Our New Home Sales Specialists and Project Managers are available virtually, in-person socially distanced, by phone, or email. We are more than happy to guide you through online home tours, home walks, or show you our quick move-in homes. Our goal is to guide you through our interactive, streamlined process and answer any questions you may have, all while providing an unforgettable customer experience while taking all necessary precautions.
While Kent Homes are beautiful which is why we selected them, you have to pay extra for almost everything you want. Items that come with house are not top quality.
Customer Suggestion - When you purchase a top elevation home,there should be more included options for the extra money charged. Some of it was slightly misleading
Lead Source - Toured models in 3 separate communities
Additional Comments - I think we made the right choice in builders. We loved the detailed work inside the home and really liked the Harbour series homes with its Caribbean style. Hence the Shelter Bay G7. Carol Hobbs and Alina Aviles were a pleasure to deal with and extremely helpful during the buying and selections process.
Recognized Excellence - Carol Hobbs,Alina Aviles,AJ Paladino……all awesome folks!!
Areas For Improvement - Selections should offer better choices especially when purchasing a higher elevation choice
Areas Of Satisfaction - All areas are being met to date
Clean & Safe - AJ was awesome!!….
Quality Of Materials - Nice,strong house
PM Professional & Organized - AJ was awesome!
Communication - AJ was awesome!
PM Problem Resolution - Still awaiting items selected at selections…..I.e. Lanai fan??
Schedule - They were on schedule all the way….
Orientation Punch List - Still awaiting several punch items.
Recognized Excellence - Carol Hobbs, AJ Paladino and Alina Aviles were all awesome and a pleasure to work with!!
Additional Comments - All in all…it’s a beautiful home and we are mostly satisfied and happy with our purchase.
Kent Homes was fantastic. They were able to navigate through Covid crisis and supply and chain issues. They were one step ahead.
Design Center & Selections - Alina Aviles was fantastic & made the whole process enjoyable.
Sales Attentiveness - Kate has always been attentive to our needs & was a great advocate.
Lead Source - Visited model home at Brunswick Forest.
Communication - Kenny maintains a consistent dialogue with us via phone/text/ emails
PM Expertise - True professional
PM Professionalism - Kenny is on top of his game
PM Professional & Organized - Bi-weekly calls are concise & informative
Understand Building Process - Next steps are always clearly explained
Trust - Without a doubt
Overall Experience - Kenny is a true partner
Areas Of Satisfaction - Again, navigating through the supply/ trade concerns ie. enclosed loggia
Recognized Excellence - Kenny Jones has been outstanding
Additional Comments - Very comfortable with the timeline which appears to be exceeded
Areas Of Satisfaction - The overall timeline exceeded my expectations.
Recognized Excellence - I would like to recognize Kenny Jones for his exceptional service. He was outstanding. His ability to communicate with us and treat us as a partner throughout the whole project was great.
Favorite Design Feature (Selections) - Layout of Jonesport
Recognized Excellence - Kate Desilva and Alina Aviles
Areas Of Satisfaction - Customizing our home to fit our needs
Customer Suggestion - Update your design center with all the new samples available
Recognized Excellence - Kenny Jones has been tremendous. I am so glad to be working with him .
Lead Source - Through Brunswick Forest.
Options - All is great so far. We will be visiting the design center for final selections.
Favorite Design Feature (At Contract) - 1st floor layout, including the 2nd bedroom and bath being able to basically be a 2nd suite.
Recognized Excellence - Kate DaSilva
Areas Of Satisfaction - Able to recommend a very good alternative to the Grand Amelia. Actually, like the Grace Bay layout better.
Design Consultant Problem Resolution - Had no problems at all.
Options - Good options at all levels.
Favorite Design Feature (Selections) - The layout
Recognized Excellence - Amy and Kate
Customer Suggestion - Not really, everyone knows their stuff!
Areas Of Satisfaction - Very good at communicating and setting expectations.
Additional Comments - There were more options and selections than expected. Requested modifications were easier than expected.
PM Problem Resolution - Able to overcome supply challenges to keep on schedule.
Overall Experience - Still happy with our choice of Kent to build our home.
Areas Of Satisfaction - Ability to adapt to challenges, and provide options to keep customer happy.
