J Larson Homes is a builder that takes pride in his work and the detail that goes into building a…read moresolid, quality home. He has a seamless process and a great team in place to offer not only top notch service but a quality home.

From the owner: J Larson Homes is a custom home builder and land development firm located in Johnston, Iowa. John…read moreLarson began building homes in the Des Moines area in 2003 and has served the region’s growing need for new property and real estate projects ever since. Through integrity and commitment, John and his team consistently meet the highest of quality standards. Specializing in high-end custom homes and land development, he has the expertise to deliver results that exceed expectations. The right subcontractors makes for a good builder. J Larson Homes works with the most efficient and effective subcontractors in central Iowa. Understanding attention to detail and customer satisfaction are what makes the building process a success.

We selected Jerry after having looked at many different homes in Des Moines, IA. The homes were…read moreall very similar and not very creative. Then my wife found a home that wasn't for sale but loved the design and asked the owner who built it. That is how we found Jerry. We then selected a lot and started the design process. In the design process we told Jerry and the designer what features were important to us as well as what style of houses we like (contemporary/modern). They came up with drawings which we were able to say we liked or disliked. They then tweaked the drawings more and more until we had a set of plans for the home. There definitely was not a house that looked very similar to ours in Des Moines, which might be difficult for some people. You can't just drive across town and see what your house will look like with different paint and countertops. The homes Jerry designs and builds are unique. It can take a lot of imagination and consideration to picture how your home will look, but it is well worth it. The building process went well. There were different concerns on how to use different spaces, etc. as we moved forward and I appreciated Jerry's insight on how to improve upon the plans that had been drawn. We had a large area on our second floor which was not accessible and would likely hold art or something else. Jerry thought it might be nice to put a catwalk over to the area and make it a sitting area or area for the kids. It was a great idea and significantly improved the home. We moved our game room from the area previously designed to an area with 10 ft ceilings to better take advantage of the space. There are many other examples as well. The build wasn't without problems. We moved in 4 weeks later than we were supposed to. We came in over budget; however, Jerry's fee did not change...we only paid extra for the changes WE made. That was appreciated as other builders will hit you with change order fees, etc. As for moving in late......we did when we built our previous home and I don't think I have heard from anyone building a house that moved in exactly when they were supposed to. Regardless, the high quality finished product more than made up for the delay. In short, I would not hesitate to recommend Jerry Bussanmas as a home builder. He builds a high quality home as well as a unique home in our otherwise cookie cutter neighborhoods. I wish there were more of his homes in our area.

Jerry, Nick, Nichole, and Kelsey are a great team. We had many questions throughout the process of…read morebuilding our first home, and the Bussanmas family was extremely knowledgable and informative. They offered great suggestions and guidance during each phase of the build. Being pregnant (emotional, neurotic, and irrational) proved to be a challenge for my husband and for me, but Nichole was always helpful in alleviating my stress, especially when it came to the detailed finish work and helping us make decisions that stayed true to the style we envisioned for our home. Each day after work my husband and I would stop by to check on the progress of our home, and we were always very impressed with Jerry's crew . The construction manager, Cade, was very friendly and easy to work with, and he took the time to answer our endless questions. We were also especially pleased with the trim carpenters, their attention to detail, and the overall design and quality of their work. My husband and I feel very lucky that our home was built by Jerry Bussanmas. I cant say enough about the quality and craftsmanship of his work. I wouldn't hesitate for a second to recommend Jerry.

We have recently purchased a house where Kurt was the selling agent. It was by far the worst real…read moreestate experience I have ever encountered. Negotiating was impossible whether it was because of Kurt or the seller, I am not aware. Things that were agreed upon before closing were not done before closing. The house smelled of dog urine and there were visible stains on the "new carpet". We asked that the carpets be professionally cleaned and the house be cleaned before closing. When we saw the house the remote control for one of the gas fireplaces was missing so we were not able to test it out. We told Kurt and his team that we were not able to check the fireplace because of no remote. They said it would be fine and working. The house has power blinds in some of the rooms and those were not able to be checked as there was no remote either. They said to not worry as it was somewhere in the house. I drove a U-haul with some of our stuff up for closing from Dallas Texas to Iowa. Final walk through, the house still smelled of dog urine and the inside of the cabinets and drawers in the kitchen and bathroom were disgusting. My realtor chose to pay half to get the carpets professionally shampooed and the house cleaned as it seemed that they thought it was acceptable. The remote for the fireplace was there and did not work, we replaced the batteries to it and still wouldn't work. The only way to get it to work is take the cover off and manually turn on the gas fireplace under the burner. So it looks like I will have to pay to have someone come and get it to work with the remote. There was no remote to the blinds. Kurt said that there should be, but sadly there was not. My realtor had to spend money out of there pocket to buy a new remote for the fireplace and a new remote for the blinds as Kurt and his team deemed it not important to make this right. I assume when you spend over $600,000. on a house that things should be taken care of. If I could give Kurt and his team Zero Stars, I gladly would. Sadly, and experience that should have been enjoyable was quite the opposite of that.

