Highland Homes Reviews in Austin, TX

Overall there were delays and many not related to highland. My husband and I are very direct folks and we got the feeling that sometimes they didn’t want to give us answers because of poor customer experience. For us no matter if you said it’s ready in 2 years we would have appreciated that more than I don’t know, i don’t know. That’s it we love our home excluding the very cheap paint that literally wipes away at the touch. Also, all the cosmetic errors that the didn’t fix at walk through and then said wait until 11 months and submit the warranty…

Love the floor plan and the expedited closing. The title company was excellent to work with. Construction manager has been sympathetic however for whatever reason almost every system or area has required some corrective action and he is under pressure to deliver new homes rather than prioritize warranty work. This is very different from our experience with the new home we purchased from Perry Homes 6 years ago where there were very few follow up items, the quality of the initial work being much higher.

Our salesman Ethan was very responsive, knowledgeable, and caring. He was very helpful throughout the entire process and was eager to solve any and every issue that arose throughout. The construction manager Dylan was the same until the very end when there were some issues with door frames, when brought up he tried to talk his way out of solving the issues by going as far as saying it would push closing back two months. After going to his boss and pushing back it was resolved within a day. My family and I love the house and are very happy in our new home. Ethan is the best and I would recommend him to anyone and everyone. ... More

I am really happy with my home, Highland has created a house I have been able to turn into a home. If you are looking for a home I would definitely go to talk to Ethan. The only problem is there is only one Ethan. He is amazing at what he does, and can tell he actually enjoys what he does. My problem came when some of my bushes and trees were dead when I purchased my house. Although the project manager assured me they would be fixed even though the closing documents said they would not replace them. Once I moved in, and discovered they were dead, the project manager simply told me it was nothing he could do. Besides that I was very happy with my home, and guess this will be something I have to do on my own. ... More

I love my highland home. Some issues through the build process related to quality of work the tile and trim contractors did. All issues resolved in time for closing.

They get you in, sometimes forget about you and after closing is when you find the carelessness in some of the installs around the house. By then it's too late and you have to live with it.

I bought a home during the thick of COVID-19. There were a lot of delays and a lot of what we originally wanted was not available. Ultimately, we got the home and everything worked out in the end. The build quality was a little lacking. The materials were not kept too well and the doors have noticeable damage and patches on them if you are looking closely at it. So far we had to have warranty repair a few things too. It’s not perfect, but we are grateful to have this home and that Covid didn’t stop us from being able to get it.

The quality of highland home was not good.The lumber material is very cheap compare to low quality builders.The communication towards customer is not good.Sales representative Amy is good at Parkside on the river.But don’t recommend the highland since the quality of wood for framing is not good and also restroom doors.Highland lost its quality.There is one more firm highland homes loans which is company owned lender, One of the worst company to take mortgage loan.I don’t recommend to go with hh loans.

The quality is sub par. Gaps in cabinets. Unfinished paint. Poor finish work. Don’t even get me started on the concrete. We have had the driveway the front steps re-poured and they can’t get it right. Flaking concrete, permanent foot steps, discoloration, etc.. It’s been amateur hour here. I’m not a contractor and I’m pretty sure I could do a better job at this point. No attention to detail.

Lots of workmanship issues found at the home. We bought online so we didn't have a chance to see the house before moving in. Had to escalate issues to senior leadership in order to get things moving. One contractor came do an incorrect job and I am still waiting to hear back and get a date to get a replacement cabinet door. Too many defects for new construction. Not willing to recommend Highland.

