LDA BUILDERS INC

The beginning of the process was very good. Once we picked our lot and house plan, we worked with Tony on a number of customizations, which he was able to incorporate. LDA has a good selection of plans with modern floor layouts. We made our selections and we were pretty happy with most of the suppliers. The construction began about a month late (due to weather) and was supposed to take 4 months once construction began. In the end, it was 5 months from start to getting our keys due to minor delays. We worked with the project manager, Dave, during most of the construction time.
In our final walkthrough, we identified about a dozen items for our punch-list, and was told that we would have those items completed in 30-60 days. Some of the items on our punch-list included missing vinyl siding around our exterior steps, gutter/downspout issues, two kitchen drawers that didn't soft-close, and a few floor squeaks. Our furnace failed in the first month of use, but was replaced by the furnace company at no charge. We also did not receive our final yard grading for a few months after taking possession, which delayed our lawn installation until early November, which consequently failed and had to be re-done the following spring.
However, even after 15+ months after taking possession, we still have outstanding punch-list items that we are waiting for resolution. Before our one year warranty expired, we had a few more items added to our list, such as a cracked window sash, drywall cracks, concrete cracks, exterior back stairs settling, and a loose railing which caused additional drywall cracks. Our family room and master bedroom have very bouncy floors which you can feel when someone walks through the room. After mentioning it to LDA through the warranty process, they don't seem interested in offering a fix, instead just saying "the floor joists are within spec". Some of our screens arrived damaged, and the replacements still haven't been delivered/installed by LDA. Our screen door out to the back yard has never fit properly and we are still waiting for a replacement.
 
The punch-list items that have been completed were only after many phone calls and emails to try and get these issues resolved. When they do come out and fix the punch-list items, the problems have been fully repaired. Our experience is consistent with our neighbors who also have LDA homes, and a lot of our neighbors still have unfinished punch-list items many months after construction was complete. It seems like whomever is making the most noise gets attention, so we're always competing with our neighbors for some attention.
 We quickly found out that the allowances for the new house were really low. For example, LDA gives you an allowance of $2.00/ft for carpet. Going into a carpet store, you quickly realize that the choices are very limited for that price range. The standard allowance for kitchen cabinets and granite was on the low end. Same goes for the appliances, where a decent set of appliances were substantially more. The low voltage wiring is very expensive, with prices around $100 for each network jack. The painters charge a lot for the better sheens of paint ($600) and color changes ($150). We saved money by having them paint the whole house in one color, and we are slowly re-painting ourselves. Given that this was our first new home, we had no idea that the allowances were relatively low and that we would need additional out-of-pocket money.
Some general tips:

• Take your time during the initial planing and design. You have one time to get it right. Have other people look at your design for any potential flaws in it. We made a few rookie mistakes in our home design, such as not realizing our laundry room was too small. The initial garage sizing is pretty tight for two cars. Oversize your garage because the sq footage price is reasonable.
• Visit the job site early and often to make sure you are happy. 
• Shop around for appliances. The recommended supplier (Interstate Kitchen Supply) was expensive and unwilling to negotiate prices. 
• Same with the lighting store. We bought some lights there, but found much better prices online, though we had to deliver them to the house.
• Document and take pictures of warranty items. Be proactive and keep a paper trail. Prepare to be persistent to get what you deserve.
• All of the people who work for LDA are friendly and good at what they do. The responsiveness and communications make it very difficult to do business with them, and we would not use them again due to this frustration. There's no excuse for punch-list items after 15+ months. LDA runs a bare-bones operation and need a much bigger staff given the volume of homes they build.