Areas For Improvement - Kent recommended Truist for financing. Communcation and coordination with Truist has been challenging.
We are very satisfied with the our home!
Design Center & Selections - Alina was a pleasure to work with.
Overall Experience - Other builders we contacted didn't compare!
Customer Suggestion - A wider variety of model homes in the area would be more helpful for prospective homeowners to see all that Kent Homes has to offer.
Lead Source - We met Kate at a luncheon during last year's Brunswick Coastal Showcase of Homes. Meeting and conferring with her convinced us to contract with Kent Homes.
Construction Quality - Truss damage issues were initially concerning. They were rectified promptly.
Areas Of Satisfaction - Photo uploads from Jim on a consistent basis.
Areas For Improvement - Departure of our original project manager was only casually communicated . Couldn't get Bosch kitchen appliances. Received email last week stating the flooring for our bonus room (ordered in December) was no longer available.
Recognized Excellence - Jim has taken over our previous PM's role with a vengeance. Our build appears to be back on schedule. We are hopeful he will complete by mid-November.
PM Expertise - Jim did a great job as he picked up our build after our project manager quit. He was very knowledgeable and was eager to assist and answer many questions we had along the way.
Schedule - We did not meet the contract date of mid November. Ended up costing us money as we gave up lease and transferred job.
Orientation Punch List - Punch list incomplete at this time.
Areas Of Satisfaction - We love our new home! Our kitchen is just what we wanted. The fireplace and patio that Grass with Class built in our backyard in is exceptional!
Areas For Improvement - We lost our project manager half way through our build. Had to change appliance package, could not get flooring we chose for room over the garage despite being ordered 8 months prior, master bedroom floor was not what was ordered (did not realize until our move in walk). If product is available at selections, it should be available for the build.
Recognized Excellence - Kudos to Kate, Alina, and Jim. We were undecided on a backsplash for the kitchen due to product we had to choose from. Alina picked a color and special ordered. The backsplash is a perfect match! They kept the project moving forward and explained everything clearly and in detail as needed.
Lead Source - I heard about Kent Homes through a designer I used, Phyl Ray.
Additional Comments - Overall, so far the process has gone very smoothly, and I feel confident the build will as well. Everyone has been professional and courteous. Everyone has been wonderful, from the lowest to the highest person. I am extremely pleased.
Areas Of Satisfaction - They have stayed on schedule, the quality of the workmanship, and the organization of the whole project have exceeded my expectations.
Areas For Improvement - They truly have addressed any little concern I have had.
Recognized Excellence - I would like to recognize AJ Paladino, Kayla Paladino, and Katie, with the design studio, for their exceptional service.
Additional Comments - It was much more positive than I expected. They have all around done a great job.
Orientation Punch List - This is still in the works because we have only been in the house for a couple of weeks and it is not completed yet. I do not expect it to be completed yet.
Areas Of Satisfaction - We were very happy with the whole thing. The employees were very courteous and professional.
Areas For Improvement - They fell short with the design studio, which needs improvement. The samples chosen did not reflect the final project, specifically the bathroom tile.
Recognized Excellence - I would like to recognize our project manager, AJ Paladino, our salesperson, Kayla Paladino, and the owner, Ashley Kent, for their exceptional service. Ashley personally handled an issue and rectified the problem.
Additional Comments - Overall, it was a pleasure working with Kent. I would highly recommend them to anyone building.
That was very happy with the whole process and the completed work
Warranty Manager Professionalism - Agreed
Recognized Excellence - All good
Professional & Organized - Archie is very professional and mostly organized
Schedule - Difficulty due to covid but f/u was lacking
Expertise - This is twofold. PM had expertise in managing the project but didn't have the necessary qualified help. Designer should have knowledge & experience in construction and interior design in order to give homeowner various options on what could be done. Instead the Designer helped select from the choices given (select from shelf A,B,C,etc).
Communication - throughout the project we had weekly updates from the Pm. However when the delays began we had to place the calls to find out where we were on various items.
Clean & Safe - The project was safe and clean. The final clean that was done by an outside source was below par. Our house including windows should have been pristine upon arrival but unfortunately was not even close.
Trust - I do trust our PM to follow through
Punchlist - We have been in our home for 7 weeks with a long punch list still outstanding. This is partly due to lack of quality help and supply chain issues.
