Highland Homes Reviews in Austin, TX

Not satisfied with the building process. Was always kept in the dark even with repeated requests. Identified issues before closing and was promised will be done in the next few weeks. It's has been almost 4 months, still long way to go.

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

Great sales consultant. Poor workmanship throughout the entire house from the carpet, to the cabinets, to the floor, to the shoe moldings, to the paint, to the plumbing, to the windows. All of these items had issues and has negatively impacted my home buying experience with highland homes. We chose Highland homes because of the high quality that was promised and expected. Unfortunately, we will not be recommending a highland home to family and friends.

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.

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

What is my character limit here? Because I need a LOT of space to explain. The process started fine, with some adjustments for COVID. But even accounting for some delays, Highland construction was hideously mismanaged. - From August to October, virtually zero progress because the local construction manager was not scheduling inspections with the city of Kyle. 10 week delay. Lots of yelling and screaming when we found out, they reassign a new construction manager who assures us he is on it. Expected move in now pushed from November to February. - House was making some progress at least, inspections being scheduled. We pointed out several items that would need correction - assured by construction manager that they would be taken care of. - February passes, still slow progress, being told due to inspections but when pushed on it admitting that they were failing inspections. Escalated to Highland Regional Construction Manager to get control of the situation. - March and still no closing date scheduled. Several items we had been pointing out for months are still not corrected. Construction manager assures us he is "on it". - April, and FINALLY a closing date. Several items still outstanding. Main one of which is outlet and switch covers (48 in total) that were cut WAY too big (some over 1/2 in too big) during drywall phase. We ask to get them fixed. Contractors spackle and paint WITHOUT REMOVING THE COVERS, so covers are now covered in spackle and paint, texture is missing around them. We complain about this and some other items enough that the regional manager, area manager, and local construction manager all meet with us at the house a week before closing. We are ASSURED it will all be fixed before close. - Day before closing - multiple outlet and switch covers still not fixed, along with a number of other items. We escalate to delay closing. Are ASSURED it will be fixed by end of day. [Narrator: It was not fixed by the end of the day] - Closing day. We sign papers. We go to inspect our new house and get keys. EVERYTHING IS STILL NOT FIXED. We yell at the construction manager, we call the regional and area manager. We are ASSURED it will be fixed before we move in the next day. - Moving day. We arrive at the house at noon. There are drywall workers with 5 gallon buckets of spackle, spray guns, and spatulas working all around the house. Plastic sheeting is spread on most of the floors. WE HAVE 3 MOVING TRUCKS OF STUFF ARRIVING IN 20 MINUTES. On the phone with Regional Manager who says they'll get done and out as fast as they can, but we need to not put stuff around the walls because they need to come back and paint the next day. So basically, we can move our stuff in but can't really unpack. It took a WEEK to resolve to the point that we could actually put furniture where it belonged. - Post move in, it took 6 WEEKS just to clear the Closing punch list (stuff that should have been fixed before closing). Contractors showed up with limited to zero information on why they were there, and us having to explain every time what needed to be done (this should be Highland Homes job, right?). - Post closing, still finding items that were clearly not installed correctly that should have been identified by any competent construction manager. Entry way doors with zero weather stripping as an example. - In the end, we love our new home's floor plan, our lot, and our neighborhood. But never again will we put up with such a horribly mismanaged construction process. ... More

The workmanship of their contractors are some of the worst I've seen in central Texas. The construction manager tries to keep up but he was constantly missing details and big things in the house. The floor was an absolute disaster and doesn't look anything like the design center. They all point fingers at each other to excuse the poor workmanship and materials.

Better designs then the competition. They entertained some custom changes that other builders would not. However, the title work and finish was not finished completely. Disappointing for the price point. We still have a list of I Owe Yous from the builder months after moving in.

