Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The sales over there finally started picking up. I think because they actually have some houses you can walk through it must be helping people get over the hump who were on the fence.

Hello Amalyn sales team — Thanks very much for the update. The houses are still in a terrible location.

Hard to imagine a worse location, and don’t rely on it remaining in the WJ pyramid

That’s a good thing. WJ isn’t necessarily a great high school.

WJ's awful! No one goes there anymore, it's too crowded.

Many new constructions popping up without having to kiss your neighbors and no HOA! I checked their site again with the rates getting ready to do the shimmy upwards (again) are they going to offer anything to get people excited? Are they going to let buyers come with their own financing and not have them do the pre approval from TBI mortgage?

As new overpriced construction with higher property taxes and a HOA fee plus mortgages now pushing 6 percent - Yuck.

Maybe next owner who gets it 20 percent off will do better

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The sales over there finally started picking up. I think because they actually have some houses you can walk through it must be helping people get over the hump who were on the fence.

Hello Amalyn sales team — Thanks very much for the update. The houses are still in a terrible location.

Hard to imagine a worse location, and don’t rely on it remaining in the WJ pyramid

That’s a good thing. WJ isn’t necessarily a great high school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Toll Bros. is among the higher end production (versus custom) builders. Their quality is good, and they offer extensive (and expensive) structural and other options which align with contemporary tastes.

lol - this has to have been written by a TB/Amalyn sales rep. Toll Brothers is known for their shoddy construction

Agree with 23:12, would never buy from TB

We bought from Toll Brothers a few years back. We love our home in many ways, and the basic systems have been sound so far, but the longer we live in the home the more we find (almost) amusing cut corners. We certainly aren’t running for the hills but would not buy from them in the future. We bought a new build previously at a lower price point, and both the sales experience and final product were inarguably superior. I wouldn’t necessarily tell someone NOT to buy with them, but folks shouldn’t dismiss the bad reviews.

People will always find things about new homes (any home) to be critical of, but it does seem like the bad rep in the DMV is well-earned.

Complaints about quality might have more credibility if detailed rather than merely being bald assertions without specifics.

What are examples of the "cut corners" you speak of? In looking at TB homes in Fairfax County, I'm not seeing that, rather they seem overbuilt in many ways, e.g., drywall fastened with screws every 8 inches instead of nailed, framing seems quite substantial, materials appear to be of good quality, and design doesn't seem skimpy, e.g., 6" gutters installed instead of more basic and more commonly found 4" or 5" type.

It may be that what I have seen reflects the Fairfax County building code, and maybe construction is less robust in other jurisdictions where codes are not as stringent and are not as attentively enforced but here, at least, I see nothing suggesting anything substandard at all as compared to any other builder, production or custom.

What a weirdly defensive post. Only responding and sharing if of help to the PP. As some examples of the semi-serious to just sloppy:

-A poorly framed closet. And by that I mean the doorframe was finished at a slight angle. It works fine but there would be no way to fix it other than tearing the whole thing out. We noticed after closing when I was actually in the closet installing shelving.
-Missing sealant in one corner of house (exterminator spotted it when we had a company out to do an annual preventative check).
-Unpainted baseboards, etc. in various places in the house. We just kept finding those.

If I’m using any terminology inaccurately, it is because I am far from a construction expert, but figure gets the point across.

There's nothing remotely defensive about calling out vague and non-specific derogatory allegations accompanied by an unsupported recommendation to avoid a builder and no, I don't work for TB or any other builder - I have just been looking at new construction by different builders with an eye towards a future purchase.

In a perfect world you'd experience no defects whatsoever with new construction (or in a renovation, either), that's probably more the exception than the rule, and the issues you mention hardly seem worth highlighting as examples of quality so poor that the builder should be avoided. Rather, these are issues which 1) your own inspector should have identified for you prior to closing so the builder could correct them, and 2) the builder would have readily remedied as warranty items once identified.

Perhaps your future new construction purchases from other builders will be flawless, but that may be an overly optimistic expectation given the complexities of homebuilding. So far, I have yet to find any builder who has not had to deal with post-purchase punch list items discovered by homeowners after they have moved in. The question is more how each builder deals with those.

All that said, everyone is entitled to their own expectations and yours are higher than mine, which is ok.

The point is, they didn't--or when they did, the quality of the repair was pretty poor. I didn't mention this issue, but before closing we had noticed that trim was missing from portions of our main staircase and that was documented on the "to fix" form we filled out during the final walkthrough. It took several weeks to get the trim installed, but even then it was installed unfinished. Rough edges, no paint, etc. So then that set off another round of follow-ups. After two additional visits, there was paint but the edges we still rough. And back and forth we went. It was a pain. There were a LOT of small, annoying things like that just spoke to the sloppiness of the work.

