rimrattler6
New member
So now that my carpal tunnel has subsided from my last post re: Brightwater, I'm excited to share about my very positive experience I'm having in Yorba Linda pre- and post-contract. After dealing with multiple builders (Hearthside, Toll Brothers, Shea, Taylor Morrison), MBK Homes is, by far, the best builder I've encountered. For what it's worth, I never went too far in the sales process with Taylor Morrison and Shea to get an in-depth sense of their business practices, but from the surface, not bad!
So anyways, I was searching to make sure there weren't any other Greenbrier threads (as any considerate forum user should...) and came across a couple of folks who thought MBK Homes were inferior or had shotty construction. Of course, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. But then again, I've never researched any home builder where I didn't find something "negative" about them. To me, it's how much and how can the person substantiate their claim(s). From my research, MBK is a smaller builder, but is trying to grow to compete with the Shea's and the Toll Brothers. At the same time, I also feel they aren't trying to be AS big as them. In fact, the fact that they are trying to build upon their credibility is good for me; they don't want sour homeowners spreading the word how much they "suck." An interesting fact, MBK is backed by Mitsui, which is a HUGE japanese company. From what I know of the Japan economy and just their way of doing business, that alone, gave me great confidence in their business dealings. I have never experienced such great customer service from any builder. Usually they're just nice pre-contract, but even after i've signed, I've been getting great service. To date, I have sent at LEAST 100 questions via email that got answered in 12 hours or less. Every document i could ask for was given to me in full disclosure. Even documents I didn't think to ask for, were given to me. Unlike other builders, i wasn't chastised for asking questions about their contract/agreement.
As far as build quality, I went to my future neighbors to ask them about MBK's responsiveness to repairs during the first year and they all said everything was repaired in 7 days or less. I met the customer service rep in person (the guy who will be doing warranty repairs) and he was very knowledgeable. Still sensing my hesitation, the saleslady arranged to have me meet with the construction superindentent and he was very informative and accommodating to my questions and requests. All in all, a great experience. The loan officer has also been a pleasure to work with thus far. They were able to work with my closing date request, extra incentive money and all these great upgrades included. Seeing as the market is still flat and possibly could take another downturn, I got a great deal on a Plan 1 (w/ 4th bedroom downstairs in lieu of an uber tiny 1 car garage) for a total of 3,124 sq ft.
After experiencing all the shady-ness of Hearthside and the stuck-up attitude of Toll Brothers' Preserve (which is ironically right next to greenbrier), I can say MBK really takes the cake. For those who are curious, Toll Brothers has a view lot at $710+90k (lot premium)...kind of insane as the view is good, not great (IMO). I offered 730k, hoping they'd come back with a counter. They felt insulted haha (which is funny in this economy since I didn't see anyone lining up with offers outside their sales office), so i said, fine, I presented $750k and they STILL bawked. I gave 2 offers, they gave zero. I don't like that kind of negotiating. I guess they THINK they can sell it for $800k. Hardly. It's been available for 6 weeks and they've had 2 offers.
Just the other day, I found out my coworker had her Chino Hills home built by MBK a few years back and she never had any major warranty work and to date, home is flawless. She enjoyed her purchase and construction experience with MBK.
All factors considered and that good ol' gut feeling told me this MBK community was the one. So I signed last Weds and don't regret it one bit!
I know this is an Irvine forum, but Yorba Linda is a great city with comparable schools. Best parts? Greenbrier has no HOA and no Mello Roos. But that doesn't mean some hobo can park their RV and water toys outside for weeks on end. There are CC&R's governed by the city of Yorba Linda.
That is my .02 on Greenbrier...but before anyone gets all worked up, these are my opinions and I welcome any constructive discussion!
So anyways, I was searching to make sure there weren't any other Greenbrier threads (as any considerate forum user should...) and came across a couple of folks who thought MBK Homes were inferior or had shotty construction. Of course, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. But then again, I've never researched any home builder where I didn't find something "negative" about them. To me, it's how much and how can the person substantiate their claim(s). From my research, MBK is a smaller builder, but is trying to grow to compete with the Shea's and the Toll Brothers. At the same time, I also feel they aren't trying to be AS big as them. In fact, the fact that they are trying to build upon their credibility is good for me; they don't want sour homeowners spreading the word how much they "suck." An interesting fact, MBK is backed by Mitsui, which is a HUGE japanese company. From what I know of the Japan economy and just their way of doing business, that alone, gave me great confidence in their business dealings. I have never experienced such great customer service from any builder. Usually they're just nice pre-contract, but even after i've signed, I've been getting great service. To date, I have sent at LEAST 100 questions via email that got answered in 12 hours or less. Every document i could ask for was given to me in full disclosure. Even documents I didn't think to ask for, were given to me. Unlike other builders, i wasn't chastised for asking questions about their contract/agreement.
As far as build quality, I went to my future neighbors to ask them about MBK's responsiveness to repairs during the first year and they all said everything was repaired in 7 days or less. I met the customer service rep in person (the guy who will be doing warranty repairs) and he was very knowledgeable. Still sensing my hesitation, the saleslady arranged to have me meet with the construction superindentent and he was very informative and accommodating to my questions and requests. All in all, a great experience. The loan officer has also been a pleasure to work with thus far. They were able to work with my closing date request, extra incentive money and all these great upgrades included. Seeing as the market is still flat and possibly could take another downturn, I got a great deal on a Plan 1 (w/ 4th bedroom downstairs in lieu of an uber tiny 1 car garage) for a total of 3,124 sq ft.
After experiencing all the shady-ness of Hearthside and the stuck-up attitude of Toll Brothers' Preserve (which is ironically right next to greenbrier), I can say MBK really takes the cake. For those who are curious, Toll Brothers has a view lot at $710+90k (lot premium)...kind of insane as the view is good, not great (IMO). I offered 730k, hoping they'd come back with a counter. They felt insulted haha (which is funny in this economy since I didn't see anyone lining up with offers outside their sales office), so i said, fine, I presented $750k and they STILL bawked. I gave 2 offers, they gave zero. I don't like that kind of negotiating. I guess they THINK they can sell it for $800k. Hardly. It's been available for 6 weeks and they've had 2 offers.
Just the other day, I found out my coworker had her Chino Hills home built by MBK a few years back and she never had any major warranty work and to date, home is flawless. She enjoyed her purchase and construction experience with MBK.
All factors considered and that good ol' gut feeling told me this MBK community was the one. So I signed last Weds and don't regret it one bit!
I know this is an Irvine forum, but Yorba Linda is a great city with comparable schools. Best parts? Greenbrier has no HOA and no Mello Roos. But that doesn't mean some hobo can park their RV and water toys outside for weeks on end. There are CC&R's governed by the city of Yorba Linda.
That is my .02 on Greenbrier...but before anyone gets all worked up, these are my opinions and I welcome any constructive discussion!
