Highland Homes Reviews

Our closing date was pushed by a month. When we moved in, there were tons of items that needed to be fixed. It's been almost 2 months we have moved in and there is always something to fix.

Very difficult process working with Highland. Both closing and builder repairs have been a bad experience - based largely on promises from Highland that they inevitably break (sometimes almost immediately). Setting up closing went well, but the morning of closing I was told the home wasn’t actually finished. I should have seen this big red flag. I went back and forth for a few hours trying to get them to delay the closing for their failure to complete the home on time - but I was promised that everything would be completed within 48 hours of closing. Based on the relatively short list of remaining items they were willing to admit to, I gave them the benefit of the doubt and closed. Mistake on my part - do NOT close with Highland until you are fully satisfied with the condition of your home! Getting them to finish everything else after they have your money is like pulling teeth. Once we finally arrived at the home, we were immediately shocked to see the walls were not painted with the color and quality of paint that was listed in our spec sheet. When we pointed this out to the builder representative, he just didn’t believe us and promised us that the paint was the right color and quality. Clearly, to anyone experienced with interior paint, you can tell from the feel that the paint is not correct. And it should be obvious to anyone that the color is wrong. He promised he would look into it anyway, and he has failed to follow-up after 2+ months. There has been a similar trend with many other items in the home (faulty dishwasher, grout repair n the master bath, replacing a piece of damaged ceiling where a can light was drilled in the wrong location, installing missing pieces of trim, repairing damage to the marble countertops, adjustments to cabinets and drawers, and much more!). After promising us they could easily and quickly fix these items in a matter of weeks, it took more than 2 weeks to even get them to repair one item. If I was to leave my representative alone to figure out everything that needs to be completed, nothing would be done! And often the only response I get from him is “we’ll get right on that, I’ll have someone come out tomorrow,” and three weeks later we’re still waiting for someone to come out. If you do go with Highland, you will HAVE to contact your builder rep multiple times a day for the first month or two, otherwise nothing will get done! And talking to his supervisor wasn’t much different. I was told by the supervisor that he wasn’t aware there were any issues and that we’ll just have to “hit reset” on everything, start fresh, and everything will get back on track. No surprise here - that was also a clever way to shut me up for a week or so and get me off their back. NOT good customer service. And that doesn’t even go into the poor build quality. It’s obviously one of those houses/communities that must be put up as quickly as possible without regard to quality (but you still pay a premium for it). In addition to a terrible paint job, the interior trim (baseboards, door and window casings) is absolutely terrible. For example - very rough joinery that is held together with caulk. It’s bad work and it’s in obvious locations throughout the home. The landscaping was clearly just thrown together in about an hour or two. It doesn’t seem they even prepared or leveled the land underneath the sod - it remains extremely lumpy and difficult to mow. There were even large gaps between sections of sod that were too large for the grass to fill-in naturally. I think we will one day be somewhat satisfied with our home, but it will take a lot of work and out-of-pocket expense on our end to get it there. If you choose Highland, be prepared for that, and stay on top of the builder daily to ensure things are completed correctly and on time. Without constant pressure, they will do it as cheaply as possible, probably still wrong, whenever they can get around to it. Good luck! ... More

Closed the house with a lot of defects. They promised to fix but take them forever.

Adam was very good and helpful during buying process. We loved the location of house, however, finishing and detailing is not good. We bought a house in end of October and they installed wrong bathroom wall tiles. Zack has been helping for construction management. We tole him that this is not the tile that we ordered. After that we did follow up 4 to 5 times and every time he would say he would find out and then never got back to us. We still don’t have correct tile in our master bathroom for which we already paid. Our one of bathroom cabinet is still needs to be changed.

I’ll start with the good. Ethan, the sales manager was awesome. He seemed to care, took the time to answer questions and even sent us updated pictures. Hank, the loan officer was very helpful and informative and answered all of our questions. Now for the bad. We had 3 different construction mangers. So things were missed every time there was a change in personnel. There is such a lack of communication. Tradesmen just show up unannounced and whenever they want. The affidavit when we moved in was “to take only two weeks” is still not done 4 months later. We still don’t have the official affidavit copy that we have asked for several times. The craftsmanship is not good and it doesn’t even seem like they care. When they come and “fix” something, it’s not fixed, it just “looks” better, but not properly done, and then something else gets messed up and we start the process all over again. Tradesmen just randomly show up unannounced, but when there is a scheduled time, they don’t show up at all. So much of my time has been wasted by tradesman that can’t get the job done. We had so many issues with the tile work, cabinets, painters, brick issues and so much more. I can never get the construction manager to give me an answer, let alone support for the fixes that need to be made. I have to continue to just randomly email to get something done that was on our affidavit. The saddest part, is that I would never refer this builder to someone else. This was supposed to be our forever home, I feel they have taken that away from me and don’t even care. I can’t even been to describe the level of frustration and saddened we have felt over this. We feel like no one cares about what the end product should be or what it has made us have to do to get things done. ... More

