Celebrity Homes

[UPDATE]

It is nice to see positive posts. I know Celebrity has dealt with issues and are trying. One bad apple does not ruin the pie unless you let it.

[wondering]

What is Gary's last name? I had a pleasant experience with Gary but maybe it was a different one?

[UPDATE]

His last name began with a "P" . I have to admit I called him to see if I could get my walk through time changed due to a moving van issue. HE called me first thing the next day and he worked miracles and got the time changed to earlier and also contacted the mortage company and revised the signing time also. They are at the house now trying to get everything ready for our move in. I have to admit I am more impressed with the customer service and attenditveness to details. I looked at HS home and they were very small and costly. We got everything we wanted in a great area for under 134,000 who can beat that for almost 1700 SQ FT VILLA??

[Square]

I've lived in a Celebrity home for almost 5 years (168th and Maple). I've had no real problems and they have been responsive with the little things (replaced a screen door, etc.). If I left a VM on a Monday, they would call me back by Wednesday at least. They have a separate option for emergencies, but a few days was good enough for anything I had. Overall the house is well insulated and the doors, windows, and roof are all warrantied for longer than I'll live here. Don't really see the downside, but you do have to keep your eyes open with buying ANY house.

[Jillian]

why are you people so mean to celeberities there just everyday people just like you..they just stared in a couple movies. And sure I will agree that some celeberities ask for the attention.

[Hearthstone Buyer]

Jesse wrote:

Celebrity homes customer service is terrible. They allow you an hour to contact them during the morning and if you do they don't call you back until about 3 days later ATLEAST... We have had several problems with our home since July 2007 and they say that it is our fault so they will not fix it. For instance we just had a problem with our outside hose faucet, it must have froze over the winter and broke. They would not fix it because they said we left our hoses on without even asking us. Which we DID NOT LEAVE THEM ON. They called my wife a liar on the phone. I do not reccommend Celebrity Homes to anyone... They are very rude and very unprofessional.

I don't understand why people assume every little problem should be fixed by the home builder. Most of those kinds of things are NOT covered under a warranty.

I think some of you are forgetting that you OWN your house. You aren't renting a house or apartment where your landlord is responsible for fixing every problem. It's YOUR house. Fix if yourself.

[GAB]

This thread just keeps on going and I love it when people think we're talking about actual celebrities! Read the whole thread before you post so you don't sound like an idiot.

We're just about done building our HH in Omaha and we're quite pleased with the process. Any issues we've brought up have been quickly fixed.

My wife and I went through some CH's again just for fun and tried to do so with a less biased opinion. We weren't mobbed by an overzealous salesperson this time and found the houses to be better than we originally percieved them to be. They're pretty much identical in size as HH though HH goes for depth rather than width probably to make the house appear larger when driving by. We're still happy with our choice to build with HH. We like the airy floorplan and that the siding and trim continues around the entire house rather than just the front like CH does. The CH actually seemed like a smaller house even though the square footage was almost identical to HH.

I agree that CH should drop the "It's all included" slogan because it really isn't. They've just pre-selected things based upon popular options that other home builders offer. Not everybody wants stainless steel appliances, washer/dryer and jacuzzi tubs. Some people are perfectly happy buying the base model and doing the upgrades themselves. Why pay interest on appliances you can purchase on your own unless you can't afford them. I think choice is the key word here and you should be able to get a home with all the options or none.

[NewOldOmaha]

We just purchased a Celebrity home. It was a spec home and will be done in approx. 3 mos. So far the process has seemed fairly easy. I think if you don't have huge expectations, you get what you pay for. You cannot make any changes to their plans. I wanted to do full vinyl in the kitchen and into the dining area (which has carpet) but that was not allowed. I also didn't want them to put up the vertical blinds on the sliding glass door but they are putting them up (holes in the wall and everything) and then when we move in and paint we'll just take them down and spackle the holes. I'll keep you posted on how things go, but so far so good.
We had our agent explain everything in the contract as well as had an attorney look through it. It is what it is, no changes. As long as you know this and don't expect to be able to do miraculous things in your home it is fine. From what I can tell, Hearthstone will work with you more on any changes or exceptions you would like to make to the plan, but you do have to pay for it. I feel like we know what we are getting into so far...but we'll see!

