I’m sure there are a lot of people out there who have had positive experiences with Keystone. I don’t dispute that, but this is MY experience and I feel the need to share it.

In searching for a condo for our retirement and downsizing, we discovered the community at Eagle Pointe West in Greensboro, NC. It suited our needs so we entered into an agreement with Keystone, using the contract that they wrote. We did not have an agent helping us (NEVER do that). We were told there would be a price increase on the condo in June so we were encouraged to hurry to make up our minds. Apparently this increase happened on May 15. We signed the contract and gave them a $5,000 deposit on April 25.

We chose our upgrades, did walkthroughs for the sheetrock and electricity. We acted in good faith and did everything we were told to do, even going to the mortgage provider they suggested.

We asked on numerous occasions why they had not cashed our check – little did we know that it was a tactical ploy on their part and that management – Scott Wallace and Melissa Cummings – apparently never intended to honor the contract or sell us the condo at the price we agreed to via their contract. No, it was a classic bait and switch.

We sold our house and moved to a one-bedroom apartment for the three month wait to move in. (An aside, we lived in a Keystone apartment complex and I have to say it is lovely, quiet, very well run and very nice – however it is two rooms and all of our winter clothes and a lot of thing we need are in storage with the moving company). After over five months it was feeling cramped.

We were told the condo would be ready in October—that date passed. Then they set a closing for November 16, which they canceled, then November 30, which they canceled. We purchased a stove and a refrigerator that we were told to go ahead and have installed, but when the installer arrived, they were told to store it in the garage. The installer refused and took them back to the store to hold for us.

Then I received a call demanding an additional $14,000 more than we agreed upon in order for them to set a closing date.

I had no idea Keystone Homes would act unethically or immorally. My contact at Keystone also told me that two other people are also being held up like this for their condos, however two people who bought after we did, after the price increase, are already in the four-plex that our condo is part of or next to.

We have spoken to realtors, lawyers, mortgage providers and others and NO ONE has ever heard of such dealings and are appalled that they strung us along for nearly seven months. To allow us to pay them rent (at one of their locations), pay for storage, purchase appliances and even furniture for the location and continue in good faith from April to December is unheard of in their opinions (though strictly legal—ethics and morals aside).

Do what you want; it’s your decision. We could have paid the additional $14,000 but I didn’t think I could spend the rest of my life living and working in that space with the hilt of their knife sticking out of my back. Verify and secure before dealing with this company. Maybe we’re the only ones, maybe it was personal, I don’t know, but buyer beware.