Chronos Builders

My wife and I have been trying to move to Palisade since we came to the Grand Valley. I'm a teacher there, and we just love the small town vibe. So, when we saw the new Cresthaven subdivision going up just east of the high school, we were stoked to learn more.

We came to find out that the subdivsion has just one builder, Chronos, and just one realtor representing them, Jan Kimbrough Miller of the Kimbrough Team. We were looking to build on one of their Phase 1 lots, and since we knew that building would take a while, we wanted to get started as soon as possible. Since most of the lots in Cresthaven are small, we fell in love with an upgraded lot with a bit more size, but we also had some questions. This is when the trouble started.

Quite simply it took weeks for them to respond about basic questions that were nonetheless important for our decision making (e.g. how big would our backyard be; how much would certain upgrades, like premium stairs, cost; and if our lot line would include old-growth trees). These and many more questions were posed to Jan, who was consistently aloof and unresponsive. We got the distinct feeling they did not want our business based on their lack of effort.

When our realtor tried to get answers from Chronos directly, their secretary was instructed not to give us any answers, but rather, we were directed to funnel all our communications through Jan, who as I explained had no time for us. We were told, "We (as in Chronos) have a process you must abide by..." When trying to get a clearer understanding of the steps in this process, Jan was once again worthless. Despite the fact that we had both the capital and the motivation to get the ball rolling ASAP, it took us two weeks of inquiries to finally be told that the "process" began with us getting us under contract. Although we still had some big question marks, we proceeded with the assurance that once they "saw we were serious," then they would get us our answers. Another week went by, but the crickets continued to chirp as we awaited answers to questions that were deal breakers for us. After more hard work from our realtor, we were given the next step: pick out our house style and options. We completed this step in an evening and wanted to proceed to the next, which was finally meeting someone from Chronos face to face. However, as we continued to petition answers to our burning questions, we found out from someone else at Kimbrough that Jan had absconded to Lake Powell for a vacation--no notice, just poof, gone. And who did she leave to work with clients and answer questions in her absence? Absolutely no one.

In the meantime, we were prepping our house for sale, all eggs in the Cresthaven basket, hoping to get our urgent questions answered at our first Chronos meeting. Neither Jan nor Chronos would confirm they’d have our questions answered at that meeting, but we pushed forward, all the same. Still, with this increasing unprofessionalism, we started to look elsewhere too. Within a couple days we had met face to face with two other premium builders, who clearly wanted our business and were willing to work with us. Their “process” was simply to communicate, listen and offer help in making our decision. You know, customer service 101.

Back to Chronos and Jan...with the impending face to face with Chronos (one that would be with the secretary, NOT a builder, NOT even a project manager), Jan finally answered our question about the stair upgrade. See, Chronos’ standard staircase for these Cresthaven homes is fugly: a full half-wall that goes all the way up the stairs through to the end of the landing upstairs. It’s straight out of the 90s; can’t imagine why it would even be an option. The upgraded floating stairs, on the other hand, look modern and cool. But, unlike all the other options in the upgrades, this one was left without a price. After nearly 4 weeks of asking, Jan finally gave us a ballpark: expect $20k extra for the non-ugly stairs, but that doesn’t include the railing. She basically filled in a big question mark, and presented another. At this point, we knew we were done. We never found out how big our backyard would have been on this “upgraded” lot. Apparently they wanted our $5k earnest money before they would even tell us that.

Throughout this ordeal, time and again, we were told that Jan and the Chronos were exceedingly busy and would get to our queries at their convenience. Regardless its inconvenience for us. If you’re too busy to treat people with common respect, then you shouldn’t be in business.

In the end, we feel most thankful that we went another direction. I mean, if it’s such a hassle just to get under contract, then I shiver at the thought of working with them through a build. This seems strange to say now because I had always been impressed by Chronos homes. But, do your research with them--not all that glitters is gold.