Willow Homes

Recently we had an addition of a covered screened deck added to our home. The addition created a large living area which can be used year round. The craftsmanship is excellent and the space is beautiful as well as functional.

Jason Hale and his team were professional and transparent, they walked us through the process and always listened to ensure we were on the same page. The crews were highly skilled and the supervisor, Bryan, was on the jobsite daily.

We are so pleased with the new space and highly recommend Willow Homes as a builder you can trust.

We hired Willow to finish in a carriage house. During the estimate / sales process they were incredibly clear as to the costs associated with the project. The team did a fantastic job running the project and communicating throughout! When problems arose, Crawford and the team jumped on them proactively, efficiently, and transparently with us. We were beyond impressed with Crawford taking the initiative to make cost effective improvements to the project that we weren't even considering! These folks will make your life easier when building or renovating - with a stunning finished product!

My husband and I recently moved to Birmingham from Texas, and purchased a home that needed significant renovations. We reached out to Willow and were impressed with their timely response and overall plan to help us get our project completed on budget and on time. We have been so pleased with the team at Willow with not only their attention to detail but their ability to hear what we wanted and needed and make it a reality. Our project is almost finished and we have already started making plans to use Willow for the next phase of our renovations.

CONSUMER BEWARE! I’ve never had a worse buying/customer service experience. That said, at first, the management of Willow was extremely kind & generous, as my wife and I were considering buying a vacant lot (via one of Willow’s spouses, who is a Realtor). All was good, including the design/planning phase. However, once construction began, so did our nightmare.

We started our build process in the Spring of 2020, so there were a lot of delays and uncertainty. Willow Homes came across as inadequately prepared to get through the process. Grading below:

Quality of Construction– Grade: D. Very disappointed with certain aspects that Willow never asked us to make selections on. Many of the finishes were off center, poorly placed, door frames crooked, holes in wall, pendant lights over kitchen island that were grossly off center, scratches on hardwood floors and poor construction clean up prior to move in. We couldn’t enter our driveway without our vehicle’s bumper scraping the bottom (and we have an SUV!). Willow was unwilling to fix this issue (even though superintendent told me they would). We spent $1,000 out of pocket to have someone correct it. Also, Willow warned us that our flat panel fridge would stick out “slightly, maybe an inch” and would not be noticeable, but it’s more like 3 inches and a big pain for my wife. (pic attached)

In-house Design Team – Grade: C. At first the Design team was helpful, but as we got deeper into the project, we experienced poor communication and an unorganized team. If you consider using Willow, I would factor in the cost of using a 3rd party designer, as Willow was insufficient for us. My wife wanted some more upscale finishes they didn’t seem comfortable with, but if you’re interested in solely “Farmhouse” style, they can be a good option for you.

Staff Turnover– Grade: F. We had 7 different superintendents (including the owner – Chuck, Jason, Crawford, Andy, Chris, Bain, Scott) that were the point person for our build & warranty items. The good ones always left! Not once did Willow reach out to inform us of a change. I would only find out by contacting the former employee. Once I was told, “oh yeah, I left weeks ago. Willow hasn’t told you yet?” We can relate to Kimberly Cornelison’s Google review posted in 2022. She had a similar experience.

Completion/Move in – Grade: F – Nightmare. Before our move, my wife & I believed the house would not be ready. Our superintendent reassured us it would be fine. Movers were scheduled for Monday. On Sunday, our superintendent told us we were still good and to proceed with the move. We arrived with our movers at 11 AM with 2 trucks full of all our belongings and the painters were literally in the middle of painting the walls of the stairwell leading to the 2nd floor. So, we were forced to store our stuff for another week while Willow finished. To Willow’s credit, they did pay for the added cost of the movers, but the inconvenience cost for us was much more, which included my family having to stay at my in-laws for a week (out of state) and me sleeping on a floor. (See attached pictures of the status of our house on move-in day)

Warranty Process – Grade: F. After 2 years, we have not had all our warranty issues addressed. Turnover of their staff always had us starting the process over. The new person coming in, wouldn’t even have a list of our issues. Ownership was never responsive to my inquiries, both via text & phone call. Willow provided to me (via email) that they would address 99% of the issues on January 2022. To date, there are still a handful of items that have not been completed. And, recently (March 2023), I was told via email that they would not be completing the warranty items (even after me showing them an email they had agreed to it).

Communication – Grade: F. For all reasons cited above. AWFUL!

Compassion - Willow never once owned up or apologized for anything. For a small, local builder, I had higher expectations of being taken care of. Instead, we felt like our patience and understanding were taken advantage of.

We purchased a new construction home from Willow Homes. Willow had already planned and starting building the home when we came on board, so although we had input into a few design choices and the finishes, the majority of the planning and design work had been done for us and we wouldn't want it any other way. Willow designed a beautiful home that is not only pleasing to look at, but is solidly built and highly functional. The quality of the materials and finishes is outstanding. We absolutely love our beautiful home, and it is reaffirming to hear all the compliments from our family and friends that have visited since we moved in.

The Willow team was easy to work with and consistently communicated with us throughout the build. We received weekly updates via email as to what particular tasks would be focused on each week. If we ever had a question, someone from the Willow team was always quick to respond. I don't recall any hold-ups or delays other than the normal weather related issues and a couple of supply chain issues (all out of Willow's control).

Building a home (while also selling a home and preparing to move) is a significant undertaking and there is obviously going to be some stress involved, but our experience with Willow was the most enjoyable part of the whole process. We always felt valued and cared for, and I remember always leaving every meeting feeling excited about the next steps and also confident that we were in good hands with Willow Homes.