Quality Of Workmanship - Overall we are satisfied with the workmanship.
Budget Pre-Con - As much as they could in these crazy times we're living in right now!
Change Order Process - Yes
Communication - Yes
Design Center & Selections - Alina was/is terrific. Very patient and hard working lady!
Overall Experience - To date it's all been great!
Professional & Organized - No question here.
Sales Attentiveness - Yes
Sales Knowledge - Absolutely
Sales Solutions - Absolutely
Salesperson Accessibility - Very much so.
Salesperson Professionalism - Honestly, I butted heads with Kayla a few times during the initial process but to her credit she was and is very courteous and very professional in her demeanor and provided us with excellent and honest service thus far. Kayla is very responsive & knowledgable and if she wasn't sure of something she was diligent and honest enough to get the correct answers and information to us in a timely manner. I do look forward to working with Kayla throughout the build process as well as whoever our assigned project manager will be. I have every confidence in Kayla to provide us with whatever we need going forward with our build.
Trust - So far so good!
Understanding Of Cost - The selections process and reviewing the Community Options Pricelist before we met with Alina was daunting and stressful but Alina was awesome and we were diligent buyers that did our best to understand the process as well as the offerings and associated up charges for the options we chose, which of course, was a lot more than we anticipated but feel that in the end we will get what we want and be very happy with our new Kent home.
Value - These are obviously very weird and crazy times we are living in currently considering the pandemic, market demand, supply chain issues, etc., and felt vulnerable and stressed out a bit regarding the pricing increase threat but did our best to understand and keep things in perspective.
Customer Suggestion - We were somewhat disappointed that Kent does not offer Egg Shell paint finish as an option and we were limited to a flat finish on all the interior walls. We know it's a small thing but for us that was frustrating as the egg shell paint finish is what we've always used in our homes as it's very durable and easy to clean, etc. The jury is till out on the landscaping portion of our build as well, which is also very important to us so we can't really offer a final assessment as well as the actual building process which has just started.
Lead Source - We visited many model homes in Compass Pointe and Brunswick Forest and was impressed with the Kent models we saw and researched ALL the authorized builders for both communities as well as asked around and felt comfortable that Kent would be a good fit for what we were looking for in a builder and so far so good for the most part.
Additional Comments - Not really. Our experience with Kayla in sales and Alina in design has been excellent thus far as well as any dealings we've had with the Kent office staff as well including Ashley Kent, the CEO.
Areas Of Satisfaction - Our anticipated experience with Kent Homes and all their respective departments has been what we expected which is why we went from initially using Logan Homes to build our dream house to Kent Homes and we are ahppy we did!
Areas For Improvement - So far so good as far as we are concerned. We are a little disappointed that Kent Homes doesn't offer egg shell painting finish for all the interior walls, but it is what it is. Very satisfied to date with Kent Homes and our terrific PM, Jim Talbot. Jim's been great. Communicative and efficient.
Recognized Excellence - Everyone involved in the process so far. Kayla Palladino, Alina Alives, Jim Talbot.
Areas For Improvement - A little disappointed that sub-contractor K&D Trucking didn't really finish slicking out the back of our lot after removing additional trees after the initial lot clearing as they said they would. This was an upgrade of $4K and we feel K&D Trucking should have come back and smoothed out the lot as they said they would. Also...it would be nice if we received more photos at different stages of construction from Kent and the pics should be uploaded to the Kent Homes portal for our account. There are NO pics there to date.
Areas Of Satisfaction - The service on all ends has been great so far. Everyone we've dealt with has been courteous, professional and responsive.
Additional Comments - Susan & I would have no problem recommending Kent Homes as a builder in the Leland area to anyone we know that is interested in moving to the area.
Orientation Punch List - I'm giving 5 stars here because Jim Talbot has been awesome to work with and extremely detail oriented and responsive, however there are items that still need to be resolved on the punch list and we are already in our new home for 30 days.
Areas Of Satisfaction - Kent Homes met most of our expectations. Overall we are very happy and satisfied to have had Kent Homes as our builder.
Areas For Improvement - Very disappointed that we were not offered to use an egg shell paint finish on all our interior walls. My guess is that within a year or 2 we will need to repaint the interior walls with the flat finish to an egg shell finish which is more durable and much easier to maintain & clean. Why does Kent Homes not offer this as an option, even with an up charge?