If you follow my previous posts, I note I wouldn't necessarily warn people away from TB but that the sales experience and quality of the construction was noticeably inferior to a new construction home we previously built/bought (at a lower price point). Nothing will ever be perfect, but based on my experience, the bad reviews shouldn't be dismissed. I will reinforce the basic systems of the home have been fine, which is obviously the more important than all the painted over nicks we found in the crown molding after moving in.

But I am sure PP will be happy in her new home and the neighborhood sounds like a great fit for her, my advice was to reinforce how proactive she'll need to be with TB to ensure any issues are fixed. This is obviously necessary to do with any builder, but my experience was that it was particularly important to do with TB.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Toll Bros. is among the higher end production (versus custom) builders. Their quality is good, and they offer extensive (and expensive) structural and other options which align with contemporary tastes.

lol - this has to have been written by a TB/Amalyn sales rep. Toll Brothers is known for their shoddy construction

Agree with 23:12, would never buy from TB

We bought from Toll Brothers a few years back. We love our home in many ways, and the basic systems have been sound so far, but the longer we live in the home the more we find (almost) amusing cut corners. We certainly aren’t running for the hills but would not buy from them in the future. We bought a new build previously at a lower price point, and both the sales experience and final product were inarguably superior. I wouldn’t necessarily tell someone NOT to buy with them, but folks shouldn’t dismiss the bad reviews.

People will always find things about new homes (any home) to be critical of, but it does seem like the bad rep in the DMV is well-earned.

Complaints about quality might have more credibility if detailed rather than merely being bald assertions without specifics.

What are examples of the "cut corners" you speak of? In looking at TB homes in Fairfax County, I'm not seeing that, rather they seem overbuilt in many ways, e.g., drywall fastened with screws every 8 inches instead of nailed, framing seems quite substantial, materials appear to be of good quality, and design doesn't seem skimpy, e.g., 6" gutters installed instead of more basic and more commonly found 4" or 5" type.

It may be that what I have seen reflects the Fairfax County building code, and maybe construction is less robust in other jurisdictions where codes are not as stringent and are not as attentively enforced but here, at least, I see nothing suggesting anything substandard at all as compared to any other builder, production or custom.

What a weirdly defensive post. Only responding and sharing if of help to the PP. As some examples of the semi-serious to just sloppy:

-A poorly framed closet. And by that I mean the doorframe was finished at a slight angle. It works fine but there would be no way to fix it other than tearing the whole thing out. We noticed after closing when I was actually in the closet installing shelving.
-Missing sealant in one corner of house (exterminator spotted it when we had a company out to do an annual preventative check).
-Unpainted baseboards, etc. in various places in the house. We just kept finding those.

If I’m using any terminology inaccurately, it is because I am far from a construction expert, but figure gets the point across.

There's nothing remotely defensive about calling out vague and non-specific derogatory allegations accompanied by an unsupported recommendation to avoid a builder and no, I don't work for TB or any other builder - I have just been looking at new construction by different builders with an eye towards a future purchase.

In a perfect world you'd experience no defects whatsoever with new construction (or in a renovation, either), that's probably more the exception than the rule, and the issues you mention hardly seem worth highlighting as examples of quality so poor that the builder should be avoided. Rather, these are issues which 1) your own inspector should have identified for you prior to closing so the builder could correct them, and 2) the builder would have readily remedied as warranty items once identified.

Perhaps your future new construction purchases from other builders will be flawless, but that may be an overly optimistic expectation given the complexities of homebuilding. So far, I have yet to find any builder who has not had to deal with post-purchase punch list items discovered by homeowners after they have moved in. The question is more how each builder deals with those.

All that said, everyone is entitled to their own expectations and yours are higher than mine, which is ok.

Anonymous wrote:I will give the TB reps credit — they sure do know how to keep these threads going. There’s a reason that, of all the developments in this area, mt prospect and amalyn are always on the first page of this forum — it’s the TB reps acting as though they’re buyers and finding ways to bump the threads. And then getting super defensive whenever anyone calls them out or criticizes the developments.

I am a real buyer. It’s so odd that if someone is excited about their new home, the immediate response is to say they are a fake. Lots of people are looking for communities like Amalyn because they want a place with families, kids running around, a community clubhouse, etc. Our family looked at a ton of houses for a year before we finally decided on Amalyn. We think it’s going to be great!