You can tell this guy has 37 years of real estate, building, and appraising experience! He will…read morewalk you through homes and you WILL know exactly what you are buying. He also will help you sell your home to get you the most out of the sale. I can tell, you really love the business!

I would not recommend Jerry's homes in Iowa. They do not build what they advertise. My house had a…read morecovered deck on the picture and the address of the house on the Internet. I purchased the house and there was no covered deck. When I approached the builder about the cover for the deck, he explained to me that the pictures on the Internet are. "Similar to". Apparently similar to means absent. As a former realtor, that is called bait and switch. He further told me the house was not priced for a covered deck. If that was the case, why did he show a picture of a covered deck on the house at my address on the Internet? Furthermore, we had many many problems with the subcontracting work in this house. Cupboards coming away from the wall, rolling cement in basement and master shower floor not finished for one year. Don't be fool, don't purchase from JERRYS homes

She is knowledgeable, professional, and incredibly dedicated to her clients. What stood out most…read morewas how attentive and responsive she was no question ever went unanswered, and she always took the time to explain things clearly. She truly goes above and beyond to make the process smooth and stress-free. You will feel supported every step of the way and confident that you're in the best hands. If you're looking for a Realtor who genuinely cares and delivers results, I couldn't recommend Brandy more highly!

Brandi is an incredible realtor. If you want a caring and…read morecompassionate realtor who is 100% dedicated to you and your needs she is the one! She wasn't even my realtor but she was selling a townhome that came up last minute on my emails. I was desperate, My realtor wasn't available and I had less than ONE day to either buy a home or renew the lease on my small little apartment that I hated ( but was grateful to have) I had just been through a divorce and I really needed a home for my little girl and me! I called her from the driveway of the townhome and she said she'd put on a hat and be right over! She showed me that unit and about 5 other ones. The one I wanted had an offer but I had first dibs if it fell through! It ended up falling through and I got it. She has helped me with so much. Her decorating skills are remarkable so I bought some curtains from her, and she also had a dimmer light installed for me! Once I moved in I got the wrong set of blinds for the laundry room so she introduced me to her connection for blinds Clint. Who is nice enough to get me the right one and install it! Brandi was very thorough on the walk through. She pointed out things that needed fixed that I didn't even notice and had them fixed. She also helped me with my window that I couldn't get locked after I moved in. I was in a pretty bad place mentally at the time and if she didn't take my call that day. I would have been stuck with an expensive lease renewal. She is my angel!!!!! My all my needs rescuer! She said if I needed anything at all she would help me or find someone to help me. I will always recommend her to everyone I know who needs a realtor. She works hard at what she does and she's not just your realtor she has become a friend! Thanks Brandi

