Schmacher Homes

10 years ago

I and my husband are looking at having a home built by Schmacher Homes. We are interested in the Woodbury Home. Do anyone know someone who had this home built? We have seen the Beverly which seems to be a popular home here in the south, but we haven't seen too many others. Can anyone give me some insight about Schmarher Home Builders? We haven't check into any other builders, but we are just in the preliminary stages right now. Any information would be appreciated.

Thanks

Featured Answer

mydreamhome

10 years ago

Ditto what CamG said above. Although, I will urge you to get quotes from other middle of the road custom builders in your area before signing on the dotted line with Schumacher. We found that after accounting for all the upgrades, it was the same amount to pay a true custom builder to build our house--plus we got a stick built open truss roof system in the attic (meaning we can expand up there later if we want). Schumacher uses prebuilt trusses and does allow an upgrade to a storage truss which will allow for some extra space in the middle of the trusses to store things, but not enough to build a room for an extra fee. The price skyrockets if you want stick built open truss system--our quote was $10K minimum to upgrade the trusses to stick built open vs their prefabbed trusses. When we let Schumacher know we went with another builder, all they could say was 'We would have matched their pricing.' Do they think I'm going to believe they're going to match the other guy's price and lose $10K+ in the process--trust me that loss would have been made up somewhere else in the building process as an unforeseen expense of some sort.

Just my $0.02. Hope this helps!

Comments (7)

robin0919
10 years ago
They are a track home builder......enough said.
LuAnn_in_PA
10 years ago
Track?
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mainecoonkitty
10 years ago
So a search on this forum to find several other threads about others' experiences with Schumacher.
millworkman
10 years ago
she means "tract", slap them together with the minimum cost to the builder, (ie. least expensive basic materials and bare minimum labor). And upcharge the hell the out of you for anything other than their basic products.
CamG
10 years ago
To the OP: This is a frequent discussion here, so I'll just cut to the chase: most here will look down at tract builder, because they build houses with entry-level features, generally poor floor plans, and gouge you on upgrades. Instead, the argument goes, if you are choosing a tract home builder because of your limited budget, you should choose a custom home builder and build a smaller house to compensate (or buy existing, since usually that is cheaper).

These are valid criticisms, but I don't think this is always a loosing deal for you. If you like the floorplan and have priced any necessary modifications with the builder, the next thing to do, I think, is to pay attention to the specs--insulation, 2x4 or 2x6 walls, finishes, HVAC, etc. Assume that you will significantly add to the cost by upgrading the flooring and kitchen--how much is up to you. And be sure to price out all upgrades you might possibly be interested in before signing any contracts--as millworkman mentioned, many of these builders operate on razor thin margins for the basic house and then huge margins for upgrades (I've seen $75/sf for entry-level granite!). Particularly if you find yourself adding lots and lots of upgrades, be sure to consider other, non-tract builders who have more realistic margins from the get-go and do not gouge you on upgrades.

If you go into this with your eyes fully open as to what your purchase price is getting you, and it compares favorably what you could get from other builders, then great. I have not seen anything indicating Schmacher homes is a crooked business, and I have seen lots and lots of custom home contractors do awful work on this forum, so there are no guarantees.

What you should do is bring the plan you're interested in to the forum, along with a list of the specs above, so the experts (not me) can tell you whether there are significant issues with the plan or specs. They are very helpful and I have learned a tremendous amount doing this.

This post was edited by CamG on Mon, May 13, 13 at 14:21
samgibbs3rd
7 years ago
Awesome informative posts.