Business ProfileforNovak-Fleck, Inc.

I unfortunately made the mistake of buying a Novak-Fleck "model" home this month and things are already going downhill fast. Buyers of homes who are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars shouldn't feel disheartened or embarrassed pulling up to the property but as a result of N-F and their actions, or lack thereof, that is my current situation. I mainly worked with David ******** (agent) but every now and then Dave ****** (project manager) would pop up to give me some kind of bad news such as informing me that the garage door opener that David said would be installed won't actually be installed. Or that the yard full of cigarette butts, nails, screws, cement, shingles, wood, siding, wiring, and other miscellaneous items that could cause injury to me, my family, or my pet, as well as generally make the property look like trash, will not be cleaned by them for upwards of approximately 2 months. Why this house was signed off on to be put on the market or sold by Korey (site supervisor) is beyond me. To list some of the issues starting from the first walkthrough with David, shingles were not secured to the roof properly in at least one area, handrails were loose, mounts/brackets were screwed in so tight that they sunk into the drywall, holes for outlets in the drywall were cut too large creating a gap that was just left like that, baseboard which still isn't fully attached, coffee thrown out of the upper floor all over the siding and downstairs glass patio door, caulking not in place where it should be, a porta-potty that was left within my property line even after closing, the list goes on. The way this company has behaved and disrespected me as a customer is beyond irritating given the price of the house. It seems clear to me that they care very little for customer satisfaction, at least that has been my experience. I never asked for anything unreasonable, only for them to do what they said they would or fix things that should've never needed fixing to start.

I'll try to respond to these items one by one. The garage door opener was not in the home when you went through it and wasn't on the purchase agreement so it would not be included. The yard will be graded and cleaned up and black dirt installed once weight restrictions come off. The *********** puts on those restrictions and we have to follow them. Shingles don't seal until it reaches 70 degrees outside. Any drywall issues, the base board etc. were resolved on the walkthrough before the closing. Coffee was also washed off the siding. This is new construction and as perfect as we want all of our homes to be we do the walkthroughs to fix or touch up anything that buyers see or have an issue with. If there are any other open items that you believe we have not addressed please contact our office. We have been around for 40+ years because we do our best to build a quality home and work with buyers to build them what they want. Again please contact our office if you have anything that is not addressed. Thanks.

N-F REPLY: I'll try to respond to these items one by one. The garage door opener was not in the home when you went through it and wasn't on the purchase agreement so it would not be included. The yard will be graded and cleaned up and black dirt installed once weight restrictions come off. The state of MN puts on those restrictions and we have to follow them. Shingles don't seal until it reaches 70 degrees outside. Any drywall issues, the base board etc. were resolved on the walkthrough before the closing. Coffee was also washed off the siding. This is new construction and as perfect as we want all of our homes to be we do the walkthroughs to fix or touch up anything that buyers see or have an issue with. If there are any other open items that you believe we have not addressed please contact our office. We have been around for 40+ years because we do our best to build a quality home and work with buyers to build them what they want. Again please contact our office if you have anything that is not addressed. Thanks.*Thank you for the reply, I'm glad you'll respond to this but not phone calls. And I apologize that I'm starting off like that but had your office done better communicating then we wouldn't even be having this conversation. Regarding the garage door opener, no it was not in the home during the walkthrough, which is why both my realtor and I asked ***** during the initial walkthrough if one would be installed to which he said "yes." Had he not said "yes" I would have left it at that and either opted for one through you guys or bought one myself. I'm definitely not making a fuss about all this for fun, I don't need anymore stress in my life. I have only gone to this length because of what was said by *****, and if he made a mistake that's one thing but the fact remains that he said one would be installed, so that was the expectation. I truly don't expect that you guys will honor anything that was said at this point (feel free to prove me wrong), so no worries there, I'll handle the garage door opener. I understand about the restrictions for the grading, I get that you have to follow what the state says and I can appreciate that. My issue was that you wouldn't so much as have any given crew go out there and pick stuff up by hand or magnet as a minimal show of effort instead of telling me something to the effect of yeah we'll get to it in June, that's just the way it is. Instead it took me, my realtor, my lender, and two others outside for nearly 5 hours picking up the trash from the construction, and I'm willing to bet that there's still plenty that's buried. I get that the weather/temperature has to be right for the shingles, my issues with that is that it shouldn't have been a problem in the first place. This is *********, not the Atacama Desert, we actually get rain here. And had the work been inspected like it supposedly was then it wouldn't have been an issue at all, right? The base board was not resolved on the walkthrough before closing, and had ***** showed up to the final walkthrough like he said he would then he would have seen that it was not fixed. Same with the chips in the garage entry door and in the bathroom sink cupboard, which was discussed at the closing table. And again if ***** said what he said in error, that's fine, just own up to it. I very much appreciate that the coffee was washed off of the siding and glass door, thank you for doing that. I believe that must have been ***** that I saw on camera walking through my backyard today (04/11/22) around noon to check on that. Assuming that was him perhaps he can let me know he's stopping by in the future so I don't call the PD on him by mistake. (If that wasn't him, my apologies). If the condition of my house at closing was as perfect as you want your homes to be then you should be embarrassed. I'm willing to bet that if you bought a house and went through this debate, had two entire trash cans worth of trash, nails, screws, razor blades, staples, straps, plastic, liquor bottles, siding, shingles, etc. all across your property you wouldn't be ****** thrilled either, right? You'd probably want results and for things to be made right, wouldn't you? Look at this from my perspective or imagine all of this was happening when you moved into your current home. I see that you use the 40+ years in business as a rebuttal to virtually every negative review. Just because you have been in business that long doesn't mean that you're exempt from mistakes or the occasional lack of concern for customer satisfaction (clearly). That's like saying because the ** government has been around since the ****s they can't possibly ever be in the wrong or held liable and that they're always right... that definitely wouldn't be correct, would it? Again, I never asked for the world or anything unreasonable, only for what I was told would happen. And we live in an era of online reviews, so I felt compelled to share my experience with your company with others as an example of how my experience has gone. I have only been speaking the truth from my experiences with you and I have plenty of photos, videos, reports, and witnesses to back up my claims. So, if you don't like what has been brought to your attention then you should be holding people accountable and owning your mistakes instead of turning this back on me. I'll gladly give your office a call this week and can also send pictures if you would like so I can show you that issues from the walkthrough are not resolved, just let me know where to send them.

Yes please call our office. We will always answer during normal business hours and we will work to get any open issues cleared up with you. Thanks.