I bought a brand new build, single family home in late August 2022. The flooring all through the…read morekitchen and main living space is already going to need to be completely replaced, due to the interlocking feature of the LVP failing. This issue has also caused pieces to splinter/peel upward because the flooring is not laying flush, as it should. The house has been very well maintained since I bought it and no water damage/excessive wear and tear has occurred to cause such an issue as this. According to a flooring expert that assessed the situation, he stated the flooring had to either have been defective or installed improperly. He said it was likely the latter. Disappointed in the quality, given it's only been 2.5 years since it was initially installed/built. Unfortunately, I will likely not be recommending, nor choosing to go with Hubbell Homes in the future because of this. UPDATE #1: Addressing Hubbell Homes Response- To date, I have received zero correspondence back from the Warranty team, as you stated you had provided with "next steps" or the contact information for a floor installer to come and take a look at the floors. I would like to think you are not blatantly being dishonest in saying you provided me with said information, when in fact you did not. So in any case, please provide me with the contact information of the floor installer you're referring to. I look forward to hearing from you. UPDATE #2: I was hoping that I would not have to leave another review, but unfortunately, this seems to be the only way I am able to get any sort of movement/correspondence from Hubbell's warranty team. So here we go. After working with a contact Hubbell gave me (Jason Young at ProSource Flooring), per his direction, I had a comprehensive flooring inspection take place to help determine whether it was a defective/warped batch of LVP flooring that was to blame, or if it had to do with the surface (concrete). This revealed it was very clearly issues with the concrete..mind you, it's a single level, slab home. Despite it not being the flooring manufacturer's problem, we were able to get brand new, upgraded LVP to replace the failing existing flooring (mind you this is a house that was a brand new build completed in August 2022 and ALL LVP flooring, as well as floor boards/trim had to be completely removed by us prior to new flooring being installed). We had this new flooring professionally installed August 11th-August 14th. NOT EVEN A WEEK AND A HALF LATER, the new flooring has already started failing throughout the primary living space (kitchen and living room) **see video of this attached to this review, taken August 23rd**. Immediately upon seeing this, I had the professional flooring installer return to the home to assess what was happening. He stated it was most definitely caused from structural issues with the concrete. Upon this happening, we have tried contacting Ana Lathrop, manager of the warranty team at Hubbell Homes, multiple times and haven't heard a single word back. As a reminder, this also was the case the first time around where Ana was again, completely unresponsive. It is an established fact that SEVERAL Hubbell Homes in Danamere Farms all built around the same time as mine have had this exact issue also happen (confirmed by the flooring inspector, as well as flooring installer in separate, individual conversations). Beyond this, subcontractors of Hubbell Homes have acknowledged that corners are deliberately cut during the install of flooring (per direction of Hubbell, in order to cut cost) by not putting down any sort of moisture barrier on concrete, prior to LVP being put down, which is considered best practice. There's not a doubt in my mind that if Hubbell is looking to cut costs on something as simple as that, it's also being done in other places. I am beyond disappointed in how all of this has played out, especially as it relates to how Hubbell Homes is handling (not handling) the situation. Hopefully this review will result in me getting any sort of correspondence back, as it did last time. UPDATE #3: It is now nearly November 2025 and I have received zero correspondence back, despite sending numerous emails and leaving numerous voicemails. Steve Thacker apparently contacted flooring supplier/distributor (ProSource) to get more information about the situation, however no one has ever contacted me back. Buyers beware..they will ghost you once their product begins falling apart, due to corners being cut to decrease building costs. Shame on you, Hubbell. This is not what integrity looks like.

Posting a bad review or threatening legal action is the only way to get a response from this…read morecompany. It has been a month since I posted my first review and now two months since we closed on our new high-end home built by Hubbell in Des Moines. Hubbell immediately contacted me asking to take down the initial review, and I did to give them an opportunity to correct the issues. A month later, the list of problems has grown and Hubbell has proven themselves unwilling to fix the problems or even respond to a phone call/email. Walls and windows are crooked. Floor panels are detached. Carpet is peeling back. Tile needs replaced. They even forgot to build a mailbox for our unit. There is a never-ending pattern of broken promises, broken communication, and things breaking in the home. Hubbell's low-standards and unwillingness to fix their mistakes have severely damaged our investment in this home. The entire process has been our worst nightmare come to life. Once again, we completely regret doing business with Hubbell. We hope they will finally do what's right and fix the problems. This time, our review will not be taken down until the many outstanding issues are fixed. Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.

Update: It's now been 7 months in this home. And the list of…read moreissues is longer. - master shower was replaced. The seat was leaking and was completely soaked. It made the bathroom smell musty. The top of the shower had legit drywall. (You don't use drywall in showers!) - the waterproofing for the basement wasn't done correctly on one side. The contractor who did it won't respond and the warranty company won't cover any basement flooding if it comes from that area. - one eave was left open along two sides. I only noticed when I was on a ladder. I guess bats, mice, etc aren't a concern for Destiny. It was so open, you could fit multiple fingers in the spacing...the entire length of the eave. - the fireplace has huge drafts of air. I guess that's next to be fixed. Sigh. Google results say install issue. (Found out today it's open on all four sides underneath the built out portion. Can fit a whole pencil up two of the sides. It's basically just like the eave.) - the siding had to be secured on 3 sides from bottom to top. Destiny didn't want to do it. (Not under warranty.) The original contractor fixed it. - The upstairs will always be the opposite temp of what I want because the ducts used were crap and the vents and return air vents are both near the ceiling. - the tile is failing because the subfloor was screwed instead of glued. The floor flexes. - huge draft by the sliding door. Also an install issue. - I hope you like mice. The garage wasn't sealed at all. Along both doors were open spaces roughly 1/4". I will never recommend Destiny.

Poor craftsmanship. No management present during build. Only Hispanics used. Cheap labor. Leave…read moretrash all over the place with dumpster heaped over with trash. Track mud onto street with junk lull that leaks hydraulic fluid all over. No safety precautions. Just let's his illegals build the homes then want's $400k minimum.

Jake McCoy very knowledgeable and extremely helpful amazing experience ! Talked me threw all the…read moresteps needed to apply the product

Had insulation put in my townhouse. Everything went great. Arrived on time, finished with a great…read morejob, cleaned up area. Would use them again. Got a call that afternoon checking on how the did. Their customer service is second to none.