Son looking to buy new home; opinions on Adams homes (2013, HOA fees)

[3nickles]

My son is finally looking to move out on his own and he is looking at many home builders in the greater Manatee county area.

He really likes Neal communities but they are very pricey compared to what you get square footage wise and they are above his top budget limit. I thought they would bend a bit and offer some significant deals off the current inventory spec homes, but it seems that Neal doesn't play that game. At least that's what they told us back in March and they haven't wavered so far. "We don't cut home or lot prices. You either pay what we're asking or you don't buy."

He's looking for modest size (1800-2000 sq ft), NO CDD (HOA fine) in a ranch home with 2 car garage. His top end is $280K. Many of the communities are crossed of the list because they come with fairly high CDD fees in addition to the HOA fees. That removes quite a few of the candidate builders from our list.

We found a community built by Adams and it's in his budget range but I don't know much about that builder since they are relatively small compared to the big guys? Lennar, D.R. Horton, Pulte, Inland, M/I etc.

Can anyone comment on whether Adams is a decent/reputable builder or share their personal experience?

One thing we're concerned about is the ability to survive during this extended COVID situation. A lot of businesses are closing for good and he's worried that even if he buys a spec home, he might be left without a warranty if Adams goes out of business after the home sale. Similarly he is also thinking of building "stick" home with them. They say about 8-9 months to build brand new home. We are concerned that if they go out of business after providing the down payment etc. and during the next 8-9 months, he'll never see his money again.

Opinions, advice please?

[SeetheUSA]

Adams is a big company- just not prevalent in this area. They were building like crazy in both places I have previously lived- NC and in Port St Lucie, FL. They are the Walmart of builders. Nothing wrong with them at all, they are just a cheap builder meant to get people in an affordable home. It would be perfect for your son. Hopefully he can keep it and eventually turn it into an investment property later in life! Best of luck!!

[Sunshine Rules]

Always check the various reviews. Any builder will have some bad reviews, but if you see the same complaints over and over.......


https://www.consumeraffairs.com/hous...ams_homes.html


https://adams-homes.pissedconsumer.com/review.html

[Nancy in Nokomis]

Wow - after reading all those complaints - you would be a fool to buy one of their homes.

[3nickles]

Thanks for the help and advice! This kind of confirmed my fears with Adams.

8-9 months for a build is ridiculous in Florida. They aren't selling in the development and Adams is not doing well in the area.

We're going to steer clear and will look for other companies/develpments..

[motordavid]

Having had two winter season homes built in SW FL over the years, (recent one was built in 2013), I would look for existing houses vs new construction, especially for a first home...

Existing as in a couple to several years old may offer much better value, less developer/builder costs, maybe better quality than some of the less than QC stuff I have seen/live in, etc.

Established communities each have some flavor and possibly differing 'flavor' from each other, and the costs/HOA/no CDD, et al can be readily determined by digging in vs the usual bs on the RE sites that list those 'costs'.

First house for son, good for him and you, but why chase a new build vs a plethora of existing SFHs in his price and need range?
My 50Cts...
GL, mD