interested in buying, we even found the workers had deficated/urinated on the floor and in the walls, and were putting their trash inside the drywall. Another shocking fact: No two models are the same. We have seen the inside of 3 other Rosewoods in our community. The others are smaller, and we're talking by over 150 sq ft total. The dimensions of the room differ slightly, and the foot print of homes can differ. Make 101% sure that you take measurements of a model first, and compare to your finished product. Also, several of the homes in the subdivision are losing their back and side yards to erosion, and it wouldnt' surprise me in the next year to see some of those home condemned if they don't build rentention walls (which should have been done in the first place).
It gets better: We went to plant some new shrubs in our front planter beds...and it turns out that our beds are filled with trash. Not just regular trash either...things like styrofoam, roof tiles and insulation, which are not biodegradable.
The funny part (if you're not me) is the BS they feed you to try to cover up and dance their way out of the very realistic problems they have. For exmaple, I complained about the kitchen cabinets before we moved in as nearly 1/2 of the fronts were defective. I was told "this is normal". That seems to be their canned response for anything that they don't want to fix, because it's too difficult or too expensive.
Something is funny with Legacy...it almost seems that they are not actually building these houses, but sub out the work to "builders" (that's what they call them), and there has been a steady stream of these guys who have come and gone through our subdivision. The latest one seems to be good, but the one who was around for our house is long gone. Seems a bit shady, and at the least, does not lend itself to ensuring a quality home.
I have warned all my friends and family who are moving up here to stay very far away from this company, and specifically this subdivision. I cannot say all of Legacy's subdivisions and homes have the problems we have, but based on how Legacy has responded (or ignored) these problems, I could never recomend them.
In short, Caveat Emptor, especially with these guys.
PS: IMHO, the BBB is a scam...if you're a paying member company (like Legacy is), the complaints often get smoothed over or closed without the customer getting a situation resolved properly.
If there is a class action lawsuit being prepared, I and several other homeowners in our community would definately be interested in learning more. Please let me know.
Thank you very much for the photos. I agree that the stairs leading to the Master suite is a bad idea. Based on your walk through of the house, were the rooms as large as you expected them to be? In one post, the poster mentioned that the bathrooms did not have medicine cabinets, and the vainity did not have storage space. (Arameth I believe, and I do apologies if I misquoted and/or misspelled his name). Was the family room large and also, what was your impression of the kitchen? Were the front and back yards adequate? Finally, after looking at the exterior of the house, did the interior complement the outside? I've heard that some houses look huge on the outside, but are in fact small on the inside. Again, thanks for the photos and look forward to your response.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jtmony
K,
I would love any photo you can provide of the Rosewood. Legacy has some of the model, but I'd like to see others. Please let me know when you have to photos ready. skip2719@yahoo.com
I LOVE the first floor of the house!!!!The family room is huge. In regards to the kitchen, I felt that it's too open(the house that I saw didn't have the island) I think that will change once the island is in place. I like the fact that once you enter the house from the garage you walk into a hallway rather than to a family room like other models(personal preference) The foyer is 18ft and have a cheap little light fixture. That's the first change I'm making. I really like the library, family and dining room. Im not really crazy about the second floor as I am about the first floor. The two rooms that share the bathroom are SMALL(as well as room #5). Personally I don't care since I don't have a large family. The second room is a nice size. Now the room that I do care about is breathtaking. The walk-in closet is about the size of the library or bedroom #5. I didn't see anything wrong with the master bath with the exception of the garden tub(my preference is a bigger jetted tub) As for medicine cabinets I didn't pay attention to that detail since the house is so massive to digest everything at once. The house that I saw is not the one I'm buying and was under contract. The lot is much smaller than the one im getting so I didn't focus on the yard as much and in reality I felt that the house is bigger inside than what it appears on the outside.
I can't tell you how reassuring this post is --especially when i am about to close on a house with legacy community.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jtmony
I believe the lawsuit someone mentioned earlier had nothing to do with Legacy Communities, or better yet, Legacy Realty Group. I checked with BBB and saw that all issues/concerns had been resolved by the company. I'm not aware of any additional lawsuits.
I have called almost every community that builds the Rosewood, and every one of the sales reps was extremely nice to us. In fact, two or three of them have sent us pictures of the Rosewood since we currently do not live in Atlanta. I will say that some are easier to contact than others. There are a few that you just can get a hold of. I even have their cell phone numbers and they just won't answer. But I equate this to any other job. There are some who take what they do seriously, and others who don't. The ones that don't, I don't deal with them. My wife and I have decided to move to Hampton. There are three communities there, and each of the sales rep were very helpful. Of the four reps we spoke to, only one of them was hard to contact, but someone else in that community office helped when the other one wouldn't. In all honesty, I believe the rep just had too many clients and couldn't divide enough time between all of them.
Our first choice was the Jefferson in Villages of Hampton. We spoke to Jeff (I believe) who was very helpful. When we realized that our timelines for delivery did not sync, he recommended calling either Main Street Commons or South Hampton. We lucked up and called Janet at Main Street Commons. Janet has been our unofficial realtor. She has been very professional and patient with us. I believe before we settled on final contract, we changed our upgrades at least 4 or 5 times, changed the brick color on the house twice, and changed lots once (decided to purchase the Rosewood). This is our second home purchase so we're determined to correct some of the lessons we learned from our first purchase.
I took Brewboy's advice and hired an independent inspector. I believe this of all things has helped settle our nerves. If the sales rep gives you a hard time, DON'T BUY. That's their lost.
