318 E King St, Malvern Pennsylvania 19355
I built a custom home with Jim Renehan from 2021-2022 and have now lived in the home a year. He and RBG deserve a comprehensive review for anyone seeking to use them.I came across Jim Renehan/RBG when touring a house he had built that was on the market. I liked it and contacted him in 2020 about building.He spent hours giving me advice. He offered to help connect me to existing built homes that would go for sale soon, in case I wanted to go that route. When I decided to custom build, he came out and visited several potential lots to discuss the pros and cons of building there. All this time, he did this without the certainty of getting my business. This was maybe 1-2 hours a month for a few months. He was generous.He ultimately connected me to someone who sold me the lot. We started the design/build phase in late 2021 and he helped setup interviews with 3 architects to pick the right partner.He then consulted with the architect on our design for several months before we got to the phase where it was time to design a construction budget and timeline. He was honest with me in early 2021, before I signed a contract, that material prices would not be held and were fluctuating wildly - and that there was no way to be sure of what the raw material cost would be. Labor was fairly stable. We entered into an agreement.What proceeded was a wonderful build experience during one of the most unstable, unpredictable times to build a home. From the time permits came through until the time we moved in was about 10 months - which in mid 2021 was very, very good. About 4 months into the build process, Jim brought in George Bennis as his new business partner who took over the project. I was very concerned....but kismet does happen, and Jim & George together produced a home that I think came out better because of both of them.Bumps arose and were handled smoothly and professionally. Almost every sub contractor was amazing. Raw material costs on steel, concrete, drywall, insulation, electrical, plumbing, and wood were all meaningfully higher than estimated at the time the contract was put in place. It was the only real "bite down" moment - I had to come up with cash to fund it. But that was a risk I took on choosing to build in the middle of shortages and pricing fluctuations.My only real area I wish I had handled differently was the yard. Jim was always transparent with me that he's not a landscaper and that it's the area first-time-home-builders cut costs, which I did. I should've funded plenty of extra good quality topsoil, extra seeding, and maybe had a landscaper handle ~30 days worth of proper watering (I overwatered out of ignorance). Jim and George tried to coach me but I didn't understand how I should've handled it - I should've engaged a landscaper and set aside a budget of $10-20k to handle topsoil, final grading, seeding, getting the grass established, and some initial tree, bush, perennials, and mulch beds.Jim Renehan and RBG came through for us. The build experience was very good, the build quality was excellent. One year after move in and we've had only minor issues; and when we had issues post move-in (after Renehan had been fully paid), they always promptly took care of things. They earned my trust, respect, and recommendation to anyone considering building a custom home especially in the $250-325/sq ft built price range.Services: Luxury home building