Hamlet Homes

Lisa Shannon

2024-03

This was my third new build over the years. I had a great experience working with Hamlet Homes, and especially with their agent at Long & Foster, Amanda Wilkinson, and her assistant Kayla. From the day my husband and I chose our lot, Amanda was always available, answered all our questions, and kept us updated throughout the whole construction process, even though we were living in Colorado while the home was being built in Virginia. Now that we're in the home, we are very satisfied with the design and functionality of the floor plan, as well as the quality of materials. I would recommend Hamlet to anyone looking to buy a new home, and I would definitely do business with them in the future.

Jon Tiller

2024-02

We closed on a home with Hamlet in May 2023. At first, everything seemed great and we were excited as we selected options and signed the contract. The only weird thing at first was that they were strict on only doing their set number of walkthroughs/visits during the building phase. Amanda Wilkinson is who we dealt with, she seemed nice until during one of the walkthroughs I noticed the 6x6 paver patio was more of a 2x6 “patio”. Unfortunately the patio was not in the contract, only promised by Amanda. When I asked about the size of the patio, I was told an unclear answer relating to French drains and when I pointed out the drains were well out of the way for a 6x6, Amanda cut me off and said that the contractor would not be coming back to install the rest of the “patio”. There were other issues during the final walkthrough, including missing shelves in the showers, unfinished corners of the drywall, nails sticking out of baseboards (we have a 3 year old), rough/pitmarked drywall that was merely painted over, crooked cabinetry in the kitchen, damaged handrail on front steps, chipped concrete on the sidewalk in multiple places, stained basement floor in unfinished section with gobs of dried spackle or something everywhere making for a rough floor, crooked kitchen window, and the foundation was painted the wrong color and had a large “air bubble” spot that was rough and looked terrible that went unnoticed in earlier walkthroughs because of muddy conditions. The things they fixed: shower shelves, drywall corners (kind of, still looks hastily done and unpainted), nails in baseboards, most of the cabinets, handrail, sidewalk (looks worse now than when it had a chip in it, discolored eyesore), kitchen window, and the foundation (months after we closed for patch repair and paint). The rest was brushed off. We have a drainage issue in the side yard, Amanda basically told us they weren’t going to do anything about it. Now today, we come home and go downstairs and the basement is flooded. Water literally came in through the foundation and soaked our finished room and did some damage to the walls and some of our personal belongings. I added photos for reference, hard to see but the carpet splashes when we walk on it. NOT TO MENTION, one of their subcontractors put a lien on the house during the building phase because of an issue over money with Hamlet. Completely out of our control but we were told we had less than a month to decide if we wanted to proceed or back out, we proceeded but had to change lenders and winded up paying another $2500+ in closing costs just to save the house and rate in an increasingly worse market. Terrible professionalism, terrible finished quality, absolutely would not recommend.

Rob Gomez

2024-03

With this being my first home buying experience, I couldn't have lucked out more with working with Amanda and her assistant Kayla! They were available throughout the entire process for any questions that I had, and kept me up to date with the progress of the build!Amanda really knows her stuff and was quick to raise any of my concerns to the builder. At one point the lot that I had chosen wasn't going to workout due to an issue with the county and so she promptly set me up with an even better lot that Hamlet was originally going to have their model home at for the house I had chosen to build. I actually love the new lot a lot more!Amanda always has a can-do attitude, she'll easily handle any questions that you may have, and she's not afraid to jump in herself at anytime to help whether that be communicating with the county on your part or hopping down into the crawl space to inspect the sump pump! :DHonestly the process was super smooth and I'm more than happy with my new home! I couldn't have asked for a better team!

