AMERICAS HOME PLACE

If you are looking for the cheapest home per square ft. America's Home Place (AHP) should be your choice.  If you are looking for anything above and beyond, including communication, please look elsewhere.  My initial impression of AHP was that the customer service was excellent.  All my emails and phone calls were returned within 24 hrs.; however, at about the 10% completion mark my superintendent, Bernie, left AHP for another builder in Fredericksburg.  From this point until about the 65% completion mark communication was minimal.  During the construction we lived a half mile away so my daily routine following work was to walk through the home.  It was at this point that I realized that subcontractors were taking advantage of the fact that AHP had not assigned a new superintendent to the job.  When I called the main AHP to notify the management about subs trashing the job site or uriniating in gatorade bottles, I was assured that it would be addressed.  These problems with subcontractors continued until the day we moved into our home, especially with the company who performed the final grade, which I will highlight later in my assessment.  I do believe the managment had good intentions; however, it is hard to come down on a sub that you are paying minimum dollar for.  The work ethic and craftsmanship throughout our home shows this.  Attention to detail was absent.  I complained about one area of the floor that always squeaked from the day the sub-floor was installed.  Two pieces of the ADVANTAC subfloor did not meet at the joist which is why they were bouncing.  I was assured it would be fixed; however, the spot was carpeted over and the floor squeaks today.  I was informed by my new superintendent that it was a structual issue and a 3 sq ft section would have to be removed in order to fix the floor joist.  This news came as my family was living out of boxes in preparation for moving into new home.  This goes back to my point about the subcontractors. AHP probably told them about the subfloor; however, when they are looking at a punch list and what they are getting paid for the job, along with Friday afternoon rush hour heading south to Fredericksburg, my subfloor was a simple fix--two nails with a nailer which actually went the entire way through the subfloor (not the joist) and onto the first floor subfloor. 
The Final Grade:  Our first superintendent, Bernie, was great.  He called me one afternoon and asked if I would mind installing the drainfield before digging the foundation.  Well, for me simple answer...yes, I had never built a house before so I
relied on Bernie and his expertise.  The only issue with approving this is that more dirt was taken from the lot than needed to go.  FFX County approved an area where dirt could be piled until the foundation was backfilled.  The company that completed our final grade brought in fill dirt with lots of rocks.  They also did minimal work with ensuring proper drainage with the grade.  I believe this was due in part to the lack of dirt and with the fact that they were trying to get their money as fast as they could knowing that no one was going to check their work.  In the process of hydroseeding they drove their truck through the lot creating ruts.  Some ruts were fixed; however, many were not and are still there.  According to the county, the soil was suppose to be prepped with a landscape rake that would remove rocks and ready soil for seed and straw.  We are still about 5 truck loads short on dirt.  During our final walkthough the owner of the final grade company was arguing with the superintendent about not getting paid.  This was in the kitchen of our new home!
Site Work Cost:  Two weeks prior to final settlement I was informed that my site work was about $10K over budget.  I was shocked!  I had been informed at the 30% completion mark that I was about $2K over and that we could eliminate the $2k if we cut back on the amount of concrete used at the end of the project.  I am a active duty servicemember who is relying on money saved through multiple deployments to pay for this project.  At the beginning I had made it clear that anything above and beyond the contract price I would pay for with the savings.  I did not want to have to go to the bank at the end and adjust the total project price.  Upon finding out about the $10k I had lost it with AHP.  Many would have lost it when viewing the subcontractors on site with their complete lack of respect for the property, but this was my breaking point.  I was angry with the fact that AHP was not supervising their subcontractors, both with the work, or lack thereof on site and the fact that subs were submitting estimates for site work and then doubling or tripling the cost after the work was completed.  This is the reason my site estimates ended up being $10k more two weeks prior to settlement.  AHP did concede $2,900 due to the mix-up with soil leaving the lot and then charging me to bring it back; however, at the final settlement I had to come out of pocket $5,900.  For me, if it was work that was perfomed completed TO STANDARD without cutting corners I would have no problem paying; however, it was the toughest check I have had to write because I was angry about the lack of oversight by AHP on the site cost and estimates.
Final Thoughts: As I stated at the beginning of this assessment, if you want a home at the cheapest sq. ft. cost go with AHP.   The house itself is built to code, which in FFX county is strict.  I do believe that my experience would have been far better if we had
our superintendent throughout the process. I do believe that AHP should have conceded the additional site cost due to the lack of communication and oversight on subcontractors.  I also believe that AHP is building in a market where they are over their head.  It took approx 7 months to get building permits whereas builders such as NDI and Classic have their plans already with the county.  The builder only has to submit an ammendment to the plan that includes any walls, doors, etc. that are being moved.  The bottom line is that I expected this experience to be far better than what I have experienced in the past six months.  I am excited that my family will have home to grow up in; however, I expected more.  Limiting my expectations has always been difficult for me to do; but when working on a budget sometimes it is a must.  However, the communication/customer service aspect should always be there and it was absent for about 4 months.  As a Soldier, communication is a must on the battlefield...if not people are seriously injured or killed.  As a faithful angies list member, I have noticed that communication is at the center point of many reviews, as it is in mine.  Thank you for Reading and Good Luck.