Don’t buy anything from HiLine Homes now Lexar Homes ‘Complaints’
A brand new, expensive home which was supposed to have a year warranty according to The HiLine Homes and Leske Team moron Natala N. ! She merely told me what she thought that I wanted to hear. She also said that if the big piles of garbage did not get cleaned up that she would do it. And that if the totally plugged rain gutters didn’t get cleaned that she would do it!Guess who did it? ME! Once I got the home I was told that since it sat vacant for over a year ther was no warranty on it. The well hydropneumatic tank in the garage was leaking. She told me “good luck fixing it”.
Complaints#
It has Milgard windows, and I have to buy screens for them for over $500.oo. They won’t just sell one or two screens to you! So a $400,000.oo home comes with no window screens! There are cracks in the ceiling in several places.
When it gets hot the sliding door off of the dining room hangs up when trying to close it. The screens to keep rodents out of the crawl space are damaged. It may have been my fault for not noticing that there were no heaters in any of the bathrooms, but it tells you something about HiLine Homes also!
The breaker box is completely full of breakers so it is a real hassle and expense to add any more breakers for my yard security lights or other things.
Complaints#
I HIGHLY recommend not buying anything from HiLine Homes or The Leske Team!!!
I couldn’t agree more. I spent almost $350,000 on a new Hiline Home and it’s full of problems. The biggest problem is the mold in the walls and the attic. It appears to have some roof leaks causing the mold or doesn’t ventilate well according to my inspector. I have the same problem with my milgard windows. Although mine came with screens they don’t open very well. I thought just because I was buying something from a company with a popular name that it would be a good product. Couldn’t be farther from the truth. I wonder what else I’m going to find as my inspector pours over things.
Joan, I hope you will keep us up to daTE ON ANything else your inspector finds that is wrong
Sky
Joan, I have a question about the mold you found. Please contat me at my email. Thanks
Joan, I have a question about the mold you found. Please contact me at my email esqdcg@comcast.net. Thanks
I was wondering about a Hiline home because we were looking to build in the next year and I too have a new reality home and it came with cheap milgard windows they make them cheaper for the lower end home builders which i did not know either and make sure if you make changes to make sure there is truly and engineer that really looks of the plans to the trusses
and everything structurally engineered trust me it did not happen to us Price Dairy L.L.C
I live in a HiLine Home. It is the 2152 plan. I have to say that I love it. When I was looking for a new home I wanted something with a good functional design and of’course I wanted a custom home, however, I was on a budget. HiLine homes gave me an opportunity to get a new home with the features that I wanted. I didn’t have to pay extra for things that I didn’t want. You cannot expect everything to be perfect in life. If you want a new quality home then HiLine is a great choice. They have given many people that I know an opportunty to have a new home who may not otherwise had the chance. I praise and commend them for making it possible. If you are the kind of person who tends to be unsatisfied and discontent about everything then you won’t be happy about any builder. Not to discount anyones complaints or feelings, but consider the whole picture not just a narrow view. HiLine makes dreams come true!
Thanks for the input- I have only heard good things about Hiline, and know a few people who are living in them. It was nice to see a comment from someone who obviously is educated. Not sure where they are spending 400K but it wasn’t on the homeplan or upgrades. LOL!
i tend to agree with the above. You get what you pay for. You can spend more and get high end quality home, or just get budget home . Budget isn’t necess bad. you may sacrifice some longevity or extra maintainance but for many people, hiline is like a dream. in this market where prices still need to come down, and country homes w/ acrage are inflated, what more affordable can you get in todays market and instantly have big equity! It is a better choice than mobile home as far as quality and appreciation of value.
I live in a HiLine Home that we built a little over 2 years ago. (2345 model) I love this house! The floor plan is great with a family room and office downstairs, 3 bedrooms for my three children upstairs and the master on the main floor so I don’t have to go upstairs at night, tired, to go to sleep. The living room right by the dining room provides a great place for our pool table. Great for entertaining and our guests don’t have to tromp all through the house (and see the kids mess). A crippled person could run this house. It’s just what I wanted to raise my kids in and grow old in without having to downsize.
We have no problems with mold (and we live in Sequim, WA!), the plumbing or the electrical. Everything works great!