I have had a very poor experience with highland home buying process. I was very considerate given my home build process was during Covid time. The build got delayed multiple times. I was never informed about any delays unless I enquired constantly. Lastly, 4 days before closing, after I checked everything is on track, I was told they cant close due to some delays. I had to move to temporary accommodation and finally they agreed to close on home without completing all the items. Sales associate did not have any updates regarding the build and wanted me to provide lender details even without having a closing date. Regarding the build, overall construction quality was good but the options chosen at design center when unavailable, without my consent, something else was used to replace. This includes tile and counter tops. Overall, as a new buyer, I was left completely anxious and not well informed of the process. ... More

I've had experience with production and custom builders in the past and Highland rates as low as possible.

Highland homes used cheap third party companies to do their work like plumbing etc. it’s all lazy work and we found many issues after we moved into the new house. They didnot fix any issues that we have raised . They just say yes to your request and will not implement them later. Totally waste of money and we are extremely disappointed with the purchase. Please stay away from highland homes even when you are getting a better price because you will have to pay for repairs due to cheap quality

I am not totally happy with the construction process which has too many flaws. People who worked on the home are not skilled and that is bad.

The whole experience was incredibly disappointing and stressful. The house had several issues pre and post closing. Our walk through was an ever long list of problems and severe lack of attention to details. We were promised a home with the same quality as a model home and the delivery could not be far from it. Our kitchen cabinets are uneven, doorknobs are falling and not properly placed, bath sinks have leeks, kitchen sink is supposed to be stainless steel yet it has several stains that do not come off even with use of professional products. I would not recommend this builder to anyone. It prides itself for quality, but it definitely does not live to the expectations. ... More

I Wouldn’t recommend highland to my dog .We still have messed up cabinets and no one is responding after we close .

We've now worked with 3 Construction Managers (CM) after firing the first (refusing to work with him) after he lied to us about a sealing issue in our roof that our personally hire inspector found. Our 2nd day in the house we were awakened at 2am to substantial leaking in 2 bathrooms, hallway, walls, roofs, etc. because there was so much water on the ceiling it set off the smoke detectors. Since then, we found out they only used primer w/o a coat of paint on most of the house, we have white paint stains ALL over our house, including all over our brand new (and expensive) woof floors, in additions to nicks and scratches. Dozens of things around the house weren't sealed correctly, if at all. Mirrors were not secured, we have a big dip in our wood floors in the kitchen that they didn't even try to fill in or cover up. They just added the wood planks over the gap and said nothing. There poor landscaping also flooded our front yard garden area, they made changes to the houses layout without even consulting us!! because they "had it when they were a kid". The painted our brick the wrong color, they didn't stain our fence as per our contract. The paint was blotchy, uneven and sparse all over the house. We've been here for 2 months and there literally has not been 1 day when we haven't found something else wrong and the majority of those days we've had workers and CM's in and out of our house to fix things. Except they either don't show up when scheduled, show up randomly unannounced and unplanned, invite themselves over (the CM Clint), they have big packages mailed to our house w/o telling us they're coming, what they are and what they're for and they put them in the middle of our driveway or blocking our front door or in the mud. Speaking of yards, they put a porta-potty in our front yard - yes they put a portable toilet that workers were using in the middle of our front yard. We had to move out a week because they had so much to fix and when we came back less than half of what we were told would be done was done. They lied about replacing drywall in all of the areas effected by our huge leak in the roof and they've had workers come to fix things that either don't show up, don't fix anything, make it worse or fix it but create another problem. And I'm only telling you part of it after 2 months. The biggest slap in the face is that they've offered absolutely nothing for all of the trouble. No upgrades, no discount, not a single thing. Oh but they did give us $200/day for the week we got kicked out of our house that was supposed to cover lodging and food for a family of four - with a 3-yr old and 5-yr old. And boy do they lie. We even have them on tape and video to prove it. My hand is tired, otherwise I could keep adding things for hours and I'm not kidding or exaggerating. So I would say don't use them maybe :) ... More

