Who Would You Reccommend As a Home Builder? (Huntsville, Madison: relocating, job)

[Apache_Steve]

Good Evening,

My wife and I are looking to buy a home in the next 3-6 months. We are relocating to Huntsville in late July. We want new construction, and would like to pick some of our own options. Which builders do good work, and which would you avoid?

Thank You,

Apache_Steve

[level10]

Sure thing.... Give me a price range, exact areas you are considering, and whether you want more bang for the buck or more home for the price, and I can give you some pretty good suggestions.

There is almost certainly going to be a story about any particular builder that's not favorable, and sometimes you have to take those with a grain of salt. Although, if you check the online site for the BBB, and you notice a continual pattern, that's something to watch for.

[zenjenn]

We've been very happy with our house from Jeff Benton Homes. He is a local builder.

http://www.jeffbentonhomes.com/

We feel the home is a good value. I will be honest - it is not the highest end top notch materials available in new homes in the area, but it is not the worst either. The end result, in my opinion, is a good value. It's still a large home with a lot of desirable new amenities, with a lower cost per square foot. JBH also builds in a variety of developments, some higher end and some more modest.

Our inspector said that Jeff Benton Homes used to do more custom work which resulted in more inspection issues, but 5 yrs ago or so he switched to a more streamlined system - things are less custom but the floorplans are down solid and there are very few inspection issues. Yet at the same time, a neighborhood will have several different floorplans and a number of different exteriors for the same floorplan, and different finishes for each exterior (colors, brick styles, etc) so the neighborhood appearance has enough variety where not every house looks identical.

I also like the home design. For weeks after I moved in I was delighted to find little items in the design that were very practical and clearly made with real living in mind. Just things like small linen closets in each bathroom, plenty of electrical outlets (at least one on each wall - often two - an outlet in the kitchen island, etc.), drawer placement, etc.

We've also been extremely pleased with the customer service, in terms of warranty requests. We haven't had many problems at all but when we have, JBH has been quick and responsive with addressing them.

[PSMadison]

Originally Posted by Apache_Steve

Good Evening,

My wife and I are looking to buy a home in the next 3-6 months. We are relocating to Huntsville in late July. We want new construction, and would like to pick some of our own options. Which builders do good work, and which would you avoid?

Thank You,

Apache_Steve

Mike Johnson builds very nice custom homes in the Madison area. He built our house and I felt he did a good job and was very honest. (Very important!) His follow-up after closing wasn't great, but overall a very good high quality builder.

[djmaxwell]

My wife and I have been very pleased with Adams Homes. We just finished having a house built in the Rock Creek subdivision on the western frontier of Huntsville. Several of our friends have had houses built by Adams and have been pleased as well.

DJM

[HouseFullaBoys]

I think it depends if you are looking for a production builder to build you one of their plans on their lot in their community. Or are you looking for a custom builder to build your plan on your property? I would recommend that you contact the Madison County Builders Association, and visit communities to see who has the style and quality you are looking for. Once you narrow that down, then you could check with BBB. Your local realtor should also have experience with many of the local builders and can help determine who is a good fit based on your needs. As a realtor I have sold several, and 90% were positive experiences. As a consumer I have purchased a Jeff Benton Home and that was also a positive experience. It really depends on the type of community you want to live in and how "custom" you want your home to be!

[Toymeister]

solid advice by Melaine, once you see the various builders products for yourself you will have a better idea