Carolina Country Homes

People keep asking my family and I what is going on with our house. We sold our homes to move back to family land for a slower pace of life for my elderly parents. After four months, three holidays and 23k in Airbnb fees, we are still not in our home. Daily we go by and peer in the windows of a home we have completely paid for. This is a timeline and details of our experience. In a nutshell, do not use Carolina Country Homes in Lancaster SC. On August 1st, we were asked by the salesperson to send the deed and sewer availability letter. We went to get the letter from Town Hall and were told that the house was zoned Neighborhood Commercial and no new home construction could be done without rezoning. 8/25/22 - We were granted a variance by the town giving us permission to start construction. Between July 1st and August 1st, CCH had our survey that was clearly marked Neighborhood Commercial. Either the construction manager didn’t look at the survey or missed that important detail. If we had known in July, we could have started the process to get the zoning changed while we were in the process of selling our homes. They reference this zoning issue as the reason for the major delay although it was cleared up in 1 month. However, it could have been sooner had someone taken the time to look at the survey. There was a delay in getting the demo permit because the people CCH were using for the demo were not registered to do work in our town. 9/28/22- We had the construction meeting and were told by Will that the house would be delivered in the first week of November (around 11/4 if there is no rain). 10/27/22 - A change order had to be submitted to dig a sewer line because my grandmother’s house had not been added when a new one was constructed. I wired $3,000 on 10/31 to the attorney to pay for the sewer to be dug by CCH. (It actually got done on 1/11//22). The house was supposed to be delivered by 11/4. There was no rain 11/2-11/4. The house was not delivered. Then we were told it would be delivered on 11/16. It was not delivered. 11/30/22 - House was delivered and it was a rainy day. 12/4/22- The house was set on the foundation in the rain. 12/19/22- My parents and I went by the house. The backdoor was closed but when we tried the knob it opened. We were able to walk through the entire house. I locked the top lock of the door and went out of the front to secure our home. 12/20/22 - Received an email and call from Will saying that the water and sewer connection, HVAC, Electric Service, inside and siding would be finished by the end of the next week (12/26-12/30). On 12/29, I had received no updates from Will since 12/20. I left an email for the salesperson, Will and the owner Mark letting them know I was very upset and that I was writing a review telling people not to use them ESPECIALLY if they were cash buyers. 12/31/22- Received a response from the President/Owner, Mark Street. In his response he said, “All the major delays on this project were before we could set the house and were due to your zoning issues and the fact the city couldn’t/wouldn’t locate the old sewer tap and had to install a new one. As I explained to you before, those delays cost me a lot of money.” CCH is very unprofessional. We went with them because they said how fast they could move. I feel like when you are a cash buyer you get put on the back burner once your money is held in escrow. They are dishonest and unreliable. We were told over and over how the weather could cause delays. However, they delivered and set our home on rainy days while days of sunshine passed with no work done. Today, it is January 12th. The sewer connection we paid for on October 31st was completed yesterday. The siding was finished today and the inside is still not done. We have had no updates from Will or Mark since his email response on the 31st of December. They say we will be in by the end of the month. But everyday that I drive by after work at 3:00 pm, I have never seen anyone there working.