Any Custom Home Builder Recommendations for NOVA home? (Oakton, Falls Church: how much, prices)

[Paigerth]

My sister had a custom home built by Stanley Martin in Arlington. The house is beautiful and very well built - and was finished ahead earlier than planned!

[tennisplyr]

What does it cost to build a custom home?

[caribe1]

we research for about a year. looked at the "true custom" builders that have been mentioned in everyone's posts. the price per finished sq. ft. ranged from $200-$450. that was way too much for our budget.

we then looked at the "semi-custom" guys. here is what we found

-NDI: very dated designs. decent materials. no frills or finishes. good price ($80-$95 sq.ft.) nearly everything was an upgrade expense; including the foundation concrete just to meet building code. can you believe that they still have vinyl floors in kitchen? 7' tall (vs. 8') garage doors? ugh... they just "nickeled and dimed" us to death on everything.

-Stanley Martin: a production/subdivision builder posing as a semi-custom builder. decent designs, $95 + sq. ft. they have a "high pressure" sales guy that works for Long & Foster and is not really a part of this builder "team". just sell a house and disappear. we didn't like him or tactics.

-Classic: horrible quality in just about every category that we felt was important. cabinets were terrible, and "short cuts" are taken at every turn.

-ANV Group: the very best designs of them all. they give you hundreds of choices in plans and actual room layouts. price under $90 sq. ft. for a house full of standard features.

obviously we choose ANV Group. they completed our 5000 sq. ft. home in about 7 months and the quality and customer service was outstanding. our neighbors also bought ANV Group, built a 9000 sq. ft (finished basement included) and theirs was done in less than 7 months (go figure)

please contact me if you have any questions about our ANV home

[weezycom]

Originally Posted by JEB77

I have been quite impressed by JP Brehony in Vienna, Buchanan-Price, Harris Custom Builders, and Morris-Day in McLean and Tradition Homes in Arlington. [Brehony still has a few new houses still for sale in Vienna, but I'm not sure he's building new houses now.] Ayr Hill in Vienna also builds beautiful custom homes, although they have a reputation for being high-maintenance. Sekas is another high-end custom builder in the area, but has been building so many of the same "custom" homes in Vienna and McLean for years that they've started to seem generic to me.

Clients at my office have not been pleased with their interactions with Sekas. Slow response to problems, quick to take your money, slow to perform once they get it.

[JD984]

Originally Posted by weezycom

Clients at my office have not been pleased with their interactions with Sekas. Slow response to problems, quick to take your money, slow to perform once they get it.

I know they have a reputation of being able to build quickly, and they've offered attractive financing. As my prior post indicates, I think they've diluted what they originally had to offer by building so many similar houses in Vienna and McLean. For the same price, you could get a house by a high-end custom builder who isn't blanketing the area with so many similar houses.

[Denjam]

Like others on this post, we researched Stanley Martin Custom Homes (SMCH), NDI, ANV, Classic, Foxhall, Mickey Simpson, Tradition Homes, Paramount, Sagatov, and several others. My wife and I are both attorneys and we thoroughly evaluated these companies. Each of these companies offers incentives, but there is only one company where the President of the Company personally assisted us with lot selection, home design and TRUE customization of our home. Every time we asked a question to SMCH and their Sales Agent from Long and Foster we received an immediate clear answer.

SMCH and their Sales Agent from Long and Foster never tried to sell us anything. As lawyers, we asked a lot of questions for OVER a year. The Long and Foster agent never propositioned us to sell our home or sign a contract. Actually, the Sales Agent for Long and Foster gave us free advice and market data to assist us in selling our home without ever asking to be our agent (we sold by owner). Rather, both SMCH and their Sales Agent geniunely wanted to assist us in our new build and made it clear they would work with us to build the house we wanted no matter what the circumstances.

Here is the short version of what we found:

(a) If you want the cheapest, go with NDI
(b) If you want the largest without regard to anything else, go with ANV
(c) If you want something in the middle of cheapest and biggest, go with Foxhall or Classic
(d) If money is no object to you, then go with Mickey Simpson, Tradition Homes, Paramount, or Sagatov
(e) If you want an original home that is truly one of a kind with the things that you value most, at an "on your lot" price, then go with Stanley Martin

We found that the folks at SMCH and the agent from Long and Foster actually enjoy what they do. It wasn't just about money. This is just my opinion. But don't take my word for it. Just drive by two homes by any builder on this list and you will see that most of the homes are identical. Drive by two SMCH homes and they are truly custom. SMCH and their Sales Agent from Long and Foster met their commitment to build us the custom home we wanted within our financial limitations.

Today, I am writing because I found it valuable to hear about the experience of other buyers and owners. Best of luck.

[preppyglam]

Don't forget to bring in an interior design when you START building! Not after its done! (That is, if you are planning to use one/can afford one). A good, trained designer will work with your architectural/contracting team seamlessly and provide insights they often overlook, as well as select paint palettes, finish palettes (your flooring, stone, etc.), fixtures, help design the lighting according to your furniture plan and art, help ensure the floor plan is perfect for your furniture plan, help with architectural features and moudling design, get started on all your furnishings so that they are ready when your house is done....etc., etc. etc.

[tim2k214]

I have friends that have built houses with Snead Custom homes out of Fredericksburg. Beautiful houses, and they have won the annual "Parade of Homes" multiple times. The company is run by a husband wife that are very personal. Start to finish they do a lot of hands on work. I'd definetely check them out.

When I move back to VA, I'll be calling them for sure!

[Charlie Little]

Take a look at Fairhaven Homes Fairhaven Homes

[starlit2003]

Does anybody on here have built with Sekas? Would you mind sharing your experience? I checked their website but there was no base price for build on your lot floor plan. Are they consider expensive comparing to ANV, Classic, and Stanley Martin?