Oh, I looked at Legacy at Cascade's site plan, and it appears that they currently have approximately 195 units. If there is a future plan to sell Town Houses near that community, consider another community. Our first home was in Northern VA and we thought we would be living in a small community (less than 200). After three phases, the builder decided to build TH. Before we sold, the community shot up to 900+. Between our community and the neighboring community (built across highway route 1) units added up to 3,000 plus units. We saw an increase in crime (drug, robbery, and murder) and sold before it was too late.
Finally, I have several friends from ATL and they all agree. Buy in south Fulton only; leave the other parts of the county alone. Also, beware of Clayton (education and crime reasons) Delkab and one other county I can't seem to remember. If you live in ATL, you know the in's and out's already. For those of us new to the area, I found the information helpful.
If someone wants the pictures of the Rosewood, I'll send what I have. Just let me know. If someone out there has additional pictures of the Rosewood, please share them at skip2719@yahoo.com. I don't check this email often so please leave a message on this board if you decide to send pictures.
Thanks again for the replies. I again agree with your assessments. I prefer the garage exit/enter into the hallway, and not the Family Room. Entering into the FR seems wrong on so many different levels. Tracking mud into the FR is only one concern I have. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I was told that the rooms that share a bathroom were about 12x12. That is small compared to the master suite, but not so small for a kid, teen or guest. Would you estimate that the rooms are at least 12x12? If not, what would you guest their measurements are? I also don't like the stairs, but that's a long-term project I've planned out. Again, thanks.
Firgueroa,
No promblem on the response. I'm just glad I could help. When I first started searching for information about ATL and houses, there were many negative comments. Some like, "don't move here," "stay away from Clayton County,"
"don't buy a McCar home," and "Legacy was the worst experience ever." I don't dispute any of the opinions. In fact, that's exactly what this forum is about. However, some posters fail to provide evidence. For example, Armetha (I believe that's his User Name) gave great examples of what he was experiencing. He also said that based on his experience, he could not recommend a Legacy home. In his post, he mentioned that the builders had been replaced and things were better than when his house was built. Those are all great things to read when considering a home. That's not to say that only Legacy make mistakes, or that they are the only builders who will leave trash in your dry walls and/other areas. My first home was a Richmond American in Northern VA. It was a beautiful home. When I went to upgrade the carpet, I found trash, broken pieces of dry wall and other items in the floor registers. I found other errors under the surface of the house too. My point is, we as home owners/buyers, only get a chance to see the surface. We depend of boards like this to help us get two and three layers deeper. McCar builds wonderful homes, as do Legacy minus the amenities. Can builders be bad, yes. If you go to your final walk through and things are not to your standard, don't sign the closing documents. We're in a buyer's market. We have the power. Do you risk losing your ernest money, yes, but that is better than losing $200-$300K. They're losing $200 -$300k, you're losing $1000 plus years of regret. As I understand it, ATL has a lot of homes just waiting on the right buyer.
Hello everyone, sorry that I couldn't answer sooner. Jtmony in regards to the measurements, I will try to take them myself when I go to the house with my boyfriend this weekend. I really think I spent too much time in the master bedroom prior to moving on to the other rooms(SORRY!!!) Figueroa26 don't worry too much with what others have to say because ultimately it is YOUR decision. The reason why I'm considering a legacy home is because I have friends who currently live in legacy homes(3 yrs+) and they highly recommend them. Not only do I speak to my friends but to numerous neighbors whom have only positive feedbacks about their homes.
Thanks for the measurements, your efforts are greatly appreciated. Hey, has anyone been in the Newport and/or the Waverly. If there's someone out there with photos of either, I'd love to see them. I'm interested in finding out the bedroom differences. I know the Ower Suite of both homes are larger than the Rosewood, but what do you gain/lose by purchasing the Neport or the Waverly? Thanks again.
I have pictures of a waverly under construction which I will foward to you. That was my first choice until reconsidering the $30,000 extra tab on that floor plan over the rosewood. Every penny helps when you are keeping two addresses.
Thanks again for the photos. I agree, spending an additional $30K is not worth it. My wife loves the Waverly's Master Bathroom and bedrooms, but again, the price is a little steep. I also don't like the Front/Elevation. Have you had a chance to look at the Newport. We like the Newport, but are now under contract. The Newport's price is only about $5,000 more depending on the community. I believe I'm just getting greedy. If you have photos of the Newport, please send them as well. Oh, my wife sends a huge thank you for the photos. She claims that they help her plan for furniture shopping. Again, we're under contract and have also hired an inspector. It's so far (we have not received the inspector's checklist yet) the best $250 we've spent on this purchase. Since we're not being in ATL, the photos and the inspector eases our minds.
Thanks Again
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Response to K: Rosewood Photos
) The foyer is 18ft and have a cheap little light fixture. That's the first change I'm making. I really like the library, family and dining room. Im not really crazy about the second floor as I am about the first floor. The two rooms that share the bathroom are SMALL(as well as room #5). Personally I don't care since I don't have a large family. The second room is a nice size. Now the room that I do care about is breathtaking. The walk-in closet is about the size of the library or bedroom #5. I didn't see anything wrong with the master bath with the exception of the garden tub(my preference is a bigger jetted tub) As for medicine cabinets I didn't pay attention to that detail since the house is so massive to digest everything at once. The house that I saw is not the one I'm buying and was under contract. The lot is much smaller than the one im getting so I didn't focus on the yard as much and in reality I felt that the house is bigger inside than what it appears on the outside.
