Ernest Homes, LLC

We just closed on our home and had a fantastic experience. The builder's sales agent, Tony, was very helpful and responsive. We communicated regularly with Stephanie and our builder David, and they were wonderful. David especially went out of his way to make sure everything was up to high standards. We are so pleased and would highly recommend Ernest Homes to anyone wanting a custom build experience.

They build very poor-quality homes. When we meet and talk to them, they claim they are the best around the town. They are good for building toy houses. They do not follow any engineering standards. Each and every part of home is full of defects. They are greedy which is leading them to poor quality. One of the best examples of their poor quality is does anyone just bond the undermount sink without any supports? which they are re-inventing engineering standards. There are many examples like this if you buy a house from them.

I previously gave Ernest homes a 5 star review. Initially I was very happy with our home. I thought, what can go wrong when you have a great warranty? Well, when a company has poor customer service, things go sour quickly. Before you know it your new home experience turns into a new home nightmare. Everything is great until you close on your home. It is so sad that I have to repeat those words. When we built with Ernest homes there were no google reviews. There were only a few reviews from the unhappy campers a Rabun Estates and unfortunately we ignored them. Shame on us. I won't bore you with all of the details. But, we have been living in our new home for almost two years. We still have items from our 90 day check that are outstanding. We also have major items from our year check that are outstanding. I have a neighbor they respond to, but in her words she has to curse them out repeatedly. I do not want to have to behave like that to receive customer service. Building a new home is not only a monetary investment, it is emotional as well. You have dreams and plans. Then poor customer service turns that dream into a nightmare. My advice is build with them only if you are ready to battle at every turn. PS. I just read another review. The carpets nails story is true. My husband and my son have both punctured themselves repeatedly on the carpet tacks. We were told that is what happens when you get standard carpeting. Well, we did not get standard carpeting. We paid for a hefty upgrade and were still told there was nothing they could do. Walking down the stairs is literally like walking on needles!

This review is based off my new home build purchase experience with Earnest Signature "Custom" Homes. As a military member moving back to the U.S from South Korea, it was the worst experience my family has endured by someone who claims to take care of families. I would recommend not building with Earnest Custom homes who in reality do not customize the home the way you want it. The issues are listed below. 1. The house was started two months later from what was stated on the contract without any reason from the realtor or Earnest Homes when we asked about the delay. They also urge us to move fast and sign because they had a loan on the house and needed to build asap because of the interest. It was obviously a lie because the two months delay showed the loan interest was not an issue for them. Those two months of rent could have been re-allocated towards the down payment, savings, or even the first two months mortgage payments. They wasted our financial assests and time! 2. "The difference really is in the details" was once true when the co-founder was alive but definitely no longer. If you're expecting a clean house when you do your home inspection and even on your FINAL home inspection don't even think about it. It's appalling to know that we had to ask them to clean the garage, above the doors that was filled with dirt which you can see from upstairs, or to even clean the attic. The "extra" material that was left back and was haphazardly scattered. We found rolled up bags of sand, cigarette butts, Red Bull cans in the attic, and the extra vinyl that was left in the attic wasn't even placed neatly. The supervisor said "they told me they cleaned it" apparently he does not know how to supervise. 3. Don't trust them when they say they have "instant" equity in the house. Believing that there was more "instant" equity is the only reason why we stayed after the two months delay. When the appraisal came back another realtor who also works for Remax Accent told us the truth. The house never appraises for more than the selling price. The equity comes in three (3) years later when you want to sell it which is the opposite of "instant". They will say that they never stated "instant", but when a realtor who represents you (the builder) says it, then its basically you (the builder) saying it. Our Remax Accent realtor lied about the equity. 4. Earnest Signature CustomHomes LLC. With a name like that especially with the word "Custom" you expect them to be able to have the experience to build some designs you have or want in your house. Our design idea for our stairs they were not able to do, even though it's done by other builders, and even with the regular work they do, its shotty at best. The stair design that they ONLY do still needs work to be done or redone. My 20 month old daughter has already gotten two punctures from the nails that secure the carpet. Within four (4) days our dining room wood flooring started to bow and raise up..... Within 4 days of owning the house! I underestand that they hire sub-contractors, but they take the role of the supervisor to ensure the job is done beyond excellent when they hire outside help. This is the point where I should have listened to the broker at the start when she stated the quality has gone down. 5. You may want to buy Air-Sealing tape for your windows and doors. Even though the house is rated to be energgy efficient, we told the supervisor that the door at the top may let air come through and it will cause our system to work harder during the inspection, he said it wouldn't. Two days later we felt the breeze through the door. As a service member with a large family, if you value your families finance and time then building with Earnest is a bad idea, especially if you are coming from overseas or PCSing into the area. If you do decide to build with them, I hope your experience is more heartfelt, welcoming and filled with ease, no stress, and no lies. While they were building us a dream home, they built us misery along the way.