Our Dream Home By Toll Brothers That Turned Into A Nightmare
Finding Our Dream Home
Starting in 2017 and continuing for over a year into late 2018, my wife Tanya and I searched for our dream home. We looked at countless homes for sale. We were tired, jaded, and almost at the point of giving up on our house search for a while.
One morning on our way back from breakfast, we decided to pull into a new community that we had passed every day for the last several months. It was a Toll Brothers community in Apex, NC called Regency at White Oak. The sign out front said “New Homes Starting at $485,000” or something of that nature. I remember the number being in the high 400’s. And that was within our budget.
We stopped in the sales office and looked at some of the floor plans. We soon realized that the majority of the homes were ranch-style homes, and some lots accommodated a basement. This was exactly what we wanted! That type of home is rare in the Triangle.
My wife and I both immediately knew that we had found what we wanted. Even though we both knew there were certain risks to building a home (vs. buying a spec home), we decided to take the plunge.
On October 21st, 2018, we signed a contract to build a home with Toll Brothers. We were very excited. We paid a total initial deposit of $72,023 dollars. 5 percent of this, 10 percent of that. 20 percent of total design center upgrades etc etc etc. It felt like all I was doing was stroking checks.
We knew we would have to get a loan to purchase the home. And we knew that there were lots of choices and decisions for us to make. And we learned that the house would be ready in 9 to 12 months. What we didn’t know, though, was that Toll Brothers would turn out to be the corporate version of Michael Myers from Halloween.
Breaking Ground
We had worked for many years trying to save money and had been looking forward to this very day and starting this process. My wife and I are fairly laid back and mostly try to live a drama-free life and make the most out of every day.
So, we were on our way to building our dream home. The home where we planned to spend the rest of our lives. We would get to pick out every detail to our own liking (meaning that I would get to go along with whatever my wife chose). Toll Brothers told us it would be 3 to 4 months before all the paperwork (permits) came back from the town. And then we would start to see the house going up.
Sometime in January or February, they broke ground. Even though we knew the building process would be slow, we started to see progress made faster and faster right before our eyes. We started to visit the house every few days. Our anticipation and excitement began to grow.
After completing the process of making selections at the Toll Brothers design center, our daily conversations at home started to shift to how we were going to decorate certain areas of our new home. From new furniture to different artwork to what we were selling on Craigslist because “it just won’t fit in the new place.” It was an exciting time for us.
Things Start Slipping
Toll Brothers assigned us a construction manager to watch over the entire process. His name was Enzo Salidvar. At first, he communicated with us regularly by phone and seemed very nice. At first, we had a monthly phone call, but later it became a weekly call once the construction broke ground. Since it was mainly a status update, and I was often at work, my wife usually took the calls.
However, around July 4th, we noticed that things they promised would be done or that would be taken care of started to slip. My wife and I tried to stay on top of things, but we started to notice more and more details that weren’t being handled or promises that weren’t fulfilled. The more I read and investigated online, the more I learned that some of these things are normal and it’s part of the stress that comes along with building a new house.
Again, my wife and I are laid back and normally go with the flow. We avoid drama. But I had this feeling deep down that unless we started pointing out to Toll Brothers the details that were being overlooked, they wouldn’t get fixed. For example, in the photo below, you will see where Toll Brothers installed the wrong grout in the tile backsplash. I noticed that the fixes (like this one) were getting more and more complicated.
The Living Nightmare Begins
In the middle of the summer, the journey of building our dream home, which up to then was bearable, turned into a living nightmare that I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy.
In addition to monitoring the construction process and making selections, as well as arranging to move into the new home, we learned that it is also important to stay on top of your credit during this process.
Around the second week of July, something popped up on our credit report. When I looked into it, the credit agency said it was due to a late payment. That was almost impossible since I was watching my credit like a hawk and knew that I could not afford any late payments.
Nonetheless, the item lowered my credit score by more than 100 points. In turn, that brought the loan approval process to a screeching halt. Luckily, one phone call to College Foundation quickly fixed the problem. The next day it came off of the credit report, and my credit score was back up to where it needed to be. Problem fixed.
I thought I would be proactive, so I discussed this with the Toll Brothers sales manager, Coleen Fairclough, and the Project Managers. I wanted to let them know that it had happened and that I had taken care of it. Looking back, though, from that point forward, the relationship with Toll Brothers seemed distant and even uncomfortable at times. Had I been blackballed by Toll Brothers?
