Highland Homes Reviews in San Antonio, TX

First off I want to say that through all the delays and issues the construction manager Mark has been wonderful. I have not been made to feel like Highland homes won’t make an effort to fix issues as they are brought up. Another positive is that Highland Homes has a policy that makes sure that once you place a deposit you lock in the current “price” so your insulated from price hikes… idk how useful that will be as the housing market is priming for a cool down… so maybe that’s a moot point. With that being said, if I could sum up the construction of our home in one word, it would be “sloppy”. It’s truly embarrassing and I would like to think that if a C-level representative from Highland Homes cared to tour a finished product, that they would be dumbfounded at the lack of craftsmanship and attention to detail that went into our home. You’ll walk through the model and think your buying a near custom level quality home but make no mistake — the same worker that is building 100k-200k homes are the same building 800k-1M homes and it shows. Bottom line if you don’t have to buy a house right now- don’t. And if you do, strap in because once you have keys in hand it doesn’t mean your house is actually done. Until Highland either changes contracted service providers or holds the people doing the work to a higher standard with more QA/QC nothing will be “fixed”. ... More

We had numerous issues with Highland. Early on in the build, our 1st Superintendent went out on leave for 3 months and we were never notified. The absence of a Superintendent led to major delays of scheduling and no quality control oversight of the work being done. Because nobody was in charge of the build I hired an independent inspector, pre sheet rock, that identified 50+ items that needed to be corrected. Highland did make good correcting the identified items, but at the cost of significant delays. We also had a bad experience with our 2nd Superintendent. He lacked in communication, professionalism, and honesty. He provided no oversight while work was being done, which led to constant rework and delays. Our 2nd independent inspection identified 40+ items Highland corrected. Over the course of the build we were given 5 different close dates that resulted in a 3 month delay from our original close date. After we moved in a Highland representative stopped by the house as a follow up. I gave him a list of 6 items that needed to be corrected. It took 4 weeks for Highland to schedule the electrician to come out to my house. I have my door scheduled next week to be looked at, but I have not heard anything else on the remaining items. Buying a Highland Home was painful. Through my realtor I expressed my concerns to highlands leadership team, but I was never contacted by anyone other than a supervisor. ... More

Responsiveness to work orders is poor.

We should be compensated for having to manage the completion of our home, post closing. This is our third new home in four years and this is by far the worst experience. The build process, the attention to detail, the finished product upon delivery at closing was despicable. Had interest rate‘s not been rising we would have made them complete it but my gut is they’re impotent when it comes to fine detail and quality as they were known a few years ago. Three months in our kitchen is still unfinished, we are still pressing the construction team to complete items every day. We have been managing a spreadsheet of simple things. I understand that the tradesmen are a major issue but Highland should add more staff or employed directly to obtain the level of completion and detail that we expect on an $800,000 house. It is so bad in our new neighborhood that a group of Highland owners gathered in the street and talked about a class action lawsuit because of the quality, workmanship, and issues that we are finding in the property. Add to the mix all the homes under construction, the beer cans the trash, the trash, the trash and it’s obvious why our homes are not finished. When you walk a property in there are alcohol containers inside or on the outside such as our house and our neighbors house that is a clue. We feel like educated, experienced, reasonable buyers since we’ve done this with two companies over three new homes across for years. This process that is still unfinished three months after closing Has been the worst nine months in our marriage because we have argued in battles over should we stay or should we go and that continues on a daily basis and that is all due to Highland lack of attention to detail or respect for customers. We will never buy from them again and every person that I talk to I tell our experience and advise them to avoid Highland homes. I feel for their local sales reps and construction lead, the main organization should do more to help the employees serve the customer. I likened our experience to their previous manager when I said have you ever stood on the assembly line of your new dodge pick up and made sure that the corporation was putting every piece where it needed to go, every fit and finish with perfect? Do you get frustrated when you have to take your vehicle back for a recall? We have purchased something that is 14 times the value of your truck and yet on a daily basis we are having to manage the construction and completion of this home and you would never go for that for your new pick up. Overall a horrible experience, and I don’t get angry as I look at my kitchen countertop that is still incomplete, missing molding, while I make coffee Everywhere in this house to include barn doors that are 2 inches too small for the opening is a reminder that unless we argue, push, fight for what we paid for Island homes will do their best to take advantage of us. ... More

We purchased our home three months ago, and have had severe plumbing issues ever since. Our construction manager has been great, but they had to dig a hole in our guest bedroom, they pumped a brick out of the upstairs plumbing and removed wood and debris from our downstairs plumbing. We were without adequate plumbing for nearly 2 months. And had construction workers in and out for nearly a month. We had to stay in a hotel for several days and were displaced for quite some time. We also have not been offered any compensation other than them fixing their mistakes. I have called the office, and left messages via their contact us links on the website. No one has called back. When you are buying a house at this price point you definitely should not be having these types of issues. ... More

