Red Oak Development

Where to start with this developer? We began searching for a new home in the Boise area back in Late September/Early October 2019. In November, we settled on building with this particular builder after a house he had for sale (that we wanted) sold before we could put in an offer.

We picked the lot and our floor plan was picked for us (which was fine). The issues began when we started to pick out what we wanted for the house. He had a particular budget and the things that we were to pick were expected to be within that budget. We knew of a few things that we wanted to upgrade and we were fine with paying the upgrade fee.

Our realtor and us went to about six to eight different vendors to pick out different things: flooring, countertops, lighting, doors, hardware, tile, carpeting, etc. Every single place that we went, our realtor would call ahead of the appointment and make sure that the vendor knew who our builder was so that they could prepare the items that were within budget.

We would go to these places. Shown options. We would ask, "Is this within his budget for his homes" (we have a budget too). Response about 90% of the time? "Well I think so. It's what he's used before" or "oh we don't set the budget, that's the supplier that sets those" or "yeah, it is". More than half of the amenities in the home were picked based upon this loose idea that it was "within budget". Boy were we surprised.

Interior doors? Upgrade, not within budget. Faucets? Upgrade, not within budget. Flooring? Upgrade, not within budget. Lights? Upgrade (but we actually knew a lighting budget before going in and intentionally went over and paid it). Tile? Upgrade, not within budget. Cabinets? Upgrade

Mind you, all of this (with the exception of lighting) were all things we were told were generally within his budget and all of the styles we selected were styles that were supposedly within his budget. Almost EVERYTHING came back as an upgrade.

We eventually had a meeting with the builder because it felt as though everything was coming back over budget. We pushed back on a few things and he conceded on a few items. One particular issue was the tile. We have a tile backsplash in the kitchen and a tile floor and shower in the master. The tile that we picked for both were over budget. We were aware and wanted them anyway. He agreed to pay the tile overage if we paid for labor because our original tile for the bathroom floor was backordered. We went back in. Picked a different tile. Backordered. Another different tile. Backordered. Finally found one that wasn't backordered but was twice what the original budget was. We said fine, the builder is paying the tile overage. When he got the bill, he refused to pay for the tile. We pushed back. He wouldn't back down. We pointed out the agreement we had. Wouldn't back down. Our realtor paid it because he was so fed up with this project.

The next issue we had was as we moved in. The sprinkler system, no matter how many times we tried to use it, wasn't working. We figured that they just had to come back and finish it. About a week after moving in, it still wasn't working. I went into the backyard and to the side of the house to discover that the system was never completed and not even hooked up. We contacted the superintendent for the job site. He contacted landscaping. About another week or so goes by. Still no working sprinklers. We contact the superintendent again. He tells us that landscaping came by and fixed it. We informed him no, that the system was still broken.

Fast forward... It took us TWO MONTHS to get the sprinkler system hooked up. It's almost mid-June by this point. Our grass is dying. We finally fire up the sprinkler system to discover that the heads pop up and would spray powerful jets of water in one direction and the heads did not rotate.

We contacted our realtor, who contacted the builder about this. He said he'd contact the appropriate parties and get it fixed. Two weeks go by. Nothing. I finally tell the landscaper directly and he says he'll come by and fix it that afternoon. No show. Tells me the same thing the next day. No show again. I run into him about a week later and physically show him what the sprinklers are doing. He says he'll come fix it. Doesn't show.

We hire an outside landscaper to fix it. We spend good money on getting the sprinklers right and laying new sod because 90% of the back lawn was dead. We send this bill, through our realtor, back to the builder. He now says he refuses to pay it and that the superintendent tells him that the sprinklers were fine even after being notified multiple times that they were not.

A a home builder, this is an atrocious way to treat your buyer. We have never experienced this kind of stress and disregard in buying a home. This process has left a sour taste in our mouth and we would HIGHLY encourage anyone to seek a different builder if you're thinking of going that route. We would NOT recommend this builder.