Having been an interior designer for some years, I can say that I have seen “custom homes” that were not built as well! Especially for the price!
Regarding expenses, with 1 acre of land, the excavating, the septic, the electrical hook-up, the water hook up and the construction it cost us only about $260K! Our 15-year mortgage payment is $1926/month! A 30-year mortgage could be so much!
With these homes you get a lot of bang for your buck! I would recommend a HiLine Home to anyone!
Adair, Hiline and Reality seem to be the “big 3″ all homes have to pass local inspection and be built to code just the same as a “custom” builder. Do they have glitches on a build? Maybe, when you are the size of these companies how can you not have some small percentage of people have a complaint. Toyota used to be the carmaker all other companies wanted to be, is that the case now? My opinion is #1. There is no such thing as a perfect house. In the northwest we go from temperatures in the 30’s up to the 90’s come summer, homes are built with wood it moves, cracks in sheetrock and concrete are all part of owning a house. I have built with all 3 of these companies as an investor the pressure tank in the garage was not installed by any of these companies they don’t handle that part it is the person that initially purchased the home, blame him. These companies although not perfect(is there a perfect company?) offer a home built on your lot for a very fair price, that if taken care of and enhanced with landscaping will continue to increase in value each year. This seems to be about Hiline my guess is they build 600 homes a year and there are 5 or 6 negative comments here that means 595 happy customers that is a 99.16 approval rating. I have switched to investing with Reality Homes as they offer a bit fancier standard home and I truly hate Hilines vinyl siding but would not hesitate to do another Hiline Home, just with upgraded siding.
We had HiLine build our house in 2008. It took about 5 months and we are very happy with it. As others have said, it is a good price for a very basic house. We built the 2776 model. I would recommend paying extra for some things: Put linoleum floors instead of carpet in the dining room. Upgrade to higher quality carpets.
There are a lot of extra costs that I didn’t always budget for correctly. You have to have an excavation contractor come in numerous times: to clear and prepare the site, to dig the lines for utilities, to cover the lines for utilities, to backfill around the foundation, to prepare for the pouring of the concrete in the garage, to put in the driveway and drainage around the house.
My only complaint about my home is with a few electrical issue. There is only one electrical outlet in the garage, which is kind of ridiculous. Also, one of the circuits trips very easily with only a few devices being used, and the lights dim when you use something an appliance that draws a lot of power. And there are no extra circuits available in the electrical panel if you wanted to add an out-building. I would not hesitate to use HiLine again.
Go to L & I’s website http://www.lni.wa.gov/TradesLicensing/Contractors/HireCon/ Look up “Hi-Line Homes” with the dash in it and check them out. Their license was suspended on 7/27/10 for a judgement we had against them. Look at their insurance information, they gave up their $1,000,000 insurance for some self insured crap that doesn’t begin to cover someone who builds 600 houses a year. Our house was built by unlicensed framers, they were licensed as landscapers, for all the good that did us. If you have HiLine build your house make sure that they and all the subcontractors that work for them are licensed and insured. If something goes wrong, be prepared to spend $100,000 on lawyers and experts and court fees and waste 3 or more years of your life. Trust me, it’s not worth it, buy a forclosure, build your own house, live in a tent, and what ever you do don’t think that because your house passes inspections, especially in Jefferson County, that it’s alright. When we complained to HiLine about how our underfloor looked, instead of fixing it, they put the floor down, before the inspection, and the county passed it sight unseen. We did not find this out until after we filed the lawsuit and got the county records. Don’t trust anyone.
You have good points Mrs. Beggio. Hiline Homes don’t care though because they got your money. Once Hiline Homes closes the sale they say “OH WELL!”
HiLine Homes does care and if customers don’t choose to read the entire contract that is on them, not the builder, it does not matter who the builder is either, not every build is going to go off without a hitch. HiLine, Reality, Adair even Lexar will not be perfect. I have built three HiLine Homes, two went perfectly and one had some issues, but HiLine made everything right and we were happy with them all.
