Maleno Custom Building & Real Estate, Erie PA

Maleno Builders converted our first floor Livingroom into a master bedroom and bathroom. From the first meeting to construction estimate they were very professional and accommodating. The project came in on budget and ahead of time. My wife is handicapped and they accommodated her need and recommended changes and additions that met her needs. We stayed in the house during the renovation, and were not inconvienced during the process. We especially wish to express our thanks to Lee (handled the major portion of the work) and Joe for all they did. We would highly recommend Maleno Builders for any remodeling project, they are excellent.

The Maleno Team is amazing, with attention to detail, good value, personal attention, they always respond. This is an over-all A plus, plus building experience, and they always follow up!
A special thank you to Natalie and Ritchie, who dot every i, and cross every t everytime!
Thank You!
Deb and Jeff

When we first decided to build a new home, we weren't familiar with Maleno, but their reputation preceded them and we’re happy we chose to work with them.

Not knowing much about architecture and construction, my husband and I were relying on Maleno’s expertise to create the perfect home from our vision—something that cannot be easy, but something that they accomplished beautifully.

Initially we met with Natalie who helped us select our lot and was a primary point of contact throughout the process. She and Dominic were happy to meet us across town in a bitter snowstorm mid-construction so that we could do an impromptu walk-through. Not once did they seem putout.

Natalie and Melissa worked with us to design a custom floorplan that we changed over and over until we finally hit that perfect layout for our family’s needs. The number of times we rejected plan suggestions, I was sure they’d be getting frustrated, but their professionalism and patience never wavered.

We had walkthroughs staggered over the building process and met with Natalie, Melissa, Dominic, and/or Richie. Each time our questions were answered, concerns were addressed, and requests for changes were noted. The building crew members were always accommodating during our visits, especially if we wanted to snap photos of the progress.

We were lucky enough to get our keys just days before Erie was shut down for COVID-19 mitigation. For the sake of decreased exposure, only Natalie and Richie were present for that otherwise exciting day. They gave us a wealth of knowledge about our new home as we did our last walkthrough.

After we’d gotten our keys, Ideal Sound & Vision set up our smart home devices and security. They were headed to Dominic’s home to work on his house next. The fact that Maleno employs the same companies for their personal homes as they do for their customers’ homes is indicative to me that they truly trust their contractors. It makes me more confident in the quality of our home’s construction.

Every large construction project is going to have issues. Any builder who tells you otherwise is lying. Naturally we had some concerns early on. We emailed Dominic regarding our concerns. Generally we received a response the same day (often within hours) about how the issue (s) would be handled. Every single concern we had was addressed. Not once did they tell us that something was not their problem or that they wouldn’t follow up. Either a contractor was sent to us or Richie himself came to lend his skills. From a looming tree on an adjacent lot threatening to fall on our home, to a tiny screw hole that wasn’t covered aesthetically—Maleno took care of it.

Building our home was about as smooth a process as I could have expected. Designing it was not only fun, it was educational. And being able to see the house through its construction phases leaves little doubt as to the quality of a home we plan to spend many years.
Maleno did an excellent job and continues to be accessible as we settle into our neighborhood. They are professional and always available to answer our questions. They left us feeling confident in our decision to build with them.

Notably, Natalie was remarkably easy to work with and has such a welcoming personality. It was refreshing and enjoyable to work with her (especially after some less-than-stellar agents we’ve worked with in the past). After we were moved in, she checked in multiple times and when I reached out to her with some neighborhood questions, she responded immediately. Her customer service is unmatched. And Richie, Maleno’s foreman extraordinaire, is easily one of the most accommodating and helpful people I’ve ever met. Despite obviously being in high-demand with all of the construction projects he’s overseeing across Erie County, he’s never abrupt, rushed or anything less than generous when working on any project (small or large). There are not enough hours in the day for how above and beyond he goes, but he manages.

Natalie helped us to find the perfect house! She worked diligently to locate it and patiently answered all of our questions. She also walked us through the whole complicated and confusing process of buying it. Natalie is a wonderful and caring professional who is truly invested in finding the right fit and making it as painless as possible.

Natalie also helped us to sell our former home. Her suggestions and guidance had it sold in 6 days! A win for all involved. Maleno Real Estate is the best!

I have lived at Shadow Pines for three years. I have found it clean, quite and well maintained. The staff is always there to answer your concerns. The pool, exercise room and surrounding areas are always cleaned and well maintained. The road is not open to the public, which adds to safety. My back patio is set in view of woods, birds, and if your lucky a deer and her fawn, a little peice of peace and tranquility. I would recommend this place highly, if you are looking for a home away from home
Nancy Staal

I can only say that since it was an estate sell number one to wish both of us well! Really my mom passed away! Second the only contact was to lower price and renew contract! I have said my peace. Thanks also for coming and packing and.cleaning that you volunteered to do.

Worst experience when it came to real estate sales. Talk about aggressive sales but then have 3 open houses in a 5 to 6 month time frame. No guidance! If your a first time seller go with someone who is not gonna be a part time real estate agent!

Loved living at Lakeview apartment! Absolutely gorgeous place, friendly and outstanding staff! Highly recommend Maleno!

If you want a beautiful quality built custom home or a well maintained apartment call Dom and his team.excellent craftsmanship and many years experience will make building your dream home very pleasurable.

