Building a custom home is a huge commitment and deciding who to hire as the contractor is the most…read moreimportant decision in that process. Because of the time, money and energy involved when building a new home from scratch, I wanted to write an in-depth review of my experience to help future families make an informed decision and give O'Malley builders the credit they deserve. My wife and I hired an architect and designed the exact home we wanted from the ground up. I spoke with a half dozen different custom home builders in the southwest suburbs of Chicago and looked at all of their model homes. O'Malley's models stood out because of their superior craftsmanship, high quality standard features, and attention to detail. Shawn, the owner, also stood out as an honest and upfront guy, and his communication was always timely. He also seemed like a very flexible builder who would create whatever we wanted. The quote Shawn gave me at the beginning of the process matched very closely with our final contract price. I was nervous about builders trying to bait us with a low price at the beginning of the discovery process and switch it to a much higher price right before going under contract. That was not the case with Shawn - his numbers were very accurate. The turnaround time for his quote and all of our updates were also pretty quick. Our permits were submitted and issued within a month, and we broke ground December 3rd, 2020. We just closed on our house on August 11th, 2021. While it took longer than the 6-7 months we expected, there were weather delays with the first part of our construction taking place throughout winter and supply issues due to COVID shutdowns. In the end, the finished product turned out BEAUTIFUL. We are extremely happy with how our home turned out. All of Shawn's contractors were professional and provided high quality services. There were a few mistakes made throughout construction (which is to be expected), but the most important thing is they all got resolved without any issues. I was very involved in the building process, so oftentimes I would catch little details that were missed before anyone else. While this created a lot of stress for myself and my wife at certain points, Shawn and Dennis (the project manager) were always very responsive to our concerns and fixed any issues without hesitation. We are very happy with all of our finishes from the 3rd party vendors O'Malley uses including our cabinets from Riverton working with Joe, our wood floors and carpet from M&M flooring working with Michelle, our light fixtures from Hortons working with John, our custom closets from Closet Clarity working with Ray, our granite from Insignia Stone working with Trish, our appliances from Grand Appliance in Orland Park working with Matt, our paint/stain working with Steve, and our windows/doors/tile working with Joe and Lori from Schillings. In the end, we got exactly what we wanted - a truly custom home with beautiful finishes and quality craftsmanship. While the process took longer than we wanted and was more stressful than we anticipated, I am very glad we chose O'Malley builders as our contractor. I would highly recommend them to anyone looking to build a custom home. Shawn is a great builder, Dennis is an experienced project manager, and Mary Ellen (the office manager) helped us a lot throughout the process and was extremely attentive to our needs. Anytime we had a question or concern, she would guide us throughout the process and make sure the project went as smoothly as possible. The entire staff is friendly, professional and experienced. Most of all they want you to be happy with every detail and will see to it that you get exactly what you want. I would recommend them to any of my family or friends and would use them again if I had to do everything all over again. Thank you Shawn, Dennis, Mary Ellen, and Nancy for building our dream home and giving my family a place to create new memories for a lifetime.

Building our second home with O'Malley Builders Good quality…read moreconstruction Does not nickel and dime you on the small things Easy to work with

DT Group; Tom and Kasia I have been honest with me to make my Dreams come true, with rehabbing my…read moreHome! They dedicate pride in what they do!

They have a STUNNING showroom! Everybody is very knowledgeable in the products that are necessary…read moreto complete projects. The project manager is an incredible designer! He knows what he is talking about! Very dependable, reliable, and straight forward. DT Group is willing to work with you if you a budget. They will give you options that work best for you.

We signed a contract in May to purchase a home that iCandy was renovating in Glen Ellyn, IL. We…read morewere provided with architectural plans and an overview of the specifications to which the home would be finished, and were very pleased with the vision of the home they promised to deliver. As we worked with the realtor, project manager and contractor over the next few months, it became abundantly clear that the project was severely underfunded and poorly managed. The iCandy representatives constantly complained of being over-budget and behind plan, and began cutting corners almost immediately after we signed the contract. As the renovation began to deviate from the architectural plans, we were given excuse after excuse about how the plans were simply 'representative,' and shouldn't be considered exact. When we requested that they stop deviating and return the changes to the original planned design, they refused. The finish specifications were also constantly being changed, and we would regularly receive calls from their 'designer' while she was standing in a big box store asking us to make a snap decision on lighting or hardware because she couldn't provide what was originally specified. Horror story after horror story finally came to a head when we had the final home inspection and found that nearly everything that could be wrong with the home, was. Roofing, electrical, water incursion, apparent mold, plumbing leaks...and no corner was left uncut with regard to quality of woodwork and finishes. At a minimum, we were misled. In my opinion, we were lied to, deceived, and defrauded by amateur-hour house flippers. Thankfully, in the end, iCandy actually believed that they could list the home for MORE than what we had agreed to pay, and were happy to let us out of the contract and refund our earnest money. The home is indeed listed at a higher price, and still sitting empty. Someone may be tricked into buying it, but we're eternally thankful it won't be us. Consider the name of this company before you enter into business with them. What is the definition of 'eye candy?' Something which is attractive on the surface, but has no real substance or value. It really is the perfect brand for this company and their representatives.

