Does Anyone Own a Ryan Home?

[maciec]

Does anyone own a Ryan Home? My dh and I are looking at buying one, but my mother is having a fit because all that she knows from Baltimore is that they are not very good builders. However, we are going to be building in Delaware, so it will be a different work force.

I plan on contacting the BBB tomorrow to see what they have. I have checked on-line and found a few disgrunteled Ryan home owners (only 1 in Delaware).

 

[mla2177]

My friend's hubby is the district rep for them in Millsboro, she has a Ryan home and loves it!!!!!

 

[golfgal]

They don't have a very good reputation around here either.

Just a caution about the BBB, if a person is intending legal action against someone they cannot file a complaint with BBB and especially for a home builder, that might be an issue. If someone has complaints that are severe enough about a builder chances are there is going to be some legal action. It is a start but even if they don't have any negative reports there doesn't mean they are clean. I would also see if there is a builders organization in the area that also compiles complaints.

Your best source of information about the builder is contacting homeowners in all phases of the building process with them, those just starting out, those part way through the process, those just completed and those that have been living in their home for several years.

 

[ChristmasElf]

My BIL and his wife live in a Ryan home in New York state and they HATE it.
They have had nothing but problems since they closed on it. Their roof leaks, they have a huge crack in one of the basement walls that Ryan had tried to cover up. They have had to have the wall fixed 3 times now.
Their service warranty is useless. Once you close, they don't want to know you.
Good Luck-but I would go with another builder.

 

[juligrl]

Does anyone own a Ryan Home? My dh and I are looking at buying one, but my mother is having a fit because all that she knows from Baltimore is that they are not very good builders. However, we are going to be building in Delaware, so it will be a different work force.

I plan on contacting the BBB tomorrow to see what they have. I have checked on-line and found a few disgrunteled Ryan home owners (only 1 in Delaware).

Yes, we do! We built and moved in April '05 and (so far) have had no problems. Like you, we were concerned about building with a "big box" builder. We read all the negative reviews we could find and went into it with our eyes wide open.

Whatever you do ultimately decide to do (custom or Ryan) be as involved as you can possibly be in the homebuilding process. My husband was at the construction site every day. If something didn't look quite right to him he questioned it and got it taken care of before the next step happened. We also hired a construction engineer (I think that was his title) who came at certain points in the building process.

One of the things that worked in our favor was that our house was the only one going up in the plan at the time so maybe it got more attention from the crews than those that had 16 houses going up at the same time.

Sometimes the best thing to do is to talk to the people that live in the neighborhood you are interested in buying in. What sealed it for us was that an acquaintance of DHs built in the plan. He's a construction engineer and he bought here and was more than happy with his home.

Most of the complaints that we hear around our neighborhood have been with the paint crews (they're horrible, better to hire out or do it yourself), the trimwork people (they can be amature-ish), and the flooring (you call that upgraded carpet padding?).

Our neighborhood is still being built out, but the first phase was started in 2003-2004. No major problems to speak of yet. Keep in mind that any building may have problems. It's not just limited to the Ryan's of the world.

 

[HOGFAN]

yes, and we will never buy another unless it is one of the more expensive floorplans. cheap appliances, fixtures, one of our walls has a slight bend to it.
of course, probably all builders cut corners one way or another.

 

[DisneyGirl]

They have a horrible reputation in Ohio-- shoddy materials, way-too-fast workmanship, TONS of problems in the first few years the home exists. I remember one in particular that ended up with a lake in the basement-- turns out the land it was built on was not properly assessed (another shortcut), and never should have been built on.

I've heard way more negatives then positives-- I wouldn't risk it.

 

[goofyforlife]

shoddy materials, way-too-fast workmanship, TONS of problems in the first few years the home exists.

I have first hand experience with a community here in MD. They built a community of single houses in less then 4 months. One owner even came into our office to complain that his basement was flooding duiring construction. Ryan tried to pass it off and told the owner that the flooding was just because his sump wasn't turned on yet......