We loved living here! The community was so nice! The management and staff were great! The apartment was very spacious, clean and modern. All of the appliances in the apartments were fairly new and worked great! We loved having a washer and dryer in our own apartment. The rent was very low for all of the amenities you get with it! If you ever had a problem, the maintenance crew comes very fast after reporting the problem! When there was snow, the parking lots are always plowed in a timely manner as well! Overall we loved living here and were sad to leave but we had to move to be with family.

We just want to thank the maleno's for an incredibly built home. Our family finally has a place that we will be comfortable in. The attention to detail and respect put into it surpasses every other new construction home we have seen. Between Jared, dominic, and natalie our experience has been better than we ever thought it could be. Personal touches were taken care of without any hesitation. Thanks so much for building a home that we can create memories that truly last a lifetime.

Have live at Shadow Pines Apartments for 5 years now! Great amenities such as the pool, the gym, events, etc. Staff is always helpful when there is an issue or question. The common areas and garages are always well kept. The only complain is the amount of snow that accumulates in this area because we are on top of a hill, there just isn't anywhere to put it. What do you expect when you live in Erie? !

My wife and I really enjoyed living at Shadow Pines. In fact we were very, very sad to leave. We loved the spacious living room and the bright interiors of the apartment. The balcony gave us wonderful views of the legendary Erie sunsets. It was also great to have access to a heated pool and an exercise room. The finished, attached garage was a life saver. We never had a problem in the five years we lived there and when minor issues did arise (with appliances etc.) the maintenance staff were prompt and responsive. All of the office personnel were courteous and helpful. We will certainly miss living on Copper Drive.

This was my first apartment, and i lived here for 6 years in the smaller 1 br unit. The pros are in unit laundry, garages available (for extra fee), functioning appliances, gas heat and clean living space. I never had a problem with neighbors, and maintenance was responsive. Dealing with the office was always professional and prompt, whether it was Linda, Rachel or Wendy. Online lease signature, informative emails, and direct withdrawal for rent also made the place easy to work with. Snow does impact parking availability but Erie gets a lot of snow, it's sort of expected.

We built our house with Maleno's and they were great from begining to the end. Everyone at Maleno was very organized, helpful and friendly. This is our first time building a house and we have had our own questions regarding the whole process. Dominic, Jarod & Melissa were very helpful in each and every aspect, from selecting the best suitable lot to picking the right design. They not only provided hand sketches of the designs they build, but also walked us through a couple houses they were already building so we get a good idea of how they look rather than just going by pictures. Overall we are very satisfied how our house turned out and we will recommend Maleno to anyone on their house hunt.

We recently built a home on our own property with Maleno Builders. We chose Maleno's because we were certain they would have the knowledge, expertise, resources and experience that we were looking for. They estimated 15 weeks from groundbreaking to completion and came only a few weeks out from that estimate and this was during winter weather, holidays and hunting season! We were amazed at how quickly things went together! I cannot say enough about what a wonderful experience it was for us. The staff is very professional and eager to please. The quality of workmanship is excellent. I have to add that Dominic Maleno has to be the most patient man I have ever met! He allowed us to tweak the houseplans we had decided on as much as we wanted to and graciously helped us make our dreams come true! That meant so much to me, because it was my life's dream to build a home and I wanted it to be perfect! AND IT IS! Melissa, the designer we worked with, really helped put things together and she caught on very quickly to my taste. She would find materials for me when I tried to describe what I would like and she would make suggestions on new ideas. And lastly, our site foreman, Joe, was so caring and responsive to make things just the way we wanted them. When I asked if he could find an actual barn beam for the mantle, voila! Next day we had it! And it was perfect with all its imperfections! Just what my husband and I had in mind! (Now we just have to agree what goes on that mantle, haha!)
So to sum up, we highly recommend Maleno Builders to anybody that is thinking of building a new home. You cannot go wrong! We loved every minute of it!
K. Kopnitsky

We had a very pleasant experience renting from Maleno. The apartment was clean when we moved in. All the appliances were adequate and in working condition. The garage and basement allowed for our car and storage. This is rare for an apartment. From my experience storage has always been an issue. The exterior was well maintained. The landscaping was well done. The only downfall was there is no lighting over the sink in the kitchen. If we have a need to rent in Erie in the future we would rent from Maleno again.

My child is a student at a school in Erie, we live 8 hours away, when we had to find an apartment at the last minutes we were stuck with taking what we could find and hope for the best. We drove the 8 hours to Erie, arrived at Lake View Apartments and was so pleasantly surprised. The one-bedroom my child rented was huge to apartment standards, it was clean and the amenities were great. The garage was wonderful for Erie winters and being able to park your car and walk into your apartment was nice and also safe. The staff at Maleno is wonderful to work with, very receptive to questions or concerns. We can't say enough about the maintenance staff, Jim, is the best and they are there as soon as you call. We highly recommend Maleno and the properties they manage, top notch organization. Rent is reasonable, yearly increase was reasonable, utilities (heat approx $50 - $60 per month in winter) reasonable. This particular apartment is near pool, a bit noisy in summer months so if that's a concern (for a student studying), find one not near pool. Location of apartments in a good location for Erie - not far from major stores but not too close either.

Lived in the Shadow Pines community fora few years with Maleno. Shadow Pines is in a great safe location. Having access to a pool and gym was also a bonus. When I put in a work order for maintenance, Drew came out the same day to fix it. Maleno's staff was friendly and I enjoyed living there.