February 2011
Legacy Customs Homes built a house for my wife and me in 2008. We had heard that Legacy has an excellent reputation, so we decided to make an appointment to meet with Legacy’s Pete Franzen to see what he could do for us.
Our initial meeting with Pete could not have been more satisfying. Pete Franzen is a people person, the type who knows how to truly listen and show respect—and not just for the sake of a sale. We came to Legacy with a house plan and specifications, and wondered whether Pete would, as a builder, have any reservations about following what we presented him.
In the course of our meeting, we learned that he didn’t but at the same time he wanted to check on a few things before making any promises. That suggested to us that he didn’t just want our business; rather, he wanted to be sure that this was something he really wanted to bid on and do, and not try to talk us into making changes after a contract was signed. That’s the kind of integrity one can expect from Pete and Legacy--even in a down market when most builders are struggling.
Pete Franzen, we want to emphasize, is probably at least a cut above most of his peers. Besides wanting to understand his customers’ real needs and goals, he strives to make the always-stressful building process as stress-free as possible. Pete does this by thinking like the homeowner and practicing the Golden Rule. That means frequent and clear communications, thoughtful and respectful suggestions, timely problem solving, honoring the terms of the contract and keeping one’s word, staying on schedule and budget, clear change orders and draw requests, finding and presenting possible cost-savings measures and more. Pete, with his thorough understanding of the home construction process, is very confident that things will get done right, and that is exactly what happened with the construction of our new house.
Legacy’s skilled work crews were certainly on board to do things right. We saw this time and time again. The same can be said of the all-important subcontractors, who do their best for Legacy. The collaboration everyone showed on site was impressive as were the questions they asked us when they wanted our input. Work crews got countless details exactly right because of this. One example was whether we preferred an important light switch on this or that side of the door. Another was being asked whether we wanted the height of some built-in shelving a little higher or perhaps lower. They understood that it was our house and we would be the ones living in it.
Similarly, all of Legacy’s suppliers aimed high and succeeded. They ‘delivered’ when needed, showing how important the Legacy account is to them. We have nothing but positive things to say especially about the recommended (with no expectations or pressure) kitchen, bath and flooring people.
Our house was designed to be highly energy efficient and was built accordingly. Everyone understood this and the result is an outstanding Energy Star Home (U.S. EPA and DOE) and Energy-Efficient Home (East Central Energy’s Energy Wise Program). Our house is ‘green’ in other ways as well. For one, it was built to last: by design, and with the materials and construction—from the footings to the ridge beam. Another green feature is the attention paid to indoor air quality: with a foundation drainage system, passive radon mitigation, low off-gassing materials, and a highly-efficient and effective HRV system to control air intake and exhaust in one of the tightest houses tested by Conservation Technologies in the region. Simply put, Legacy knows how to build green.
To conclude, and after living in our fine house for almost two and a half years, we highly recommend Legacy Custom Homes for the reasons above and more. If you are looking for quality, value and a building experience that keeps negative stress and unpleasant surprises to a bare minimum, Legacy Custom Homes, from our experience, may prove to be an excellent choice for you.
As a working mom with a limited amount of time and money, I didn’t really think it was possible to even think about building a home. When I couldn’t find the right existing house for my family, though, I spoke with Pete Franzen at Legacy Custom Homes.
Everyone hears horror stories about home-building never being completed on time and always ridiculously over budget. I did some research and checked out the references Pete provided. Much to my surprise, each one of them said that they had a fabulous home of superior quality that was completed not only on time but within budget, too.
I took a leap of faith and decided to go for it. Pete worked with me to find creative ways to have a house that I could afford, but that would also be my dream home. I told Pete and Dave my ideas and they helped me design the perfect house for my family, within my budget! I had very little time to make the countless selections that are a necessary part of the process. Pete helped to narrow the choices for me, saving many hours of comparison shopping. He had my complete trust when I had to be out of town during the build, and he sent me pictures so I could monitor the progress even while I was away. He was always reachable and willing to answer any questions.
I had compared prices with some local competitors. I found Legacy’s pricing to be about even with the competition, but the quality was unmatched. Both the quality of the workmanship and the materials can’t be beat. Even after moving in, minor issues that arose were addressed immediately. My next door neighbor, who used a competing builder, is not having the same fate. His problems and questions go unanswered.
I would highly recommend Legacy Custom Homes. They are honest and do an incredible job. Yes, you can build a house on time and on budget and have fun in the process!
Sincerely,
January 24, 2011
My husband and I had purchased our property with a retirement home in mind. When we were finally ready to begin our project we visited modular home factories in Minnesota and Wisconsin because we were determined to keep our costs low. After receiving price quotes from them my husband convinced me to stop in to get a comparison quote from Pete Franzen at Legacy Custom Homes.
Pete met with us, listened to all of our concerns, and ideas. He asked many questions the other builders had not asked and said he would get back to us. Pete called us within 2 days and asked us to come in to take a look at his concept drawing. We were amazed because his drawing reflected everything we had talked about. After going over all the details to be sure we were talking about the same things Pete gave us a quote that was 10% lower than the modular home quotes.
As he went over the details Pete talked about the sub-contractors he used for various jobs. They were all local people and we felt good about spending money that would stay within our community and help support the local economy.