I will give the TB reps credit — they sure do know how to keep these threads going. There’s a reason that, of all the developments in this area, mt prospect and amalyn are always on the first page of this forum — it’s the TB reps acting as though they’re buyers and finding ways to bump the threads. And then getting super defensive whenever anyone calls them out or criticizes the developments.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I live in Bethesda and so was curious about this. In looking at the map, this new neighborhood is right next to the 495 and the 270. Terrible location, even if in Bethesda.

There are plenty of houses in Bethesda that back up to 495 or 270 that have sound barriers in their backyards. At least there is somewhat of a land buffer to the highways in Amalyn.

The sound barriers and land barriers do squat. Try harder.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Toll Bros. is among the higher end production (versus custom) builders. Their quality is good, and they offer extensive (and expensive) structural and other options which align with contemporary tastes.

lol - this has to have been written by a TB/Amalyn sales rep. Toll Brothers is known for their shoddy construction

Agree with 23:12, would never buy from TB

We bought from Toll Brothers a few years back. We love our home in many ways, and the basic systems have been sound so far, but the longer we live in the home the more we find (almost) amusing cut corners. We certainly aren’t running for the hills but would not buy from them in the future. We bought a new build previously at a lower price point, and both the sales experience and final product were inarguably superior. I wouldn’t necessarily tell someone NOT to buy with them, but folks shouldn’t dismiss the bad reviews.

People will always find things about new homes (any home) to be critical of, but it does seem like the bad rep in the DMV is well-earned.

Complaints about quality might have more credibility if detailed rather than merely being bald assertions without specifics.

What are examples of the "cut corners" you speak of? In looking at TB homes in Fairfax County, I'm not seeing that, rather they seem overbuilt in many ways, e.g., drywall fastened with screws every 8 inches instead of nailed, framing seems quite substantial, materials appear to be of good quality, and design doesn't seem skimpy, e.g., 6" gutters installed instead of more basic and more commonly found 4" or 5" type.

It may be that what I have seen reflects the Fairfax County building code, and maybe construction is less robust in other jurisdictions where codes are not as stringent and are not as attentively enforced but here, at least, I see nothing suggesting anything substandard at all as compared to any other builder, production or custom.

What a weirdly defensive post. Only responding and sharing if of help to the PP. As some examples of the semi-serious to just sloppy:

-A poorly framed closet. And by that I mean the doorframe was finished at a slight angle. It works fine but there would be no way to fix it other than tearing the whole thing out. We noticed after closing when I was actually in the closet installing shelving.
-Missing sealant in one corner of house (exterminator spotted it when we had a company out to do an annual preventative check).
-Unpainted baseboards, etc. in various places in the house. We just kept finding those.

If I’m using any terminology inaccurately, it is because I am far from a construction expert, but figure gets the point across.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Toll Bros. is among the higher end production (versus custom) builders. Their quality is good, and they offer extensive (and expensive) structural and other options which align with contemporary tastes.

lol - this has to have been written by a TB/Amalyn sales rep. Toll Brothers is known for their shoddy construction

Agree with 23:12, would never buy from TB

We bought from Toll Brothers a few years back. We love our home in many ways, and the basic systems have been sound so far, but the longer we live in the home the more we find (almost) amusing cut corners. We certainly aren’t running for the hills but would not buy from them in the future. We bought a new build previously at a lower price point, and both the sales experience and final product were inarguably superior. I wouldn’t necessarily tell someone NOT to buy with them, but folks shouldn’t dismiss the bad reviews.

People will always find things about new homes (any home) to be critical of, but it does seem like the bad rep in the DMV is well-earned.

Complaints about quality might have more credibility if detailed rather than merely being bald assertions without specifics.

What are examples of the "cut corners" you speak of? In looking at TB homes in Fairfax County, I'm not seeing that, rather they seem overbuilt in many ways, e.g., drywall fastened with screws every 8 inches instead of nailed, framing seems quite substantial, materials appear to be of good quality, and design doesn't seem skimpy, e.g., 6" gutters installed instead of more basic and more commonly found 4" or 5" type.

It may be that what I have seen reflects the Fairfax County building code, and maybe construction is less robust in other jurisdictions where codes are not as stringent and are not as attentively enforced but here, at least, I see nothing suggesting anything substandard at all as compared to any other builder, production or custom.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The sales over there finally started picking up. I think because they actually have some houses you can walk through it must be helping people get over the hump who were on the fence.

Hello Amalyn sales team — Thanks very much for the update. The houses are still in a terrible location.

Hi - I’m the one posted this. I’m not from the sales team. I’m one of the new buyers, we have a deposit down. We were on the fence until we were actually able to walk through some of the homes they have under construction. It helped us get a better fee for scale of the rooms and the overall layout. We’re excited about it! We like the location and are optimistic that there will be lots of families with young kids around.

