Contemporary Garden Homes? (Houston, Marshall, West: for sale, condo, house)

[Rugger73]

Originally Posted by MAG2014

Have you heard if they started construction again? We drove by a week ago and they still had the warning signs in front of the gate.

Currently, they have a plan and profile for the water lines and fire hydrants approved by the City and plan beginning installation this week. They plan to begin construction of the houses again in the next 2-3 weeks.

[missunshine70]

I have experience with this company and it is not favorable. Although they offer a modest price for the type of home with a low monthly maintenance fee, the customer service is unacceptable, and the headache involved might not be worth it.

Contemporary Garden Homes on several occasions told my realtor a close date. It was scheduled, I gave notice at my rental, etc, mortgage rate locked, etc. Two times the date was changed by the builder and offered no assistance. I had to vacate my rental, put my items in storage, extend my rate, etc. All of which equals more money. My lender received minimal response from Contemporary Garden Homes. Several days before the last scheduled date to close, the lender still had no HOA insurance info because Contemporary Garden Homes just switched HOA's. My lender finally got the paperwork 2 days prior to the scheduled close. My Realtor asked Contemporary Garden Homes for an extension to close another date. They said NO and that if I didn't close by the date they set, my contract would become null and void...that they were happy to give me my money in escrow back.

When I did my walk-through and pointed out some structural flaws I was told by Contemporary Garden Homes that this was not a "River Oaks" home and they would have to speak with the builder to see if it would be fixed prior to closing. I won't go into the other unprofessional and inappropriate comments that were said in front of me and my realtor. My inspector found about 8 things needing to be repaired prior to closing. Contemporary Garden Homes would not repair any items, 2 of which are major and can cause additional issues structural.

I assumed the items during the walk-through would be completed. About 75% of my painting & woodwork requests were not completed. The painting of the woodwork is very incomplete and sloppy; only surface items were addressed.

Overall, no one has control over City issues that cause new construction not being completed on time. This is understandable. On the other hand, when Contemporary Garden Homes is non-responsive to your realtor and lender whom are preparing for the closing, and then all of the sudden Contemporary wants to close & threatens to void the contract, I find this highly unprofessional. They appear to be severely understaffed and whomever oversees the crew, must not have an eye for detail because a lot was missed.

I am glad to be in my home and know that I will make a profit, but honestly, I almost walked. All I can say is choose wisely.

[gardenwhat]

Just like missunshine70, CGH is god awful!

I don't even know where to begin with this shady company. We saw they had the water issues at the other complex, but thought it was just a one case thing.

In October 2013, we put our money down and signed for a completion date of March 2014. After all, these low priced places are just too good to pass up. Little did we know that was just the beginning of the nightmare. March rolls around, gets pushed to April. April roles around, gets pushed to "end of summer". "End of summer" rolls around, now its October. Mind you, we had to go back and forth with our current apartment on month-to-month, more expensive chaos. October rolls around, guess what? Pushed to September! After the fire inspection failed, our closing date got pushed back even further. Finally, at the end of September 2014, we actually closed. Oh and on our closing date, an hour before the appointment, they called and jacked the price up twenty something percent more than the good faith estimate.

The walk through was your typical walk through, sloppy paint jobs needing touch ups, and all the plastic covering half-ripped off the appliances.

So we start the move. First thing, Centerpoint does not have a permit for our place for gas and electricity. The builder decided to not register our units correctly with the city so it appeared to Centerpoint that we were a blackout zone and needed a meter to be installed, even though we already had meters. We had to contact the city of Houston to have a permit sent. Centerpoint came out and verified the meter existed and everything was fine there.

Apparently the units were registered only as buildings instead of separate units. So the only way we could get internet is if we cancelled our neighbors in the same building as it read we are under one roof on their system. Obviously this is quite ridiculous! Over a month went by and we, and the neighbors finally got TV and internet one way or another.

As our internet was installed, the tech noticed the phone jack wiring was reversed. Go figure. So he had to fix it and said the rest in the house are probably the same. Speaking of electrical, we had the electrician come out and fix a couple outlets that were installed incorrectly.

What else... the plumbing! Some neighbors experienced whole floors flooding from leaks. Guess we were lucky on that end. But our tub was nothing but scolding hot water, no cold. So they came to fix it and tried saying the pipes were reversed. Clearly they weren't. The guy that fixed it left puddles of water in the bathroom as he left without cleaning. Thanks!

There was also graffiti in our garage from the workers that was never taken care of. So I did it myself, at the expense of myself.

None of our gate remotes worked. Apparently we had to program them ourselves without knowing the correct code!

The thermostat is on the highest floor so in the cold, the 2nd floor is absolutely freezing. The duct work is awful and the AC tech said it would require expensive zoning work. One neighbor is actually buying a space heater to put on the 2nd floor.

I don't even know what else...Oh, we still don't have a trash can and its been over 2 months. I think 3 total units have cans finally.

I know one neighbor who threatened to walk away and George the builder laughed and said do it, I'll sell it for 20 more grand.

This house buying experience has been unique to say the least.

These are the people you will be messing with if you go with CGH. Choose wisely indeed.

[gardenwhat]

How could I forget, gas leaks!

Every unit has the regulator on the stove leaking. Some units have the water heater upstairs leaking.
Needless to say, our stove is disconnected and cannot be fixed until at least Dec. 2nd. Perfect timing for the holidays!

[bayou_boy]

You get what you pay for...

[Aussie N Houston]

I am currently working with George to purchase a property on the 610 east location. Everything in the finished model seemed great for us. I will keep the site updated with how it goes.

[Pbhasin5]

HI, Does anybody of you know the completion date on HullSmith. Have been trying to contact George to get an estimated closing date but haven't got any response back. Any inputs would be helpful, thanks,

[tucker3444]

Originally Posted by Pbhasin5

HI, Does anybody of you know the completion date on HullSmith. Have been trying to contact George to get an estimated closing date but haven't got any response back. Any inputs would be helpful, thanks,

When we were looking last year they said October/November 2014...

[Pbhasin5]

Yeah, they have moved it several times since then. The units seems to be ready but waiting to know the Closing Date. Thanks for the response.

[Aussie N Houston]

Pbhasin5, He usually answers his email. That's how I normally contact him. We are moving to the 288 and 610 site. Our expected move-in is September. So we shall see