Overall we're very happy with this home.. It's beautiful. The construction seems very well done. The neighborhood is great. Highland has been very responsive with any questions or concerns during both the build process and post-closing. However, the value of the upgrades is somewhat questionable when considered against what you pay for them. This is mainly due to what is very evidently rushed install and finish work by the subcontractors they use. Poorly run caulking beads. Chipped/scratched glass. Improperly cut trim. Unfinished cabinetry that was simply overlooked. Wiring that trips a breaker when you plug a single phone charger in. In a word - sloppy. Small things, to be sure, but many of them. If you have the time to be at the site consistently inspecting the work as it happens then I'm sure a lot of this would have been caught during the process. Not the case for us. Regardless this seems like quality control the builder may wish to own as a matter of course. Again, Highland is great about making it right. It's just frustrating that an expensive master bath upgrade has caulking that looks like I did it myself. ... More

Lots of small issues that should have been addressed prior to closing. Typical new construction home thought these guys would be different at a higher level since they charge more.

Highland Homes has a great sales team. We never had any questions unanswered. Though we liked our building manager, highland homes outsources all the work and lacks a quality team and building manager hardly does quality check, We ended up following on many things after closing ( from a minor thing such as front door weather strip to a leaked window replacement ) which is frustrating at times.

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

overall good quality of house, but expensive than other competitor builder (M.I home and some other builders. not clear why it should be expensive than competitor. I see lots of little minor thing not done properly. a little poor in finishing work.

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

New house took 15 months to finish. you could say it's normal due to supply chain issue, but then some houses on same street/same builder got finished under 10 months, so not sure what to say. Issues started out from foundation phase, you need watch like a hawk on every step and ask to be corrected, if you dont live nearby, good luck! Not a single time you were contacted and updated about progress, you always had to ask. Lots of quality issues, but so far they were all medium to minor ones, so something you can live by. But no way it was pleasant experience.

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

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.

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

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.

We absolutely love our house, we tried to be a part of it through much of the process. Timelines and apparent work shortages cause us to do an initial walkthru before the house was even complete. Not everything identified was fixed prior to purchase and now that everything has to go through "warranty" service and response has dwindled considerably. We still have a laundry list of items and haven't heard much from highland. Up until this point we felt much more positive about our overall experience, just seems typical now to forget the customer once the home is delivered.

Overall, the sales process, lender and closing services with the title company was very good. However, the operations, ( builder and warranty service) has been less than satisfactory. It took serval calls to get someone to respond to our requests for warranty service. Our original builder did a walk through the less then a week before closing and a final one a day before closing. There were still issues with our house the day before we closed. The were some things wrong with our home that that was very obvious and which should have been addressed, yet he chose not to. We have someone else assigned to us due to the fact that our original builder's unsatisfactory response for service and the fact that he waited until the day before closing to do a walkthrough with us. The fact that there were details that still needed to be addressed and/or corrected a day before is completely inexcusable. Also, we were the ones who had to reach to builder to request a walkthrough, when it should have been the other way around. ... More

Highland Homes hurried to finish my house leaving several items unfinished or not working. The construction manager soon left the company leaving my house incomplete. The replacement construction manager did make sure unfinished and broken items were completed but it took significant time. The house is nice with some technology upgrades but some design aspects like garage size are problematic.

Overall we were pleased with our home, but it wasn't without a lot of frustration. Our construction manger left the company after the slab was poured. We were assured the new construction manager would be just as receptive. I believe he was spread way too thin and possibly placed his trust into someone else. We did a number of changes from the standard build plans and the construction crew didn't follow the build plans at all. As someone who isn't in the business at all or is handy blue prints it was easy for me to see the glaring omissions and items that were not built to spec. Since a number of items had to be changed completely and re-done this caused a delay and moved out the closing date by about 3 weeks. We brought up these issues throughout the process and we were pretty much dismissed with "oh, you've never built a house before. This is pretty common". While it might be common in the housing the industry to ignore the blue prints and then have to add things that were missed (like a fireplace, for one) it's extremely stressful on the buyer side. Building & purchasing a house is extremely stressful and certain things are out of your control, like mother nature, but the overall experience wasn't pleasant. We love our home, but based on the overall process I don't think we'd go with Highland again. I'm sure on a spec home they are great, but the ball was dropped on numerous customization items. If we decide to build another home down the line we'll probably go with a builder that is more familiar with custom homes. ... More