[UPDATE]

We have been in our Celebrity Villa about 3 weeks and love our new home.
I had some repairs so I emailed them on Tuesday about little items that needed to be fixed i.e. broken toliet seat bracket, sold signs not picked up etc... Wednesday when I got to work I had an automated email saying this was being forwarded to the repair people. They came by and picked up the sold signs yesterday Wednesday, fixed a toliet seat bracket first thing Thursday and I have had two repair people call me about the other things I need look at. I only wish the decks were bigger I went out and bought patio furniture nothing big and only 3 chairs can fix comfy the 4th chair is there but anyone sitting there would have to squeeze in and out.

I agree there could be more choices in colors etc... But I figure I remodel every 5 years so Id change it anyway ......

[BKA Bellevue]

I purchased a new home from HSH less then 7 months age (at the end of 25th st) and the basement is leaking. I've called HSH and they have come out to my house twice with no solution to my problem. Does any know HSH track record on this issue?

[Omaha Blight]

This is what Celebrity Homes offer to consumers: poor quality, tiny lots, no style, high maintenance in the long run. The approach to housing used by the likes of Celebrity and Hearthstone is maximum profit for the developers/builders: make fast bucks and get out. What are these neighborhoods going to look like even five years from now, let alone 10? The cheap plastic components of these homes will not hold up (some folks found that out during the recent storms). Home builders of Omaha need to do right by their home buyers, and these dirt cheap construction methods only cause headache and heartache in the long run. Give us communities in which we can have both pride and resale value! As I drive through many areas of Omaha in which land was bought up by Celebrity and Hearthstone it makes me sick to the stomach, because in the long run those communities will become a blight for Omaha. We need higher standards for home design and construction, and home buyers, including entry-level first-time home buyers, deserve QUALITY for their hard-earned money. I would recommend for homebuyers to not invest in such garbage; hold out and force the home builders to deliver higher quality for the money. Celebrity and Hearthstone are not about quality; they are about corporate greed.

[OmniQuest]

Greed is good! These builders are in business to make money, they are not non-profit organizations. Likewise you go to work expecting to make money not merely to have your living expenses covered.
How can we expect any business to exist without realizing a certain level of profitability. These builders will not usually negotiate the purchase price of a new home for a reason. That reason is the builder figured out what the absolute lowest price they need to get for that home and still remain profitable is, and is selling it for that. These bulders take the Wal-Mart approach to building and make their money on the number of homes they sell not on ridiculous mark-ups per house like the niche or custom builders, some of which make millions in profits per year on building merely a couple of dozen homes or less.
I'm in the process of purchasing a Celebrity Home, as a first time home-buyer, and thus far am impressed. I realize the building componets, appliances etc may not be the highest quality however for the sq. footage, layout, location and the mere fact that everything is brand-spanking-new and under warranty, for some things up to ten years, how can you go wrong?
You see I'm a little greedy too. I want the most bang for my buck. I've researched homes in the Omaha area extensively for the last year in preparation of buying. I've looked a Celebrity and Hearthstone as well as many other previously built homes in a number of neighborhoods all over the Omaha.I'm comfortable with my decision.
I don't drive a Mercedes-Benz or a Jaguar nor will I be buying the "Mercedes-Benz" of homes. But I will tell you that my Honda Accord runs just fine and I have the assurance that if anything goes wrong with it the warranty will cover the repairs without any out of pocket expense! It's comforting knowing my new Celebrity home grants me the same assurances even if the repairs are completed the same day they occur.