Isn’t that the case with any seller? They just want the house sold, they don’t care if you have to replace the roof in 6 months. Its no longer their problem. Foreclosures are the same- the banks just want out. So I guess it means that you have to educate yourself, be prepared to ask questions, ask them for referrals and know what to ask, if you don’t know poop about how a house is built, maybe you should be renting. No one holds your hand when buying a home. And if you are old enough to be looking- you shouldn’t need your hand held.
Wow! I am surprised by some of the negative comments.(I guess you can’t please everyone) Over the past 11 years I have built 4 homes with Hiline. Two my wife and I have lived in and two were investments(we did well with those)Each home had there challenges, but for the most part I was very happy with the Hiline construction and sales team. I have several friends who have built with Hiline and building can be stressful, but in the end they all love their homes.
County inspector 6 Feb 2011 11:48 AM #
I have noticed quite a change in the way the homes are being built out of the Hiline Homes now Lexar Homes in Centralia. I am an inspector for a County in the their build area. For a couple years now we have noticed this. By far they are building the best built homes in this area. We for years have noticed poorly built homes in this area and were at odds with Hiline Homes. I can only think that there was a change of management out of this branch. If now it is Lexar Homes then now Lexar Homes builds the best built Homes in this area. In fact I have noticed recently building techniques that they are using and have been in talks with their superintendent about why they are adopting these practices. He mentioned that it simply makes sense to build this way. Warranty issues have basicly went away. I am impressed with what I am seeing in the field.I want to make sure all are aware of this because of all the negative talk is not helping to spur building in this area and that is not good
There’s a reason for all the complaints. Hiline is a bigger franchise so it’s difficult for them to manage their sites closely. We have had a great experience with staying away from the Big 3 and gave Affordable Stick Built Homes a try. We deal directly with the owner and he was very helpfull in guiding us through the process. We were able to make small changes to our plan at no charge. He visited our site at least two times a week to make sure everything was running smooth. There wasn’t one bump in the road through the whole construction period. Very good quality at a very affordable price!!!
It’s hard to believe this comment was REALLY written by a county inspector. If so, how would you know about the “warranty issues have went away?” An inspector isn’t involved months or years after the build when warranty issues come up. This sounds like a piece of deceptive posting by an employee of Lexar Homes…good thing the public can see right through this!
I was told Hiline Homes was ready to pour the foundation and the mobile needed to be removed in a hurry, After removing the my mobile home from my private property Hiline Home reneged on building a home for us. After charging $5610 and not following our contract. The contract was $1700, water availably $110 and removing the mobile was $3800. I was relying on these professionals to guide me, just to find out I was being lied to. The Hiline Homes is in Puyallup. At first we were said to be qualified for this and now the mortgage company has denied this.
Now I need to get building permits etc. and unaffordable charges to me to bring my mobile back. I think Hiline Homes should help pay for this as I can’t afford to bring return the home and they have done nothing but lie to me. Garrett of Highline Homes said a mobile would be put on the property at no cost to me but now he is saying no. Since I don’t have a home on the property I must remove the garage with my disabled son’s equipment and other storage vehicles or I will get fined. I need to bring the mobile back so this will not happen. I have been given 2 weeks.
Glad to know I’m not the only one that’s been fowled.
I am sorry this happened to you. I do not think they will do anything for you because that would be admitting fault. Even though it was there fault they will never admit it. You should never take a home off of a piece of property till you have a new building permit in hand. Most General Contractors know this.
Sounds to me like you are looking for a scapegoat. HiLine sales people have nothing to do with financing, just like a realtor doesn’t in existing homes. Many potential buyer are given a prequal that gets revoked by mortgage companies. They are approved and then they are not. The difference here is you started something without all your ducks in a row. Financing first- you don’t move a home when you don’t have financing locked in.
Hi there. I’ve been trying to find accurate and honest info about these regional on-your-lot builders for several years and it seems like the only stuff available on the internet is either dishonest or all the negative horror stories.
I’ve started up a forum (www.oylbuilders.com) in hopes that we can create a community resource that documents not only the bad but lots of good stories about people’s experiences with these builders. They offer tremendous value, but we all want to avoid the scary situations where we could lose money or our homes. Please consider joining so we can further this discussion. Thanks!
Joel – OYLBuilders.com
Can you please read the thread Skeptical reader. The superintendent stated that the warranty issues have gone away not me.
