Grand Homes - Cumberland Crossing, Allen, TX (West, Howe: home builder, landscaping)

[househunter1970]

I would like to know if anyone has bought a Grand Home in Cumberland Crossing, Allen, TX. Any feedback that you can provide on the quality of the house and builder is much appreciated.

Also, since I will be going with a to be built house, could you also provide any input on negotiating with Grand Homes and things to watch out for. Thanks.

[Rakin]

Everytime I bad mouth Grand I get flamed so here goes ...

IMO They are one of the 3 worst builders in DFW and there homes are hard to resale. I've seen their homes that after 2-3 years have very serious problems and I believe it due to them cutting as many corners as possible when they build.

Example.... you can always tell a Grand home by the primer gray the leave on the siding & garage doors of their homes. Come on Grand, buy some decent paint & spend some money to get it painted.

There are much better builders that build in their price range.

[5stones]

search Grand Homes on htis site and on hte internet.

I found them to ok for a tract home builder.
NOT a semi custom etc...
for around 200k you will probably get an ok house.

I would never spend over 300k for one of thier houses...but that's me.

There are many more builders with better reps etc.

This is the first place that I lived where builder rep plays a BIG part in re-sale. people don't like Grand and they usually sit longer on hte market than David weekly and others.

[rosscountry]

I see a lot of people that bash grand and other builders.
At the end of the day the reality is builders subcontract work and they don't always keep a watchful eye.
I built a grand home but luckily it wasn't my first home build so I would say the process went pretty smooth for me. Of course I had to keep them honest but anything I requested they took care of although they some time took their sweet time to resolve my issues.

The best thing you can do is really understand what they cover under warranty and hold them accountable to the agreement.
When you do your walk throughs bring an extra set of eyes. They give you 12 months to notify them of anything you may find that isn't to your satisfaction so they can fix.
If you go through the process to build with them make sure you get the upgrades that matter.

Whats different with Grand and the other builders is that some of the others include most of the upgrades you see in the model meanwhile Grand doesn't include the highend stuff as a standard. This has an overall affect on the resale if you had a person not put "upgrades" in the right areas or worse yet there is an investor next door who does no upgrade at on the interior or exterior which will drag down the value and sellabilty of your home.
maybe I had a better experience with them because I built a 300k + home with them.

Oh last thing I would recommend is to see if you can get them to do more for you on the landscaping. (thats where they truly cut corners) No one really questions the finished product of landscaping.

[m00se]

Originally Posted by Rakin

Everytime I bad mouth Grand I get flamed so here goes ...

IMO They are one of the 3 worst builders in DFW and there homes are hard to resale. I've seen their homes that after 2-3 years have very serious problems and I believe it due to them cutting as many corners as possible when they build.

Example.... you can always tell a Grand home by the primer gray the leave on the siding & garage doors of their homes. Come on Grand, buy some decent paint & spend some money to get it painted.

There are much better builders that build in their price range.

Perhaps you wouldn't get flamed so much if you kept updated on the info you post, be it positive or negative. Last time I visited a Grand design center over a year ago, and even back then, they were offering several exterior paint colors other than gray. Your industry would be well served if all realtors posting here post current info. If/when I come to a forum such as this one I'd like it to be current info. Opinion is one thing but actual info should be current and accurate in order to be useful.

I've shopped several brands and have found that even the worst among them are subject to improve. I think it's unfair to adapt any one mantra (good or bad) and toss it out each time someone asks opinion. I can't think of any one builder that has no dissatisfied customers and equally I can't think of any that has no happy customers. No, I do not work for Grand or any other builder and have no interest in any of them.

No harm meant.

[verohero]

Cumberland Crossing is much like a Indian/Chinese village now.

[MountainPharmD]

oh lord...another Grand home question...Do a search you will find more than you care to read.....

[sarahTX]

Cumberland Crossing in Allen has great topography, as I'm sure you know after visiting there. There aren't too many "hills" in DFW, and especially in Allen. I have sold 1 Grand Home in the past, but my client ended up backing out on it because they were charging for a 3rd car garage that should have been included in the plan. I have heard a lot of negative press about Grand, but have not witnesses any first hand. However, I have heard a lot of great things about Sotherby's and Drees. Just make sure you don't fall for the "special" of the month. Work with a Realtor to get CMAs to make sure you aren't over paying and are getting what you are paying for, and get protection in case things don't out.

[househunter1970]

Thanks a lot everyone for your time and feedback. I am still looking in West Allen and hopefully will find a house soon.

[Rakin]

Good luck househunter, you made a wise choice passing on the Grand Home. There is an agent in our office helping a client deal with foundation issues on a Grand Home & it's not pretty.