Highland Homes Reviews

The house is alright. We closed fast and the house was behind schedule. We were promised things would be fixed quickly as we found them but we have found that is not always the case and have had to push to get things fixed.

This was not our first new home, though it was the first time we had built from ground zero. We downsized from a (2) story highland home (new model) of which we loved, to a (1) story highland home new build. Unfortunately, the quality of the material and workmanship of our first home surpassed that of the home recently purchased. The sales team and site manager have helped us process through the building experience but the covid pandemic caused quite a few issues including having to move out the closing date twice.

Highland has great people and I do believe they are a great builder. However, there are a lot of issues with our home. The craftsmanship in many areas of the house is very poor. We trust each item will be addressed by the builder.

We moved up our closing date on our home based on Highland saying they would be done earlier than we thought they would. Big mistake. They did not complete in time and we had no where to go and moved in. Still not done with issues and we have been here for 2 months. Not the way we planned. Cabinet company came out in about two weeks and hasn't been back in 6-7 weeks- forget holidays, we are just fed up - that is only one thing that is not fixed/completed. Only move in if completely done and hope you have no issues. I will never move around the holidays again and never take a builders word for when they will complete a home - I will wait and wait and wait to close for never having these headaches and that builder will need to wait on me and will understand since we have this story to tell. The quality of the home is very good for what was done and the sales rep was great but I can not handle the ups and downs again. I have been home since we are still in Covid protocol and that is the one thing saving us for whenever people can come, I am here to get things checked off our very long of things that need to be done. Trust me, this review is being nice since our frustrations run so high but "it is what it is" as a friend of ours always says. We just deal with it. If Highland is reading this - they know who this is and that is a shame for it can not really be anonymous and this story sticks our like a glaring red dot on the page. ... More

We closed on our home in October 2020. We love the design of our home and the location. Highland has great floor plans to choose from. We have had numerous issues during the construction phase and after we moved in. Specifically, we have had several plumbing related issues. Mustang Plumbing is the subcontractor for Highland Homes and almost everything Mustang Plumbing has touched has been done incorrectly. The largest and most egregious issue was that Mustang Plumbing did not connect our grinder pump to the city sewer line in front of the house. On the day we moved into our new home we had sewage running all over our front yard and driveway. The next day Mustang did connect the grinder pump to the city sewer line; however, they failed to connect the grinder pump back up to the electrical system. A few days later we had sewer gas in our new home. Another Mustang plumber came out and resolved the issue. Another Mustang issue is that they incorrectly installed our disposal in the kitchen sink. A few days after moving in to our new home we had lots of water leaking under our sink. Yet another Mustang plumber had to come out and correct the issue. We have also had issues with our "Smart Home Package" offered by Highland Homes. Essentially, during the construction phase of the house, IES (another subcontractor) neglected to install several access ports needed for the Eero wifi extenders. IES offered to retrofit the extenders but doing so would have required rather extensive drywall work. We declined because we do not want patwork drywall in our new home. Another IES issue focused on our video doorbell. In order to install our video doorbell IES had to remove several bricks from the front of the house and then a brick mason had to come out and patch up the front of the house. It looks fine, but why not install the video doorbell from the very beginning. All of the IES issues stem from poor planning. Advice to future buyers - insist that your wifi extenders and video doorbell be installed before you move in. It is a huge inconvenience having people in and out of your house installing items that can easily be installed before you move in. I write this review on January 6, 2021. Since we moved in we have had to submit at least 6-7 warranty issues to Highland Homes. All but one have been addressed. But I find it sad that we have had to submit so many warranty requests on a brand new home. Our project manager, Matt, has been very responsive to each of the issues we have faced. I do not blame Matt for anything. However, I strongly encourage Highland Homes to source better plumbing and low voltage subcontractors. If you are looking to buy a Highland Home, you will love your design choices and the floor plan options. Highland Homes look great. However, be very thorough in your inspections because I do have my doubts about the quality of the workmanship (especially the areas that are hidden behind walls such as plumbing. Ask questions. Visit the home site frequently during the construction phase. Take pictures to document the building process. ... More

