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The good, the bad, and the ugly - discover what customers are saying about UBuildIt

Welcome to our customer reviews and complaints page for UBuildIt. We understand that making informed decisions about where to invest your time and money can be challenging, which is why we've created this platform for our community to share their honest feedback about their experiences with UBuildIt.

On this page, you'll find a comprehensive collection of reviews and complaints from real customers who have used UBuildIt's products or services. Our reviews are authentic and unbiased, providing you with a complete picture of the company, its products or services, and their customer service.

Whether you're considering doing business with UBuildIt, or you've already had an experience with them, our community's reviews and complaints will give you a valuable perspective on what to expect. Our goal is to help you make informed decisions about where to invest your time and money, and we hope that our platform will be a valuable resource for you.

Please feel free to browse our reviews and complaints and share your own experience with UBuildIt. Your feedback is an important part of our community and will help others make informed decisions.

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Nightmare experience trying to build house house with UBuildIt. It is all smoke and mirrors. Little substance to their value proposition. More trouble than worth trying to manage UBI when I am paying them to insure quality contraction. Untruths abound. Excuses always point to someone other than themselves. Over costs because of re-dos and mistakes are...

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9:20 am EDT
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UBuildIt Fraud and cheating

We hired and signed a contract with Ubuildit Bethesda to help us with building our dream home in Arlington Va. Ubuildit started out strong and very helpful. But as time went on the owner decided to layoff his staff that was experienced in home building, once that happened many things began to go wrong, deadlines were missed, site visits weren’t happening, and construction mistakes started to pile up which were very costly.

We tried to discuss the matter with the owner, Chad, even paid him money ahead of schedule due to his bad financial situation, but he wouldn’t discuss the situation’s real issue, that the services we purchased weren't being provided. He invoiced us for the next draw due to him ahead of the planned/contractual time frame and 3 weeks later put a lien on our home.

We are now forced into costly law suits and him attempting to destroy our dreams. I have met with him to try and discuss the situation but he simply wont budge. stay away from all Ubuildit Bethesda, this guy is a scam artists. Feel free to contact me for details if you are considering using Chad for your project.

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Futurebuilder
, US
Apr 28, 2017 5:40 pm EDT

Did anyone try changing the contract language? The contract I saw had 4 installment payments. It appears from reading these complaints that certain areas seem prone to problems over others. I have attended a few seminars and I am concerned that I need to know more than they are telling me. Spec sheets don't specify applicable codes and have very much detail. Material selection is generally described and when I asked for something different, they thought I was going for premium brands. The budget will be typical run of the mill windows / doors/ flooring/ etc. I did find that I would save roughly 15/sqf when compared to having it built. FWIW

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Futurebuilder
, US
Apr 28, 2017 6:16 pm EDT

should read don't have very much detial

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BewareOfUBuildIt
, US
Oct 07, 2015 12:28 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Can you post the names of the employees that were "terminated . . . (or they quit)"? I am asking to dispose them.

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Hunter48
Granite, US
May 06, 2015 6:48 pm EDT

I absolutely agree, I had two acquaintances that had agreements with UBuilldit and after the agreement UBuildit went up on the prices, both cancelled --- one literally before construction was to start the next day, they were lucky they had guarantees and out closes in their agreements. UBuildit terminated both of those employees (or they quit) and several months later, I contacted them about 2-3 projects --- was stood up on five different appointments, two of the reps had been terminated or left, don't know the story on #3. I talked to Rick Herron who claims to be a partner and part owner of OKC UBuildit, mentioned my concerns about the missed appointments and bad reviews, he said everyone has a few bad reviews and he claimed only on one web site and 3-4 complaints, he also claimed they had over 200 houses under construction which is an absolute joke. They have numerous web sites with bad review after bad review and apparently are not listed at all with BBB. I thought Bob Brauderick, President might want to know his castle seemed to be coming down around him, it took 4 messages over 4 weeks to get a call back, he had an attitude from hell and asked what I wanted, I told him that I had 2 probably 3 projects I wanted to talk to him about and was concerned that they had been no shows, 5 appointments with 3 different reps, had left 4 messages for him and was a little concerned and thought he might like to know about it. His response was "he didn't need any help running his business". I was very concerned about the company before I talked to the president --- now, you could not pay me to work with them --- everything I sensed and heard seems understandable now and even worse than I thought..

