Build Your Own Home, LLC. - East Syracuse, New York

Andrew F.

Avoid at all costs. The headaches and frustrations that you will have if you go with them are not worth any alleged savings. There are too many builders with good reputations out there. BYOH will not respect your time or your hard earned money. Work will be done sub par, and many times, without your authorization, leaving you to battle with them to fix things and get concessions. Many of our items were eventually fixed, but it was a struggle to get people back out to do the work. When you are in your home, you will be stuck with costly repairs for items that have no business being an issue in a brand new house. Ultimately, if you choose to use Brandon and his team after reading all these reviews, you should not be surprised with the outcome.

Somer C.

Terrible Experience, Incomplete Projects, and Poor Business Practices:

Working with BYOH has been an absolute nightmare. Future homeowners, please beware: this builder has consistently failed to deliver on promises, leaving us with an unfinished and unsafe home, all while continuing to collect payments for projects he hasn’t completed.

We paid directly for several projects that Brandon and Matt have left unfinished. They have ignored all calls and messages, leaving us in the dark with critical work unaddressed and funds unaccounted for.

BYOH has left several open permits for over 2 years due to incomplete work and code violations, resulting in Stop Work Orders affecting the entire development. Despite countless promises, projects inside and outside the house remain unfinished.

The builder dodges responsibility. If we do receive a response, it’s typically dismissive and verbal as he refuses to put anything in writing to avoid accountability. Brandon’s inexperience is glaring—he’s unable to communicate professionally with clients and clearly has no business working in this industry.

I haven’t met one homeowner who has had a good experience with Brandon. I would highly caution anyone considering BYOH —you’re likely to be left with an unfinished home and a long list of issues. Absolutely would not recommend!

Royale S.

Fair warning to potential homeowners, town boards and building contractors. How can companies like Build Your Own Home continue to stay in business despite lawsuits and numerous complaints of unethical business practices, lowballed deceptive budgets, poor quality workmanship, unfinished homes, continuous project delays due to negligent or nonexistent project management, ridiculous cost overages, (30% or more) and a complete lack of integrity.

After a two-year nightmare we still have unfinished work and issues with windows, flooring, cabinets, siding as well as improper lawn grading. And we are not alone. We have talked with dozens of other clients in multiple locations who have similar complaints as well as suppliers, contractors and realtors. It’s the same story over and over again…unhappy clients, unpaid or underpaid contractors, poor quality work if it’s completed at all, broken promises and a revolving door of employees disgusted by unethical business practices.

Their business model maximizes profits while gouging unsuspecting clients, partially by using a deceptive contract that limits their liability and then acting outside the scope by hiring their own “sub-contractors” with incestuous partners in common in order to mark-up costs and pad profits. It may be legal, but it’s certainly unethical.

I hope companies, homeowners, and local town boards, i.e. Manlius, Van Buren, Cicero, Sullivan, Minoa do their homework before doing business with BYOH. A number of homeowners who’ve been misused by this company are engaging in lawsuits and speaking out in order to save others from this nightmare experience.

Josh M.

My parents (one who had stage 4 cancer and was on his death bed) were promised their new home would be done in a timely fashion. It wasn’t. The concrete is cracked. I’ve fixed trim twice and have to fix another. They left cap not on the roof for months, cut open. Build your own home ? Yes. Do that instead.

Bethany K.

I’m only writing this because BYOH asked for clarification on my 1 star review.

I would warn any prospective clients to proceed with caution if deciding to build with BYOH. Our home took longer than expected, came in over budget and the punch list was never completed. Contractors frequently expressed that they had not been paid by the company and were therefore very difficult to get back when work was unfinished. The bank gave us multiple extensions in our construction loan, but also no longer works with BYOH. Luckily, we withheld some money at the end after closing, because multiple punch list items were never finished. We were always asked to make a payment, “in good faith,” but you can only buy that line so many times. Unfortunately, we did not withhold enough to hire out the remaining items, (ornamental trim piece, back deck, burying sub pump line, finishing basement window installation, replacing front side lights to be correct, back sliding door screen…. Etc).

Nobody who I have spoken with who has worked with BYOH has had a positive experience. I have heard from multiple people that they were offered money back in return for a good google review.

That’s my elaboration on my 1 -star review. Best of luck.

LLY

BYOH worked with us to create a home to love for the next few years. The overall process was at times stressful due to delays with Covid but when all was said and done we have a beautiful home that we absolutely love! The team was great to work and very kind, responsive and transparent. If you are looking to avoid stress with older homes and potential issues you may run into I would recommend building a brand new home you can afford with BYOH!

N P.

BYOH really got the job done. As a military family with limited time to find housing, Brandon made sure our home was built as fast as possible without jeopardizing the quality of the home. Through the process we were updated regularly. Nick K and Paul R in the office where absolutely phenomenal when communicating what we needed while making sure all the materials where ordered in a timely matter. I would be remise if I didn’t mention the project manager’s Paul B and Dan. Those two really pushed the project with Dan spending everyday working alongside the contractors in the end. Along the way, if there were any issues Brandon went out of his way to compensate and ensure they made it right. Overall we got a Beautiful home, great contractors, great experience, and relationships we will have forever. I would highly recommend Build Your Own Home, you won’t be disappointed.

Carmela P.

Overall, I had a good experience with Build your own home, LLC. This was my first time building a home therefore, I had no prior experience and felt a bit overwhelmed at first. However, once the process started, Brandon and his team made everything come together nicely. I worked closely with Chris Y their kitchen/bathroom designer. She was beyond helpful and knowledge! After meeting just a few times, she completely understood what I wanted and made it happen. Mark C, their project manager was always helpful and went over and beyond to get things done in a timely manner to meet deadlines especially towards the end as I was selling my previous home and had closing deadlines. I can't thank them enough...as well as all the other workers that made it possible.