Michael Poole

2022-05

We bought a home from Hamlet. Worst experience dealing with a company in my entire life. Their agent (Amanda) and the "president of construction" (Gary) are the two people that we dealt with throughout the process and are both from my experience dishonest people. Each of them lied to my face on several occasions. Their agent told us the water that was in the yard on our walkthrough day would be "soaked up by the lawn when it grew in". That wasn't true. There was a major drainage issue and there was water covering the back third of the property for over 6 months. I attached some photos to show what they called their "Landscaping Package." As you can tell the pictures of the yard are from 3 different seasons. Despite saying they would fix the issues in the yard, they never did. Gary cussed me out on more than one occasion for inquiring about the many issues we needed fixed with this brand-new house (broken doors, damaged refrigerator, damaged cabinetry, etc.) Instead of sending competent craftsmen to fix the issues at our property Gary would always come himself and it was inevitable that instead of having help he would always ask me to do the work with him. He had to replace our bedroom door 4 times. My wife and I have now coined the phrase Gary-rigged because he never really fixes anything right. Our stairs never got fixed. Two of them pop completely out of place and back in when stepped on making a very loud sound. The base of our house was supposed to be painted within 30 days of closing as per our contractual agreement and it's now been about a year. Despite being reminded repeatedly they just didn't do it. We were supposed to have a pantry. Without talking to us about it they just put the hot water heater in it... So, no pantry for us. And please don't take their one year-warranty seriously. They don't honor it. We had them install ethernet cables and a data panel box in the house. Their agent kept telling us they put them in the garage. That didn't sound right to me so I questioned her about it a couple times because I thought it didn't sound right. She assured me it was good. We ended up having problems with the coaxial cables in the house. When we told them hamlet sent the electrician back to check it out. He told me the cables had bad signal quality. He also said he was going to suggest the data panel box be moved inside and that he told them it should be inside from the start. When I talked to Gary about when it would be done, he said they weren't going to do anything about it because the electrician told him that we were "just running too many devices at once". I knew that wasn't true because our internet package far exceeds our usage. I contacted the electrician to ask him why he told us different things. He told me that he didn't even talk to Gary. He told Amanda exactly what he told me. Amanda then told the electrician that they weren't paying for that. So Gary just made up a lie to brush me off.

Susan Poole

2024-02

Terrible company. Not even that the home is poor quality, it's really fine. Mostly just cosmetic issues minus the horrific landscaping and grading. We had to take care of that ourselves. HOWEVER, the issues that we did have, they wouldn't stand by their product or attempt to fix and eventually just stopped responding to us.Hilarious that the only 5 star reviews are written by the people working for/ with them 🤣 Buyer Beware!

Debra Bryce

2023-05

I am beyond grateful for all the hard work Amanda at Hamlet Homes has done to get my house built. We started the process in December 2021, choosing the house, fixtures, coloring etc. with a due date of July 2022. Amanda kept me up-dated every step of the way. Amanda explained any current or possible future issues and was always on hand to take my call or text. She knew my house inside out, even with all my changes and requests, she took care of every detail. Amanda sent me pictures and videos of all progress, as I was not local to Virginia. I didn't have to worry about the new house construction while I was dealing with selling my other home out of state. Because I could trust Amanda I could focus all my other challenges. When the house was finished and time for inspections, appraisals and certificates, all scheduling was handled by Amanda. She took me thru my final walk thru and closing in July (Finished on time!), Amanda showed me every detail of the house and walked me thru the packet of information with warranties, transfer information and contact info for all services I would need. Hamlet Homes has a great project management that everything progressed smoothly and in a timely manor. Working with Amanda from Hamlet Homes was a great, seamless and stress-free experience. I couldn't have made this move without her.Service: Home building

