We have been visiting Brunswick Forest for over 7 years and have been very impressed with the quality of workmanship that goes into the construction of a Kent home. The staff that we have interacted with have been very easy and pleasant to work with. Having never gone through the construction of a home as involved and complex as this, they have been extremely helpful in guiding us through this process.

A completed house for friends and Parade of Home solidified my selection of Kent.

Options

I mostly strongly agree. Because my lot resulted in needing a crawl space, the loggia floor needs to be a deck floor, plus I added a exterior deck since the exit will not be on grade. I would have preferred synthetic flooring rather than treated wood as I believe that will be less maintenance down the road. This was not an option.

Lead Source

My good friends purchased their home from Kent Homes and I liked what i saw.

Options

Sometimes it was hard to distinguish in the model homes (and on line) what was an upgrade vs. what's included in the base model.

Lead Source

From the SJP salesman, model homes in STJ and Brunswick Forrest, as well as on-line referrals.

Salesperson Accessibility

There was a change in our Kent Homes contact person during our process due to Elizabeth leaving the company. It would have been easier if we had had one contact throughout.

Lead Source

Kent Homes was one of the builders we were required to choose from for our neighborhood.

Additional Comments

Following the initial sales process, we also had a change in our designer, due to job changes. It would have been more seamless if we had just the one sales agent, then one designer. That said, the process went smoothly but it was a little unsettling to keep working with new people.

Lead Source

Brunswick forest sales office

Additional Comments

great job so far. very easy process.

Lead Source

Friends had a home built for them by Kent and were very happy. Great referral.

Lead Source

Brunswick Forest main office.

Lead Source

I heard about Kent Homes through my own research online.

Friends and neighbors spoke highly of Kent, compared to the other builders, before we purchased. I would be comfortable providing an informed recommendation to other future Kent customers.

Overall Experience

Everything about my experience was excellent, except to matters related to CF Bridge plans

Lead Source

From Brian Galeucia, the Brunswick Forest Sales Rep. They were one of the five builders we could choose from in Cypress Pointe.

Additional Comments

My experience with Kent Homes has been very satisfying, except for the companies communication regarding the Cape Fear Bridge Crossing initiative

Construction Quality

There were occasions where either material was no longer available, requiring a different selection, or the subcontractor did not use the material contracted for, or the material had a manufacturing defect - all requiring the subcontractor to remedy. While one might argue that these issues are common place when building a home, Kent Homes ultimately resolved each issue with quality workmanship as they arose.

Problem Resolution

It's important to expect that the customer plays a significant role in catching mistakes. However, Kent Homes was good at addressing and resolving matters without impact to schedule.

Understand Building Process

It's important for the customer to be engaged and ask detail questions along every step of the process

Communication

You rely on three critical Kent Homes employees - your sales rep, your design/selection rep and your builder. The most responsive and informative of the three was Kate DaSilva. She would respond immediately, even on her days off. Vanessa is highly competent at design, but I'd like to see Kent Homes invest in additional design resources, enabling Vanessa to manage a more reasonable work load.

Trust

I learned that trusting Kent Homes to do the right thing is part of their company culture, in spite of occasions where subcontractors work was challenging.

Clean & Safe

Kent Homes has a reputation for very clean and safe work sites. That's important to the neighbors who are burdened with the disruption of subcontractors on the street for months.

Employees & Subcontractors

Subcontractors were always friendly on site and appear to be very competent.

Employees Professionalism

Never had a negative experience with any Kent Homes employee. Kristin, at the front desk, was very helpful, responsive and involved.

Overall Experience

Building a home is a stressful process for the buyer, so I encourage Kent Homes and customer to over-communicate and listen. Kent could improve the process of managing the subcontractors by adding a process to verify that the material being used or installed by the subcontractor is correct before it is installed (rather than simply trusting the subcontractor).

PM Professionalism

Chris clearly knows how to build a home. He's very competent with the technical and schedule aspects of a job. Would appreciate if he anticipated our questions and addressed matters before we brought them up.

Customer Suggestion

1) Maintain a good inventory of models to review 2) Arrange for customers to meet senior management at least once during the build process 3) Over communicate next steps with customers 4) Provide additional design center resources 5) Improve the management of subcontractors by verifying materials before installation

Lead Source

Walked through a model and loved it!

I am extremely pleased with the quality of the home. They were six weeks ahead of schedule, extremely responsive, and a pleasure to work with, so I would highly recommend Kent Homes!

Likely To Recommend

We are in the beginning stages of building our home with Kent Homes and so far we have been very pleased with the team at Kent. Elizabeth was outstanding and was truly a pleasure to work with during the sales process and so far we have been very pleased with Chris who is our Project Manager.

Customer Suggestion

During the Sales process Elizabeth was a pleasure to work with and she was always very responsive and helpful. When she left Kent homes it would have been nice to have had someone that became our point person and it felt like there was a gap for a couple of months until Chris became our project manager. I would have expected Kent to be proactive about that and they were not.

Lead Source

Through the sales person at Brunswick Forest

Additional Comments

So far we have been very happy with Kent Homes and we are happy that we chose Kent. The one area that was a little frustrating was the selections process - it felt like the information that we were asked to provide in advance on our preferences was never reviewed. It also felt like the timeline of when we received the information coming out of selections and when they wanted sign off was a little too tight.