We spent a good amount of money on our home and when we finally moved in, we were and still are disappointed by how many issues we are having in the home already. We have only lived there for two months. The quality of work is subpar. It seems like they rushed the job at the end and used subpar materials to get the job done. Perhaps they didn’t have access to the better materials due to COVID but that shouldn’t result in our home already have cracks in the paint and doors not being able to be closed and opened correctly, including the front main door. The tubs are already peeling. The caulking in many areas are embarrassing. The bathroom tiles that we paid extra to upgrade are uneven. There’s a lot of cosmetic issues with the painting they did in the house. We are still working on a list of things that need to be corrected. The issue is it’s hard to be home every time to have things fixed. But overall, it’s disappointing to have spent over 8 months anticipating our new home and still have to keep going back and requesting things be fixed. ... More

My experience started off great, but once we got close to the end to close that's when we had issue with getting items completed. The sales person was great she did the best she could to get items addressed. However, the construction team was slow and unresponsive to getting items ready for a final walkthrough. Things weren't ready until 5 minutes before we had to close.

But because of the home being built so quickly, there were many things that were overlooked. Our two main upgrades (Lot size & master shower) were not completed to our liking and we are still resolving these issues. Also the sprinkler system was set up prior to moving in and it was set to run three times a day, every day and our first water bill was almost $900. It would have been nice to know that issue before moving in. Very frustrating!

Finish work and muniltipul other problems found with the house.

The product and floorplans are great, but the contractors repeatedly made mistakes and many did not put much care into their workmanship. Management failed to communicate effectively and oversee the quality of the project, leaving a long list of repairs and fixes that had to be completed post-closing. We had contractors in and out of our house for two months after we moved in, and although everything was made right in the end, it was a very frustrating and inconvenient process. If you build with Highland, visit the site often, and triple check all of the specs. We visited nearly every week and still, items were missed. Take detailed notes about brick and grout colors, and pay attention to tile spacing... and when it comes to baseboards and trim, make sure they don't use MDF. It was the only no cost option we were given, even though they admit there's no good way to install it (nail holes swell preventing you from ever having a smooth surface). ... More

The Highland sales representative was knowledgeable and extremely easy to work with. I believe my project manager made his best effort to handle the many issues that I'm sure are common to a new build but there's a good possibility he was juggling too many things at one time. He probably needs an assistant to keep him on track. He hasn't been great at responding to texts and/or phone calls. I believe he's sincere in his desire to do a good job but I still have some minor things that need addressing. I would recommend Highland Homes but definitely with a word of caution - don't allow issues to slide and hope things will eventually work out in the long run. ... More

I feel like the build was rushed in order to meet the closing date. This allowed for things to be missed and unfinished. I love the Floorplan and the house in general.

Could have been better with details and craftsmanship, unfortunately it didn’t turn out exactly as we wanted but “good enough” which is kind of the running theme on some things. In some ways they were very radon’s ice but then they’d disappear with no communication. In the end a couple of big things were missing/didn’t turn out right and I’m tired of having to call them out to fix things.

Service after the sale is poor. We’re told GE Profile appliances, many substituted by lower priced models

The finish work of our home was below par. The building manager did a great job addressing the items. If I could do it over I would not have closed until the majority of the items were corrected.

House quality is great but there are always some of what I would call normal things that pass through during inspection that we have to open warranty claims to get it fixed. And the response time is not ideal... Sometimes the builder will try to push you an easy solution for you to fix or take advantage of your lack of technical knowledge... Having a hard time to have the builder recognizing that my backyard mow has a lots of imperfections which my 3 yrs old son twisted his ankle due to holes between grass sods. Also there are several types of grass so the backyard grass is all colored with different types of green and grass textures as well. Had issues with backsplash installation as well... After many attempts they did it right although I had to accept few minor defects as I was already of people coming to my place after I moved in. ... More

