Ence Homes

BEWARE My purchase with Ence Homes was contingent on selling my current home within the contract timeline. I paid $25,785 total: $10,000 earnest money deposit (at contract execution) $15,785 paid at the design/selection appointment for upgrades Total: $25,785 When my home did not sell within the required timeframe, I could not move forward. By the time the home was completed, I was pressured (verbally and via text) to cancel, and I was told I needed to list my Ence home or Ence would begin assessing financial penalties/charges. I was also told that the sooner they could list the Ence home, the more money I might recoup from my deposit, and that I would likely receive some money back once it sold. The home was listed and later sold. When I followed up about the refund that was discussed, communication changed and I was told the funds were non-refundable. I did not receive any refund and Ence kept the full $25,785. In my personal opinion, the outcome felt unfair given that the home was resold after I canceled. I’m sharing this so future buyers understand the risk up front. My advice: do not rely on verbal assurances or texts. If a refund is mentioned, get a written agreement stating the amount, timing, and conditions. Also ask for written terms on what is refundable if you cancel and what documentation you will receive. Please do your homework before signing with Ence: ask other buyers, ask independent realtors about their experiences, and get every promised in writing.

The good: great subcontractors and project manager, our home was completed on time. The bad and ugly: Since we customized our home, the overall experience was different than just using an existing floor plan. There's a $3,000.00 non refundable fee for the plan modifications to be drawn up from their architect. Thought the architect would be more thorough since he didn't have to draw up new plans, just modify existing. He forgot to redesign the HVAC system and it took the installers a couple of days to figure out how to put in the heating/cooling system. Ended up with the return air vents in the entryway hall. The framers also had to reframe the bedroom windows because he forgot to modify on the house plans. I expected better. When you pay $3,000 for changes, you expect a licensed architect to do it right. The design center experience was disappointing to say the least. If you want matching hardware and fixture finishes - that's an upgrade. The three choices they give you for colors are the 3 most unattractive colors and the attractive colors are an upgrade. Not that you get any higher quality or different product, just a better color. This includes cabinets and flooring. And be prepared to pay excessive amounts for quality upgrades instead of just color choices. The "upgraded quality flooring" cost was 3 to 4 times more than a retail store. Base appliances were amazingly cheap. The appliance store gave you the wholesale credit amount and charged full retail for other appliances. After hitting $100,000 past the base price of the home for fees, lot premium, elevation cost, floor plan changes, and upgrades, we had to scale back upgrades to stay in budget. After all the sticker shock, we found out that our home didn't include rain gutters! Even Salisbury homes include rain gutters with the cost of their home! And yes Ence, you should be embarrassed about that! During our final walk through with customer care, she said, "You need to get rain gutters on as soon as possible so your stucco and sidewalks don't get stained and ruined." THANK YOU ENCE for that quality feature. The soil next to our driveway and sidewalk has already settled with gaps under the concrete that need to be fixed and we've only been in our home for two weeks! Also, if you have a regular car, you'll have to pay extra to safely drive onto your driveway from the street without scraping. Curb cut is not included in the cost of your home so have a high clearance vehicle or pay more money. But keep in mind that some floor plans have garage door openings that have an unadjustable height clearance which is so low you won't be able to drive a truck inside. From the neighbors I've talked to, they all had design center shock or have put in the base grade finishes just so they can rip it all out and remodel a brand new home at a lower cost. We had to pay quite a bit extra to have the concrete floor floated to be perfectly level for the vinyl wood plank but either it was never done or the installers didn't get the floor level as we have spots where the floor hollows out underneath. Just realize Ence makes a good chunk of money on the upgrades/fees and the tactics they use for upgrades feel very manipulative. Our design center employee told us that, "Everyone gets mad at her." If the design center process frustrates everyone, maybe they should do something differently? They may say you can build a home for the advertised price, but I don't believe anyone has ever done so. The aspects that went well were really great. The aspects that were poor were very disappointing. From everything I read about Ence Homes and knowing the reputation of the Ence family name, I did not expect to feel cheated on so many aspects. Oh, and the 10 year foundation warranty is only used if the home is uninhabitable or condemnable in the first 10 years. Just FYI. Could have custom built for what we paid but would not have gotten the house completed as quickly or efficiently by going custom.

