My review of Toll Brothers

My Toll Brothers experience

Deposit
Unlike other builders who have sales representatives who will welcome you to come in and stop by any time, Toll Brothers only sees buyers by appointment. Yes, I know, that's weird. So you can look all you want but you will not be sitting down with the sales manager and get pricing on options unless you have an appointment. One of the major things is that for most builders at the time of signing a contract you only need to pay an earnest money deposit which pretty much reserves your lot. In general it is not refundable unless your financing falls through. Well, Toll Brothers is nuts. At the time of contract buyers are required to pay a deposit totaling 5% of the base price & 20% of structural options & 20% of the lot premium. In Riverstone, Toll Brothers has a lot premium for every single lot. So when looking at the base price one really needs to add the amount for the lot premium. The amounts vary based on the size of the lot. Regardless, those funds are due at signing. They are very demanding and with them there is no negotiating. The base price is the base price and the costs of options are predetermined and not negotiable.

Choosing Options
All structural options (i.e. - optional rooms, wet bar, fireplace location, expanded showers, gas stub, pot filler, etc) must be finalized at contract signing. You also need to choose your garage door, front door and stucco color if applicable. Yes, despite the fact that the house will not be ready for 8 months, you have to finalize these things at signing. Therefore, there is no changing your mind and adding the media room - once it's done, it's done. Very annoying.

Availability
I must say that the whole 'appointment required' thing is very annoying, but now I see that it is necessary. Every time I have gone to a scheduled meeting with the sales manager, she has been in a meeting with people. And when she meets with you, she goes over a lot of things. So, it's appreciated when you are in a meeting with her but annoying if you really just want to stop by and ask a question. She does have two assistants that are very nice, but they are not very knowledgeable. I'm not being critical but they really just field questions to her.

TBI Mortgage
When you sign a contract with Toll Brothers you are required to apply for a mortgage with their mortgage company, TBI. You are not required to use TBI Mortgage, but you do have to apply for a loan with them. In the event that you are not approved by TBI Mortgage and you decide to go with another bank, Toll Brothers will build your house but if you are later denied approval, you forfeit your deposit (see above). Who wants to go through all that if you already plan on going with another lender?

Included Features
Honestly, Toll Brothers should be ashamed of themselves for not having more standard features. Since we have visited lots of models and spoken with Realtors from different builders, I must say that Toll Brothers includes the LEAST of the builders we have experience with. These are the most shocking things that are NOT included with Toll Brothers (followed by my remarks) :

• mirrors with framing - yeah right, you get a mirror just slapped on the wall - even in the master
• ceiling fan in the game room - you get a flush mount light fixture (okay, how much does a ceiling fan cost?)
• hardwood flooring - only included in 1 place - the study (makes no sense)
• High quality granite - nope, you get Level 1 granite in your expensive new house
• High quality carpet - nah, you get Level 3 carpet which is not nice at all
• Under mount sinks in master - not in your house, you have to upgrade to get under mount sinks in the master
• Travertine tile entry - no way, you get Level 2 tile - it was level 1 tile prior to 2 months ago (how absurd!)
• Covered patio in rear - Not for you, you get to walk out the backdoor and straight into the Texas sun
• Butler's Pantry - you can have one alright, for $3500
• Closet system - you get the standard particle board with the wooden pole
• Built ins - if you would like to pay for them

Toll Brothers builds homes nationwide and brags about being awarded the Professional Builder of the Year Award by Professional Builder magazine. The award honors innovative home builders whose ideas and business results represents the best in home building. I'm quite sure that most builders have won some sort of award at one time or another. There are a lot of awards given out for all sorts of reasons.

Other
Toll Brothers does not include an inspection for energy efficiency as some other builders do. I have not heard one thing about Energy Star ratings or mention or the average electricity bill.  Some builders will offer you information on how energy efficient the homes are, but I guess Toll Brothers feels that they don't have to sell their homes.

ON THE OTHER HAND, I must say that the sales manager really maintains good communication. Yes, some things did slip through the cracks and cause a little confusion, but no one is perfect. I really like the weekly construction updates. I wish she was a little more available but the appointment only requirement does take up a lot of her time.

I've typed enough...that's my review!