Construction Quality

So far no issues - the home is not complete we still have a few months to go.

Clean & Safe

Every time we have been out to the home it has been very clean and there has not been any issues.

PM Professionalism

He has been outstanding and very informative throughout the entire process.

Customer Suggestion

So far its been a great experience and I hope to feel the same way after the home is completed.

Punchlist

There are still one or two things on the punchlist.

Additional Comments

I think we were very fortunate; we had a fantastic project manager that did a great job of keeping everything on schedule, communicating effectively, and went above and beyond to make sure we were happy customers.

Very professional and personable.

Salesperson Accessibility

Kate started, but then was on maternity leave and Ashley stepped in and did great. I would like to interchange their names, so that I may review Ashley.

Lead Source

We interviewed for 4 or 5 builders for Brunswick, to be honest, the feeling we got from Kent was more down to earth and personable, no means any kind of pushing or high-pressure sale. They were much more knowledgable regarding building techniques. They by far scored better to us than any of the other builders.

Additional Comments

They were on time and personable. They get to know you before they start making suggestions. Others we interviewed were cookie cutter and impersonal.

Customer Suggestion

It would be helpful to have more interaction with the Design Center before arriving for actual selection. The ability to have house design and selections shown in a 3D graphics program would be helpful.

Lead Source

A friend who had used Kent Told me about them.

Lead Source

Friends

Change Order Process

Explained thoroughly

Communication

Has been in constant communication through e-mails, the portal and phone.

Design Center & Selections

Vanessa was terrific. Went through the process with us clearly without rushing us and making sure we were satisfied with our choices.

Sales Attentiveness

Absolutely a delight to work with. Never pushy - always accommodating.

Salesperson Accessibility

Always available and responded to our inquiries promptly.

Salesperson Professionalism

Made herself and other staff available every time we visited Leland.

Trust

As of now Kent Homes has honored everything promised.

Options

Even the level one selections were of high quality.

Lead Source

Kent Homes was a recommendation from Brian Galeucia whose opinions we value.

Additional Comments

Because of our experience so far, we are actually looking forward to the construction process and the what we believe will be the successful and satisfying completion of our home.

Very Professional - Excellent Staff-

Communication

Always returns calls in a timely manner/-

Design Center & Selections

Vanessa is the Best!!

Overall Experience

Just broke ground-but looking forward to a good building experience.

Professional & Organized

Have dealt with another builder before-Kent is head and shoulders above them/-

Customer Suggestion

Keep up the good work

Lead Source

Friends home built by Kent

Customer Suggestion

More communication would be better, there could always be more. We are not there where the house is being built.

PM Professionalism

We have gone through the building process remotely and greatly appreciate Archie calling or texting us on a regular basis updating us on progress on the house and also being willing to take our calls as needed and answer our questions that come up in between our bi-weekly meetings. He's been great to work with.

Chris and especially Carol have been very helpful to me as this is my first time building a custom home.

Customer Suggestion

I would like to see more pictures of the build no matter minuscule it is.

Lead Source

Through the web.

It has been a trying experience doing this on my own as a single, but because of the assertive and helpful Kent staff, I am totally satisfied with the entire process.

Construction Quality

Mostly OK with everything, except for the kitchen backsplash and the fireplace hearth/mantle installation. The location of the electrical switches are very confusing as compared to location of their connections.

Problem Resolution

All along the process, from first to last has been immediately addressed and resolved.

PM Professionalism

Super helpful and quickly responsive to my concerns. If I build another houses(s), will request Michael to be my PM.

Customer Suggestion

During selections, Vanessa was fantastic.But with technology as it is now, I would have liked to have had web sites to compare options. If you had them, I would have made some different and important decisions.

Lead Source

I heard about them during a home show.

Lead Source

visiting St James and seeing the model homes with Geoff Wright of St James real estate office.

Construction Quality

We were on our build site once, for the pre-wall walkthrough. At that point, the materials and workmanship were satisfactory, with the exception of some issues noted by our private home inspector. Our project manager, Archie Medina, uploads progress photos regularly, which we greatly appreciate, as we are still living in NJ.

Problem Resolution

We were pleased with the way our project manager remediated each of the deficient items raised by our private home inspector.

Understand Building Process

Our project manager keeps us updated on the build schedule during our twice-monthly phone conferences and through photos uploaded to our Kent share file.

Communication

Kent Homes personnel have communicated adequately.

Trust

To date, all commitments have been met.

Employees & Subcontractors

All the Kent employees with whom we have had dealings have been professional. We have not met any subcontractors.

Employees Professionalism

Kent Home employees have been professional and courteous.

Additional Comments

We are looking forward to moving into our beautiful home!

Additional Comments

Chris Moore has been just amazing

From start to finish Kent Homes and it’s employees have been reputable and pleasurable to work with.

Additional Comments

Justin Kuperus is a terrific project manager. He communicates well and keeps us informed of all that is happening.

Problem Resolution

Issues always arise when building a home. There are multiple vendors and working crews. Sometimes selected items change or go out of stock as they did with our build. Kent worked with us to find the best resolution.

Communication

Great regular communication. Loved all the pictures during construction since we weren’t close by to see first hand.

Employees & Subcontractors

We had the best two project managers ever!