The process that Ence Homes instills in their customer support is above and beyond anything that I've experienced. They not only provide excellent service in outlining your dream home but they incorporate your ideas from the start, creating ownership in the 1st step of the process.

OUR ENCE HOMES DESIGN CENTER EXPERIENCE: We are healthcare professionals who have many years of experience working in complex medical environments with truly outstanding people who strive for excellence each day. For more than a decade I was a consultant working with hospitals all over the country and more recently I have built three houses in Las Vegas and a custom home in Southern Utah. We wanted to acknowledge the amazing job that Verla did to help us design our dream home. As our Design Specialist, she helped us make hundreds of decisions without allowing us to be overwhelmed by the choices. Verla was extremely organized and methodical. We always felt that she took time to understand our needs and at the same time kept us focused on the task at hand. We watched as an almost infinite array of choices were reduced to a series of finite decisions that resulted in a design that we both loved. We were prepared for a stressful experience and wondered if we would be talking to each other as the design experience progressed. We believed that the stress would be both financial and design related. The financial stress was easily resolved once we prioritized our wish list. Verla worked through lunch on day two to incorporate those changes into our design. The pace of the design work was fast but not rushed. We never felt pressured to make a decision and we have a lot of confidence that our home will be perfect for us. Ence Homes should be a Harvard Business School case study in excellence. Steven & Katherine

I recently moved into my new Ence home in the Sugar Plum community. I love my home! I was so fortunate to work with Amanda Phelps when designing my home. The colors are beautiful. Amanda is so good at her job! She was so easy to work with. During the building process, Jeff Gordon, my project manager, kept me informed throughout the building process. Jeff was responsive and is knowledge. The other vendors that Ence uses, like Shirece at Designer Furniture Gallery and the guys at AWP were so helpful in choosing furniture and appliances. Such a great team of people Ence has put together! Thank you for building me a beautiful home.

We really enjoyed working with Ence Homes while building our house, and I would definitely recommend them to anybody. The process was simply, straight forward, and most importantly....it was easy and fun. All of the folks we worked with, from the realtor, to the design center, to the project manager and even to the owner(s), were courteous, friendly, professional and made us feel important. We did run into a few hiccups with plans not being followed which caused us to have to reach out to our project manager to have items changed and/or added that were done incorrectly. However, they were quick to act and fix the mistakes. The only other feedback I have is the landscape on the side of our house. In defense of Ence Homes, they say that they will cover the front and side landscape and the homeowner is responsible for the back. Well on the west side of our property, there is a road so we had spoken to Ence about covering the landscape on a 10x20 piece of land (basically put rock down) so that it matched the rest of our front/side landscape (that are also facing the road). They agreed and said they'd do it, but when it came down to it, they reverted and wouldn't do it, leaving the back side of our landscape to be a different color from the rest of our property (as we couldn't find the rock they used on the rest of it). Overall, I would give Ence Homes a 4.7 star rating. Very friendly service. And again, easy and fun process.

It could have been better. Most of what they say about how good they are is a sales pitch. They were 4 inches off on the location of the window in dining area. We did not make them fix that as they would have had to pull the wall apart and re-stucco. We had them move the light fixture instead and they were a little reluctant to do that but now at least the light is centered over the dining table instead of looking weird. Maybe we should have have the window moved to be as per the plan drawing; because ultimately we had to give up our hutch as the proportions are wrong. They finally fixed the issues the floor and baseboard but we had to escalate to get a solution that was acceptable. We had to wait a month to move in. We built at a time when there was much housing construction. Maybe they didn't have experienced workers. Maybe you'll have better luck, just be very careful.