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Jackson4
Augusta, US
Jan 19, 2015 3:32 pm EST

The Wichita Office was not like this. I had a great experience. We actually finished under budget and had $69K in equity. My husband and I met with Jessica and Nate all the time. The planning phase took about 3 months, and construction only took 5 months. We did have issues with the first framer, but after we fired him, Nate recommended another one and he was great. We went over the budget in all our phase meetings and knew where we were at and what we needed to change. It was not perfect, and sometimes it was stressful. But the money we saved, I would do it again. I don't know why that vendor is saying that UBI was on credit hold, because I paid all my own bills. UBI didn't pay for anything on my house. I liked the control we had of the project. And Nate was always a phone call away. He was always there for us. We got great discounts. And we did some of the work to save money. I painted and my husband and kids laid the flooring. I would recommend the Wichita Office, at least. I don't know about the other ones.

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Alum Creek
Brookville, US
Jan 15, 2015 10:20 am EST

We were recently interested in UBI and was already feeling uneasy...will need to do a lot more homework before we move any further
with them. Thanks to all who put honest reviews out there, very much appreciated.

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other side of the fence
Oklahoma City, US
Jul 06, 2014 11:17 am EDT

I am employed by a former vendor of UBI and last report they (UBI) were on credit hold. A few months back our company had to file liens on three separate jobs to force them to get them caught up on bills. I am sure we are not the only company they are slow paying and this complicates the process of building a house since they can no longer honor the estimates they give the customer.

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Insideguy
El Reno, US
Jun 10, 2014 3:01 pm EDT

The main role players of UBI have one thing in common. All went Bankrupt building houses.(OKC BRANCH) These guys designed a system that works great for them. The have 0 risk or obligation in the construction process and still come out making the same amount of money as if they GC the job, I have worked on the inside so I know some major secrets. Secret 1- Have subcontractors kick you back money. this is why most customers are over budget. The company gets money back from subs. Secret 2 - Have customers sign gag orders. Every UBI customer signs a paper saying they won't talk bad about UBI. And If so UBI may pursue Legal recourse against them, Secret 3 - Get most your money up front before customer goes broke. UBI requires customers to pay UBI fees largely upfront. Secret 4 - Do as litlle as u can and you can't blamed for anything. This is what they tell their consultants. Consultants job is just smoke and mirrors. They do nothing. This formula has made these guy rich.

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sabrina conley
, US
Jan 04, 2023 2:18 pm EST
Replying to comment of Insideguy

This is the damn truth wish I had seen this earlier

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Tulsa Builder
Owasso, US
Aug 04, 2013 11:15 am EDT