Recognized Excellence - Yes! Jim Talbot, Alina Aviles and Kayla Paladino are terrific! Really enjoyed working with them and were very customer first oriented.
Additional Comments - My wife, Susan, and I will absolutely recommend Kent Homes as a builder when considering securing a builder in the Wilmington area. All in all very happy. We understand that when building a custom home, especially in these challenging times with regard to availability of products, etc., and that there will always be necessary tweaks that are needed after the build is completed and homeowners move in. We look forward to the 60 day and 1 year warranty punch lists being performed and comleted.
Value - Cost of house increased due to present economic conditions
Lead Source - From my real estate broker
Sales Knowledge - Kayla was uncertain about a couple of options but was able to get us answers. I attribute this to experience level. She was great to work with.
Options - I would have liked to have had more granite options for our kitchen countertops.
Lead Source - Judson Poole
PM Professionalism - We have enjoyed working with Dade. He has kept us well informed throughout the building process and is always available for questions.
Additional Comments - I know these are very challenging times with material and personnel shortages. We feel Kent Homes did a great job managing our build while dealing with these issues.
Trust - We trust Kent but still waiting for warranty items to be completed.
Warranty Manager Professionalism - Yes, we like Randy he is a professional but we need better communication.
Problem Resolution - We still have open items.
Recognized Excellence - Nancy
Sales Attentiveness - Kate provided outstanding support and worked with us as we navigated determining the model of home we wanted and coordinated meetings so we were informed of Kent Homes process and how it could and did meet our expectations. Her patience and attentiveness to our needs was major factor in our decision to have Kent be our home builder.
PM Expertise - Keeps us informed on project status.
PM Problem Resolution - Supported us with providing information concerning HOA ARC concerns and remedy them to our satisfaction.
Clean & Safe - One the concerns we had was that during the building process workers can get sloppy and leave debris around the site. Jim understood our concern and ensured workers cleaned up appropriately.
Areas Of Satisfaction - Communication and making himself available to meet with us when we came into the area because we do not currently reside in the area.
Recognized Excellence - Jim Talbot and Kate DaSilva.
Additional Comments - Kent Homes has worked with us through our initial meetings, helping to decide on a floor plan and very accommodating to changes we wanted to make. They have exceeded our expectations with communications always keeping us informed on status and assuring to resolve issues. We have built multiple homes over the years and by far this has been the best experience.
Overall Experience - So far they have delivered an exceptional customer experience.
Sales Attentiveness - The salesperson has been very attentive and thorough.
Customer Suggestion - They should keep on doing what they are doing. It has been a real good experience thus far.
Lead Source - I heard about Kent Homes through a realtor.
Additional Comments - It has been excellent. I anticipate it will be the same all the way through.
Warranty Manager Professionalism - John does an excellent job!
Recognized Excellence - John Hall, Ashley Kent
Any Changes? - Nothing
Favorite Home Feature - Loggia
Additional Comments - Kent homes was an excellent choice to build our home!
Additional Comments - It was an excellent experience overall.
Budget Pre-Con - Carol Hobbs was very good at listening to us talk through design considerations and offering suggestions that we likely would not have considered. For example, going with an extra wide garage door to make access easier.
Change Order Process - My understanding of the change order process: don't. Just get it right by the time plans are signed.
Communication - The only point that could have been communicated better is the overall process going from sales contract through ready-to-frame.
Design Center & Selections - Design center was a bit of challenge. We came up with good selections, but our consultant felt a bit distracted. Moreover, she left Kent's employment after our in-person session but before we completed Selections and our process ended up being delayed. We did have one mis-communication on what we wanted electrically that was caught by the drafting team and resolved in time. In addition, the Selections process has a built-in Catch-22 scenario. Customers are asked to make selections without understanding pricing. In our case, the front door we selected in the Kent studio was an $8,000 up-charge. That was quickly deleted once we reviewed the pricing.
Overall Experience - Challenges with understanding the overall process and getting through Selections drive the reduced rating.
Customer Suggestion - Take a look at what you're doing to educate customers on the overall process and what key decisions need to be focused on and when. A couple of simple one-pagers would likely better communicate what decisions need to be made up front vs. later. Also, an overview of the overall process and expected timeframes would be helpful.
