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Ok, I too have posted about my problems with my McCar home. But they were found and rectified. It may have taken a few phone calls but remember how many subdivisions are there in one area and how many homeowners have problems that need repaired. In my case it was a defect in the hardwood, manufacturer problem not McCar. My dh and I were thinking about this complaining and yes it does warn the others about what to expect. But to the owners posting all the negativity and saying never buy this house, what are you saying to the next homeowner you want to buy your house in the future. This house is worth nothing, or this house has a lot of problems and I am not going to buy it. I understand it is one thing to warn about the problems, but to keep bashing them day after day and month after month, come on it gets ridiculous. At least if something positive does happen, it should be voiced just as well.
I have stayed off this forum for a long time because the issues with McCar Homes have literally made me sick. I am glad your issues were rectified, but not all of us can say that. It took 2 years for my final 1yr walk-thru and I am still not satisfied with the end result. My fears are what is going to happen to this house each year and well my fears are haunting me now. My floors are popping worse now than ever and starting to become unlevel. I can only guess it is from the framing they supposedly fixed. But my biggest fear is never being able to sell this house because of all the problems. I wish I could say I love my house, but each day when something else happens I wish I could wake up from the nightmare.
Hi there, I just stumbled upon this site while searching for "McCar Homes" online. Add me to the list of people who would advise potential buyers to run as fast as they can from this builder. I made the unfortunate mistake of buying a McCar spec home six months ago and it has been nothing but trouble since. The employees are completely unresponsive and really could care less if any of your issues resolved. As a matter of fact I scheduled a meeting with the "VP of Construction" today to meet at my home tomorrow in regards to some work that is being done on a drainage easement that runs along my property. I told him I didn't want anything done until I was shown what their plan was for the work they were going to do. I specifically said I didn't want any trees removed from my once wooded lot. So when I arrived home today, what do I find? A tractor digging up my trees and four workers backfilling the dirt around the new concrete drainage ditch that was installed today without my knowledge. Needless to say my meeting tommorow should be interesting. So to sum it all up, tell anyone that has any interest whatsoever in purchasing a McCar home to reconsider. Dealing with the frustration and shady business practices of this company simply are not worth it. The only way they will change is if word gets out and potential buyers go elsewhere.
Mr Haymaker,
I am The "VP of Construction-Rob McCrae- i apoligize for being a little confused about our supposed conversation today. I have not been to the office in over a week due to the fact that my wife has had major surgery and I am taking care of her. Although I have been responding to emails i have not taken any voice mails-i think you are dealing with an imposter!
As I have stated repeatedly in this thread-my email is rmccrae@mccarhomes.com. If you would like to deal with the real VP of Constuction please email me and I can get you some help.
Standing by at your service
Rob McCrae
I stand corrected. I dealt with your regional manager of construction, my apologies. That being said I still have issues with my home and lot. The main reason I purchased this home was for the large wooded lot that I thought would be perfect for my family and I. Now a good portion of it is unusable due to poor grading, the leaky septic I had last week, the standing water, and the removal of a large portion of my mature trees for the eyesore of a drainage canal that was installed and is now being torn up and rebuilt. Had I known my yard would look like it does now six months ago; I absolutely would have bought another home. I won't hesitate to contact you privately Mr. Mcrae if I don't have any luck getting these issues resolved soon. I still stand by my statements that potential homeowners look elsewhere for their new homes. I know I'm not the only unhappy homeowner in my community.
Mr Haymaker,
It was not my intension to correct you-I was and still am concerned-
I plan on being in Charlotte in the next week or so and will be in Fairington-
I have also asked for some additional information pertaining to your home-Although you have offered to let me know-it is our responsibility to service you, i apoligize for your disappointment thus far and look forward to the opportunity to meet you.
Rob McCrae
Hi there, I just stumbled upon this site while searching for "McCar Homes" online. Add me to the list of people who would advise potential buyers to run as fast as they can from this builder. I made the unfortunate mistake of buying a McCar spec home six months ago and it has been nothing but trouble since. The employees are completely unresponsive and really could care less if any of your issues resolved. As a matter of fact I scheduled a meeting with the "VP of Construction" today to meet at my home tomorrow in regards to some work that is being done on a drainage easement that runs along my property. I told him I didn't want anything done until I was shown what their plan was for the work they were going to do. I specifically said I didn't want any trees removed from my once wooded lot. So when I arrived home today, what do I find? A tractor digging up my trees and four workers backfilling the dirt around the new concrete drainage ditch that was installed today without my knowledge. Needless to say my meeting tommorow should be interesting. So to sum it all up, tell anyone that has any interest whatsoever in purchasing a McCar home to reconsider. Dealing with the frustration and shady business practices of this company simply are not worth it. The only way they will change is if word gets out and potential buyers go elsewhere.
Haymaker, I am sorry to hear of your problems. As you've surely read, we're in the same boat. I'm glad McCrae is responding, though. I'm certain things will be worked out somehow. I just wanted to say I'm glad you posted. The truth needs to get out there. Not that it benefits me any...I'm just glad you took the time to go 'public' and post. Hopefully, more will and changes will be made company-wide. I hope to read updates on your situation. Stay on top of them!!
I have purchased many newly built homes and am currently looking at McCar. Since I have had experience with Horton, Centex and Pulte (all top listed homebuilders) I can offer to share my experience with all of them.
They all have problems with homebuilding. I would have to say, its not McCar or Horton or Centex, etc that are the problem because homebuilders use subcontractors to actually build the houses. The way I've seen it with my experience is that the builder works with the best "subs" and sometimes like any company, you get a bad employee which results in poor workmanship. Just as you get a lemon with the millions of cars turned out, I feel its probably the same way with homes. Considering all that are built out there, they all are not going to come out perfect.
