Mitchell Dean Homes

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You know what I was looking for in a builder? Someone who was good at managing projects, good at communicating with the home owner and the subcontractors, and someone that sticks to their timelines. My experience with Mitchell Dean Homes did not meet these expectations.

Would I recommend someone buy a home from them? Sure, their subcontractors do good work. Go ahead and purchase one of the homes they built. Want to do some customization and be part of the build process? I strongly suggest you look for another builder.

I selected Mitchell Dean Homes based on my knowledge of the owner Mitch, his reputation and that of his business. Shortly after I started the selection process, he & his wife left on an LDS mission. The transition has not been smooth, as you can see from my grading:
On Budget: B
Attention to Detail: C
Communication: F
Meets Commitments/Timetables: F
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Here are the details, so you know where my frustrations were:
What I expected: Select a lot, close in 60 days, begin building my home.
What happened: Lot selected. Challenges because previous owner did not complete the subdivision of the lot. Issue was not communicated to me until the week before we were supposed to close on the lot. Follow up with the city was sporadic, delayed the close on the lot an additional 2 1/2 months. Still not able to start the home. More lack of follow up with the city on required permits and inspections. Progress was made after I contacted the city or the engineer (multiple follow ups). Long story short? It took more than 8 months to resolve the issues with the lot and city, primarily due to lack of effective follow up.
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What I expected: If changes are significant, the sub would contact the builder to confirm the design. Builder would check with homeowner and have them make the final decision.
What happened: Design flaw. Their recommended architect designed my home, but the truss makers changed the roofline. The explanation I was given *after the fact* was it was less expensive to do it the way they did. (I wouldn't really have designed three roof lines to meet at various heights.)
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What I expected: If there are significant delays which will impact the completion date, they are communicated when identified. A new completion date is provided.
What happened: They are terrible at communicating, especially proactively. They have met very few of the committed timelines - starting with the realtor they work with through the office folks and my project manager. It was 7 weeks after the (adjusted) contracted completion date before I was in my home.
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What I expected: Good communication between me, the builder, and subcontractors. Change orders are communicated in a timely manner, and require approval before proceeding.
What happened: Several "after the fact" change orders were submitted at the end of my build for things that had occurred weeks or months ago. At least two of them were due to the builder not communicating changes to the subcontractors before they started their work. Therefore, the subs had to come back and redo work. Again, really poor communication.
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What I expected: Responses to emails/texts within 48 hours.
What happened: I had several questions that were not responded to, even though I sent them several times. I also got a lot of vague responses where a direct question was not answered. I get it, it sucks to deliver bad news. Well, it's worse to be ignored when I've made such a large investment in the company.

From the time I selected a lot, it took 17 months to get my home.