America's Home Place (house, prices, offices)

[ddlove01]

Hi there, I see you are going with the Hickory America's Home Place, have you had any problems? Do you live in NC now? Any info would be great, thanks!

Originally Posted by mbeckoff1

We are working with America's Home Place in Hickory . We are building in Taylorsville. Originally, we were going with modular but after much research
( by DH) we are going with America's home place. We are just starting to build but it seems like a good company . It appears to be a good value for your money.

Melissa

[mbeckoff1]

Originally Posted by ddlove01

Hi there, I see you are going with the Hickory America's Home Place, have you had any problems? Do you live in NC now? Any info would be great, thanks!

We are in NJ now but will be living in Taylorsville NC July 1.We broke ground afew weeks ago and everything seems to be ok

Who are you dealing with in Hickory?

Melissa

[lastreet]

Originally Posted by mbeckoff1

I am confused. Don't you have a contract as to the final price?
What did they say was the delay in getting started?
Which location are you deaing with?
Melissa

The contract says a final price, but has "allowances", the bank told me they always come in below their allowances--HA!--and they went way over and I get way less than they said I could get for the price. Then they charge me 23% more on top of each change order for their mistakes. They do something on my house once a week at best. I've been told so many lies and excuses about delays, I don't believe anything they say any more. This is in Franklin, NC.

[SuperchargedSS]

Steve Dellinger... he builds a nice affordable QUALITY home in the Denver area...

[mbeckoff1]

Originally Posted by ddlove01

We are dealing with Mike Ruff and Chuck Frazier. They have been nothing but great. Cheri in the office is wonderful too. We went there twice with two kids (1 and 3) and they entertained them while we were doing paperwork and choosing colors. Right now they have the walls and roof up. We get pictures all the time. How far is Taylorsville from Hickory? Is it in Burke county?

Taylorsville is about 20 minutes from Hickory.We are in Alexander Cty

We are dealing with Mike as well

Melissa

[ddlove01]

I don't really have much knowledge in building besides building our first home 7 years ago. Even though we were constantly checking on the progress, they still got stuff wrong. We've also been jerked around by our pool builders, it sounds like you are having the same problems we had with our pool.

My friends know when to look out for red flags too. They had major problems rebuilding their house after it was destroyed by the Florida Hurricanes in 2004. Their house took 2 1/2 years to rebuild. They would tell us if they saw any problems. We watched their home while they were in NC and we were in FL. We reported all of our findings to them, no matter how minor. They send me detailed pictures once a week and walk thru the house while they are there. They have a copy of our plans, but of course don't go thru in as much detail as we would if we were up there. We have two young children and as much as I would check on the house daily (that's what we did when we built our first home) it's not possible to go there as much as we would like. Gas is too expensive and travelling with two kids isn't all that much fun. AHP is actually going TOO fast in my opinion, we have to sell our house before moving up there and the days are dwindling away.

I will take your advice and request an itemized list. Thanks for the info. I appreciate your concern and wish you the best of luck.

Thanks,
Dawn

[Inthesonlite]

Hi,
I'm new here to this forum. I too am considering building with AHP. I've looked up all the AHP offices with the BBB but there is only one complaint for 5 different offices in the last 3 years. That's a very good record.
However, with that said, I sure don't want to get ripped off. I would like to hear from anyone with experience with the Hickory office. Especially would like to hear from mbeckoff1.

[Washingtonian]

Hire a local home inspector. They can professionally evaluate all of the work during the various phases. It doesn't cost that much and it sounds like it will save you thousands of dollars. You may have friends in the area but you need a professional. Please hire a home inspector, I did!

[homebuilderAHP]

I am a Superintendent/Construction manager for AHP and it's hard to sit here and read this nonsense. First of all let me asure you that I am not here to win over potential customers, we have hundreds of those daily. Secondly, we are not in the business to "rip people off". Personally, I build all of the houses that are assigned to me as if they were mine and I treat the customers the way I would want to be treated. Although we do have over 40 offices in the southeast, we are all required to have the same 2 week training course that is conducted at the corporate office in Gainesville, GA.. Thats for Superintendents, General managers and Building Consultants. Customer service is one of the main issues and it is incorporated in all aspects of this company. A little about the contract. It is impossible to come up with a final and definite price. Things happen in construction that could make the price go up and cause delays. That happens with any builder and in any part of the country. Thats why we basically give two seperate prices, one for the entire house (which includes everything from 4 courses of block for the foundation and everything for the house) and one for lot improvements - getting the lot ready to build the house and septic tank. The one price for the lot improvements is just an estimate, thats where the "things could happen" part comes in. It doesn't always happen but it does happen from time to time especially in the mountains, like digging the footer for example. I have ran in to boulders that we had to blast out and didn't catch that for the lot improvement price, so obviously the price had to go up and the build time went up. That is one of many examples. Again, we are not here to rip people off, we all love our jobs and want to make everone happy with their house and the price.

[dreamsarefree]

Postings On The Bbb Mean Nothing.....
You Will Be Wise To Believe The Postings
Of The Victims Of Ahp.... Everyone Who
Builds With This Company Does Not Become
A Victim But What About The Nightmares
Of The Ones Who Do Become Victims And
Ahp Just Pretends These People Do Not Exist..
Is It Worth The Gamble To Have The Potential
Of Having Your Life Ruined And Your Dreams
Broken .... The Victims You Read About Are Real
People With Real Names And Real Nightmares
With Ahp....
If You Like To Gamble, Take Chances With Your
Life.... You Might Come Out Ok .. But... Again...
You Might Become A Victim Like All The Real
People Who Have Posted Their Nightmare With Ahp
On This Site As Well As Other Sites.
I Would Suggest Running As Fast As You Can And
Get Yourself Another Local Contractor ...ask The
People In The Inspection Dept For References.