At some point in late July, my wife received the weekly call from Toll Brothers. Unbeknownst to her, that was a very important call. About our closing date. Instead of proposing a closing date and asking us if it made sense, given any plans we might have, they simply told my wife the closing date would be August 26th.
You should know that my wife’s native language is Spanish, and while she does ok with English, in a pressure situation like that, she didn’t really know what to say. Unfortunately, I was unavailable because I was tied up with an urgent work issue. Had I been on the phone, I would not have agreed to that date, since we were planning to be out of town that week and the following week.
I firmly believe Toll Brothers took advantage of my wife and her inability to understand what they were saying and what it meant for us.
First Major Issue
Around August 9th, another 30-day late payment showed up on my credit report. This time it was Toyota. Once again, it was another mistake by an automated system. This one, though, would take a bit more effort to resolve. Nonetheless, I started to gather all the information and bank records that I needed to show that it was an error.
The issue required me to send a written statement detailing what was going on and why it was incorrect. I had to fax the information to a resolution specialist at Toyota, who would then review it. Toyota told me that there were several other cases ahead of me, but that it would be assigned to someone on the credit review team and a decision would be made very soon. However, no one could tell me exactly how long that would take. Since I had all of the documentation they needed, and the computer mistake was obvious, it should be an easy resolution.
At that point, I felt it was prudent to have a face-to-face meeting with Toll Brothers. So I went to the Toll Brothers office. I reminded the senior PM that I quickly took care of the first issue with my credit (not my fault). I told him I was doing everything I could with the second issue with my credit (also not my fault).
It didn’t seem to matter to him. Instead, he explained in very blunt terms what would happen if we didn’t close on August 26th: Toll Brothers would send us a default letter; we would get 7 days to cure the default (in other words, to close); if we didn’t close, they would terminate our contract and keep our deposit money. Period.
I explained that we weren’t asked, but told when our closing date would be. And that my wife would have said something during that phone call if she had known the closing date couldn’t be moved, but again, English is not her first language. I asked if there was any way to move the closing date, since we had plans to be out of town that week, and we would have to cancel travel arrangements. He said it was impossible; there was nothing they could do. “Once it’s in the system, it can’t be changed under any circumstances.” It was a firm No. I found all of that very hard to believe
It was clear that they were focused on THEIR closing, not what was happening in MY life. Although I had done nothing wrong, it felt a lot like I had been called to the principal’s office and scolded (or suspended) for something I didn’t do.
That’s when I started to feel like just a number. There was a complete absence of any humanity in the process. I remember thinking to myself, “Am I really just dealing with soulless number crunchers?”
A few days later, in the midst of all of this upset and confusion, I got an email from the lender. It said that our closing date was set for August 30th, and they would need a few additional details, etc.
Now I was really confused! My anxiety was heightened and blood pressure was rising each day. I asked the Toll Brothers sales manager and project manager and neither told me if the closing date was the 26th or the 30th. Since my lender was one of Toll Brothers’ preferred lenders, I just figured they had moved the closing date back a couple of days. Maybe everything would work out ok?
The Punch To The Gut
On Friday, August 23rd, I went to the Toll Brothers sales center and spoke to the Senior PM, Devereaux Hamilton. I asked him if there were any updates on the closing date. I also asked when we would do our final walkthrough of the house, given that August 26th was a Monday.
He asked if my lender was ready to close. I told him what they last told me: they were still gathering everything. Devereaux’s reply was something along the lines of, “I guess we can’t close until they have everything ready.” That was actually a bit reassuring. It sounded like we had a little breathing room. He also mentioned that we would do the final walk through the same day as the closing. (I had heard that that is common.)
That evening, I received an email from Devereaux. He confirmed our discussion that my loan was in underwriting, and they hoped to be ready to close by the 30th. Oddly, he stated the closing was still set for the 26th. But when he next stated that they would send out paperwork on Monday pertaining to the next steps, I figured that that paperwork would settle the issue regarding closing sometime between the 26th and the 30th. Again, I thought things were ok.
Monday, August 26th arrived. I had no idea whether we were supposed to be closing that day or not. I didn’t hear anything from Toll Brothers. I didn’t hear anything from our lender. So I assumed we wouldn’t be closing that day. Then, at 5:35 pm, my wife and I received an email with the subject line: “Notice Of Default.”
