Long story short, after a horrible experience with Potterhill Homes and specifically Vicki Painter at Mills of Miami, my wife and I were swept off our feet by Fischer Homes and treated to the REAL experience of working with a reputable builder. I encourage anyone who is looking for a builder in the Greater Cincinnati area to look at Fischer Homes before making any builder decision. Do not be intimidated by their starting prices. We were and had it not been for the convincing of our realtor just to give it a chance, we would have been intimidated also. Upgrade prices are HALF what the rest of the builders we looked at charge.

As for Potterhill Homes... after showing very strong interest in working with them, they did nothing but disappoint us. It took days to email us simple documentation, phone calls never got returned, and we never felt like they really wanted our business. I do not have enough space to explain it all but to sum it up here is a laundry list of the disappointments.

1. 3 different people told us 3 different things about the same floor plan.

2. After baiting us in to the office the standard porch (which we were told is required for that neighborhood) became a $3700 upgrade.

3. We were told the kitchen island was standard, then at contract signing, told it was an extra $975.

4. Charged us for the most expensive fireplace without asking.

5. Charged $7500 extra for an elevation that was supposed to be included in the initial proposal.

6. Told us master bath came with soaking tub/seperate shower standard, then it was put in the contract at $4200 extra.

7. Sales tactics felt like the used car lot experience. We had to fight to KEEP the options we wanted.

8. Used the words "hardwood on the entire first floor" during negotiations but then left the dining room hardwood out of the contract and wanted to add more to the price when we caught it.

9. Offered roughly $3, 000 in design center upgrades, then came back and said they could only accept the contract without the credit, which was Vicki's idea in the first place!

10. We signed the contract on Saturday and Vicki said she would have to wait until Monday to talk to her boss to get approval for less than $10, 000 in total discount (including an advertised $5, 000 in free options). Fischer Homes worked with us on a Monday night and called her boss at 8pm at home to get approval for a MUCH bigger discount including buying of points.

With Fischer Homes we got every option we asked for, a home with almost 400sqft more space in a much nicer neighborhood on a lot 3x the size, and the monthly payment is almost exactly the same. We were willing to pay more for the positive experience and the quality of a truly stick-built home.