I am a GC. I've never understood the U Build It proposition. Maybe existing customers can expand. I operate in the Tulsa, OK market. Our average mark up is 10%. I'm not quite sure where all these claims of saving up to 30% come from. Man oh man, if I could get 30% life would be great, but that's simply not reality. For my 10% I spend 6 months and visit the jobsite everyday, sometimes 3 times a day. I draw the homes. I carry the financing. I not only consult, by run the jobs, and I go with the customer to every vendor selection meeting to assist not only in design but budget control by helping them find creative ways to stretch their budgets further with my experience in doing the same. My company has won awards every year in our local Parade of Homes, so we offer a confidence in our ability to bring creativity of design to the table. Also, we've spent years identifying and working through the details of training our contractors in our methods, as we are green builders who specialize in homes that are more than 50% better on energy efficiency. We do all this for 10%, and in our market we compete against others doing the same. On top of all of this we warranty the house, which is a big, big time eater. No house is perfect, so to maintain a solid reputation you must follow up quickly and handle issues timely, which is a large resource strain on any builder. It seems to me that the U Build It method is a wonderful business model for U Build It, as the responsibility for mistakes, warranty issues, and general remorse with a decision is all on the home owner. What a great model! It's these areas that I spend most of my time. It's easy to build when it all goes right and people love their decisions, but that's not reality on a one off custom home. There are constant challenges and it's experience, creativity and daily management that mitigates and overcomes the challenges. So, I guess I don't get it. In our market the local U Build It franchise advertise projects where there was 30% instant equity. That's nuts to think that was what a builder would have made. I've had several homes that appraised for nearly $100, 000 more than we built it for, but that's not because I worked for free. No I charged my 10% and it just worked out that the way we designed and built was efficient, and the comparables pushed us up. Great for the homeowner! But, it had nothing to do with the builder fees. It's just the way it worked out. As I understand it, U Build It charges around 6% for what they do and you get 20-30 visits for that...about 1 each week over 6 months. They charge for plans too...I include that. Warranty? not sure how that works but if you are the builder, it's likely on you to work with vendors to get them out and fix your problems. Hopefully, U Build It helps with this, because I know how difficult it is to get any contractor back out when they see no future opportunities. Our greatest leverage is no future work. If you've only built one home, what's their incentive? It would have to be a threat from U Build It to be removed from their vendor list to compel compliance. Hopefully they do a good job of that. In the end though I've come to realize that in this business it's not what goes to plan that takes time. 80 percent is spent on challenges, and the creativity, time and experience overcomes this. And, even more importantly is how many challenges can be avoided by experience in anticipation of problems. It's what keeps my mind churning each night as I try to sleep. I build less than 10 homes a year, and it's a full time job for me to think and plan all of this, and I still miss stuff. I can't imagine having any effectiveness if I'm running 100 projects. So, I guess I'm just wondering why this is the way people go. I get the idea of building your own home, afterall I did it on my first. But, I also spent much more than I would have today because I know so much more and anticipate opportunities to save and stretch. And, I've sifted through the contractors so I know where their specific weaknesses are and what to watch for. My framer just called me and said U Build It wants to add him to their contractor list. I think it's great for him to get more business, but he's far from perfect. He's got about 8 areas that I have to ride him on, and his guys will fall back into the same "old ways" of doing things, which will be building code compliant but far from best practices. The building code is a minimum standard and that's it. If you watch enough HGTV, you know there are allot better ways of doing things and better products that will make your house stronger, more efficient and longer lasting with less maintenance and issues. So, I watch for these things and I also know where I will get up charges if the plans aren't clearly marked for an arched opening, etc. I know where all the little areas exist that the framer will hit me because the plans don't clearly identify the desired intent (which plans never get it all on paper). So I go through the plans and make sure with each contractor I cover those areas where they are likely to increase their fees, and I get commitments ahead of time to include those items within their bid. There's no way U Build It is going to know this when they start recommending my framer to customers. There's definitely no way the customers will know, so the price will simply be higher for the same job he'd do for me. This is going to happen everywhere, or the quality and desired result is going to suffer. Knowledge is power when negotiating prices with contactors, and you have to know how they work to get the most for the least. How can you do that when you don't know anything about them, and I'm not sure how U Build It can know that either if they are recommending more than one contractor for each area, which they'd have to given their volume. So, in the end, for those claiming 30% savings, it just doesn't add up. I don't make that much and with all that I do for each customer from plan design to warranty support and everything in between, I can't see the value. The 4% you'd save would seemingly be eaten up on contractor upcharges, mistakes, warranty and disappointment from lack of experience. To me that last one (disappointment) is the biggie. To look at a choice everyday that you are disappointed in if frustrating. These often have nothing to do with whether it's build right, but is it pretty? When that happens to me, I typically redo it at my cost to make the customer happy. I'm guessing if U Build It then You Build It! So, if it's ugly it's on you.

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USVeteran
, US
Jun 27, 2021 8:29 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Is there any possible way you could recommend a builder to me in the SanAntonio and surrounding areas. This eill be my first custom home and my budget will be small. I need someone that is not all about the wealthy having custom homes, but someone who will work with a 250k budget, land included.

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Pi$$ed off guy
Ponca City, US
Apr 30, 2013 5:27 pm EDT

What a bunch of ### Clowns... I know how you feel Boomer20. The worst part about it is there's not much you can do about it. You can complain to the BBB or the AG and if they get enough complaints they'll check them out. But thats still not a guarantee anything will happen. These guys are affecting people's financial well being as well as their sanity. Be ware people!

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Boomer20
Shattuck, US
Apr 30, 2013 5:04 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Yes, Bob and Mark Abel in Edmond, Ok have made ours a horrible experience as well. They lie with the budget. never got Multiple quotes, 12, 000 off on lumber alone when they had plans in front of them, then when we were already over 40000.00 before interior had ever started so we had to finish the whole inside out ourselves. if we would have had to hire that work done as well we would have been over 75, 000. From 100.00 sq. ft. has jumped to 125.00 per sq. ft. with us doing most the work. how does that happen. Initial budget is a joke. They will not admit to any wrong doings. Don't fall into the same trap we did.

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