I do not know if I have enough room. 1. Fireplace was not put in correctly and whoever put it in bent some things so it looked like it was in correctly. 2. Tile is cracked and covered up with paint to look as if not cracked. 3. Side of house was not finished and had a hole in it (we had to fix it) 4 We paid for an extended patio (16,000$) and they did not brick in the back! It looks so cheap it is embarrassing to have people over. 5. Light fixture in entrance looked like the one we ordered but it was a much smaller version and have yet to get the one we ordered (was this done on purpose thinking we would not see the difference?) 6. Guttering in the back of the house...well there is none and when it rains, the rain makes a big hole in the yard. 7. The black fireplace tile was done incorrectly and it is off center. 8. Paint missing on the inside and outside of the house and no one will give us the name of the paint so we can get it and fix it ourselves. 9. No one will give us a manual and you cannot find one online to "fix" our air conditioner/heater so that we might adjust the temperature. I want to add that Don and Linda are great... ... More

to resolve issues it take a decade.. i have bought my home in July.. and still there are things that needs to be completed. the labor used is not very good by this company. they are not very detail oriented.

This is my first time with highlands and I am very disappointed on the amount of issues I am having with a NEW home. Feels like a used home.

Since moving in, I have had issues with electrical components such as the dryer outlet and breakers. I have submitted multiple requests to apply my warranty on these issues, but I have not received assistance. This has not been an enjoyable experience.

Do not close without having your punch list addressed and completed. I was trusting that the punch list items would be addressed in a timely manner after closing and that was far from the case. I have emailed Highland Homes and have received no response to my issues. I am at the point where I am willing to pay out of pocket to fix my new home, Sad state of affairs.

Do not purchase a home without the actual homebuyer approving the overall process and closing.

First 2 weeks had good response as to items that need attention. The last 6 weeks response was good from contractors that Highland Homes contacted, but not from Highland Homes as to items that would be handled directly by Highland Homes.

Check every detail of the house before buying.....

Not off to a good start...

I paid the full price for the home, including all items that were supposed to be included in the price. However, many things were not installed, such as fans and lights. The fence planning was completely mishandled, and the retaining wall was either not built or left incomplete. Additionally, I found several issues with the AC, drainage, tiles, doors, and more. I'm very dissatisfied with the price, especially since it's over $100k higher than homes in other communities built by the same builder within Dallas city. I can no longer trust the statements made by the salesperson. Let me know if you'd like further adjustments! ... More

Well there were many excuses. Change of builders, weather, rushing/more time, etc. They literally built my garage in the wrong spot and then messed up the island. Luckily we caught the island in time to fix it. But I now have a garage that is not functioning the way I needed it to be. The tile for backsplash was awful. There are holes and missing paint throughout the house. Fixtures were the wrong color. The quality assurance didn’t happen. Literally no one walked the house and tried to fix anything before we showed up they just built it and let us move in. We had a leak in the bathroom the first week. Not sure if they thought they could do a crap job because we weren’t in town to watch their every move but they are having to pay for it now. And it’s super frustrating to be living in construction, when it was supposed to be completed. Thea was knowledgeable and responsive and if she didn’t know she tried to find out asap. ... More

This building experience has been by far the worst build I’ve been a part of. This is my third build and haven’t experienced anything quite like this. We are over two months in and are still having contractors in and out every few days. The windows have been by far the worst part of the build. We are still owed one window which does not properly latch and now allows cold air in. We had several items that were promised to be taken care of before we moved in which were not met. We were reluctant to sign since they had not been addressed. We were promised these would be resolved within two weeks. That wasn’t and still isn’t the case. We keep getting told it’s the window vendor that keeps falling short. I have repeatedly taken PTO from work to make time for the contractors coming in and out. At this point our realtor mentioned we should be getting some sort of compensation or upgrades at no charge for all the headaches we’ve been put through. I agree!! The construction manager just shrugged that off as a joke! It wasn’t by any means! At this point it would just be nice to have everything resolved at once without any further delays. I would never build another Highland Home or recommend one to a family or friend. Our realtor feels the same! ... More

Of the 4 primary homes I purchased in the last decade, this was one of the WORST home buying experience I have been through. The quality of work done for a model home is bad and after sale service is poor. I’m giving 2 stars rating since the Sales representative was exceptional