Will never again trust this builder

Not a pleasant experience at all. Cabinets have been one of the worse experiences we have so far in this house. Workmanship is not good at all. Backyard has issues with leaking water. None of the issues post closing have been addressed so far. It’s like they want to wait for a year, so we even run out of 1yr warranty. 1. BACKYARD : a. When they installed the SOD looks like someone has walked with heavy boots and the backyard is uneven. My cousin has already sprained her ankle just by walking in the backyard and we have stopped using it. b. Our side yard is always damp. They tried installing some drain but nothing seems to work so far. It still DAMP. May be a leak or something. c. There is more weed than the grass and was very disaapointed to see so much weed in the first month after we moved. They have already done one weed treatment and looks like that didnt help much. 2. CABINETS : It has been a pain to work with ACW cabinets. The doors were never aligned properly. There were few things that were broke and needed to be addressed . They already showed up twice and we are still waiting for things to be addressed completely. a. Oven needs to adjusted correctly to cover the gap. b. pot drawer needs to be adjusted, looks like the gas pipe is causing some issues here. There are some doors in the kitchen with adjustment issues and were never addressed. ACW has already given up on this. c. some replacement items in kitchen island and master bath. ACW showed up like 2 months ago and they said they are placing order for new parts and they never came back. 3. Other minor issues which shouldnt take time but still pending. a. one of the chandeliers has a broken globe. b. Garage insulation has a hole from inside. c. one of the plates needs to be adjusted near water heater. ... More

Work was very rushed. Very disappointed with the purchase. I'm still dealing with issues on repairs to be completed that should have been done before forcing me to close just to make a year end number. Worst experience I've had ever buying a new home.

Went through the first walk through, tagged everything we needed them to touch up. Second walk through was a mess, because we had issues with the builders lender we really didn’t have a good final walk through. At this point we just wanted to move in. FYI don’t go with this builders lender. We built our home, started in February finally moved in September. Lender said everything was great we were approved for the whole six months. 3 days before our closing date, they said they couldn’t approve us. For two weeks they told me to pay off certain debts I had. Did everything they asked for at the end still couldn’t. Went with another lender got pre approved in 3 days closed in two weeks. After moving in some of the stuff we tagged for them to fix the first walk through was still there. We thought we could trust the builders. Mostly all the door handles including the front door were loose. Went to the builder to tell them. They gave me a screw driver to go do it my self. I have three months living at my home and I’ve already have had to call my warranty twice to come fix things like, no texture on walls, places they didn’t even paint, huge crack on our cement stair way to the front door. Still haven’t came to fix the rest of the stuff I put on the second order of warranty, and it’s already been a month. Like, the huge crack from one side of the drive way to the other side, one straight line across. I had a guy come fix the stair way to the front door and when my wife showed him the other crack that’s on the drive way. He said that they would probably had to do the whole drive way all over again. No one ever came back. Not worth the pay! The only best thing out of this builder is there sales person that’s at the model home. He has been super helpful to us from the get go and even after I bought the house I’ve called him, because I can’t get a hold of the people that are responsible to fix my issues at my house, he’s always picked up and tried to help me in any way he can. Best sales person ever! ... More

Worst experience ever as a 1st time homebuyer!

Lots of issues with home, every time contractor comes to fix one problem another one occurs. Last time I’ll buy a highland home