Uhhhh big red flag... A house should only be dependent on a sump for extreme 100yr storms..not every rainfall....

I'd hate to be that guy...

 

[grinningghost]

We ALMOST built a Ryan home too, and I am soooooo glad we didn't. Our friends just built one and it is a MESS. They have more problems with their brand new home than they had with their 25 year old home, and Ryan is screwing them around about doing repairs.

We're in the process of building a home with another builder, and on the way to our house, we pass by a Ryan development - so we always go see what's going on there. OMG - they deliver the houses pre-made on trucks, and just SLIDE them off the flatbed and leave them at the curb until someone comes to put them together! The roof trusses look all crooked from being transported - just a mess.

Our friends said the windows in their Ryan home (Patriot windows which are made by Ryan for Ryan) are drafty and cheesy. They have water coming in through their outside wall and dripping behind an electric outlet onto their hardwood floor - which is now warping like crazy.

The day they moved in, they had cracks in their ceiling so bad, it looked like someone took a hammer to them - Ryan told them "we'll fix it at your 10 month maintenance review" - so they have to live with it until then.

Ryan has a bad rep for so many reasons - steer clear.

 

[juligrl]

We ALMOST built a Ryan home too, and I am soooooo glad we didn't. Our friends just built one and it is a MESS. They have more problems with their brand new home than they had with their 25 year old home, and Ryan is screwing them around about doing repairs.

We're in the process of building a home with another builder, and on the way to our house, we pass by a Ryan development - so we always go see what's going on there. OMG - they deliver the houses pre-made on trucks, and just SLIDE them off the flatbed and leave them at the curb until someone comes to put them together! The roof trusses look all crooked from being transported - just a mess.

Our friends said the windows in their Ryan home (Patriot windows which are made by Ryan for Ryan) are drafty and cheesy. They have water coming in through their outside wall and dripping behind an electric outlet onto their hardwood floor - which is now warping like crazy.

The day they moved in, they had cracks in their ceiling so bad, it looked like someone took a hammer to them - Ryan told them "we'll fix it at your 10 month maintenance review" - so they have to live with it until then.

Ryan has a bad rep for so many reasons - steer clear.

Yikes!

Why on earth did they close on the house with cracks in the ceiling and water issues?!

Like I said, our neighborhood has avoided those issues yet, but maybe it has more to do with the work crews in a particular region vs. another.

 

[famofsix]

The word around here is the Ryan homes built in the 80-90's era have problems. The newer models of the new Ryan are supposedly better. I think you may have better luck talking with home owners in the area you want to build (if you are building).

 

[grinningghost]

Yikes!

Why on earth did they close on the house with cracks in the ceiling and water issues?!

Like I said, our neighborhood has avoided those issues yet, but maybe it has more to do with the work crews in a particular region vs. another.

God only knows why.

At a fast glance, it's a pretty house, but when you take "the tour", you see all the defects. I think they were just anxious to be in their new house, not realizing they were going to get the shaft. I've learned from them. We will not accept a closing date until all problems are ironed out on our house, no matter how anxious we are.

 

[Dana49]

My 80-year old parents had one built 3 years ago. They are totally disgusted and can't wait to hopefully sell it.

 

[grinningghost]

http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/ripoff414.htm

 

[maciec]

WOW! Thanks for all of the replies. We are fortunate enough that if we decide to go with Ryan we will be able to be at the work site almost every day.

We have friends that built one and moved in, in July. So far so good for them.

We do have several Ryan developments that have been built within the past few years. Before we ever decide I will be doing a great amount of research about Ryan in this area.

mla2177 We are looking at Plantation lakes in Millsboro. What a coincidence! That development is going to be something else! Our other choices for builders in there is Lennar, but they don't even let you choose the color of your carpet! or Gemcraft, which is bottom barrell around here.

 

[luv2nascar]

They have a horrible reputation in PA also. Around here the homes are shoddy at best with too many problems to list. They are not known for making good on any problems. They are junk homes around here. Only out of staters buy them. b