Lead Source - Referral from Kent customer - Greer family
Construction Quality - Both materials and workshop are good. We had a 3rd party inspector review pre-drywall and only very minor observations noted.
Communication - The bi-weekly meetings are working well. He's reached out to us a couple of times when something couldn't wait. He is prompt with his answers when we contact him.
PM Expertise - It is clear that AJ knows how to build a house.
PM Professionalism - AJ has presented a naturally professional demeanor in all his meetings with us. He listens to our questions and provides clear explanations without sounding condescending.
PM Problem Resolution - We have really had very few problems to resolve. We had one or two subcontractors raise scheduling challenges that AJ resolved by pivoting to another provider. Early in the build process, AJ identified that two wrong cabinets had been ordered and was able to correct the order before schedule would be affected.
PM Professional & Organized - AJ is on top of his game. He's been effective at managing trades and getting the timings and sequencing down right. For example, finding the right time for the landscaper to install a retaining wall in the back yard.
Understand Building Process - AJ is effective at explaining the process and how things are moving along.
Clean & Safe - We have not observed any safety issues and have seen that AJ maintains our lot as well as or better than others under construction in the neighborhood.
Overall Experience - AJ and Kent Homes have done a marvelous job managing our build, both from a quality point of view and keeping on schedule. The house next to ours is a smaller model from another builder that started 10 weeks ahead of us. We are likely going to be complete around the same time.
Areas Of Satisfaction - Strengths of Kent Homes includes: quality of build, sticking to schedule, flexibility in accommodating modifications, and length of time available for selections process.
Quality Of Workmanship - Our third party inspector was clear: Kent homes has delivered a very well-built high quality home to us.
PM Expertise - AJ is a savvy PM who is effective at managing reluctant subcontractors / utilities.
PM Problem Resolution - When H2GO balked at making timely grinder pump delivery, AJ didn't simply rely on phone calls - he went directly to H2GO offices and "sat on the desk" of the key decision maker to gain commitments from H2GO to get the gender pumps delivered to his houses.
Schedule - Our neighbor, using another builder, kept pointing at our house and asking his PM why Kent was able to build a house without all the delays he was experiencing.
Areas Of Satisfaction - Overall schedule, quality of build, ability to work through adversity (e.g., grinder pump drama), communication with PM, ability to resolve issues/questions with sub contractors / trades.
Areas For Improvement - The glass / mirror subcontractor has underperformed. They never measured for our shelves until long after our move-in. Mirrors showed up cut incorrectly. Our Selections process coordinator lacked the engagement guidance we needed.
Recognized Excellence - AJ has been stellar throughout the build. Carole was very effective guiding us through the sales process.
Additional Comments - Our great lesson in this build process has been the importance of finding the right builder as a partner. Clearly the floor plans / designs are an important first criterion and Kent's offerings were clearly best for us. In comparing our build experience with what we watched our neighbors endure, a couple of other factors emerge as very important. First is the strength of the project manager to drive the process, mange the quality, and communicate with us. Our PM was stellar, making on-the-fly decisions at the build site that created a great build on a challenging lot. Moreover, he was effective at overcoming obstacles that other builder's PMs found more challenging. We had good PM communications throughout the build. Second is the collection of subcontractors / trade professionals that the builder hires to actually do the work. We have very few build quality issues and experienced very few supply chain issues. Last is the financial stability of the builder to honor its commitments. Unlike our neighbors, Kent made no last-minute demands for more cash to complete our build. Our build was completed faster than most - on time AND on budget, with great quality.
It's now 16 months after the C of O. And the garage door has still not been fixed. This was not ID'd on the one year warranty punch-list. It was ID'd on the pre-warrany punch-list at the pre occupancy walk through 16 months ago. There has been no disagreement that this is a problem. My cars were locked in the garage for two days. And I had no assurance of any action from Kent until after I hired another contractor to temporarily fix the problem. There have been numerous visits to view and discuss the problem. There have been numerous ideas and failed attempts to fix the problem. Everyone is in agreement there was either a material or a construction defect or both. And as today I still have no answer on how and when the problem will be corrected. This is only one of many stories during construction from my PM about "there's nothing wrong with this" until I elevate the problem up the ranks, and only then does the problem finally get fixed in 10 minutes after Kent finally agrees to bring an expert in to fix the problem. And it's almost always fixed at no cost to Kent, AFTER Kent finally agrees to make the subcontractor fix their mistake.
