I am really glad I let the dust settle (literally) before writing this one. As you can imagine, I’ve had about a hundred people ask me for an honest review on our experience with Schumacher Homes, from local people that know about our build to total strangers on Instagram, and I haven’t exactly wanted to spill the tea until all was said and done since this is a loaded question.
I want to preface by saying that home building is not for the faint of heart and to pretend it was all rainbows and butterflies would be inaccurate and misleading. Sugar coating is not what you’re here for and it’s not what I want this blog to be.
At times this build was a huge source of stress and at others it felt like a part time job we really didn’t have time for, but ultimately I am extremely happy with our home and I have zero regrets about the route we took to get here. So maybe the question shouldn’t just be “how was the experience with Schumacher Homes” (some of the stress, truly, was out of their control) but “would you do it all over again?” — and yes, I personally would do it all again. Even the part where I cursed out our original project manager. (Not my finest moment, but more on that later..)
“would you do it all over again?” —and yes, I personally would do it all again. Even the part where I cursed out our original project manager.
Schumacher Homes Sales Experience – Floor Plan and Selections Review
I can’t remember how much I knew about Schumacher until I heard the name mentioned by someone here in town who was finishing up their own home build. We put them on the short list because we wanted someone with experience in our area, specifically. We knew the home had to be elevated (flood zone) and we had to have an engineered septic. I talk much more about how we landed on our floor plan in the post here, so here I’ll chat about our experience at the Design Center, which was really positive. Our sales person helped us pivot when we realized our one story farm house was out of budget on an elevated foundation. She made truly excellent recommendations and met with me on the fly via Zoom a few times to talk about my last minute ideas as we were wrapping up the estimate.
The selection meeting was slightly disappointing, though. For me it was really challenging to put stuff together and there wasn’t a ton of guidance. It’s also just one appointment on one day and with the looming threat of expensive change orders, this is kind of a big deal. Also, I’m a very visual person and a lot of what we wanted to pick wasn’t there to see in person. Looking at samples is so different from visualizing in a space. I wish Schumacher had a better way to simulate what the home will look like with your selections in it.. Also, what’s with the light fixtures? (sorry, this one needs its own post and I’ll write that soon) but basically none of what they show in the showroom is what you get, nor is it necessarily available (I’m making a whole affordable Amazon swaps post so stay tuned for that) but if you like brushed nickel you may be just fine with the included fixtures. They just weren’t the right vibe for me.
Schumacher Homes Project Management and General Management Review
The first project manager we had seemed a bit overwhelmed. Scheduling wasn’t great, we were worried about our lumber sitting out in the rain for weeks, and what led to me losing my cool was an error with our elevated foundation height, which made the configuration with the stairs completely different than on our prints and what I had imagined for our everyday existence in this home. For a lady with a toddler and large grocery hauls (we are 30 minutes from a store) this was a HUGE deal. I had imagined parking and walking right up the stairs. Now we have to walk all the way around to enter the house. It was truly a hard pill for me to swallow and I lost my cool when the error wasn’t immediately recognized. Thankfully, management stepped in and did their best to work with us. While we couldn’t fix the error, we did receive credits to compensate and really great customer service. We were also assigned a new project manager who was much more on top of our build, extremely responsive, present, and this is the man I credit with getting our house built so fast. We broke ground in May and moved in early December (view timeline here). Schumacher does have a 180 day guarantee for a house of our size (2500 square feet).
Schumacher Homes Sub Contractors
Schumacher Homes (like any builder) and the homeowner both are at the mercy of their subs and let’s be real, of course they are going to go with the lowest bidder. It’s how they make money. It’s how they can offer affordable homes. While the land and the budget are the most obvious variables in this whole experience, I would say the luck of the draw on who they actually hire to build various aspects of your house is the 3rd. We had some trades that were excellent (we loved the guy who built our porches) and some who were sloppy, made errors that had to be corrected (they always were) and who generally made a mess (hello shrimp tails and chicken wings left all over the subfloor). Stuff like that was always addressed by management when we brought it up.
Schumacher Homes Review After 6 Months In – TL;DR
Now that we actually live in the home, any residual bad feelings have really faded with time because really these were all fear based in the moment when things came up (oh my God what have we done with our life savings). Typical reactions to things as they happened in real time when you’re spending a lot of money and your current house won’t sell. In case you didn’t read my above points, let me say again: Schumacher Homes management is really great, at least in the Charleston office. They are responsive and reasonable. I never felt taken advantage of or dismissed for any of our concerns and I would consider us quite opinionated and perhaps even micromanagers (sorry to our Project Manager).
The biggest plus sides to working with Schumacher Homes:
They make building a semi-custom home affordable and therefore attainable
Their estimates are incredibly accurate
Their build timelines are FAST
Speaking of estimates — if you’re wondering what a build like ours actually costs line by line, the budget spreadsheet we used to track every single expense (all 200+ of them, including the ones nobody warns you about) is the exact one I now sell here on the blog. It’s the tool I wish someone had handed me before our first meeting. Grab it here.
All in all, I would recommend Schumacher to people with similar budgets who want similar upgrades on a budget and in a quick timeline. There is a reason they are growing so much. They’ve figured out a business model that can produce semi-custom build on your lot homes that appeal to people not wanting a tract home in a neighborhood where there are more limitations.
FAQs
Is Schumacher Homes worth it? For us, yes. If you want a semi-custom home on your own land, with real customization but without custom-builder prices (or timelines), they’re worth a serious look. Just go in with your eyes open: your experience will depend a lot on your local office, your project manager, and the subs you happen to get.
Are Schumacher Homes estimates accurate? This was honestly one of the biggest surprises of our build — yes. Our final numbers came in remarkably close to the original estimate. Like, within a few hundred dollars. The key is making as many decisions as possible before you sign, because change orders after the fact are where budgets go to die.
How long does it take Schumacher Homes to build a house? We broke ground in May and moved in early December — about 7 months for 2,500 square feet, and Schumacher offers a 180 day build guarantee for homes our size. From what I’ve seen, that’s fast for a build-on-your-land home. (I break down our full schedule in the build timeline post.)
Can you customize a Schumacher Homes floor plan? Yes — that’s kind of the whole point. We modified our plan quite a bit (read the full post) and our sales person was great about helping us pivot when our first choice didn’t work for an elevated foundation. Just know the selections process happens fast (one appointment!), so come prepared.
Does Schumacher Homes build on your land? Yes, building on your lot is their whole model — including trickier sites like ours, which needed an elevated foundation for a flood zone and an engineered septic.
What is the biggest downside of building with Schumacher Homes? For me: the selections process (rushed, hard to visualize, and the light fixture options… I’ll say more in a dedicated post) and the luck of the draw with subcontractors. Neither was a dealbreaker, and management addressed every issue we raised — but I’d be sugar coating if I didn’t mention them.
How much do Schumacher Homes cost? This is not a simple answer when you consider land variables like elevation and engineered septic requirements, but for us it was $267/sq ft for the house itself (read more about this at my post right here)
Planning your own build? Get access to our exact budget — 200+ line items, including all the nuance in cost that nobody tells you about — it’s available right hereand prob the closest thing to sitting down with someone who’s already been through it.
Feel free to drop me a line at hello@home-of-henderson.com if you wanna chat or follow me on Instagram @homeofhenderson