My first thought was…
This was the “paperwork pertaining to next steps”?!
Per the notice of default, my wife and I had 7 days to cure our default for failing to close. Otherwise, Toll Brothers would keep our deposit and maybe sell our house to somebody else. In other words, the clock was ticking and the race was on!
I started calling Toyota daily, seeking updates from their resolution specialist. I asked if there was anything else I could do or send. They told me it was assigned to someone but hadn’t been closed out yet.
Just imagine the anxiety growing and growing as we sat and waited to hear back from Toyota. There was absolutely nothing we could do. It was not within our control. We begged and pleaded with Toll Brothers to give us just a few days extension, but our requests fell on deaf ears. Our lender asked Toll Brothers for a 10-day extension. The request was denied. Our lender asked Toll Brothers for a 5-day extension. It was also denied.
Labor Day fell on Monday, September 3rd, so nobody was around the Toll Brothers office. On September 4th, late in the afternoon, we got an email from Toll Brothers saying that they had terminated the contract. I was traveling for business and didn’t open the email until the next morning, September 5th. It also happened to be my 45th birthday. I couldn’t help but think, “Happy birthday to me 😢.”
It got worse. According to Toll Brothers, the contract says that they can keep ALL of our deposit money (which totaled $72,023).
Then, on top of that, they enclosed another document, a promissory note, saying we owed the additional amount of $24,650. Thankfully, they wished me the best in the future.
The Knockout Punch
On September 11th, I received a call from Toyota. Everything had been cleared up, and I would be getting something in the mail in a few days. Great! (Right?)
I immediately checked the credit reports. Yes, the late payment entry was gone, and the credit report was updated. My credit score was back up to where it needed to be!
My next call was to my lender. Within an hour I got the green light to move forward with the loan to buy the house. I was excited to say the least. I immediately emailed Toll Brothers and asked what the next steps would be and if we could get things back on track. Here was their response:
Not only did they cancel the contract and deny all of my requests for extensions, then keep all of the deposit money and ask for another $24k on top of that. The cherry on top: an email essentially saying, “Sorry, your house has been sold to another buyer. We wish you well.”
If there was an international symbol for your heart being ripped out of your chest and stomped on, that would go here. My wife was in tears. I was speechless.
The picture of the house above is the finished product and the result of working for 10 months with Toll Brothers and many of the people that work there to get it just right. It’s a one-of-a-kind.
I wish with all my heart that I could say that the picture above is our house. For 10 months and what seemed like almost every day, we stopped by and saw our house and how things were going. It was our house. For some reason, it still feels like our house.
Today, I sit here with a heavy heart, writing to you in hopes of finding some closure during this emotional rollercoaster. I also hope that my experience will help other homebuyers navigate the complexities of these extremely one-sided contracts with an understanding of the possible negative outcomes that can arise without much warning.
In Summary
- We signed a contract with Toll Brothers to build a house in Apex, North Carolina. The total price was approximately $805,000.
- During a call with Toll Brothers in late July, my wife was told (not asked) that the closing date was Aug 26th (a date we had plans to be traveling out of town).
- A reporting error by Totota to the credit agencies 30 days prior to the closing date delayed the loan process.
- I immediately went to Toll Brothers and told them of the situation and that I was working on a resolution.
- From that day on, instead of trying to work with us, Toll Brothers did the opposite. Without remorse or any feeling. It’s as if we ceased to exist.
- From that day on, we stopped getting the weekly update call from Toll Brothers. We learned from neighbors and folks working on the house that Toll Brothers was showing it to other couples.
- Our lender asked Toll Brothers for a 10 day and a 5 day extension of the closing date. Toll Brothers denied both requests.
- Rather than working with us, Toll Brothers sent us a default letter and gave us 7 days to cure.
- I did everything in my power to as quickly as possible resolve the error caused by Toyota. And I kept Toll Brothers fully informed.
- Toll Brothers didn’t care — they terminated the contract and kept our $72,000 deposit.
- Knowing we were close to fixing the problem, Toll Brothers sold the house to another couple — after we’d spent 10 months working with them to build it.
Today, we find ourselves without a new home. Instead, we have a canceled contract from Toll Brothers, which kept everything we put down, and which wasted no time in selling our house to somebody else.
Building our dream home with Toll Brothers turned out to be a nightmare.