I don't think I need to say any more. Other than none of this has anything to do with John Hall. He had no responsibility for this issue until my PM left Kent. And I have nothing but high praise for John. Had only someone of equal caliber been assigned to build Kent's largest house on the Lakes most expensive lot, I would probably also have nothing of praise for Kent.
The house was built with quality. My brother inlaw who is very picky Esau’s this is one of the best built home he has seen.
Communication - Chris, our PM, has been fantastic at communicating with us every step of the way!
PM Professionalism - Couldn’t have asked for a better PM
Warranty Manager Professionalism - Randy took care of everything and more.
Recognized Excellence - Chris Moore. Since we were out of town Chris was our eyes and ears. I can’t say enough about Chris.
Any Changes? - Larger loggia
Favorite Home Feature - Everything
Lead Source - I heard about them through my family.
Communication - Kenny does a great job communicating with us and takes time to answer all our questions. He is excellent!
PM Expertise - Absolutely! Kenny is very knowledgeable and has been a great support for us during the build process. A great problem solver!
PM Professionalism - Kenny is a great asset for Kent. He represents Kent impeccably.
PM Problem Resolution - We had a slight miscommunication in the selections process and Kenny went above and beyond to find a great solution.
Trust - 100%
Areas For Improvement - I wish the selections process went smoother for us but unfortunately there was some personnel changes and the timing made us feel like details weren’t wrapped up.
Recognized Excellence - Kenny Jones has been excellent
Areas Of Satisfaction - Everyone at Kent Homes was great, but Kenny Jones made all the difference.
Areas For Improvement - They did not fall short of my expectations.
Recognized Excellence - I would like to recognize Kenny Jones. He is a great communicator, very knowledgeable, and very personable.
Warranty Manager Professionalism - Absolutely, pleasure to work with
Recognized Excellence - Archie Medina
Any Changes? - Sales process
Favorite Home Feature - Loggia
Lead Source - Originally heard of Kent from The Bluffs as we were investigating whether we would build there.
Salesperson Accessibility - Carol has always been prompt in responding, even given that a major part of our purchase project was happening over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday period.
Salesperson Communication - Carol has been an excellent and prompt communicator as noted about her accessibility through the holiday season. She expedited creation of preliminary site fit drawings for the lot we were purchasing so that we could confidently proceed with the lot purchase and subsequently proceed to contract with Kent. All that was done by Carol and Kent knowing that we hadn't yet settled on Kent as our builder; great customer service!
Sales Attentiveness - Carol is a good listener and took the time to understand and confirm the plan design changes and options we were considering.
Sales Knowledge - Carol is very knowledgeable about not only Kent's product/design, but construction in general. She has been good about advising us about construction selections to steer us to alternatives that get us the better value for the features we desired.
Salesperson Professionalism - Professional all the way. We've built a number of homes with both production builders and semi-custom builders, so we're very familiar with the wide range of sales associates who've led the sales efforts of the builders. Carol always had time for us even at the start of the process where we weren't yet sure that Kent was going to be our builder. Contrast that with the sales associates of previous purchases who clearly were trying to rush us and get us locked into their product.
Sales Solutions - Carol listened to what our desired plan changes were and worked with us to achieve those changes within the constraints of feasibility for Kent and the site. We understood that Kent is not a "custom" builder, but we never felt that - unlike their competitors - we were dealing with a "production" builder who would only make minimal changes to suit their offering. We were rarely told "No" on a change request, but when we were, Carol would talk us through alternate ways in which we could achieve a more workable or economical design.
Sales Problem Resolution - House isn't built yet and no problems have arisen in the sales process, but we feel confident that from Kent and Carol's efforts, we expect this build will be the best for us so far (just hope that it will be a shorter build time to go with that).
Salesperson Trust - For all the previous comments and reasons presented previously, we trust Carol and Kent are going to deliver the best home we've built. Carol has followed through to make sure that preliminary confirmations made by her on special features or items have been followed up by Kent Homes corporate office.
