Our Raving Fans
Our Norway Friends Tell Their HomeBuilding Story
TO: Aubuchon Homes
ATTN: Gary Aubuchon
February 27th, 2008
Our home country Norway is the most wonderful place on earth, but not always that wonderful during wintertime which can be cold, wet, and windy. We have therefore for several years planned to buy a house in a warmer country. We have considered Italy, Spain, and France where Norwegians normally would buy a winter or retirement house, but we found it to be too cold in the periods where we wanted to be there. Also the crime rate is very high and increasing in the areas that are most lucrative.
We have been to US many times, mostly business, but also some for pleasure. We have always liked to be in US, and the type of climate that is Florida was what we were looking for. An advantage for us is also the language; we are much more fluent in English compared to the different southern European languages. The disadvantage is of course the long way for us to go.
Late October 2005, after some business meetings in Minneapolis, we headed south to Tampa. We had been to Florida many times before, and we had decided to start looking for a place south of Tampa on the west coast, which is the part of Florida we like the best. Our only preparation before coming was looking at a few real estate homepages at the internet, and we had contacted two companies for appointments. The selection was only based on the quality of the homepage.
Arriving in Tampa we first run into some problems. There were no rental cars available due to a recent hurricane; a bad start. After some back and forth on the airport we got on a bus to Sarasota, and luckily we got the last available car, a minivan, at the airport in Sarasota. We then stayed at the Keys outside Sarasota for a couple of days looking at houses, and a broker showed us some beautiful houses. After that we headed south to Cape Coral, where we had an agreement with a lady by the name Maria Lewis. She had the nicest homepage at that time, with a lot of houses listed in the area. Our intention was absolutely not to buy anything at this first trip, but just surf the market to see if there was something suitable for us. We did have one special requirement and that was that we needed docking space for a large boat.
Arriving Cape Coral we found Maria waiting for us. She was well prepared and had like 5 to 6 different houses that were for sale, all with good docking space for the boat. All the houses were beautiful houses that we enjoyed very much to see, but none of the houses were like we could not leave without buying. We followed our plan, explored the area and looked at houses both in Fort Myers and Cape Coral. We liked Cape Coral best, there was no doubt; we liked it so much we could buy a house there.
We think we used a couple of days driving around looking at different houses before Maria asked us if we wouldn’t think of building a house; there were several lots for sale. Our answer was no, but Maria showed us a couple of Aubuchon houses, and we immediately fell in love with the Casa Palermo house, the model house at Cape Coral Parkway. Maria introduced us to Peggy Senna, and we started looking at prices for building a house like that. We soon found it was not a bad idea to build a house, we could then more or less get exactly what we wanted for about the same price. Now of course we see that this is not completely true, but we have only ourselves to blame for that.
We sat down in the evening, took a glass of wine or maybe two, and discussed what to do. We agreed it was crazy to start building a house in Florida, thousands of miles from home without knowing anyone, and in a market that not is renowned for its honesty. On the other hand, Maria gave a very good impression, speaking favorably about Aubuchon as a company we could absolutely rely on. Peggy as well gave a very good impression. We all went seeing houses and lots, and we started to feel confident. One evening we were invited by Maria and her husband, Larry, to their yacht club; we had a very nice evening.
Chris Palmer & Sherry Loudon
Our expectations have been blown away!
From the land purchase to variance and permitting to architectural design to construction to selections to home furnishings…in a word- EXTRAORDINARY! Extraordinary attention to our desires, needs, personalities and budget. Excellent listening skills. Superb recommendations and advice. Open and frequent communication (including Bill’s weekly email photos). We’re very pleased with our selection of Aubuchon Homes and the relationship that has developed.
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Hi Gary,
We hope all is well , though we can only imagine the challenges of the heady work in Tallahassee and simultaneously running Aubuchon Homes. We want to thank you and your team (Team Aubuchon and your subs) for the outstanding attention to our build.
We couldn’t be more pleased. And, we want to single out a few of the many great people you have….in particular Allen, Bill (who is a terrific superintendent,), Linda and the Evalutions team.
Hope to see you in the fall.
Thanks!
Chris and Sherry
June 2007
The Molin Family
Dear Mr. Aubuchon,
We wanted to take a moment and congratulate you and your team for a job well done. After hearing nightmares from too many people about their choice of contractors, we have concluded that we made the right choice with your Sterling Collection. From the time that we stepped foot into The Monarch model and were greeted by the most professional sales associate that we have encountered, Peggy Senna, to the final walk thru with Carl Schmidt, who we found to be a no-nonsense team leader throughout the entire project, our experience has been nothing less than a success. Being in the construction business ourselves and having to rely on photos and the words of the construction team some 1500 miles away, was something that we were not looking forward to. But your team proved it can be done hassle free.