Boy, I came on here to see what the complaints were for regarding HiLine homes. I thought I would be reading real complaints, I only see whining crybabies who are looking to escape responsibity. I say this because I am looking at a piece of property in Kitsap County, WA, have been talking with Hiline Reps for almost a year, I have all their packets, the list of what my responsibilities are before, during, and after construction. And as a former home owner- I know the real responsibilities of homeownership. This is not a free pass I know, there is work to be done on my part in order to make this work. But I am not going into it blind, ignorant or uneducated. Maybe thats what the difference is.
we just finished with a Lexar house – model 1377, & couldn’g be happier! were there gliches – yes. did they deal with us honestly & resolve – yes. we started the house building process over three years ago on undeveloped property. after looking at modular, prefab & kit homes, someone recommended HiLine. we visited website & office, & were pleasantly surprised at how upfront they were about their obligations & prices (ie they told us they make more money on upgrades than actual house). our only thoughts on negative comments are – do your homework. it appears that most of the negative entries are by people that assumed that their hand would be held during the entire process! all we can say is read their literature & especially their contract carefully! they e-mailed contract to us so we had days to read & study it (not to mention having legal review if we had want’d). their warranty is no different than most builders, even customer home builders. they build from the foundation up & are not responsible for permits, grading, utilites or contractor clean-up. if you visit the site every day, you will have few if any problems. if you want a perfect house with no effort on your part, you are living in a dream world. since we were there every day we talked to every contractor, inspector, etc; everyone praised HiLine/Lexar & told us how lucky we were not to deal with Reality. lastly, every Lexar office is franchise; maybe some are great & some not so great?
I stumbled on this thread by accident, but will give my input. I built with HiLine back in late 2004. So, I’ve been in the house for 7 years now. I’ve had zero problems with the construction. My only major complaint is “bounce” in the subfloor preventing me from going with a natural stone tile now. Minor and the floor is fine, just not as stout as it could be. I know about 6 or 7 others that have built with them as well, all more recently, no major complaints on their end either.
My advice to anyone building…know what your role is…your input and work will be necessary through the entire process. Get out there every day, or as much as you can. If something isn’t to your liking, say something, don’t let it slide. If you don’t know anything about home construction, enlist someone that does as an advisor of sorts. I can imagine if I wasn’t halfway savvy to how to build a house, mine could have turned into a nightmare. My biggest problem was with my excavation contractor, who I hired. Because I had so many problems with him, even though it wasn’t their fault, HiLine threw in about $2000 in free upgrades. If there are problems, be firm, persistant, but polite, and willing to reasonably compromise and all will be fine. If you fall behind schedule for not holding up your end, don’t blame them. In my case I took on doing the interior painting. I had 3 days between texture and when they wanted to start finish work to get it done. That necessitated taking time of work on my part to keep things on track…but, I get it, I’m one house of many and they can’t cater to every glitch.
I wouldn’t hesitate to build another one today.
Surprised by most of the complaints, I had the 2776 model built in Sequim on five acres, this was three years ago, No major issues with the house, I knew when it was being built that the garage only had the two outlets in it. It suited me fine until I had put enough away to have an electrician come in and update my garage with more outlets and an additional panel to handle extra circuits such as a hot tub etc. Other issues were not home related but hi line sub contractor related, you have to stay alert because the way I understand how it works is the sub contractor gets paid a set fee for a hi-line home, not the square footage they work on, so if you are building the largest model, they are being paid the same rate as they would be if they were builiding the smallest model, or the intermediate model, so you may see a little less quality on the large ones since technically the sub is losing money on the big ones. And if they are traveling from out of area to do the work they may not be happy about it. This is one of the ways Hi Line can keep the price down as I understand it. But you may have issues such as the sub staying in your house during the sheetrocking or bringing their families out on weekends and allowing their kids to run through your freshly painted house and scuffing walls etc. All issues I addressed with Hi-Line and had quick resolution on, but if you are not paying attention, it is possible to be caught short on these issues. Again I want to emphasize I am happy with the house and its construction it was just the process at times that I was a little uncomfortable with because of all of the different subs coming in to do the work with not a lot of oversight from the main office.