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2nd Urbandale home

Very good "after sales" service. Great communication from the builder concerning all matters.

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A very good builder - go for it

Urbandale is a very good builder. Strutural is very good, general workmanship is good. To be a good builder means, you have to have a good team, good forman, goods trades, and and excellent service after sales....Urbandale is a balance of all of that. if you want bad builder in Ottawa...look at Ashcroft, Clarigde, Phoenix, after buying with the these builders...you will keep crying for a long time.....

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For all of you out there who are planning to buy a home. Please, do not choose Urbandale! Their after sales service is horrible. We were treated without any respect (after you sign the contract) and they lie to you! During the process we noticed other customers being treated without respect as well. Our house got delayed, even though we've made the purchase almost a year before the closing date...now we have to move in the middle of winter. Then, when you call them for the status of your home...no one seem to be "in the office". We are paying a lot of money here, the least they can do is to be professional. After the sale, their attitudes have totally changed. They don't care about their customers or customer satisfaction, all they cared about was making the sale (and making additional sales for upgrades at the design center, which costs triple the price if you hired someone else to do it). Even though I have relatively high standards, they are way past below average/good customer service. We are not asking for much, just that they give us our home on time and the quality of the home to be up to standard. I am sick of hearing stories about people getting screwed over by contractors and homebuilders. I am sorry that I am in one. My husband and I did a lot of research on the web and asking friends and people who have purchased a new home, yet, not enough research can be done to prepare you for these kinds of things. You just never know. Understand that you are making one of the biggest purchases of your life. It is a lot of money. Yet, you have no control over the situation. You are at the mercy of the builder or contractor. They can pretty much do as they wish because everything in the contract protects them, not the homeowner. My story is not as bad as many others, I'm sure. But why does it have to happen? Why can't they just give you the service that you paid tons of money for? Enough is enough.

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Over-priced

As time goes by we are realizing that what the builder and their representatives touted as higher end materials are actually cheap (e.g. lighting fixtures available from Home Depot for $20) in hallways and bathrooms. Some corners were cut during construction (nothing outside code) but we also realize now that the house is made just to code and nothing extra. We are beginning to feel that we paid too much for this house. We won't be moving anytime soon, though because the location and layout suit our family and lifestyle. The community has turned out to be generally anti-social. We are on a corner and have construction of houses on one side and construction of an addition to the seniour's residence on the other side. both have caused enormous numbers of problems, with traffic, noise, dirt, damage to the city protion of the landscape (with no repairs done by anyone except us), garbage, service interuptions, etc.

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Very Satisfied

We are very pleased with the after sales service this builder has/is supplying. We had very few initial "defects" and all have been or are being dealt with in a prfessional and timely manner.

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Although I love my home, design, location, I am sadly disappointed on many levels. My home was delayed 2 months. The list of things wrong, or not working is extensive. The "pre-move" person missed many obvious defects that we feel as a qualified person would have seen them. When he came over to get us to sign off on things that were suppose to be done, 2/3 weren't. When I asked him about things to be done, he threw up his hands and said it's not his job. It is difficult to reach anyone at warranty verbally or have calls returned. It is taking an exccessive amount of time to get PDI and 30 day items addressed. I have drywall in my living room with a 18 foot horizontal line in it that you can push in and out with your finger, I have shingles that fly in the wind, which was noted on the 24 hr, still not fixed, cuts in my vinyl siding, 6 windows needed the locks fixed or repaired and now our car is stuck for 4 days in our driveway due to the curbs being installed. I would assume many of these things to be "normal" in a new home. I am beyond disappointed. Please talk and listen to owners on the street you are considering buying first, and more than one house.

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In the real world, perfection is what those who are good strive for, but dependability is paramount. From a buyers perpective , Urbandale delivered excellence from the moment we entered the sales center. The Sales Associate put everything together and worked for us and the builder collectively. Design selection was troubling only because there were so many quality choices available in the "Standard" finish selections available. Being sent direct to various trades suppliers for up grades was stunning in that we paid their price not a builder price with mark ups. Then on pre-closing inspection, the laundry door needed to be moved so the washer and dryer would fit! This was a Thursday and closing was the following week. This was a major job in our veiw, but we were assured that when the truck arrived with our worldly possessions all would be good, and it was. The after service warranties were completed in a very timely manner. The tradespeople were thorough and had a high standard of quaility workmanship. They weren't happy with the paint job on the repaired wall and did it again without us pressing for it. Dealing with the "Urbandale Group" was like a walk in the park. Thank you for truly caring about the jobs you do day in and day out.

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The staff were knowlegable and professional during the entire home buying/building process. Aftersales service has been prompt and friendly. We are very pleased with our purchase, and would sincerely recommend Urbandale Homes to anyone looking to purchase a quality built new home

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My husband and I found Urbandale to be a very professional organization. The realtor has an excellent personality, knows the market, the legalities, the properties and is very easy to contact. The site foreman knows every aspect of the house that we purchased, helped us through the finishing, dealing with sub-trades, dealing with unusual circumstances involving the neighbour, showed us every detail of the house and its many details and keeps in touch regularly. The design centre is well stocked with a wide variety of materials to choose from and knowlegeable staff. The house was finished to our specifications in a timely and professional manner. The design and quality of the house are perfect for our needs and the workmanship is excellent. We don't ever plan on moving.

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I bought an Urbandale home a year ago and have been delighted with both the quality and the service. This is my second Urbandale home, the first I bought in the mid 90's. Urbandale delivered my house on time. The aftersales service was very good. The few things that needed adjustment were done quickly and well.

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just as a compliment to the other postings... i entertained the idea of purchasing an Urbandale home however, after being directed by sales staff to the remaining inventory homes in the development...i was truly disgusted. The inventory homes had broken drywall tacked up, horribly wrong structural elements, shoddy cabinetry, very very sloppy. I brought the condition of the inventory homes to the attention of the sales staff...who did not seem phased whatsoever. I am confident that an independant building inspector would not have passed these homes. HUGE RED FLAG

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There was absoluteley no quality control exercised by the builder during the construction process. Sub-contractors have license to do as they please. Interior light fixtures and peripherals like the thermostats are substandard quality. Wow, they sure give you the best water heater but guess what you rent it. Shingles were missing, water is entering basement, garage floor is lower than pavement outside. The list goes on and on. Highly overrated builder .. belongs in the same category as Minto and Ashcroft.

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While they meet minimum code, that is all they do. The sales person was fantastic, but after I signed, and went to the design center, she was condescending, argumentative, and sometimes hostile. The house appears structurally sound, and there seem to be no violations, however I do not feel good about my purchase. (Indeed, no one in my Town home block does) We are all treated as if we are lying when we bring up deficiencies, and we must fight in many cases to get them fixed. It was also apparent to me, that the final inspection was used by Urbandale to try to hide poor workmanship in many areas. Much of what I found, was glaringly obvious, and no professional could have missed it (I didn?t) Overall, while I received a minimally acceptable house, I am not happy with the entire process, and I would not have Urbandale build my next home.