I've had leaky roofs, toilets that leak through the 2nd floor ceiling when flushed, electric problems with fixtures that overheat and turn off themselves to prevent fires (the Centex builder told me that one!), 1/2 inch+ cracks in poured concrete and more. It's not just one builder, you just have to find one you think you can work with. The best advice I can give, is stay on them to fix the problem. It isn't easy, it takes your time and you get frustrated feeling like you're doing everyone elses job, but the old saying "the squeaky wheel gets the oil" is usually true. I've tried to be realistic that homebuilding isn't always perfect--it's saved me at least one ulcer!
I have purchased many newly built homes and am currently looking at McCar. Since I have had experience with Horton, Centex and Pulte (all top listed homebuilders) I can offer to share my experience with all of them.
They all have problems with homebuilding. I would have to say, its not McCar or Horton or Centex, etc that are the problem because homebuilders use subcontractors to actually build the houses. The way I've seen it with my experience is that the builder works with the best "subs" and sometimes like any company, you get a bad employee which results in poor workmanship. Just as you get a lemon with the millions of cars turned out, I feel its probably the same way with homes. Considering all that are built out there, they all are not going to come out perfect.
I've had leaky roofs, toilets that leak through the 2nd floor ceiling when flushed, electric problems with fixtures that overheat and turn off themselves to prevent fires (the Centex builder told me that one!), 1/2 inch+ cracks in poured concrete and more. It's not just one builder, you just have to find one you think you can work with. The best advice I can give, is stay on them to fix the problem. It isn't easy, it takes your time and you get frustrated feeling like you're doing everyone elses job, but the old saying "the squeaky wheel gets the oil" is usually true. I've tried to be realistic that homebuilding isn't always perfect--it's saved me at least one ulcer!
Well put! You're right. I've said the same thing too....it's today's building industry. But, a McCar employee sat at my kitchen table and looked right at me and said while they, "hire subs to build their homes, at the end of the day, whose name is at the front of the subdivision"??? The subs represent the builder. Bad subs?? Bad building. Not all homes are bad. Not all neighborhoods have major issues. Mine does. This same employee (name withheld) said my neighborhood is a "hotbed of problems". So, whomever is reading can take that for whatever it's worth when looking for a builder. And, yes....the "squeaky wheel" thing most definitely works. I advocate it!!! People who don't 'squeak' enough will not be heard. I'm very 'squeaky'! As I've said before, if you look hard enough, you'll find uphappy homeowners with every builder. But, no, not every home built by my builder is flawed. It would be ridiculous to assume so. The common denominator in my neighborhood "appears" to be spec homes purchased verses prebuild. More and more neighbors that bought a spec are the ones with the major problems. Coincidence? Maybe. Doubtful. But, maybe.
My wife & I bought our McCar home in a Harrisburg, NC community called Magnolia Springs. We've been in our house a few months now. We signed our contract on an empty lot. I was at the homesite almost every single day taking pictures. I have nearly 600 digital photos of every phase of construction. I used these photos to put together a running list of issues that I had. Each issue had an attached photo so that there could be no ambiguity. Many of the items on the list were simply cosmetic problems, and have been quickly fixed. The remaining items have survived. They were on the final punch list at home owner orientation. They have been added to the 45 day walkthrough (which didn't take place until about 60 days). And they continue up to now.
I would say that I am very satisfied with the effort that McCar has put forth to try and make things right for us. Where I'm dissatisfied is with their ability to actually do it. The biggest problem for us (and some of our neighbors, too) is the floors. We have the armstrong laminate floors, and more than any decision we've made in this house, I wish that we had just passed on that option and got the standard vinyl and carpet. I'm certain that we could have gotten much better quality floors for the amount that we paid in the upgrade. (As an aside, I think the selection of floors that McCar has is horrible!) The problem that we have is that the floors buckle all over the place! I don't know if it's because the subfloor isn't flat, or if it's because they didn't install them with the proper spacing or that the product just sucks. I don't know. But McCar doesn't seem able to get subcontractors who know how to fix them.
McCar has been out to our house 3 times to try and rectify the problems with the floors. They are coming out again next week to rip out the entire floor and replace it. And every time they come out, not only do they not fix the problem that they were supposed to fix, they create some other problem that has to be added to the list. For example, now we have shoe-molding all over the place that wasn't put back down correctly. My 16 month old son can pull it out of the joint and turn the little pieces into seriously dangerous weapons, with exposed nails! If, after next week, McCar can't fix this problem I'm going to ask for our money back and let them put in the standard flooring. My brother-in-law just had Lowe's come out and put in solid hardwood floors into his house (not that engineered hardwood crap that McCar has) and he paid only slightly more for it than we did. I'd *GLADLY* pay what he paid to get that level of quality. My neighbors are experiencing the exact same problem.
All of that being said, my overall reaction to McCar is this: for me, they have gone to great lengths to try and make me happy. And, for the most part, they have done a good job. But there are a few areas that they just consistently seem unable to resolve. I hope, that when I am forced to escalate this, they will come through.
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Experience with McCar vs others
As I've said before, if you look hard enough, you'll find uphappy homeowners with every builder. But, no, not every home built by my builder is flawed. It would be ridiculous to assume so. The common denominator in my neighborhood "appears" to be spec homes purchased verses prebuild. More and more neighbors that bought a spec are the ones with the major problems. Coincidence? Maybe. Doubtful. But, maybe.
Mostly satisfied McCar customer
