Schumacher Homes

unknown

unknown

It was good. I would recommend them. They are an excellent company.

work in process.

As the customer I will look at this review in a few different segments. There were so many moving parts that a short review will not do it justice:
1. Pre-Sale: We worked with Bill, who was fantastic. He worked very hard to find our needs and match them to a home that met those needs. He always kept us updated, and responded quickly to our questions and concerns. We needed to sell our home before we could begin this process. We were so pleased with how willing Schumacher was to work with us, even when we had to have our deadline extended. The options, costs (of home) and process were explained to us flawlessly and we accurate and complete. My one concern with this process was the company's unwillingness to help us understand what the costs would be for developing the lot I selected. To me, the lot I chose depended greatly on what the development costs would be, and I was not satisfied with Schumacher's inability to help me in this area. In the end i selected a lot on blind faith, and had to make the sale contingent on Schumacher's review of the property. Luckily, it all worked out. However, had the costs been significantly higher than budgeted, we would have had to start over on finding a lot. It is my opinion that Schumacher should be more willing to analyze the property and provide you with exact figures, before you put an offer on the lot.
2. After agreement: This is where things got a little dicey. I don't want to be too h****** them, because I really do feel that they did well, but this step could have been handled better. We received bits of information about what was required of us from several different players (sales, builder and coordinator) and this information is hard for a lay person to digest and act on. It was my responsibility to locate an engineer and surveyor. It was also my responsibility to locate and coordinate utilities, and to find out township requirements. This resulted in dozens of phone calls and so much back and forth. It was a lot of work. They make this part sound far easier than it is, and often provide you with information that is contrary to the information provided by your township, utility company and other professionals. Also, because there was no comprehensive list of what needed to be done, at least not that was provided to me, it seemed like the information gathering would never end. Further, each answer received changed the costs we were expecting. Certain township requirements nearly pushed our dream out of our price range. Just like the comments on the lot above, I think this information should be researched and provided by the builder. As a lay person it is common that you don't know the questions to ask. These costs, like the lot costs mentioned above, would have influenced our decision on where to build the home.
3. The builder: The builder (who will act as a general contractor during the build) was fantastic. My wife an I both noted how much we enjoyed working with him. he seems very knowledgeable, friendly and willing to work with you. I am looking forward to working with him now as we head towards the beginning of construction.
4. Other costs: There are a few items that Schumacher holds you responsible for, that many other builders cover. I feel like this was hidden during the sales process. I know it is not exactly their responsibility to admit the negative comparisons, but they are noticeable differences. Schumacher requires you to carry a builders risk policy. The policy that they require is very difficult to find. Many big name insurance companies laughed at us as we asked them if they offered this coverage. They told us that our builder should be covering insurance during the build. It took us almost a full month just to locate a company that would write a policy that satisfied their requirements, and for the record it cost over $1,000 for a 12 month policy. Another surprise for us was utilities. Most builders cover the cost of gas and electricity during the build, Schumacher does not. When we called the gas and electric companies they expressed surprise (just like the insurance company) that we were being required to cover these costs. Lastly, brick to grade. Every builder that we spoke to included brick to grade on the foundation. It never occurred to me that Schumacher would not, it just seemed like a standard feature. Well, it was not. When we asked how much it would cost to do the brick to grade they advised us it would be $15,000 (over double the estimates I have received from outside vendors).
I will update this review with more information as the process continues,

The overall experience was fantastic and I would recommend them to anyone!

So far they have been great. They let us get into the detail that we wanted for our home. They have a square footage based pricing system so it is easy to see how much each change will cost. They are very responsive when we have questions.