Living in this home issues are so extensive it is easier to just list them by category. The final stages were rushed and thrown together. There is a blatant communication disconnect between management, contractor, vendors and service techs. Hot water: The “contractor crimped the gas line” which ultimately affected us and our neighbors hot water, gas range and stove top. Electrical: Some lights switches were mis-wired, the utility box was filled with wood chips and dust, and when I use the closet plug, it would short out the whole Master bed and bath, tripping the breaker. An exterior lamp, was not properly mounted and needed to be adjusted. One lamp in the media room was missing a bottom plate, after many requests eventually our Contractor provided a whole unit. I had to replace the GFI in our master. Paint: When I wipe an area on the wall too hard, the paint comes off. The doors and windows, have paint was just slapped on. There are drops, drips and splashes throughout the home on our tile floors, windows, light fixtures, fans, door knobs, etc. Hardware, taped to clothes racks, just painted over. Some areas, not painted or caulked at all. Tile: They used the floor tile from our washroom for our Kitchen backsplash! The floor tile is not up to par. There are boot prints, from someone stepping in paint and tracking it through the house. The seal in the kitchen and to our bedrooms, was not complete. We had a cracked tile that I would never have found if not for me fighting off spiders and ants, entering the house through the poorly sealed floor. Cabinets: Our dark colored custom cabinets are ruined. This possibly occurred during install and /or when they removed things to replace the tile and the countertops with the correct ones. A substance on our cabinets, that cannot be wiped off, cleaned off, sanded and painted over. The resolution was to order set of new doors to hopefully camouflage the blemishes in the finish. But Burrows lost track of our order or completely forgot about it. Our contractor wants to come to our house with Burrows and re-re-re-examine the kitchen cabinets and mud room drawer. I informed him that Burrows had been here for over 3 visits, including 2 with the touch up guy and one with 2 gentlemen who took pictures and texted their boss to get approval for replacement doors, which we were told would be here in 2 weeks, 4 weeks ago. They have the specifics on the cabinets, what does a visit do that they could have done, prior to our move in or the many visits in-between? More visits means more exposure to potential COVID-19 infection. Also under-neither and around the cabinets, in the kitchen, the mudroom and the bathrooms are incomplete stain/paint and caulking. Appliances: Gas top Range had no flames. See Hot Water. Faceplate for the microwave keeps coming off. When we first moved in, the dishwasher didn’t work. After many service calls, we requested a replacement. Highland replaced the Dishwasher. It was installed, quickly. The installers wore masks. They were very respectful and mostly efficient. They left copious amounts of water under the sink from the removal of the old dishwasher and installing the new one and didn't give us a heads up, which caused us to think we had flooding under the sink, like our first night in the house. Also the installers tested the dishwasher which was great except, they left the paperwork inside to be washed as well. Thank goodness it was all in plastic. A week or so later, the installers returned fix the microwave trim piece. They found an incorrect sized screw, no screws and a screw that was screwed into a void space, the trim piece is now secure. Doors: The doors were not plumb. Several interior doors had no door pins, the contractor has been able to bring them by when requested and I just hammered them in. A door to the attic space, the pin was not seated properly, after many attempts I was able to hammer that as well. Cleanliness: Our Attic spaces were dirty and needed to be cleaned, builders left old soda cans, filled with soda and a petrified banana. Clint, sent one woman to clean both spaces, above the garage and our upstairs. She did very well, and yet I still found old cans with soda in them, where she could not reach. We shudder at the thought of what could be thrown in the insolation and hidden in the crevices unseen. Pest: We hired pest control. We have had spiders, ants and mosquitos, We also have “Carpet Beetles”. Are the carpet beetles tied to the profound buffoonery we are enduring? I would not go so far as to blame Highland homes for this, but our pest issues have exacerbated and compounded the issues we are dealing with. Especially after finding our attic has been used as a garbage can. Yard: In photographs we noticed, several slates had not been attached, many slates are cracked. The sprinklers that were not working properly, an uneven yard filled with potholes and collected water and, flooding/drainage issue between us and a newly finished home next to us. As of this writing, that issue is still in the progress of being resolved. Missing Window: We discovered, by reviewing our plans Highland Homes missed installing a window in our living room. Highland homes has graciously offered to send a construction crew to fix this. We are extremely reticent to have anymore vendors from Highland near our home, let alone a construction crew due! For 2 months straight we have had people in and out of our house, during a pandemic, The interruptions and the lack of competency has become maddening. Highland Homes has attempted to blame us for their shoddy work, no one signed off on the home they promised to have completed. This is on them. Highland Homes: Great sales, lovely house over all, nice people, ruined by bad vendors, shoddy craftsmanship, a lack of communication and accountability. No experience is 100% perfect but a new home experience shouldn’t be this… ... More