I vacillated between a 3-star or a 4-star review, but I think, in the end, 3 stars is fair. Beracah, in general, is a solid company, and I am VERY pleased with our new, beautiful home - a home we plan to stay in for the rest of our lives. Even during the pandemic, the company kept working and mostly kept us up-to-date on the construction progress (both in and out of the factory). Our field supervisor, Barry, was wonderful and knowledgeable, and Kim, one of the managers, was quick to address problems and answer questions. I am grateful for the two of them. However, we had MANY issues along the way. We paid our deposit in May of 2019 and were told by our salesperson, Rick, that our home would "easily be ready" by May 2020. In fact, according to Beracah's chart of how the permits, building, financing, and so forth occur, the house should have been ready in February/March of 2020. Why the hold-up? Rick forgot to submit some of the paperwork, which put us 2-3 months behind (we were supposed to go to settlement on November 1st, 2019 - that ended up occurring February 10th, 2020, a day before I was scheduled for major surgery). We were in the design center with Sarah - who was absolutely amazing - and the second draft of our home was supposed to be completed. Apparently, it was not. Then, out of nowhere, Rick stopped calling and our progress was halted. That December (2019), I called and asked about the current status. Somehow, the cost for our well and septic doubled (which, long story short, wasn't true - Rick made up a number to get me off his back since I'd tried emailing and calling him 2 times in 2 months), and when I told him that I knew he was making up numbers that would alter my financing, he called me a VERY derogatory term, as well as "ignorant." Needless to say, he was pulled from our project, but as a heads-up for anyone who goes with Beracah: don't use Rick as a salesperson, especially if you are a woman. He thinks we're all stupid. Fortunately, Kim and Barry took over, but we were now several months behind. But once they had the ball rolling, we kept rolling, and again, even during the pandemic - Beracah placed our home on the foundation in March of 2020, and we had the keys in hand on July 1st, 2020. We were finally in our dream home. I wish I could end the review here and give it 4 stars, but once you have the keys? Beracah is VERY slow to reply to any issues (and, just like in ANY home, there will be issues). You're covered under their warranty for a year once you move in, but don't expect a quick response. We waited a month for paint (the base paint is VERY thin; when we called to ask for more, we were told we'd have it that week. One week turned into one month). We didn't receive appliance manuals or even the Certification of Occupancy until the end of August - almost 2 months after we'd moved in. Now, our smoke detectors - which are all connected, so if one goes off, all of them go off - are defective. They have gone off 6 times on 3 separate occasions. The first time they were checked, it had something to do with our sprinkler system, which we were told was "fixed." When they went off again - 3 times in 10 minutes - we called the company. We're still waiting to hear back about when someone will help us. All in all - I love our little home by the Chesapeake Bay, and for the most part, I wouldn't change a thing. But watch for a very rude salesperson, delays with replies once you move in, and being charged FAR more than what you expected. If you have time and money and don't mind waiting 12-18 months for your home, Beracah is your company. If you want your home in the promised 8(ish) months and have a salesperson delay your move by 2 months... you may want to look elsewhere. Again, I love my home. But I was so stressed with the process and having to call myriad times - after they promised they'd "take care of everything" - that I'm not sure I can wholeheartedly recommend them.
Submitted by Lexa Hayes (lex) on 09/15/2020
We moved into our Beracah Home October 5, 2016, and we couldn't be happier. My husband is a mechanical engineer by trade and researched builders in our area. He selected Beracah based on cheapest price per square foot AND the best built house; The materials and the way that the house is built inside without exposure to the elements. Although, Beracah has many beautiful standard homes to select from and customize, I didn't realize that we could design our own floor plan and they can build anything. That is what we did; it's about 3100 sq foot rancher. After going through the building process and now that we have been living here almost 9 months, I can honestly say it really is the best built house. Besides price and quality, we quickly learned that Beracah also has the BEST people! There was not one unpleasant person that we met during the entire process! Our salesman Trent and foreman Ed were excellent. Constantly in touch and keeping us updated and I could call or text them any time of day 7 days a week... and actually I still can do that too! Beracah also had excellent subcontractors and everyone always worked together as if they were truly ONE company. Did we have a few issues here and there, YES.. but in life in general there is always going to be mistakes or issues and it's how they are addressed that makes the difference. No matter how small or large the issue, Beracah always resolved it to our satisfaction or above! We would highly recommend them to anyone and we do! If we ever built another house, we would definitely use Beracah again; however, WE are so happy here, I don't ever see us leaving this place! We couldn't be more pleased that we had Beracah build our house that we now proudly and happily call our HOME! Thank you Beracah for truly making our dream home a reality.
Submitted by Renee Chavis on 07/26/2017