I have had the pleasure of working with Ashley the Director of Operations and Steve the Managing…read morebroker on a home I rehabbed last year. My original realtor that helped me find that home didn't seem as social media marketing savvy as iCandy did. I was originally going to relist the home with that agent, but after I got to know the iCandy team, I felt much more comfortable going with them. I decided to try pre-marketing! Right away I had Ashley come by the property to take pictures and shoot a YouTube video showcasing my under construction project. Ashley was very fun to work with and made that process relaxed and easy. Even though we were mid project, those pictures actually turned out better than I thought! Within a week we put the listing up on Zillow and other sites as a "Coming Soon" home. We wanted to create some buzz and interest now, before we were ready to list it for sale. I was getting emails one after another about potential buyers wanting to see the property...and we were mid project! I showed the property to several families, some still wanted to wait to see how it will look in the end which I understood. 4 weeks later I noticed the neighbor 2 houses down was about to do an open house. I immediately contacted Ashley and her team and asked if we could throw one together in 2 days. They said not a problem. The house was about 90% finished at this point and I wanted to get that neighbors traffic! iCandy updated that we were having an open house on Zillow and away we went! I had a good turn out and I actually stayed a few hours past the open house because people kept coming! That evening I had 2 offers in, both were from the Zillow traffic, but both were a little under. The next day one came up to asking and the other backed out and thought we were joking about our other offer. So, we got our asking price! We were so excited and what's funny is the guy who backed out called a day or 2 later asking to see the house again. I said you backed out and we sold it to the other guy! He said he didn't mean to back out and his realtor told him we were probably lying. Sorry Charlie! This was a great first experience with iCandy with having sold our first rehab with 1 day on market. This whole team is a breath of fresh air and very easy to talk to. They are some of the nicest warmest people I have met in this business that genuinely care about others and always want to know how they can help us succeed. I liked them so much, I told my brother to use iCandy to help find his first house! They used Luke and are now moved into their dream home and they couldn't be happier. What more can I say!

I am horrified that this organization advertises they build the American Dream when the…read moreowner/developer has caused an American Dream Nightmare for a family/families. One family has been waiting on the completion of their home for 2 years or more with no completion in sight. One completion promise after another and then denial of what was said to the buyer very often. The unfinished single family home is featured on their inactive Facebook page at least 3 times, most recently 11/2022. The home remains unfinished through no fault of the homeowners. This project is in Matteson, Il.. this developer also has built senior asstd, etc. buildings in Matteson and Frankfort, il.. this developer hides behind emails vs the professional way, meeting in person in an effort to resolve urgent issues. after stringing the homeowners along for over 2 years, I understand Alexi Develop., Tony has stated he is walking away from the unfinished home leaving the homeowners holding the bag and their contractual downpayment and other monies they have invested in the home. REALLY? Not only is the developer, Tony not responding, his alleged Board of Directors and legal counsel appear to be following the same pattern. Is this the professional way to do business? Is this operating in the spirit of excellence?

We used Alexi to build our dream home, we used one of his Custom designs and made it our own. Tony…read moreputs a fine attention to detail in the homes he builds. Tony surprised us with a nicer door than we originally planned for, he made sure we got the house we envisioned. He builds a solid well built home that will stand the test of time.

If we could give Newcastle Homes 10 stars out of 5, we would. This was the second home we have…read morebuilt, and this experience was great! Rim and Dar are amazing at what they do, from the designing phase, all the way to the final walk through. Mimi, in the office, is always prompt, professional, and on top of everything. In a nutshell, they are good, HONEST people whom you can trust with your investment. They do what they say, 100% of the way. We are very pleased with the final product. Our house is beautiful and everyone gives us compliments on the construction and workmanship/finishing work. They will work hard, very hard, to make sure your wants and desires come true. They have the: Best framers Best plumbers Best electricians Best finishers, & the Best contractors Lastly, rest assured if you choose Newcastle, you are making a wise choice. Building a house can be very involved, but Rim and Dar make it as easy as possible. I don't plan on building again, but if we did, I would use Newcastle because I know we would be in good hands and they would work hard to build the house we wanted in a timely manner.

The entire building process was handled with care and attentiveness. The Newcastle staff are…read moreprofessionals that aim to accommodate your needs. Our family is very happy with our new home.