Lewis Family

2022-05

My husband and I, represented by our Realtor, began talking to Hamlet Homes in early November 2021. Amanda Wilkinson sent us an email detailing the process and showing us various models along with options. She also offered us a few choices for lots. We chose a lot in Westmoreland Shores that was a "double lot." Amanda became unresponsive for some time before coming back to tell us that lot had an eagle's nest on it and she recommended we select another lot or to wait to begin construction. We opted to wait, as offered. The lots she gave us a site plan for were 6B 3 E 6 AND 6B 3 E 7 off San Pedro Drive.Our Realtor scheduled a date to meet with Amanda to sign our contract on 11/30/2021. We arrived prepared with all our options selected ahead of time from the options list provided by Amanda prior. We signed our contract and gave our EMD check. We provided a loan approval letter from a well-known lender $20,000 over the amount of build- leaving room for any unforeseen costs.Contrary to Amanda’s email quoted above, we were immediately made to make our selections after signing the contract although it was after 5pm and we had our daughter with us. There was not a selections/fixtures day offered. We did not go to Carpet House or Mid-South. We looked at small samples in her office in horrible lighting with no notice that selections must be made that day. I inquired about pricing for a scalloped vinyl siding accent and Amanda kept arguing such a thing did not exist. I showed her photos on Google, and she became short-tempered.After spending hours in Amanda’s office signing the contract, selecting options, and discussing next steps, we left thinking we were about to build our dream home. Yes, there was a delay in the construction starting because of this alleged Eagle’s nest, but we were fine with that. Amanda had our check and signed contract. She said she would be in touch soon.Our Realtor kept contacting Amanda to request the ratified contract and status updates. She was unavailable or would get back to us soon. She had endless excuses.Fast forward to the evening of December 8, 2021. Our Realtor calls us to inform us that “Hamlet Homes has decided to not execute our contract and return our EMD check.” I immediately email Amanda to let her know how shocked we are, and to ask for the opportunity to discuss this further with you and the builder this week via a phone conference? The answer was no. Hamlet would not agree to meet with us or speak with us on the phone. Hamlet refused to sell to us. Not that lot, not any other lot, not that home, and not any other home. It was beyond bizarre.Amanda’s email to us on 12/9: “Good Morning I am sorry that it turned out like this after all the work you all and your agent and I have put into your file but unfortunately the decision is final and I know it probably feels personal but it is definitely not, there are many many factors that went into that decision, material prices going up and up and up, market stability, not knowing what will be going on next in the next 6 months with the economy, and also not wanting to steer away from our normal builds and making any changes because of all of the above, and the decision was not taken lightly I will take full responsibility for this because I should of spoken to the builder last week before agreeing to holding the lot and I truly apologize”Our check was returned via the mail approximately 45 days later. No letter or anything; just an envelope with the check enclosed.Hamlet is continuing to sell homes in the area where we tried to build with them. The lot they offered us, lot 6B 3 E 6, was sold not long after they refused to sell it to us. Best of all? The county indicates there is no known record of an Eagle’s Nest on the lots, as Hamlet alleged.

adara parker

2022-05

My husband and I were getting ready to close on a new build with Hamlet Homes. We had our final walk through and none of these items that I will state below were fixed or complete prior to closing. We both agreed to walk away from our forever home because it would have cost us more problems in the future.Damaged Shingles – we were under the impression that all items used would be newMicrobial Growth in the attic - this same growth was reported in the pre-drywall inspection and was not remedied however, we were told it would be. When this was first detected during the pre-drywall inspection we requested to have a mold inspector to enter the home to evaluate, this was only allowed to take place this week (8/10/2021). Based on the air test results received today (8/12/2021) from EMSL Analytical, the report shows several areas listed as 'slightly elevated' as well as 'spores reported to be able to cause allergies in individuals', 'potential for mycotoxin exists within these fungi' and 'these fungi are considered water damage indicators". If the mold continues to grow we would have to hire a mold specialist to treat the area.Evidence of Leaking Window - it is very concerning that a window showed signs of moisture stains and leaking. based on a moisture meter there were very high moisture levels. The builder replied and advised that a window was left open; thus causing damage that we now may have to rectify later.Rear Slider is missing safety rail – we were told there is a shortage of lumber as to why the kettle guard would not be installed.Porch Missing Railing – During the inspection by the inspector that we hired, they determined that the porch/deck was 30” above grade. The builders stated that they had planned to build up the mulch to make it meet requirements and so there is no necessity to provide the safety railing. This was a concern being that the ground is still 30” above grade regardless of how much mulch is added.Foundation Cracks – this is a concern because this condition could worsen over time and we would have to hire a Foundation Contractor to do an evaluation. This was also brought up during the pre-drywall inspection.Change made to garage windows - windows installed on the garage were not selected by us and we were not made aware. When we noticed and brought it to the attention of the builder we were told this was the only option; however, no notification of this change in material was provided nor was the contract updated to reflect this change.All of these items that I have listed the builder said they would fix and it was not done. Again this was a new construction home. I hope this review can help someone not make the same mistake we did.

Bethany Hayes

2023-05

This builder built us a beautiful home and were very responsive with any issues we had. Amanda was so friendly and positive to work with! We love our new home.Service: Home building

Melanie Bradley

2022-05

In preparation for a new home behind our house, the company had trees taken down. A branch was impaled into our shed. They came out and saw the damage, insisted they would fix it. After 3 months of phone calls asking for a time frame, we did a DIY fix ourselves. 8 months later, still nothing from them.

Jose Canada

2023-05

We are delighted by this work team, Amanda, and Mr. Gary are the best with their attention, they are always looking for a solution to every detail, thanks Hamlet Home, they are the best in real estate in the area. I recommend it a hundredService: Home building

Alex Cortez

2023-05

Hamlet Home is a Wonderfull team!!!