LEGACY Homes Townsend - Hazel Green, Alabama

Alex Baker

Cookie Cutter houses made of paper mache. At a glance, the outside of the houses, they look great from the road and seem to be somewhat worth the listed prices. However, upon closer inspection, you will quickly realize that the houses were built using very cheap materials that barely stand up to code.

The sheetrock is thin with no insulation throughout the house. This is to the point where you will be able to feel the push from your air conditioning unit to push the cold air out of your house through the lack of base boards in your garage with tremendous ease. The paint in the house that has been sprayed on the walls is hair thin and can not be cleaned without removing it and exposing the drywall underneath. Sound echoes throughout the walls from one end of the house to the other, to where it sounds like the noise would be coming from the other side of the wall. I have seen better walls in a war-torn village in Syria.

The electrical layout is atrocious. There are so many extra light switches for lights or equipment that just isnt there. The house comes with no ceiling fans at all. The switches may turn on one light in an area that has multiple lights or an area that could have two lights side by side that are operated by two separate switches. The ceiling lights are not centered and look like they were installed haphazardly. Everywhere you see something installed on the ceiling or wall, it is evident that someone was there and did not do a good job and could care less.

The framework for the doors is shockingly horrific. They provide no security for the room at all and will easily break due to the quality of the materials used. Screws will rip out of the frame or door with ease with something as simple as a dog running by and knocking into the door or pushing the open door with a full laundry basket. It paints a dark picture as to what could happen if someone were to want to break into the house. If a 25-pound dog running into the door can cause this kind of damage, it stands no chance against an intruder.

All windows come with screens that can be removed once and once. When removed, the screens from bends and sometimes breaks.

The flooring situation is something that is insulting to the would-be buyer. At first glanca, which seems to be the common theme with these houses, the floor looks great. This is until you get down and look at the corners throughout the house and notice gaps near the baseboards or shoe mold. The type of flooring used is cheap and is damaged easily from something as simple as dropping a hammer. The floor is uneven and ripples in certain parts of the house that mimics a 40 year old house. There is no lining under the floorboards, so if you were to spill something or a pipe were to burst and poor out onto the floor, nothing is stopping it from seeping underneath or into the walls. The house is not level in any part of the layout.

I have two and only two positives.
The smoke/carbon monoxide detection system is wonderful and extremely sensitive. If you burn your toast, it will set off every single smoke detector in your house and will leave your ears ringing.
The location is wonderful. Within a three - to 6-minute walk, you have a Wal-Mart Supermarket, Zaxby's, Burger King, Arby's, Wendy's, Papa Murphy's, Los Trojas, Subway, a new and wonderful Culver's, Verizon, AT&T, Dollar Tree, 2 mattress stores, Foodland, and Plainview church.

I bought my house on the first of Apri 2023. I will not be here when in April 2024. $260,000 for 1,600 square feet that is sure to be wiped away when the first tornado hits.
If you do decide to buy one of these houses, do not have just an inspector look at the property, have people who have worked in the construction field for years, take a look at it. These houses are built fast to sell fast. They are a money pit and should be avoided at all cost.

For $260,000, you could get a plantation style home in Vermont with over 2,500 square feet and 3 acres. In Alabama, you get a modern house with 1,600 square feet with barely a quarter acre.

Alex Baker