Any opinions on these builders? (Jacksonville, St. Augustine: countertops, home builder, neighborhood)

[apollo77]

As I mentioned in a separate thread, I am considering a move to either the Nocatee or Palencia area. I'm greatly appreciating the opinions in the other thread about these two areas, so now I solicit more advice.

I've seen that some of the more prominent builders in these areas are:
Dostie Homes
Toll Brothers
Lennar Homes
Cornerstone Homes
Arthur Rutenberg
ICI Homes
David Weekley

Does anyone have opinions, advice, warnings, or recommendations about any of these builders?
Much thanks in advance!

[fsu813]

Advice: Don't use a huge builder - they don't care nearly as much about you or your satisfaction. You're just a number.

An independent builder caters everything to you. Their reputation is everything, thus they make sure it stays A+.

[ctown83]

Avoid ICI and toll brothers

[Acebab]

David Weekley and Cornerstone are good builders....I would avoid Lennar like the plague!!!

[fsquid]

David Weekly is good. ICI is awful.

[EricBoyd]

I posted in another thread, but I'll state it here, too. Dostie Homes built our home in 2010, when they were still known as Kingsouth. They are a long-time Jacksonville custom-home builder, family-owned. They were very easy to work with and accommodated us in every way possible to make us happy homeowners.

[williamwebb1986]

When I visited down there late last year I looked at a lot of different builders homes and the absolute worst one I saw was built by ICI (in terms of build quality) two of the best builders homes I saw were built by Arthur Rutenberg and David Weekley.

[apollo77]

Thank you all for your replies and opinions. This is a very valuable topic for me, as other than Toll Brothers, I have no idea about any of these Florida builders. It looks like I'm gravitating toward deciding on the Palencia/St. Augustine area, so builders in those areas move to the forefront.

I'm also interested in how these builders build to prevent any flood damage. I've been looking at the St. John's County flood maps and while the whole area seems prone to flooding, there are some areas that seem less likely to be affected. I wonder if any of the better builders take this into consideration.

Many thanks again

[GeorgeJ.]

Originally Posted by Acebab

David Weekley and Cornerstone are good builders....I would avoid Lennar like the plague!!!

What exactly was the problem for you with Lennar? Build quality? Customer service? Lack of choices?

We looked at a lower end David Weekley project last weekend ($250,000 price range) and wasn't impressed with the finish work. They had gone on & on about how THEIR houses are perfect before you even do a walk-through. We looked at a finished house that had been sold twice but fell through both times. We found a ton of items that should have been easily caught by their crack team long ago. So much for the great finish work. This floor plan had a window above the sink in the kitchen so there were cabinet sides exposed on each side. These cabinets looked like they had laminate tape on the sides they were so cheap. Horrible cheap cabinets. Painted a dark color rather than stained. When the sun shone on them, you could see how ridiculously cheap they were.

The model had lots of tile in it (everything but the bedrooms) -- but if you went with the standard equipment at Weekley, you got vinyl throughout most of the house and laminate for all the countertops. The base price for the above house was more like $210,000 so it needed a lot of money in upgrades to make it a halfway decent house.

While Weekley included a number of energy-saving items as standard equipment, the Lennar homes at about the same price were as nice or nicer inside and the finish work was as good as, or better. You may not have a lot of choices with Lennar but what they got good deals on doesn't seem to be crap items. And the standard house doesn't come with formica countertops and vinyl flooring.

[houseconfused]

Originally Posted by GeorgeJ.

What exactly was the problem for you with Lennar? Build quality? Customer service? Lack of choices?

We looked at a lower end David Weekley project last weekend ($250,000 price range) and wasn't impressed with the finish work. They had gone on & on about how THEIR houses are perfect before you even do a walk-through. We looked at a finished house that had been sold twice but fell through both times. We found a ton of items that should have been easily caught by their crack team long ago. So much for the great finish work. This floor plan had a window above the sink in the kitchen so there were cabinet sides exposed on each side. These cabinets looked like they had laminate tape on the sides they were so cheap. Horrible cheap cabinets. Painted a dark color rather than stained. When the sun shone on them, you could see how ridiculously cheap they were.

The model had lots of tile in it (everything but the bedrooms) -- but if you went with the standard equipment at Weekley, you got vinyl throughout most of the house and laminate for all the countertops. The base price for the above house was more like $210,000 so it needed a lot of money in upgrades to make it a halfway decent house.

While Weekley included a number of energy-saving items as standard equipment, the Lennar homes at about the same price were as nice or nicer inside and the finish work was as good as, or better. You may not have a lot of choices with Lennar but what they got good deals on doesn't seem to be crap items. And the standard house doesn't come with formica countertops and vinyl flooring.

The base finishes vary by neighborhood. For example in GLV Nocatee, all counters are solid surface, tile in all wet areas and entry, crown molding in a couple of rooms. Base cabinets are cheap... Expect to "upgrade" them or at least negotiate better ones into the contract. You can never look at a model home and expect it to be anywhere near the base price. You will easily spend 10-20% more.

I've noticed that Lennar has something they call "Everything's Included" pricing. It is attractive, but I have to imagine that everything varies by location as well.

The areas that we visited when we were looking all had "whats included in base" sheets. Take a look at them closely. We were able to find some online, but I'm not seeing as many now.