We had been warned by many friends and relatives that stick built homes never come in on budget or on time. Pete and Legacy Custom Homes came in on budget and the house was ready for us one week earlier than promised. The entire process was smooth and pain free for us. Our job foreman and all of the sub contractors working on our house were professional and thorough. We never felt unwanted or intrusive when we visited the job site. The work crew members took the time to answer our questions. They were friendly, yet always professional.
We have been in our home for a little over a year and have decided to finish our basement. We called Pete and again he listened to what we wanted done and got back to us with a price quote. We are currently in the middle of our project and we couldn’t be happier. Many of the same faces that built our home are back for this project. They are courteous and professional, but also feel like old friends.
We are so pleased with the quality of the work and the attention to detail that went into building our home that we would heartily recommend Pete Franzen and Legacy Custom Homes to anyone wanting to build a new home.
May 23, 2009
Dear Pete, It has been a little over a year since we first contacted you about building a new home. I can say that from start to finish it could not have been a better experience.
We brought in a concept idea plan and you and Dave worked it over to make our ideas and dreams come true. The lot that we picked out worked well with the plan and you were able to make changes that made everything work the way we wanted. During construction your crew was always pleasant, never feeling we were in the way or interfering with their work. All the sub-contractors were easy to work with and accommodating.The project was completed within the timeframe that you established and within the budget we worked out together.
We have been through fall, winter and spring in our new home, and are now looking forward to summer. We are sure that we will enjoy our new home for many years to come. Thank you very much for all the planning and diligence in making our home what we wanted it to be. I would not hesitate to recommend Legacy Custom Homes to anyone interested in a quality built home.
Thanks again,
As a professional property developer, I have counted on Legacy Custom Homes to construct 20+ projects for us in the past few years. We are extremely satisfied with the quality price and overall outstanding professionalism and performance we received on each project. Legacy knows how to do it right and stands behind everything they do. A better contractor is hard to find.
May, 2009
We first met Pete and Dave at the Homes on Parade in spring of 2007. We were very impressed with the workmanship on their homes in the parade, and also with how friendly they were. We kept them in mind as a builder.
In the summer of 2007 we found a lot that was not in a housing development. We wanted to have a builder look at it to see if it was buildable and if there were any potential problems. We called Legacy and Pete met us at the lot the very next day. We were very impressed by his responsiveness, and he gave us tons of great information that helped us make the decision to purchase the lot.
In the fall of 2007 we met with Pete and Dave. We were fairly certain by then that we wanted to use them as our builder, but were undecided about whether or not to use an architect for the house design. Pete and Dave showed us some designs of houses they'd built and asked us some questions about what we were looking for.
Within a few weeks we met again with Pete and Dave as they showed us a draft of a house design for us. We were very impressed with how on target it was. It was obvious that they had really listened to us and had taken great care to design the home around our desires rather than trying to shoehorn us into a standard design. Also, Dave came up with some great ideas that we never would have thought of. By that point we decided using an architect would be an unnecessary expense. We had confidence that Dave would be able to design a great house for us.
Over the winter we worked out all the details of the house plan and got the contracts signed. Legacy broke ground on the house in early June of 2008 and it was completed in late October.
One of our concerns was that we wanted our home to be as energy efficient and environmentally friendly as possible. Pete was great about exploring ideas and alternatives with us. The end result was a home that exceeded the federal Energy Star standards.
We had a great time working with Legacy on our house. Everybody says how stressful and unpleasant building a house is, but we had a lot of fun! Pete was very accessible and always quick to answer our questions. We had heard horror stories about how some builders wouldn't return clients' calls for weeks at a time, but communication with Pete was never a problem.
Pete's guidance was also invaluable, keeping us on track with the myriad of decisions needing to be made. He always kept us posted on what decisions needed to be made next and by when, so we could stay on track with the timeline. All of his subcontractors were also very helpful, meeting with us when we asked them to and answering our questions clearly. When we were choosing finishes, we were very pleased to find that the building allowances were very appropriate for the type of home we wanted.
We've now been living in our new house for about 7 months and couldn't be happier with it. We hope to live in it for decades to come, but in a way we wish we could build another house with Pete and Dave because it was such a great experience! We highly recommend Legacy Custom Homes.
June, 2008
Dear Pete,
As Florida residents, we had concerns about building a lakefront home in Minnesota. We wanted our home built over the winter of 2007 and spring of 2008 during which time we would be at our Florida home. Most of our fears were eliminated in choosing your firm, Legacy Custom Homes, as our builder. The only remaining fear you couldn’t control was the temperature and snow levels we might encounter during our few trips back to make product selections and see how construction was progressing.
We had a wonderful experience in building our home and couldn’t be happier with the results. You and your team worked with us to take our dream plan and make it a reality within the budget and time frame we set for the project. Your attention to detail and commitment to quality are evident in the end product. The lack of post-construction problems is a testament to the quality of materials and the dedicated workmanship of the construction crew. All aspects of the building process were handled with the highest degree of honesty, patience and professionalism. You and your sub-contractors’ ability to work via the Internet (email, digital pictures, product web sites) eliminated the issue of working together 2,000 miles apart.
Our limited time together over the course of this project made us realize what fun we missed in not being here for the entire construction process. You, your office staff and construction crew were a delight to work with – and we would do it again in a heartbeat. We would, of course, request Harry Norris as our building supervisor since he is one of the most valuable assets of your company.
We would be more than happy to show our home to any of your prospective clients and we will be forever happy to recommend Legacy Custom Homes.
Sincerely,
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