Preconstruction Budget - We believe that every Purchaser would like to get their home for the lowest cost. We feel that Carol worked with us to keep our costs as close to our budget as possible. She went to bat with us during our final negotiations to get our cost down and also provided additional sales incentives to reach that end.
Understanding Of Cost - We're pretty certain that we have a complete understanding of Kent's offers and pricing. A challenge to that understanding is the extensive list of options Kent offers (the options list is way more extensive than lists we've seen from competitive builders or from our past experience). We're trusting that in our upcoming final selections meeting, that we'll come away with a full understanding of what is available and the costs. The time that Kent has promised for the selection meeting (1-1/2 days) is longer than any previous builder has allocated for that important meeting; impressive by Kent.
Options - For the most part. We understand that asking for items that are not of Kent's direct experience introduces more risk and cost, but we don't feel overly limited option-wise given Kent's extensive option list. On those few options that requested that aren't on Kent's list, they've not said No and are expecting to be able to deliver those items even though they're not standard.
Value - Kent's cost has been a bit higher than competitors, but definitely competitive. Their list of included features is more extensive than their competitors, their quality is higher (based on comparison of their model homes and builds that are in progress), and their positive customer reviews are vastly superior to their competitors that are in the same cost range and home size. We expect to receive a fair value for the money we're investing in our Kent home.
Favorite Design Feature (At Contract) - Our two favorite features of our home plan is our master bedroom suite and our unfinished bonus room. With the laundry areas being directly off of the master bath and the huge master closet, we feel that the suite is superior to any that we were able to configure with Kent's competitors in the same overall size of home. It may seem unusual to have an unfinished bonus room as a favorite feature, but few of Kent's competitors offered to provide an unfinished bonus room that was provided with electrical, plumbing and HVAC rough-ins ready for our completion. This was a highly desired feature of ours.
Customer Suggestion - Complete our home earlier than promised :-)
Recognized Excellence - Carol Hobbs for all the reasons noted previously
Areas For Improvement - None so far. Hoping that will continue with their construction team and their project manager.
Areas Of Satisfaction - Timeliness of communications and flexibility of meeting our desired design.
Additional Comments - None; let's start building!
Lead Source - The showcase of homes in the community
Recognized Excellence - While Jim was our PM and our contact while the house was under construction, all the folks with Kent Homes were very courteous and attentive to our needs.
Design Center & Selections - Alina was great and made selections process easy.
Professional & Organized - It is amazing how organized and professional kent homes staff are (kudos to Carol Hobbs new homes sales consultant and Alina at design center and selections).
Sales Attentiveness - it is really a pleasure working with Carol , very attentive and thorough and has kept us informed every time.
Lead Source - He built our neighbors home in Avenel subdivision in the 1990's and did a great job .
Areas Of Satisfaction - Communication and follow through
Areas For Improvement - None
Recognized Excellence - Chris Moore, Carol Hobbs & Alina Aviles
Areas Of Satisfaction - Excellent in all aspects
Kate DaSilva and Jim Talbot have worked above and beyond to make sure everything goes smoothly and there have been some speed bumps (this should be expected with any builder) both Kate and Jim worked with us to make these problems were worked out to our satisfaction without needing us to push them, it was like they were building their own home and dealt with the problems the same way!
Change Order Process - there were a couple of items that we weren't sure if we wanted and Kate and Alina were very helpful in explaining without pushing the items in question and we were able to make our decisions with no stress
Design Center & Selections - There were a lot of things we went over and Alina helped us all the way, she was awesome!
Sales Attentiveness - Kate has helping us through the whole process as she understands that we do not do this for a living, this is a one time experience for us.
Salesperson Accessibility - She always responded to us promptly.
Salesperson Knowledge - There was a few times where we made a decision which wasn't the best idea and Kate worked on them to correct each one to our satisfaction.
Trust - They have given no reason to suspect otherwise.
Value - Because of the pandemic there were issues that Kent homes had no control over. When we were comparing builders Kent handled these issues better than other builders in my opinion.
Options - Kent was very easy to work with what we wanted in our floor plan.
Lead Source - From the community where we bought land.
Construction Quality - Jim has been on top of the Job from day one and there have been times where I saw issues and when we met with Jim he knew about them and told us what he was doing to fix them before I even pointed them out. Again he is treating this like he is building his own home!
