Gallery Custom Homes / First Texas Homes (Houston, Canyon: neighborhood, buyer, new construction)

[breriley]

how long do i have the right to hold off on closing for repairs at some point can't they say close on the home or we will sale it to some one else or something of that sort

[fordde]

I have been ripped off. My wife and I were going to purchase an inventory home in the Villages at Spring Lake in Mansfield using funds from the sale of our home. I was not able to close due to issues with my buyers funding and denied a loan. The closing date was 15 days after the contract was signed. First Texas gives a 30 day window. First Texas has denied the return of my $4000 earnest money and $200 upcharge money for price increase to cover closing costs. First, the request was put in after 23 days (10 days after the deposit money was given). Second the upcharge fee is applied if the price of the house is increased at the sale - THE HOUSE WAS NOT SOLD TO US. HOW CAN WE BE CHARGED A FEE FOR SOMETHING THAT DID NOT HAPPEN. I am so angry I don't know what to do. And all this was done with the knowledge that I have a pregant wife expecting in less than 3 weeks.... Corporate has no morals. I believe our salesperson is reputtable though (he tried numerous times to get the money back...). he should change builders as fast as he can...

By the way, most posts our correct. We are angry about the money and are looking to join a class action but we are happy that we didn't buy with them in the end. Just check Mansfield, the majority of the preowned homes up for sale are less than 4 year old First Texas Homes. That says alot. Buyer Beware...

[onrway2clt]

Originally Posted by breriley

how long do i have the right to hold off on closing for repairs at some point can't they say close on the home or we will sale it to some one else or something of that sort

I doubt people are lined up to buy the house. I don't mean that as disrespect to you or the house I am just saying that there is no way they will have a buyer waiting.

Do you have a lawyer or an agent that helped you buy the house? If so, get them involved immediately.

[zubik]

If you were denied your loan they have to refund your money. Take a close look at the contract.

[fordde]

In the contract, the loan denial is superceded by the no contingency clause. FTH is very clever at hiding that (on page one it says you can get it back if you have a loan denial but with special provisions defined in a special addendum (not part of the initial contract) that reverses what is said on page 1). Luckily for me I did not initial page one but because I signed the addendum (for HOA) it was a toss up. Nevertheless, I obtained 1/2 of my deposit money back and all of the $200 back after some rough negotiating. Although I am still disappointed, I feel fortunate to get some of it back considering that most builders, especially FTH, have a policy of keeping the deposit moneys and writing special provisions in contracts where if your loan was not approved or was approved it does not matter - the end result is they can keep it if you don't buy. Thanks for the responses.

[Neveragain]

This was wonderful information.. The motto for First Texas should be "Take the money and run".. I have had nothing but nightmare problems with them, including mold issues. These people turn their backs on you after closing. They do not stand behind their product and I urge anyone who is looking to build a home, stay far away from these crooks .. They may look good on the outside, but all your paying for is a poorly built shelter. Not a place to call home.

[vblack7770]

We built a starter home in Lewisville in 1998 with First Texas and were very satisfied. Any issues were resolved immediately. We built our second home (custom) with Gallery Custom Homes 3 years ago and are very pleased again. I think you just have to report issues in a timely manner and stay on top of them until they are resolved.

[overdone]

We have a Gallery Custom Home in Spring, Texas that leaks. Everything posted about GCH / FTH is absolutely correct. They just don't care and once they have your money you have no chance of getting anything put right. They supposedly repaired the leak twice during the maintenance period, but we still have water coming in every time it rains and they won't fix it now because the warranty period has expired.

If you want to sleep at night, don't under any circumstances buy from this builder.

[Bced21]

Originally Posted by vblack7770

We built a starter home in Lewisville in 1998 with First Texas and were very satisfied. Any issues were resolved immediately. We built our second home (custom) with Gallery Custom Homes 3 years ago and are very pleased again. I think you just have to report issues in a timely manner and stay on top of them until they are resolved.

I can assure you that you are the exception and not the rule. Even a blind mouse can find some cheese every once and a while. First Texas bilked me out of 13 thousand (costly lesson) but I now have a home built by Imperial Homes that would put any First Texas Home to shame. I guess it boils down to what people are willing to accept.

[hungb]

Maybe I am missing out something here guys. I bought a FTH 3800 sq. ft 2 years ago, and so far, knock on wood, it has been well. The one year walk was very nice. They fixed up all the cracks and drawings that my children made on the walls without charges. Also after they left we found more cracks that actually our fault in putting the kids beds scraching the wall, they fixed them (when not supposed to come back after the agreement been signed.) I thought that was much better from my previous Trend Maker homes. Trend maker home had much more cracks and defects after one year, and craftmanship was not impressive to both me and my wife. We paid much more for the Trend maker home but did not like it at all. We also put in a water softener system, which require some sheetrock fixing and FTH fixed them and painted over them without question asked.

There are some lightning issues with FTH though, I do agree in this. All their lights are 60 Watts bulbs. I upgraded all the lights in the house to CFL lights and other lights upgrades but overall not too bad so far.