Maronda Homes - new builder in Cinci region? Any complaints? (Winchester: appointed, sales)

[Briolat21]

Hi,

I'm relocating to Cinci and am torn between already existing housing stock, and going with a mass-produced house in a new development. I am willing to accept some minor issues regarding new construction (and I expect them), but am afraid of falling in with a company that has had a lot of problems. I have searched this company on the web, and they have some complaints out there, but EVERY builder at this level seems to. My price is low $200's by the way, and I'm looking for a lot of sq. footage...

Anyone have any complaints or COMPLIMENTS about this builder. I would really love to hear from you!

Thanks!

[jennazer]

We owned a Maronda home in Pittsburgh and I can't tell you how happy we are to have sold it (moved to Charlotte). First, our house was supposed to be done in April- we finally got in, in September! I don't think we had a straight wall in the whole house. We used to call it the fun house effect. The finishing work was crap, we had to have them replace every single counter top- yes, every single one. There was major damage to all of them that was concealed with a cheap fix. Luckily I looked close enough to catch the first one in the kitchen then studied all the other counter tops and they all had serious damage disguised with white filler. Our bedroom window literally fell out in my husbands had. Our linoleum had slices in it from a utility knife and there were a few area's around the vents that were cut too short. The insulation was terrible. Being up north you will be paying lots of $$$ for your gas bills. Our siding ripped off more times then I can count and had to be replaced by service. Our next door neighbors house had to be completely resided TWICE! Our neighbor on the other side had his bedroom ceiling cave in from water leaking through. These builders are a nightmare. Trust me, do not get invloved with them. I know the allure is hard to resist with the size for a lot less money but it is too good to be true. We were also not allowed to have our own inspector walk through- what does that tell you? Obviously you will do what you will do, but as a former Maronda home owner, it was the worst 2 years of my life. Buy smaller, with better quality. Also do a search. Yes there are complaints with every builder but Maronda is being sued left and right, especially in Florida for their poor building practices. They have to be the worst builder out there.

[bgfalcons86]

I'd steer clear of Maronda Homes, if I were you - based on their reputation in Central Ohio alone. I've heard very few good things about them and many, many bad things.

[jennazer]

You are also locked into using only their lender. You absolutely cannot use the lender of your choice which makes it impossible to shop around for the best interest rate. Also, if you have a realtor helping you, forget it. They won't even talk to you with a realtor because they know a realtor will be able to point out the scams they are pulling on their homebuyers. If you do decide to go with them make sure you ask what is included as well. With our house we did not get a driveway, just stone (although they now include driveways with all homes, at least in our old development) and no one in the whole development got a walk way. They just threw down concrete pavers and made concrete steps stacked up high to get in the front door on the houses that were on the low side. The high side houses did have steps with a railing (required by code) going up to the door but no walk way. Just concrete square pavers. Everyone had to pay to get a walkway put in and most had to pay for driveways like us before they changed it. Most people didn't put driveways or walkways in leaving the area looking terrible with nothing but stone and concrete pavers with weeds growing up between them.

[Briolat21]

Thank you for all the great advice. It is hard to resist the size for the money, and I'm more than willing to compromise on choices and even grade of finish material (I don't care that they don't offer hardwood for instance).. but actual building problems are what scare me. So I really appreciate your warnings. I've looked them up on the web and though they are being sued in Florida (so is everybody else it seems) there's really not much else out there on them. Especially not in Ohio. If you have any more info on the problems in Central Ohio, I'd be very interested. Thanks again for the help!

[spaton]

I completely disagree with the posts below. I built my Maronda home over 4 years ago and it has been fantastic! My only issues in 4 years have been:

1. Gas riser was cut too short resulting in a gas link. Columbia gas performed the service and repairs and Maronda reimbursed me (approx 650.00 within 2 weeks with minimal fuss.

2. I had a small concrete chip (size of a saucer) in my garage. Service fixed the crack in 72 hours.

3. A cracked bedroom window. this was due to a severe hail storm last year and was in no way the builders fault.

Only one of my neighbors has had any significant issues. the one neighbor that did have an issue was due to cracks in the basement floor. they fixed it without argument and it has held up well for the last 2 years.