Communication - Jim is VERY responsive when I reach out to him to either ask a question or point some items out to him and he gets back to me very quickly
PM Expertise - Without a doubt, he is well organized and is very good in setting a schedule to coordinate all the work crews.
PM Professionalism - We have never had an issue with Jim, very approachable and knows his job well
Understand Building Process - Jim keeps us informed all the time and never makes promises that he cannot keep which we appreciate!
Trust - To repeat an earlier comment, it's like he is building his own house, you cannot put a price on that level of trust
Employees & Trade Contractors - Jim has brought on professional and courteous contractors and the few times we have been onsite the contractors have always been polite and even taken the time to explain some of the things they are doing!
Overall Experience - Kate, Alina and Jim all have worked hard to make this experience as painless as possible and if there was a problem (some of them our own creation) they have worked with us to correct them to our satisfaction.
Areas Of Satisfaction - Building a home during the pandemic and problems with the developer (not Kent homes) was very tough experience on us and Kent homes and there were some rough spots but in the end Kent worked with us to make this as painless as possible!
Recognized Excellence - I would have to say Jim Talbot has made us feel very comfortable with the whole build process and since this is the first home we have built it is a new experience for us and he walked us through the process. Jim being our project manager has made us feel a lot better that if any issues come up he will work with us and explain how it is going to corrected. There was an issue with the curb by our driveway (was not Kent's fault) that could have been a major issue and Kate and Jim went to bat for us and it worked out better than I hoped for all because of them!
Responsive to all our concerns. Quality control manager (Randy) performed outstandingly. Kent built a quality home for us.
We enjoyed working with the entire Kent team (Kate, Chris Moore, Randy).
Communication - I agree for the most part. I expected all our information to be loaded to the Kent Homes client portal for our viewing. That happened at the very beginning of the process but not so much as the process went along. I had to ask before the portal caught up with our info. Once that happened we are good. I attribute the hiccup to growing pains in coming to grips with the new pandemic environment. Having said that our Project Manager is great. Chris Moore is very good at communicating exactly we are in the construction process and what we can expect to take place moving forward.
Sales Attentiveness - Kate is awesome.
Lead Source - we spent a weekend at Brunswick Forest and liked the Kent Homes models.
Construction Quality - Delivered everything as promised.
Communication - Although there were times when we wanted to speak to a "live" person on the phone (design center) we were eventually able to communicate via email.
Work Done Right - No real issues with the exception of the Landscape Vendor (Grass with Class). Very unresponsive. Many of our original plants in the back of the house died and (in my opinion) were replaced with inferior products. Big palm in the front died and took forever to get it replaced. It was replaced 2 days before the major storm and was never staked. Had to add it to our warranty list to get them to respond. The landscaper vender rarely answers the phone. Haven't met one Kent Homes buyer who likes working with Grass with Class.
Warranty Manager Professionalism - Great employee and person to work with. Very professional.
Recognized Excellence - Kate, Chris Moore and Randy Parrish.
Any Changes? - Granite color and cabinet color in master bath. Location of kitchen pendant light switch.
Favorite Home Feature - master bedroom suite.
Additional Comments - Appreciated the biweekly meetings with Chris Moore. We felt he kept us up to date with progress and pictures.
Customer Suggestion - It has been a wonderful experience so far, no suggestions at this time.
Lead Source - The development we are building in has Kent Homes as one of their preferred builders.
Areas Of Satisfaction - We live out of state from our build. Kent Homes (Chris Moore) has kept us up to date and supplied with photos during bi-weekly updates.
Clean & Safe - I am building remote but my neighbors on multiple occasions have gone out of their way to me know that the site is kept clean and the contractors are professional.
PM Professionalism - Kenny communicates with me on a regular basis to keep me informed of progress and what to expect. He is proactive in planning ahead to eliminate any delays or quality issues. He is well organized.
Warranty Manager Professionalism - Randy is knowledgeable and professional and continues to follow-up on open items
Problem Resolution - There are still open items to be addressed
Recognized Excellence - I would like to recognize Kenny Jones and Randy Parrish - both have been a pleasure to work with for both communication, quality of work and follow-thru.
Any Changes? - I would have angled the garage.
Favorite Home Feature - Extended back patio/loggia