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In June 2014 I met with Blue Ridg Log Cabins representative, Gary Winterburn. We discussed their product and even attended one of their seminars. At the time we discussed our finances and told them that we will not be able to do a 20% down payment. We were told that they have a bank, Citizens First, that has a great program with a ten percent downplay net with no PMI. They only require a credit score of 680. We were within those requirements so we signed a contract with them. Knowing the uncertainty of the banking industry, we also expressed our concern if for some reason we did not qualify. We were assured by Gary Winterburn that we would be able to get our money back. We were told the company doesn't want to keep money if they weren't selling a home. And, no, it wasn't written into the contract. Shortly after making application with Citizens First, we were told that our credit scores must be a 710 or higher. As we were several months out, we decided we could wait until we sold our home. We are now a year and a half out. We sold our home. We still don't have the scores and the bank will not qualify us. We decided to cancel our contract and request a refund so we could go a different direction. Additionally, we had a family emergency which took some of the savings we had to build the home. We requested in November or December to cancel and get our money back. The nightmare began. We were told it would take approximately thirty days before a decision could be made. Then after thirty days, they hadn't done anything because they said the thought we would want a smaller home. We never communicated that information to them. We explained we needed our money. The dance began. Very difficult to get responses. Eventually a manager by the Name of Greg Alitzer responded and said that after a board meeting with their directors, they decided to refund 4500 of the 15k. The said they had to cover the expenditures on my project. They said they spent 5k on plan engineering, another 3k on customization and a couple more thousand in miscellaneous administrative charges. When we decided on a plan, Gary pulled one it of the drawer called the Lake Wylie II. This was a plan that had already been built and we were provided actual photographs of the built home. We made no customizations to the plan and received no builders plans. They made up charges to eat up the deposit. Additionally, they wanted to pay the 4500 back over two payments! This sounds like they are in financial difficulty. I would certainly be very wary of doing business with this company. Something else that was not really brought to light was the tremendous costs of setting the house and site prep. The cost of the house was 270k and the cost of the set and site work was about 160k! Pluse the cost of the land. Beware! Beware!
In June 2014 I met with Blue Ridg Log Cabins representative, Gary Winterburn. We discussed their product and even attended one of their seminars. At the time we discussed our finances and told them that we will not be able to do a 20% down payment. We were told that they have a bank, Citizens First, that has a great program with a ten percent downplay net with no PMI. They only require a credit score of 680. We were within those requirements so we signed a contract with them. Knowing the uncertainty of the banking industry, we also expressed our concern if for some reason we did not qualify. We were assured by Gary Winterburn that we would be able to get our money back. We were told the company doesn't want to keep money if they weren't selling a home. And, no, it wasn't written into the contract. Shortly after making application with Citizens First, we were told that our credit scores must be a 710 or higher. As we were several months out, we decided we could wait until we sold our home. We are now a year and a half out. We sold our home. We still don't have the scores and the bank will not qualify us. We decided to cancel our contract and request a refund so we could go a different direction. Additionally, we had a family emergency which took some of the savings we had to build the home. We requested in November or December to cancel and get our money back. The nightmare began. We were told it would take approximately thirty days before a decision could be made. Then after thirty days, they hadn't done anything because they said the thought we would want a smaller home. We never communicated that information to them. We explained we needed our money. The dance began. Very difficult to get responses. Eventually a manager by the Name of Greg Alitzer responded and said that after a board meeting with their directors, they decided to refund 4500 of the 15k. The said they had to cover the expenditures on my project. They said they spent 5k on plan engineering, another 3k on customization and a couple more thousand in miscellaneous administrative charges. When we decided on a plan, Gary pulled one it of the drawer called the Lake Wylie II. This was a plan that had already been built and we were provided actual photographs of the built home. We made no customizations to the plan and received no builders plans. They made up charges to eat up the deposit. Additionally, they wanted to pay the 4500 back over two payments! This sounds like they are in financial difficulty. I would certainly be very wary of doing business with this company. Something else that was not really brought to light was the tremendous costs of setting the house and site prep. The cost of the house was 270k and the cost of the set and site work was about 160k! Pluse the cost of the land. Beware! Beware!
You NEED a good attorney, pronto, if you haven't talked to one yet. Don't let anymore time go by, or the statute of limitations may run out. You can also check with the NC Secretary of State's Office and find out if the corporation on the contract is in good standing or not. I'm not saying this is the case with BR Log Cabins, but companies file bankruptcy all the time and change their corporate names to avoid litigation.
DM me and I'll give you the name of a good firm in Hendersonville if you need it.
I can't thank you enough for your log home info. We had all but decieded to go with BRLC , now we will find another builder and go with traditional home for our retirement! Perhaps an exsisting and do a fixer-uppere project!
Seriousley, I can't thank all of you enough!
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