Ok whatever. I can’t imagine liking that location but I am glad it suits you well. I hope you looked around at all of the new builds throughout 20817 that are around the same price or cheaper without monstrous hoa fees and nearby highways.

Yep! We have looked at dozens of homes over the past year. For us, we are looking for a sense of community and the ability to design our own home. Amalyn seems to meet this. And the location is close to most of the places we spend time - school, Pike & Rose, work, etc. We’re really excited about it and believe it will be a beautiful neighborhood!

Poster who bought with TB that posted earlier on quality. I bet you'll really like the neighborhood, it seems 100% likely that it'll be full of kids--ours is/was! And it is a lot of fun to pick your finishes and such. I liked Toll's floor plans and such a lot more than the other big builders.

Some tips, if helpful:

-Visit the home as much as humanely possible during construction. Take pictures and send them to your construction manager when you have concerns and questions.
-At the walkthroughs that will occur at various stages of construction, be sure to bring your own inspector. (If memory serves, believe Toll tries to limit this in some regard but not sure.) Do not sign-off on a walkthrough being "completed" until you are satisfied with the state of the work.
-Have your own inspection before you close. Send any requests ASAP.
-At the final walkthrough that will occur right before closing, take a ton of pictures and document every imperfection.
-Enforce warranties, etc. as much as possible but also know that once you close--its your house. Try to get anything fixed before closing.

Good luck!

Fantastic advice - thank you so much! I appreciate you taking the time to share this with me 😀

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The sales over there finally started picking up. I think because they actually have some houses you can walk through it must be helping people get over the hump who were on the fence.

Hello Amalyn sales team — Thanks very much for the update. The houses are still in a terrible location.

Hi - I’m the one posted this. I’m not from the sales team. I’m one of the new buyers, we have a deposit down. We were on the fence until we were actually able to walk through some of the homes they have under construction. It helped us get a better fee for scale of the rooms and the overall layout. We’re excited about it! We like the location and are optimistic that there will be lots of families with young kids around.

Ok whatever. I can’t imagine liking that location but I am glad it suits you well. I hope you looked around at all of the new builds throughout 20817 that are around the same price or cheaper without monstrous hoa fees and nearby highways.

Yep! We have looked at dozens of homes over the past year. For us, we are looking for a sense of community and the ability to design our own home. Amalyn seems to meet this. And the location is close to most of the places we spend time - school, Pike & Rose, work, etc. We’re really excited about it and believe it will be a beautiful neighborhood!

Poster who bought with TB that posted earlier on quality. I bet you'll really like the neighborhood, it seems 100% likely that it'll be full of kids--ours is/was! And it is a lot of fun to pick your finishes and such. I liked Toll's floor plans and such a lot more than the other big builders.

Some tips, if helpful:

-Visit the home as much as humanely possible during construction. Take pictures and send them to your construction manager when you have concerns and questions.
-At the walkthroughs that will occur at various stages of construction, be sure to bring your own inspector. (If memory serves, believe Toll tries to limit this in some regard but not sure.) Do not sign-off on a walkthrough being "completed" until you are satisfied with the state of the work.
-Have your own inspection before you close. Send any requests ASAP.
-At the final walkthrough that will occur right before closing, take a ton of pictures and document every imperfection.
-Enforce warranties, etc. as much as possible but also know that once you close--its your house. Try to get anything fixed before closing.

Good luck!

Anonymous wrote:
I live in Bethesda and so was curious about this. In looking at the map, this new neighborhood is right next to the 495 and the 270. Terrible location, even if in Bethesda.

There are plenty of houses in Bethesda that back up to 495 or 270 that have sound barriers in their backyards. At least there is somewhat of a land buffer to the highways in Amalyn.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The sales over there finally started picking up. I think because they actually have some houses you can walk through it must be helping people get over the hump who were on the fence.

Hello Amalyn sales team — Thanks very much for the update. The houses are still in a terrible location.

Hi - I’m the one posted this. I’m not from the sales team. I’m one of the new buyers, we have a deposit down. We were on the fence until we were actually able to walk through some of the homes they have under construction. It helped us get a better fee for scale of the rooms and the overall layout. We’re excited about it! We like the location and are optimistic that there will be lots of families with young kids around.

Ok whatever. I can’t imagine liking that location but I am glad it suits you well. I hope you looked around at all of the new builds throughout 20817 that are around the same price or cheaper without monstrous hoa fees and nearby highways.

Yep! We have looked at dozens of homes over the past year. For us, we are looking for a sense of community and the ability to design our own home. Amalyn seems to meet this. And the location is close to most of the places we spend time - school, Pike & Rose, work, etc. We’re really excited about it and believe it will be a beautiful neighborhood!