I built a beach house with Hiline Homes 2 years ago. I actually blogged about it specifically so people could see what our experience was like because I too could not find anything online. I haven't updated the blog with what the house has been like since we moved into it because I got burned out. But overall, I think the house was pretty solidly built. The build experience was far from perfect but that is also true of my sister's super high end build that I got to hear about going up as well. I will say the fixes and responses to getting things fixed on the higher end home were a lot better than what Hiline has done. But our house itself seems like a very good value to me. All inclusive with our land, permits, driveway, excavation/ground prep, etc, we paid about $118 per sq foot. With the builder we quoted with, the cost would have been $160 per sq ft. and the quality at that price would have been comparable to Hiline's since the builder also would have been using similar materials to get their quote that low. (By similar materials I mean the finishing touches like countertops, carpet, flooring, etc. They would have used the same construction materials, and in some cases, Hiline's construction materials were actually nicer.) So, I think you could go with one of these companies and come out okay, though I can only speak for one of them. We had a terrible project manager but he was fired after our build. Hopefully their next one is better.) Here's a link to my blog if you want to read about it. I always meant to go back and pull out the salient details that people would want to know, but I never did. So it's mostly an online journal, I'm sure it's incredibly painful to read! http://myhilinehome.com/

I assume an outdated house in disrepair would only sell quickly and for over asking, if it was priced very low and/or in an area without much to choose from. My home was just a standard cookie-cutter 80s ranch, 1400 square feet on .20 acre lot. 5 houses were for sale on my street at the same time -- ouch...some the exact same model. The market is flooded and there is a ton to choose from in the price range. But almost everything comparable was outdated and didn't show well. There are also a ton of foreclosure's and short sales that are priced lower, giving buyers a chance to 'get a deal' that I had to compete with. I watched Designed To Sell, House Hunters, Property Virgins, and Unsellables constantly for months leading up to us putting our house on the market. I took what I learned and just made simple changes for paint, decor, etc. We did a cheap redo of our kitchen to get rid of the original cabs and we put in ***gasp*** Corian counters, haha. Buyers loved seeing solid surface after every other house in our range had laminate. Our Realtor is a top agent in the area for over 30 years and she was very concerned that it would not appraise for the offer that our buyer gave. There were no comparables in the area that were priced near as high. We priced a little high, knowing that we'd probably get lower offers -- never dreamed we'd get an offer for over asking. But every single person that saw our home wanted to buy it. Staging can make a huge difference. It did for us! I really think the only reason it did appraise was because we were there and kind of 'made friends' with the woman who did the appraisal.

I have Jim Bishop cabinets. In the first 12 months of wear I had many problems. 1) Finish wearing off around knobs. Looks like they are 20 years old. Poor quality finish. 2) Pantry closet (which wasn't cheap) split in half. 3) drawer under sink split in half 4) faded cabinet doors within 3 years. I complained early on... finally, a JB rep came to my house. He promised some repair. He never returned or called. Finally spoke with someone from JB who told me it was too late to do anything. AND... the wear and tear was my fault. I can't believe that the finish would wear off in the first year and that be my fault. Poor quality and poor customer service. Eventually I will have to replace the kitchen because of the worn out appearance. VERY DISAPPOINTED.

I have a hyper kaffir lime tree- about 12 feet tall and 9 feet wide- is what i keep it trimmed to I use it mainly for the lime zest which i freeze and the leaves which i use fresh or frozen or dried ( when i trim it i get about 4 bushels of leaves). I am looking for a larah orange - another sour orange used to make curacao and also as an adjunct for the Seville in making a sour orange pie- much like key lime. Any help would be appreciated. It seems like all of these "odd" fruits that make wonderful marinades and sauces and flavoring agents are deprecated - not to be found anywhere in markets - which is why i started the kaffir lime tree.