I’m disappointed and this builder is not highly value,

After a long search for my first home I decided to build with highland homes. Little did I know my home would be riddled with problems and poor quality control from the builder. The functionality of my house is ok. It is sealed up tight and the appliances they provided work just fine. That’s the positive. My builder assured me that he would be in contact with me every step of the way, this was far from the case. During my preconstruction meeting it was made known that I’d like to upgrade the outside and add decorative instead of brick. I was told no that it was too late to add that. I love to detail my truck and friends cars so I also asked for a sink in my garage, again I was told no because unannounced to me the slab had been poured and the plumbing had been done. I was told they could not tie into any plumbing lines, again no framing had been done yet. This being my first home and only 20 minutes away from where I previously lived I came during construction almost every other day. I received a call from my builder about how I wanted to install the prewire for surround sound. I got up and drove out to the house to see my framing had been complete (again no notification from the builder). I saw that they had already prewired the surround sound without my input on it. My center channel speaker is now prewired ABOVE where the tv will be mounted....I had under cabinet kitchen lights put in as an upgrade only to find out that the switch for these lights would be in a hallway in another room away from the kitchen (again zero communication from the builder)...when I asked for the builder to move it he told me he did not want to do surgery on a newly built house. After a debate he agreed to move the switch but now it is next to my bedroom and not by the lights. During the final phases of construction the painting and caulking was laughable. My baseboards have no quarter round so they are caulked to the floor. The workers literally spread the caulk with their fingers and would smear it all over the floor. There was paint splattered all over my floors. When I asked the builder to clean it up he told me that this was as clean as it gets. He said this is “construction clean”. I had to take pictures and email the sales team to ask if this was the norm for highland homes. They assured me this was not the case and my entire house had to be caulked again. My bathroom mirrors are installed incorrectly and simply put on the countertop and leaned up against the wall. The workers did not caulk behind the bathroom counter tops as the mirrors are in the way. So there is an opening for condensation and bugs or whatever else can get down behind the countertops. I told him to please fix this but I was told that this was “construction 101”. When I went into other homes built the mirrors are flush up against the wall and the counter tops properly caulked. There were several holes punched inside of my kitchen cabinets in order to find the gas line for the cooktop. I had to tell the builder to patch these holes instead of him just doing it. The vinyl plank floors were already starting to peel up during the final walk through. There are several dings in every single door frame that they did not fix. I found 3 big chips in the quartz bathroom counter tops that the builder said he could fill. It took the builder four separate attempts to get the color right so people could not see the repair. Why not just replace it and make it right? I have also found an issue with the gutters not draining properly. My windows all have paint splattered on them from sloppy work that I was told I would have to clean up. “Construction clean” remember? I was pressured into closing by my builder and I can honestly say I regret it. Highland homes ruined my new home buying experience and I’m hiring my own people to come finish the touch up work that should have been the first place. I saved my money for 9 years after college and lived with my mother during that time. I’m a first responder and don’t want to have to stress about the build quality of my first home but....every day since I have moved in I found new issues with this house. My advice is to use another builder other than highland homes. They simply get a home built as fast as they can and move along. Very disappointed!! ... More

I'm not going to spend much time here because I doubt they'll allow this to be posted. My home was rushed by the builder, not me. I was actually saying I'm fine with the expected delivery date. The builder wanted to meet their numbers for the year and pulled my home in by several months. There have been a few issues as a result of the short build window as well as some expected issues. In both cases, I would be fine if they were fixed in a timely manner. Instead the average time is around three weeks. Some issues never responded to at all. I paid for some extra things that aren't currently usable. Now that I'm here, I learned I'll have to spend more money to actually use those items. Completely unacceptable. The sales office was an outstanding experience. That was very nice. I'm glad part of this was enjoyable, but ultimately it all has to be there and Highland just dropped the ball on my home. ... More

We have had issue after issue. Some of our service requests have been submitted multiple times. We have received a faulty water faucet a total of 3 times! We have still not received our gold lighting that was in our signed contract after 3 months of being in our home. Our roof leaked after the snow day which left our ceiling stained. The buying experience was great but the service sucks! I gave it two stars because our sales consultant was wonderful. It’s after buying the home that’s been the most stressful! This home cost too much money to have this many problems.

Unfinished work Not properly completed work such as floors, tile painting Damage in many areas such garage door Kitchen cabinets doors, door knob Damage to walls and sheet rock Damage to paint Damage to garage door Garage door not properly installed causing further damage Shower door not working properly 2 month after closing and nothing has been fixed yet. Electric outlets not working

Although highland may have a stunning plot plan the management of contractor craftsmanship and quality is severely lacking. Aside from their plot plan there is absolutely no difference in this builder from any other cookie cutter neighborhood home. It’s clear to see that each contractor has less respect for the home than the last. Spending half a million dollars on a home should yield more quality and excitement when moving in. Our blue tape walk items are still outstanding 2+ months later. The longer we live in the home the more we are blown away by lack of craftsmanship, quality and the amount of corners cut to “complete” the home. You should NOT have to deep clean construction mess after closing as the homeowner nor should you have to waste your time with the quick patch/bandaid jobs for items that have no reason to be left as outstanding. I’d also expect better efforts / responsiveness from Highland project management. Overall would not recommend. ... More

A lot of empty promises are made about fixing items under warranty and there is no follow up. Almost 4 months into a new house and there is still a lot of items to be fixed. Also, cabinet door was fixed on the wrong side and they won’t fix it. HH forgot to put a water shut off in the garage. A lot of mistakes. Hoping HH will reach out when they see this review.