Monty Anderson Construction Group

He is just so unprofessional.

Kicked him off the construction at the completion of the foundation which was according to the town inspector, the worst job site and shorty workmanship he had ever witnessed. Paid Anderson $96k for the foundation, his bid was $72k, he didn't pay any sub contractors or suppliers. Long sad story, 2.5 yrs later we obtained judgements totalling $300k which we will get $0 as he and his businesses filed bankrupcy. He; Monty Anderson, leaves trails of misery behind throughout Florida and his home state of Indiana. A real slick and sick crook.

We signed a contract with Monty Anderson in Feb 2015 made all of our selections with a completion date of no less than 270 days. We made our specifications in March and made 0 change orders to the home. The company did not break ground until July they only showed up once a week on average and usually one sub. In Jun of 2015 (16 Months after contract signing and the home only 60% complete). he requested another 100K over his already exorbitant fees and over budget project. He then abandoned the project. I Found a new general contractor who completed the project in 5 weeks on budget. Monty Anderson then placed a fraudulent lien on the property for work and materials he never delivered or completed.

This job is 90% complete and I am very happy with progress so far. Major OLD termite damage was found in this house to the point where almost all stucco was removed, and eaten/damaged studs, headers, etc were completely replaced. All the while this was going on, Monty Anderson Construction crews did everything possible to minimally disrupt the tenants in this house I own. (of course they were disrupted but managed to stay in the house) Nearly all repairs were made from the outside with the exception of several rooms and wall segments where damage was so severe entire walls, slab to roof, were replaced. The man living next door is a professional designer of house plans, and he commented to me that he has been watching the progress, and everything is being done correctly. This has been a major repair and it has been a joy to work with such professional, reliable people.

Unlike most homeowners, we were not under a strict deadline to get the home built. We used our time to very carefully research every aspect of the house, design, and products used. We completely customized the floor plan, window and door locations, ceiling heights, exterior and interior finishes, appliances, lighting, and everything else. We wanted a very green, energy efficient home and a home built to withstand hurricanes. We had Monty design the home for those goals, and he succeeded. We quizzed Monty, Craig our superintendent, and subcontractors routinely about issues. I'm sure they were very tired of our slow pace and questions/comments, but Monty was always patient with our progress and pleased to help us. I can't imagine another contractor being so willing to work with homeowners who desired control of the process and decisions, probably slowing down the process and increasing cost. We exceeded our projected budget, but that was our choice. We upgraded almost everything to get the quality, function, and design factors that we wanted and also achieved great value because of our diligence in researching various products and sources of materials. I don't believe that it would be possible to build our home for less money than we did unless you were a general contractor building it for yourself. We used many of Monty's subcontractors and were pleased with their work. We selected other subcontractors that we learned of and wanted to use. Also I was able to do some of the work myself to save money and because it was within my skill level. It would be unrealistic to think that there would be no issues when building a fully custom home. We had a significant issue with the framers, but it was resolved by Monty. Having Monty as the GC and being able to resolve issues with subcontractors, although rare, was important and gave us some leverage in the event that were unhappy with any work done. I would say that we had many excellent contractors with hard workers who did their best. The quality of the workmanship is excellent. We would recommend Monty Anderson Construction Group for their commitment to the homeowner and willingness to make sure that the homeowner is satisfied with the result. For us, this was the best way to build a home because we had the time and dedication to make it work and a functional partnership with Monty and Craig to get exactly what we wanted with high quality and good value. Because of Monty's flexibility, patience, guidance, helpful staff, and good subcontractors, my wife and I achieved our goal of getting the dream home we imagined, planned, and designed.

This was a classic lesson in what not to do. Monty Anderson does not provide free estimates as other builders do. Instead, you get a ballpark estimate. Monty spends about 15 minutes with your blue prints and gives you a rough estimate of construction costs. I knew from the details and the very low ballpark that a lot of items were missing from the estimate, but even after adding an allowance for the things I knew were missing, he was still significantly below other builders. He assured me that was because of his suppliers. In order to get a good estimate, you actually have to sign a construction contract. Then, for $5000, they will provide a detailed bid. I made the naive assumption that $5000 would get me a solid estimate. It was about 20% higher than the ballpark estimate, but it was still lower than the other estimates that I received. Even though it was stretching my budget, I moved forward. This was at the height of the building bust and I was counting on many people to be eager to work. After several false starts due to financing issues, construction began in August 2010. Work progressed quickly the first couple of weeks, then came to a complete standstill. After that, work happened at the house one or two days a MONTH. No amount of inquiry or complaining made any difference. Then, in December 2010, I got my first lien notice. They took care of it and I continued to wait for progress. Lots of excuses, lots of apologies, very little progress. I got another lien notice in April, 2010. I learned that many of the subcontractors hadn't been paid, even though they had the funding from my bank. At that point, I contacted an attorney who at least helped me take over making payments to the subcontractors. They apparently discharged the general contractor who had been handling my house at that point, but then work stopped completely. The general contractor who took over my project works out of Jacksonville and was completely unfamiliar with my job. He didn't seem to have any records to refer to (or perhaps he was just overwhelmed trying to manage jobs in the Jacksonville and Gainesville area). Work finally started again in July 2010. It still followed the start and stop pattern, but at least the new General Contractor contacted me once a week to tell me what was or wasn't going on. I got a certificate of occupancy in October 2011 (14 months after construction started) and finishing touches were completed in January 2012. I actually handled several items on my own, just so I wouldn't have to deal with them any longer. The final cost of the house came in at the top end of the estimate that cost $5000, but that was after cutting about $20K in costs. The estimates from the other builders were much more in line with the actual cost. I am not including attorney's fees, storage costs, interest on a construction loan that ran for 11 months longer than it should have or other out-of pocket expenses in the total cost. To be honest, I was tired of keeping track of the abuse. One other note: it took 12 months to be repaid for the draw they made against my account that wasn't used to pay my subcontractors. In a nutshell, the contract that you sign with this builder says he will build a house in 9 months or however long it takes. There is no price commitment. You carry all of the risk and responsibility. If I hadn't budgeted a significant cash reserve for me, I would have gone bankrupt during this process. As much as I liked some of the people that I worked with, I cannot recommend this company for any work.