Much of the quality you get is due to your oversight as a home builder. I was at the construction site every day and gave daily feedback to the construction foreman of anything I was happy/unhappy with. Brought the work crews hot chocolate, coffee, pizza, regularly so they knew not just that they were building a house but that it was for a real person. Most of my neighbors did the same. Many of my friends were building at the same time and went went with bigger "name" builders and every single one of them has remarked that the wish they had gone with Maronda because of how many issues they have had vs. my lack of issues.

Maronda builds a good home. Contrary to an earlier post my insulation was done very well and the siding has been completely problem free.

A lot of the issue goes to the bad mouthing in the industry and some issues that Maronda had in the first 5 years in Central Ohio. I would avoid Maronda homes built in the central Ohio area prior to 2000. After 2000 - most of the homes have been quite well built.

[Briolat21]

Spaton,

Thank you so much for your post as well. I have noticed that a lot of the suits against Maronda (in Florida) as well as against other builders do seem to be from houses built a while ago, suggesting they should have learned from those problems and are correcting them in their current homes. May I ask how you managed to be at the construction site every day? My husband is still located out of state, so I am here by myself and work about 1/2 hour from where we are intending to build (I live with relatives down here an hour in the other direction). Practically, I would only be able to go to the construction site ridiculously early (6am, before work) and only if I could somehow wake up 2 hours early... or after work (about 5:00pm) when I'd think they'd already be gone for the day.

How does one supervise the construction of their own house when they already have a full-time job??

Thanks again to everyone's comments.. its a really tough decision to make and I appreciate all input!

[etronic]

I also disagree with the massages above. I have bought two Maronda Homes in Florida. I did alot of research before I bought my first home from Maronda. There are alot of things that Maronda does that few builders do. For example, you get to do a walk thru 1 week before your closing, another the same day as your closing to make sure that you are completly happy with everything before you close on the house. Then you also get a 6 month inspection. This gives you time to get in the house. If there is something you would like done they take care of it. You have a 1 year warranty on the house. When talking with my sales rep, one of my concerns were how can Maronda provide more space for less money without jeprodizing the quality. Maronda produces alot of the materials that is used in the construction process. For example, they build there own trusses, countertops. On the 2 stories they build the 2nd story walls in a factory and transport them to your lot and install the parts in panels. This will allow less errors that can happen while building the house on your lot. They also have there own HVAC, ELECTRICAL and PLUMBING companies! By doing all these things they do not have to pay other companies to do the work and results in lower costs into the house. All the material used are the same that any other home builder would use. Maronda has a 24 hr number in case of emergencies. I also DID have a private inspector to an inspection before I closed. They completly allowed this inspection. I paid 325. for this inspection! The only thing that was found was the window screen had a small tear and cabinet door needed adjusted. It was a waste of money because Maronda was on top of the issues anyway. Both items were taken care of before my second walk thru. This was my first house. A one story. 3 years later I had 2 children and needed more space. I sold my house easly and made a huge profit. I recently bought a 2 story Winchester in Winterhaven. I have so much extra room in my home. My walk thru's went great. My supervisor, Billy took almost 3 hours explaining the house and making sure everything was completed properly. He took customer sevice to the next level. We had a few minor paint touchups. The second walk, everything was done and ready for us to move in. It could not have went any better!!!. The way I see it is if you can get more for less and the customer service gets better each time you would be crazy to buy from anyone else.

[lizab]

I moved into a Maronda Homes will be almost a year now. I did encounter problems with the house. I have a leaks in one of the Bedrooms, Also the screen porch . Because of the humidity cause by the leak one of the walls cave in. Even thought I encounter so many problems and was disappointed at first, everytime I called with a new problem they came and fixed in some cases 2 and 3 times until I was satisfied without raising any fuss. You have to be on top of them. Don't be afraid to call for any problems. They do need to improved on insulation.

[Briolat21]

Lizab -- thanks for the info. We've looked into a lot of other local builders as well.. I don't like the Thermoply product, but Ryland, Fischer and a number of other builders use it as well. We are still considering Maronda, along with Cristo .. its a very hard decision to make. Thanks for your info regarding their service, that's very important that they are willing to make the necessary repairs to satisfy their customers.