Markel Homes

My house in Boulder was too large for me and I was ready to downsize. Because of the Marshall Fire, I had seen a Markel Home that my niece and nephew had rented while their fire-destroyed home was rebuilt. I knew of a lot that had been the home of a friend before the fire destroyed it. When he decided not to rebuild, I said I would buy the lot if I could find a builder that I liked. I went to Markel to see there would be a match between their options and my needs. There was. I was assigned to Marlita Lazo, the Markel sales manager, and Ed Stayer, the Markel site supervisor, both of whom navigated the whole building process and construction with me and provided good guidance to me at every step. I am now living in a Markel house, my home and I am very happy with the construction, the purchase, and the finished product.

1.) MAJOR Theft/Safety/Security Issues with Markel Homes Employees.

* A gun was stolen from my home after Markel Homes Employees and/or Contractors accessed my property, months after closing, to complete repair work / “punch list” items. The gun was subsequently returned after I filed a police report and emailed Markel Homes employees (only), alerting them to the theft. There are more details regarding Markel employees’ access to the home and other information that I am leaving out for the sake of brevity.

* Unrelated to the gun theft, myself and multiple other witnesses confirmed that Markel contractors were seen drinking on the job throughout the day on multiple days. Markel Homes maintains they take strict security and safety measures, however Jason Markel and other Markel employees were completely unaware of this happening.

* I installed a security system and cameras at my home because I felt unsafe after these incidents. One video shows sub-contractors come to my house, look around, and leave after they saw the doorbell camera. I provided this video to Jason Markel and he could not provide a reasonable explanation for why his contractors were on my property. They were clearly working at a different house down the street and I have a “Private Owner” sign in front to make it clear that the residence is occupied.

* Despite having video evidence and a stolen (and returned) firearm, Markel refused to take any responsibility for their employees or do anything to anything to make it right. Markel claimed that I’ve already received enough “concessions” when I originally negotiated the purchase of the house, which is completely unrelated to this current issue and goes to show they pay little if any regard to their customers once they have their money in hand.

2.) Warranty and “Punch List” Repairs Remain Incomplete Nearly 5 Months After Closing (as of the date of this review).

* I closed on my home on September 24, 2019, and Markel homes has completed *one* of the many warranty/punch list items they are required to complete. I have contacted them at minimum, 6 times and typically receive a response with an excuse for why they are unable to complete the repair at this time. The other items on the list that they have attempted to work on have turned out as bad or worse than it was to begin with.

3.) Sloppy, hurried work.

* Countless instances of sloppy, hurried, and sub-par work (see photos for just a few examples). Photos were taken of the house at 3 months old, lest you think the work looks as though it’s several years (or decades) old.

4.) General attitude of unhelpfulness and patronizing condescension.

* Markel does an excellent job at making you think that you are the problem, not their sub-par work product or dishonest employees. It is my understanding that Markel homes have been quality in the past, however with their entrance into this area of the market, they have little to offer but a "take it or leave it" mentality and a reflexive "No."

These people are honest and reliable! Bought this home almost 10 years ago. They were so great to work with in the original purchase and then during the warranty period. Recently found something that was missed during construction 10 years ago. Greg Pagel and Rob King stopped by, gave me some helpful tips and agreed to make the repair. 9 years after buying the house!!
And these are truly wonderful people and while buying or building a new home always seems to come with nightmare stories, I had the opposite experience. If I ever build another house with someone else it’s going to be a great disappointment because I have such high expectations.

People I’ve dealt with over the years:

Michele Steward: Wonderful
Rob King: Wonderful
Greg Pagel: Wonderful
Vicky and Janet: Wonderful
Cindy Henry: Wonderful