Classic American Homes — Local services in El Paso

Be aware that "Classic American Homes NM" as of roughly May 2020 is now advertising as Classic Venture Homes and all the comments you see below directly apply to Classic American Homes NM/Classic Venture Homes

I purchased a home from Classic American Homes NM in 2018, the home has a very nice design, nice details, included upgrades, and a good lot size at a good price but be aware that since the initial building of the home there have been various quality control issues. Classic American homes has proven to me that they hire poor quality contractors for their HVAC, landscaping, plumbing, and painting and do not conduct thorough quality control of their contractors work. The builder will make you verbal promises that he will do everything he can to help ensure your satisfaction (I'm sure other builders do too but in my opinion I rather not do business with someone who is out to get money and leave you with problems) during and after the building process. The harsh reality is that you can't trust the words coming out of this man's mouth and after the walk-through you will most likely have to deal with many quality control issues as I have seeing as some items are not covered under warranty. I believe the customer should always be the priority of any entity providing a service and if it is not their priority then you should take your business elsewhere.

If you've read this far you may be interested in my suggestion; examine every item I list below during the walk-through and ensure that the builder fixes EVERYTHING prior to closing. If it is not fixed, don't make the purchase. I made the mistake of taking the builder's word and am now stuck dealing with the following items: (The items below will be in the following format of #:: problem::builder response)

1::HVAC not cooling sufficiently::I'll send someone to look at it. (After two technicians look at it; there's nothing wrong. I purchase a smart thermostat in order to gather data and then provide it. The third technician determines that the coil need to be replaced after "nothing being wrong") Note: Waiting to see how cooling is this summer but most likely will get a resposne of "everything is fine", again.

2::Heater shutting on and off::I'll send someone to look at it (It took three different guys to identify that the plumbing for the heating was not installed correctly)

3::Water Ponding in front porch::It's not part of the warranty(Keep I'm mind that he himself mentioned that the ponding issue needed to be fixed 2 months before the warranty claim)

4::Front yard landscaping, plants roots are exposed due to poor planting::It's not part of the warranty.

*5::Gas line in back porch was not installed::They should've ran the line but if they didn't I'll have the plumber figure it out. (The plumber did forget and ended up digging a trench in the side of the house and placed the gas line in the backyard, close to the house, but not near the original spot it was supposed to be at)

6::Crooked electrical outlets and crooked air ducts::Sorry, I just noticed that they're crooked but there's nothing we can do now that the ceiling is set .

*7::Crooked island:: Sorry, we did the best we could but we just couldn't get it perfect, I even worked it myself.

*8::Poor interior painting::They'll touch it up and we also give you a can of paint for any touchups you may need.

*9::Granite countertop was not sealed::It should be sealed but if it isn't you can just buy some sealer and do it yourself.

10::The back porch gas line was not placed where it should have::It's not under warranty but I'll see what I can do (keep in mind I had the decency to accept the house with an after thought installation of the gas line #5 and the builder has the audacity to say it's not part of the warranty) Note: The gas line ended up being repositioned.

*The item was not formally submitted through the warranty process and was just discussed verbally with...

We just purchased our home in December of 2020. During our build, we would go to the home each week, and anything we found that looked wrong or missing, we would bring this up and were always told that it would be fixed. During our closing process, we were misled on inspections, and given the run-around on items we saw needing to be fixed towards the end. During our walk-through, we pointed out everything we saw, and to this day some of the items have yet to be fixed. We had living room tile that was broken during the install, and their fix was to put grout in the hole. Which this was mentioned during our walk through. The upstairs shower head was put in with a large hole that was only covered by clear caulking and they refused to fix this. During the build, the construction workers parked on the driveway, which we were told they were not allowed to do, and left a very large oil stain, that Classic American never fixed after being pointed out before any walk through and during. When the construction manager came to see what needed to be fixed just after closing, we also told him about our rock wall having a lack of proper footing. Instead of fixing it, they brought in dirt that was not brought in from their landscaping company, but from the construction site which is desert across the street. This dirt had glass, nails, and razor blades in it that our children ended up finding. They did not spread the dirt to make our yard level, this made most of our yard higher than our foundation. When our house was being built, our yard was level to our neighbors. When our house was done, the yard was now below the neighbors. When adding dirt, and putting in landscaping, we found that our rock wall did not have but 3 inches of footing, which was actually above grade on our side of the wall. Code is 12 inches minimum. The wall also had large cracks from top to bottom around where the footing is not to code and they just covered them up with mortar and they have already begun to re-crack. When bringing this up with the builder, they instantly stated that is not covered under warranty. They also asked us why didn't you bring this up during the walk through? Well, who digs up a rock wall to check the footer during a walk through on a new build? We had less than 2 hours for our walk through because they scheduled our closing right after our walk through. All because of an inspection they now say never happened. So we then asked them for all inspections done on the home. They gave us the city, which does not inspect rock walls in developments, that is up to the builder to do. But they did a third party inspection on our home, which I have the email from the builder that this was the one thing pending when we were getting ready to close. My husband also drove by the day they were having it inspected and saw the third party inspector in our home. But yet, the person I spoke to with the builder this week told me my house did not have a third party inspection. We also do not know if they still have keys to our home, because when we closed, we were given 2 keys, came to the home that night, locked up, and in the morning painters were in our house, without our knowledge or permission. Then we were given a third key, supposedly the last key they had. This has been such a horrible experience.

I will not put my address on here. Please provide an email or phone number. As I see you did on the other...

I’ve been in my home for 3 years now. And from the get go Classic American Homes was HIGHLY UNPROFESSIONAL. I was not given the most respect because I was judged for being a single female at the time and they immediately did not take me seriously since they believed that there was no way I could afford a house on my own. When I signed for my home in July of 2020, Classic American Homes promised me that my home would be complete January 2021. I moved into my home in May and only because I finally got fed up and had to continuously call them to move on what they promised me. When I did my walk through of my home I was unsatisfied with the “completion” of my home. The Project Engineer, who presented the walk through of my home went by the name of Araceli Anguiano, she was rude, demeaning and condescending. She too did not take me seriously and even stated to me that my house was a “move in ready” home when there was still no paint on the exterior of my house. When I complained via email to Classic American Homes, about my treatment and experience throughout my home buying process, I was sent in return some very unprofessional emails about how if I’m unsatisfied then I shouldn’t purchase the home that I personalized. Inflation was going up on homes and they made it obvious that they were hoping I would not purchase my home afterall so that they could sell my home at higher costs. I was locked in and set and at the perfect time because this builder used the pandemic as an excuse for many of their failed promises and shortcuts. Just today Sunday, October 13, 2024, my husband helped me clean the blades on the living room fan when sparks began to shoot out of the ceiling. If it weren’t for my husband’s basic knowledge about electrical wiring I wouldn’t know where to begin to get the help at a reasonable cost. Classic American Homes, cuts corners on the plumbing because we do not have great water pressure either and electrical since lights flicker in our home. I am convinced that based on the way the Classic American Homes did not take me serious from the moment I wanted to purchase my home, that they did not care to treat me with the same respect as they would a man or a family with multiple incomes. I was immediately judged without knowing that I am perfectly capable of making this purchase. I purchased my home through Classic American Homes because I was told they were one of the most reliable builders and had the best costs in homes. They have significantly failed me. I simply hope this review is...