Even during tough times in the Florida residential building market your team will succeed due to the quality and commitment that your team provides. Our new neighbors have raved over the professionalism that was seen throughout the project. That alone should keep your head high knowing that your team performs as others have failed.
Again we thank you and your team for our beautiful home in paradise and look forward to doing business with you in the future.
Sincerely,
Peter and Shari Molin
Tim and Amy Marks
 Just a letter to say THANKS! to the entire Aubuchon team and all the contractors.
When we decided to build our home we had a lot of people tell us things like, "oh man you are in for a nightmare of an experience" or "the company we just built with was terrible". Since this was our first time building we were wondering if we were going to have the same comments by the end of the project.
Well just the opposite happened. From the first time we met Peggy we felt good about Aubuchon and the way they operated. Peggy did a great job of explaining the entire process and how it all would work. We chose to have the Evalutions folks do all the decorating and we can't tell you how many people come into our house and want one just like it.
I don't know the first thing about building a house but one thing I do know is that you all made it very easy for us to work with you. Our superintendent Mike has been overseeing the project from the beginning and has offered many suggestions on things that we may have missed. Also any issues that came up he took care of, no questions asked. I don't think we could have asked for a better superintendent.
Thanks for not just building our house, but building a HOME for us.
We will call you for the next one!
Tim and Amy Marks
Rick & Marilyn Adams
Rick and Marilyn Adams are originally from Ocean City, New Jersey. They have 4 grown children, ages 31 to 37 and 2 Britney Spaniels, named Maddie & Abby. Their home, located in Cape Harbour, sits on a canal and includes a swimming pool. Below is an actual interview that took place with the Adams discussing their building experience with Aubuchon Homes.
Aubuchon:
How did you learn about Aubuchon Homes?
Rick Adams:
About five years ago, we saw an Aubuchon model home and we met a New Home Consultant named Terry Mell. We liked him a lot. We looked at other builder’s models and noticed a vast difference in quality between Aubuchon and the others.
Aubuchon:
Why did you choose Aubuchon Homes to build your new home?
Rick Adams:
We’re both professional Realtors with 50 years of experience between us. We’ve seen a lot of different attitudes about building. The quality of the homes and people at Aubuchon Homes speaks for itself. We knew it would be a good experience to build with them. We believe in this company. This is actually our second home with Aubuchon. We built the first one in the southwest part of Cape Coral in 2004; then, we got a great deal on this lot in Cape Harbour.
Aubuchon:
What is your home’s most unique feature?
Rick Adams:
We have a set of custom-made mahogany French entry doors. They’re beautiful! We spent four months working with the designers and suppliers of the doors at Naples Lumber. Aubuchon Homes worked very well with them.
Aubuchon:
What do you tell others about Aubuchon Homes?
Rick Adams:
I have convinced several friends and clients from New Jersey to build with Aubuchon. This company minimizes headaches. Working with Aubuchon is as good as it gets for a home builder!
Thanks for your support, Rick & Marilyn Adams!
Bill and Jackie Vossman
It's no secret that hurricanes have hit southwest Florida with a vengeance over the past 2 years. Just ask Bill and Jackie Vossman. They rode out Charley, Frances, Jeanne, and Wilma!
When asked what it was like staying in their Aubuchon home through one of the most intense hurricanes of 2004, Hurricane Charley, Bill summed it up in one word: "scary!" With a few essentials such as a flashlight, canned goods, and of course their family dog, Lucy, they took cover in their hurricane "safe room", an air-conditioned, windowless store room built to withstand intense wind speeds. Charley’s winds reached 105 mph, and, while the whole thing lasted only a few hours, they described it as lasting a lifetime.
Once the storm was over, they examined their home and found only structural damage to the lanai cage and minor water leakage through the roof vent. Their lanai doors creaked and groaned throughout Charley, but never failed. They were one of the lucky ones. It should be noted Bill and Jackie’s home was permitted before the last round of building code changes for hurricane protection, so today’s Aubuchon homes are even more hurricane-safe.
Bill describes the construction of his home: “I watched the entire construction of this house, and the framing job the guys did was like none I’ve ever seen. Even today, as I look at other houses being built, the amount of lumber and structural bracing seems miniscule compared to my Aubuchon home. The Aubuchon Team builds a high quality, structurally superior house.”
Originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, Bill and Jackie are retired from GE Aircraft Engines and made Cape Coral their home after visiting the area several years ago. The couple toured Aubuchon’s Home of The Year model in 2001, and were very impressed with the quality and the adaptability of the floor plan to their specific desires, the Aubuchon name in the community, and the reasonable investment amount. Today, Bill, Jackie and Lucy have been in their home for 3.5 years, and tell us how happy they are to have built with Aubuchon. In fact, Jackie calls it her fortress!
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