From the beginning of the process, December 2019, Megan, our sales rep, went above and beyond to answer our questions or concerns that we had. We purchased our property before our section of the neighborhood had been started and before Highland officially started building in the neighborhood so there were growing pains associated with that. The whole process could have been streamlined had we known every option that was available from the start. Throughout the whole process we had to essentially inundate our sales rep with questions about things we could have put in the house, things that are now readily available to all purchases, ie. Black exterior and interior windows. Megan did her best to get our questions answered asap but it seemed like corporate didn't have the answers themselves. Again, Megan went above and beyond and did an amazing job. Overall quality of the house...some aspects are good and others not so much. The trim work around the house is sub par and cheap. The caulking used to seal has already started splitting, seams and taping on the drywall have started splitting, which was explained to us by our construction manager is not covered to have repaired by highland since its from settling. Correction tape and floating issues are covered but not seems in the caulking and nail pops. One of our corners in the kitchen trim is wonky and not plum, neither is the wall. Exterior paint job is spotty and shotty and the trades used throughout the process have zero respectability in their work. Touch up done on trim around the house was not painted properly after repairs were made to it. Stain in the master bathroom tub hasn't been able to be removed. Cracks on the corners of walls, and the list goes on. For a company that I've heard nothing but good things about some of the work quality is lower than builder grade at best. Need to be more attentive to the trades they hire and be on-site more to make sure they're doing their jobs and cleaning up their trash. I should not be finding fragments, large fragments at that, of brick and trash throughout my yard under flower beds and sod. ... More

Wasn’t a very pleasant home purchase. We had issues from the day we moved in and had to reach out many times to get things fixed.

We were very excited to build with Highland for the 2nd time. We were impressed with the standard features and incentives offered this time around. Once we moved in we started experiencing one problem after another:the a/c drip line wasn’t connected to the drain causing the washing machine to dump an entire load of waste water into the walls. The issue was addressed immediately by the emergency plumber and Sean sent a restoration company to pull baseboards and set fans to dry the walls out. It was an oversight that should have been caught during several different inspections. It was very inconvenient but it was handled as well as it could have been. Then the dryer didn’t work. It turns out the plug was wired 110 instead of 220, which meant holes had to be cut in the walls in the laundry room and bedroom. The garage door opener and plugs suddenly didn’t work, turns out they moved a plug in the garage and didn’t connect all the wires. The garage door doorknob fell off in my hand. We still haven’t gotten the USB plugs, which are a standard feature, installed. One of the bedroom door frame boards has all sorts of chunks and notches taken out and the painters decided to remove the blue tape without fixing it. There was a lot of that from our final walkthrough. There are a many imperfections that weren’t fixed/touched up. It’s unfortunate that there isn’t much pride in workmanship anymore. Things that should have been done right the first time are now going to have to be addressed by the warranty department. I’m making a list. ... More

Home was clean when I moved in and ready for me to take over. The service from our PM was great however after we moved in several items came to light that needed attention. Our PM had the small items corrected in no time but the items left on the list have not been corrected such as our dishwasher issue with the hot water needed to clean the dishes etc. Hot water takes too long to get to the master shower and dishwasher so we have a lot of wasted water etc. You cannot foresee these underling issues before you close. After my investigation on this issue all of the highland homes have this issue in Liberty addition. I have called Rheem and explained the issue and found out that highland should have installed a recirculation pump to resolve this issue. My PM spoke with him boss and told him Highland has had this issue for the last ten years etc. S you can see where this is headed! ... More

We had a great process most of the way. The sales people were fantastic; super helpful and went out of the way in many cases to assist us. The construction side was pretty good - they cared and tried. They were pretty flexible and worked with us to accommodate some special requests. The company is higher quality than many others, but there were still small shortcuts taken here and there that were frustrating. We then got caught up in the COVID hype and they cancelled walk-thrus and refused to work on warranty items even though construction was continuing right next door on other houses. That was very frustrating and the communication was not great during this time, but the circumstances were unusual. Overall, they could have been better, but I have seen alot worse out there. Compared to their peers, I think they are near the top of the industry in terms of customer experience. ... More

Be sure to have specific lists and items you wish to discuss with your builder contact before meeting. Spend time doing the walkthroughs and stay positive and appreciative of their time and effort. They are working with big issues related to the virus and the processes involved with getting items addressed in your new home.

They response issue but they don’t solve the problem. And the materials quality are not good.

We moved in December and already experiencing issues of poor workmanship. The houses in this neighborhood are so close to each other and the house which is getting built after we moved in has window directly facing our window. With houses being so close to each other, more thought should have been put to not have neighbors window face each other. Flooring is cheap wood and not perfect for a new home. Would love to provide more details when contacted.

I really like the home and overall it has good quality. There is one part which is not addressed properly. My master-bath granite counter-tops are really rough and does not look a quality product. I had raised this issue to all involved in the home process since the day it was installed, however, I was just told that this is how granite comes. I would really appreciate if they replace with better quality product. The construction manager was good overall. So far I have not seen any other issues.