Indianapolis New Homes
Too often we hear negative stories about the real estate market and especially bad experiences people have had with builders. I would like to take a moment to relay a potentially negative experience that was turned into a positive one with a local builder, Silverthorne Homes.
For those that don’t know, Silverthorne Homes is a local builder and the higher end product for Arbor Homes. Silverthorne Homes currently has 4 communities in the greater Indianapolis area and they offer homes that typically start in the $200,000 - $300,000 range.
Recently some clients of mine decided to purchase a Silverthorne homes in Geist Woods Estates. My clients had been looking for a new home for a long time when they finally decided on Geist Woods. They did an abundance of research so that they could have the home exactly as they wanted it. After doing several custom pricing requests they finally got the home how they wanted it and signed the contract. A few weeks later at the pre-contraction meeting, they realized several items were missing and/or wrong on the blue prints that they already paid for. After the meeting they informed that they had not paid for these items and they will need to pay more if they wanted these items included in their home.
Needless to say this news did not go over well. My clients felt they were extremely clear on what they wanted at time of contract and felt Silverthorne Homes was taking advantage of them. At this point I made a call to the sales manager to discuss the situation and try to get this resolved. To my and the buyers delight, he was very receptive and admitted that there was an internal breakdown in communication and agreed to have the items in question added/changed for no additional cost.
All is good right? Not so fast. At the next pre-con meeting a few more issues were discovered. Round and round we go again, so we set up a meeting with the sales manager. This turned out to be a great meeting as my buyers stated their dissatisfaction with the process and it did not fall on deaf ears. The sales manager listened and was very customer service oriented. He used phrases like “we want happy homeowners” and “customer service is very important to us” and backed it up with action.
The issues are still getting resolved, but I am confident that with this type of management in charge, my buyers will come out very satisfied with their home and their experience even though it was a little bumpy at first. Designing and building a home is a very complicated process with tons of people and companies involved and invariably something will go wrong. It very refreshing to see a builder be able to work through these difficulties with the buyers in a gracious manner.
So if you are considering a purchasing a Silverthorne home, you now know that are truly a customer oriented builder that seems to have a great deal of integrity and a willingness to own up to their own mistakes. If you are considering purchasing a Silverthorne home or any other Indianapolis new homes, contact Mike Taylor to get the inside scoop about what is really going on out there.
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This blog entry currently has 11 comments posted.
Mike Taylor
Bob -
I agree, with the current market conditions everybody in real estate needs to be on top of their game and focused on the customer in order survive these difficult time in real estate.
Posted on 2008-04-17 07:08:58
Jim
Home builders have been hit hard in this housing downturn. The only way to survive is to adapt and to give excellent customer service. I think that those who have applied this principle at all times will be the ones that not only weather the storm, but become market leaders when the housing slump turns. The customer should be the number one focus whether we are in bad, good, or great economic times.
Posted on 2008-04-21 13:09:30
Not a Silverthorne Fan
I'm glad your customers are having a good experience with Silverthorne but not all of Silverthorne's customers have been happy with them. Would Silverthorne refund their earnest money if they could not come to an agreement? Or would they keep it knowing that arbitration costs could be in excess of thier 10k in earnest money? Would they give a homeowner a closing date on a house two days before a random stranger tells them their friend had bought the same house?
Since Silverthorne is affiliated with Arbor Homes, did they ever settle the class action lawsuit with the homeowners in Anderson?
I would not say that customer service is a part of EVERY customer's experience with Silverthorne Homes or Arbor Homes.
Posted on 2008-05-20 08:39:41
Mike Taylor
Not a fan - I appreciate your feedback. You are correct, they would not refund their money and there are still some outstanding issues with Silverthorne. However, it seems they are making good efforts to resolve and work through these issues.
I hope these issues do get worked out for my buyers sake and for Silverthorne's sake, because if they do not treat my people right you better believe I will write about that as well. It goes both ways.
Posted on 2008-05-20 08:43:14
Not a Silverthorne Fan
Thank you for putting my comments up on your site. I did take note that you seem very fair on the comments (ie givign credit where credit is due). I like that. I also like the fact that you seem to be the type of person that will go to bat for his/her customer. I like that as well.
Now the important question is "where were you when we were willing to spend over 400k of our hard earned money on our dream home?" What/Who are you? A realtor? A third party? Lastly,what is up with the wasted space on this site?
Whatever/whoever you are, you are in a unique position that could be potentially a great boon for your clients.
Good luck and thank you for posting my comments.
Posted on 2008-05-20 13:28:55
Mike Taylor
Not a Fan - Yes, I am Realtor and the Broker/Owner of Rebate Real Estate. I guess I need to make that more clear on this blog. What do mean by "what is up with the wasted space on this site?" I am open to suggestions and always looking to improve I just don't know what you mean.
If you know anyone looking for real estate in Indianapolis area, I would appreciate it if you tell them about me and this site. I really take pride in going to bat for my clients like you said.
Posted on 2008-05-20 13:33:31
Joy
We are currently considering buying a home from silverthorne at aberdeen bend.
Would you have any advice for us regarding any other experiences with the builder (silverthorne)?
Also, they are not negotiating on the prices even though we have added several upgrades and the current housing market situation is bad. Because of this, we are tempted to walk away and look elsewhere.
Your help and advice will be much appreciated.
Posted on 2008-07-28 00:46:02
Mike Taylor
Joy, Aberdeen Bend is a very nice neighborhood and a great location. If I recall correctly, Silverthorne is almost sold out in there correct?
Are you dead set on building? The reason I ask is because you will typically be able to get a better deal on either a builder spec home or an existing home versus building a home.
Let me know what you are thinking and I can offer some more suggestions. Also, if you are not working with a real estate agent; one way to save money on your transaction is to use me as your agent. I give a commission rebate and at your price range that could add up to more than $5,000. Just thought I would throw it out there. Feel free to call me at 317-362-4064 or shoot me an email: mtaylor@indyrebaterealestate.com if you want to talk further.
Posted on 2008-07-28 06:48:55
Joy
Mike, Thank you for the answers and useful information. There are still a handful of lots available at Aberdeen Bend. And we already have an agent that we have been working with.
We will keep you in mind if any of our friends are looking for an agent.
Posted on 2008-07-29 16:12:23
Mike Taylor
Joy, I would greatly appreciate it if you would think of me when talking to your friends and coworkers.
Good luck with your home hunting and feel free to comment or ask questions on the blogs.
Posted on 2008-07-29 20:31:09
Bob Lipply
With many builders going out of business today due to the decline in new home sales, I would say this builder has a great chance of weathering the storm.
Posted on 2008-04-17 07:07:12