Mint Condition Homes

We bought our home from Mila a little over a year and a half ago.
On the positive side, Mila has a better aesthetic sense than most home flippers, and she seems dedicated to using «green» products wherever convenient and affordable.
That said, we didn’t find much truth in her cute, friendly, and professional online persona. In fact, we had to wrangle with her tooth-​and-​nail over a gut-​wrenching four month contract period, and saw a dark side of her that totally took us by surprise.
Short version: After a series of bank screw-​ups, Mila was careless (to our benefit) with some paperwork, and she didn’t notice her mistake until the title officer pointed it out. At the time, Mila’s partner (David Stone) was out of town, and Mila went bonkers trying to fix her error before he got back, resorting to under-​handed, passive-​aggressive tactics to try to hold the transaction hostage. She also tried to squirrel out of important repairs that she had previously agreed to make. In the end, the bank had to hold a bunch of money out of escrow to force her to make good. I have no doubt Mila has a different version of events where we’re obnoxious and unreasonable whiners (or something), but I can’t overstate the anxiety and grief she caused us during the purchase of our first home.
I also have a firm belief that Mila and/​or her partner (Stone) withheld material information about a dangerous and expensive drainage problem in our backyard. Until we had the drainage issue fixed (at our expense), the backyard filled up like a lake when it rained, including pooling against the foundation of the house. On one trip to our property, our drainage expert looked around the yard and said, «Hey, I’ve been here before.» Upon checking his records, he informed us that DURING our contract period with Mila, her partner (Stone) had called the guy out to our property for a consultation. I don’t know exactly what was said at this meeting, but given our prior interactions, I have no reason to give Mila the benefit of the doubt, and I have a strong suspicion that she cost us a lot of money on the drainage problem.
Buyers should also be aware that Mila’s main contractor, Luis, does shoddy work. For example, over the past few months, our dryer has been inexplicably blowing fuses and sensors. At first, we thought we bought a lemon. Not so. Turns out, when Luis installed the dryer vent on the outside of the house, he left a little screen in place despite (a) common sense, and (b) a big white sticker that says «Remove Screen.» The screen has been collecting lint and blocking the air output, causing all of the hot air to collect inside and making the dryer overheat, not to mention creating a serious fire hazard.
Luis also installed our kitchen cabinets — the same cabinets Mila puts in almost all of her houses — with tiny little baby screws, so the cabinet doors have been falling off one-​by-​one as we use them over time.
I won’t continue with a never-​ending parade of horribles (though I could go on for a while). Suffice it to say that anybody thinking about buying a home from Mila should be prepared to engage in some vigorous self-​advocacy.