[Omaha owner]

Omaha Blight,
I think most people know when they purchase a lower priced new home they are getting what they pay for. I do have a question for you. Where did obtain your information? Word of mouth, owning one of these homes, talking with people or from other sources
I live in a Celebrity and knew when purchased what I was getting. My home was not affected by the storms and from what I have seen in the outlying areas and my community the only thing I could see was the associations fences were down in the celebrity neighborhood where I live. The biggest damages I have seen are with homes not associated with HSH or Celebrity but with the bigger more expensive builders. THis is in the area of 156th to 168th street Maple to State youll see what I mean. When you have winds in excess of 80 miles an hour things will tumble. Even in the older neighborhood there was significant damage. Heck look at all the expensive homes in Florida where the hurricans hit and the winds in Omaha on the dreadful day were gale. With any home you win some and lose some. For the person whose basement is leaking and it is under warranty keep good ducumentation of the times/day/ people you talk with. If it is under warranty call daily I would. If it isnt under warranty . you are responsible like it or not it comes with owning a home.

[Omaha owner]

Omaha Blight,
i have one other thing to comment on. you say for homeowners to hold out and force the builders to build more quality home. What this means is the prices of the affordable homes for those us us in the lower to middle income brackets will not be able to afford homes. it would be nice to get it all. But as OMNIQUEST ut it i cannot afford a BMW but i can afford my Mitsubishi and will drive it proudly.

[NewOldOmaha]

Update: We are about to close on our house on Friday and so far the process has been just fine. As we go and look at our home every day I had been keeping a list of issues that I see. I sent the list to my realtor and then she forwards it to the warranty guy. So far everything on the list has been taken care of quite well. For the price you can't beat these homes. Do I hate the fact that I'll be living in a house that looks almost exactly like the one next to it sure, but this is our first house. I guess we have successfully managed our expectations. Again, Celebrity is what it is, no changes. Hearthstone will give you more options but you never quite understand how much you are spending along the way. I think you will find good and bad with both builders. Simply being and educated consumer will help. I'll update again after we have been in our house for a few months, but so far so good still.

[maggie]

am thinking of buying a celebrity home located in westin hills west which is 2 years old. can anyone tell me anything negative about the area if they exist before we go through with the purchase.

[Omaha owner]

maggie i live in Westin 2 on 156th street near fort I LOVE IT. July 4th was spectacular you could see for mile and the church on 156th street had the biggest fireworks display Im so looking forward to christmas

[GAB]

Just an update from a recently moved in HSH owner.

We still love it. The process was easy and all of the costs for every single upgrade is at your fingertips. You will need to register as a customer to get access to a tablet PC at their awesome choice studio but you don't need to spend any money to do so. They will not spam you either to pressure you into buying. Every single upgrade for the house you're looking at are found on the tablet and you can see them all in one location. Yes, they can add up but the base price is far lower than the Celebrity homes are so really you're not getting more for a Celebrity than you could get at HSH for the same price. You simply have the option not to get it.

HSH outlines the entire process and provides everything in writing. This may not be the best news for those of you who aren't "readers" but for those of us who are it's pretty easy to follow. No lies. No deception. It's all on the table from day one.

The lots are not as big as they are in the more affluent neighborhoods but for first time buyers either HSH or Celebrity is the way to go. The bonus is that you don't need to live next door to the people in the affluent neighborhoods so it's easy to ignore then as they look down their nose at you while driving by in their Escalades.

[Joe]

First of all we love our house. Now with that out of the way, Celebrity homes overpromised and underdelievered. We were surprised to see in the "deed" section of the newspaper that our neighbor 2 houses down with the same floor plan but WITH a peak added paid $7,200 less than we did WITHOUT the peak. How did that happen? The real estate agent will not answer the question except to say that prices change and discounts are given. Celebrity was already slated to build on 4 lots. We signed our purchase agreement first and was charged the most, even though we opted not to have the peak built. 3 lots that sold after ours were built prior to ours. Our house took over 6 months to build, even though we were assured we would be in our house in apx. 4 months. So watch out, you could end up paying a lot more money than your neighbor 2 houses down, even though you have the "cheaper" version of the floor plan.

[FreshMeatz]

Sad to say from a to z and from car dealers to anything else of substantial value ,I have found nothing but crooks in Omaha, from Fraud Ferris to others , don't quit what you are doing, cause on an honest living you could not fathom and would starve, that would be a shame now wouldn't it?.