In an effort to keep this review brief, I will only list our general experience. Communication with our construction manager was poor throughout our build process. Our home inspector identified enough items to complete a 30-page report and we nearly walked away due to the severity of some of the issues. A mere two months after closing we have had 18 (yes 18 and counting-with at least 5 more visits pending) repair visits to address/rectify the multitude of problems with the home. Highland has the potential to be one of the, if not the best, builders in the area, however, the quality and workmanship fall short on nearly every level. We fell in love with what this home could be; definitely not what it turned out to be. ... More

Highland seems to be resting on a reputation they should no longer have. They were perfectly nice & accommodating when it came to selecting our house and the optional finishes that would drive the price of the home up. When it came to the execution of actually building the home, that is where they did not hold up their end of the deal. Countless issues of just poor and sloppy work occurred leading up to the close of the house. When a home inspector challenged their work, they proceeded to discredit the inspector, rather than fix issues. The only time I saw them work hard on our house was to get us to close on the agreed upon date when the house was clearly in no shape to be moved into. During our final walkthrough, there was still no grass, no A/C, and a 20+ foot hole in the front yard due to some plumbing issues when we were told it would be move in ready. Between the mistruths of the status of the house, their reactions to fix their issues, the lack of quality and attentiveness of the vendors they use, and the fact that at the time of this review, there are items that are still not fixed that contractually they are supposed to have been done over two months ago, I would think long and hard about selecting Highland Homes to build your house. ... More

Almost every issue you could have with a new build. We have had. Having to kick and screen to get issues corrected

DO NOT buy Highland. I've built 5 homes (KB, Eagle Valley, Meritage, Chesmar, and Highland). Highland Construction/Sales Management Team at Fronterra at WestPointe is by far the worst one. They will not correct poor workmanship unless asked by customer, then will try to convince customer work is within tolerances. Warranty work is nonexistent. Communication is nonexistent. Follow up is nonexistent. Will blatantly lie. I DO NOT recommend purchasing a Highland Home.

Contractor's building the home abused the cabinets, bath tubs, plumbing and many others fixtures. Roof in the front was not completed properly. Open holes under gables lack proper sealing. Roof leaks in front under eve. Exterior pieces were not completed properly (sealed on exterior properly). Many items identified in final walk through to be completed as part of the sale, remain uncompleted after 2 months. Lack of response by builder to rectify. Hire your own inspector prior to closing for a new home by this builder. Home lacks insulation over rooms in the attic (it is visible). Demand all items be completed before closing! Having purchased several homes in my life, new and used, I have purchased used homes that require less fixing to repair the household than new on this one. ... More

Recommend you go with a different builder. Our experience = we are the quality control for Highland Homes. When we bring up the too many to list issues on this forum with our home, we are told it will be fixed & then ignored. It appears to us that they are building to many homes simultaneously & ignoring the poor craftsmanship of their subcontractors after the paperwork is signed.

Cheap materials, extremely high prices not suitable for the final product. We bought almost 2 months ago and we are still dealing with the same walkthroughs issues from before closing time.

Make sure you get a home inspection and do not sign for the home until everything...And I mean EVERYTHING...is fixed no matter what they say or how bad you want the house. Quality of craftsmanship is pretty bad. Work is sloppy. You won't be able to tell until you clean the home really well. A lot of things were broken or broke quickly after moving in. Warranty work is shoddy. It's all patch work to get you to sign for the home, no quality repairs or quality work throughout the house. Unfortunately, all of my neighbors are saying the same thing. Very sad to see.

My highland home that I thought would be my dream home, not so much. The home as so many issues and still currently trying to get fixed almost 2 months later. Half million dollar home should of went for a lesser home and got better quality. Very disappointed

Highland Homes prides themselves on quality of construction. The construction of the home was horrible. There were over 50 discrepancies in our home when we purchased it. The craftmanship was terrible. The home reminded me of a habitat for humanity home which was put together by volunteers who were not experts in construction. After nearly 2 months in the home we are still dealing with repairs and have a long way to go.

I was very surprised at the rudeness of building construction mgr. Shane H. The house slab not level, roof has studs pushing shingles in a lot of roof areas, kitchen cabinets color miss match and drawers get stuck, windows not square floor molding not level and open in lots of areas, washing machine room has missing tile, front entry slab not level (during rain entry flooded)all this after only one month in house. I love bigger house but not poor workmanship. High priced but over all poor workmanship and management of build. I now feel like a number not personal person homeowner. A lot of these items were on closing construction mgr. followup list . I closed on house and now I do not exist but a low number on priority. I felt disrespected by Shane G. at closing. ... More

DO NOT BUY A Highland Home. Highland homes built us a shoddy substandard house. We have been filing warranty claims several times a week since we moved in due to all sorts of problems. We closed almost two months ago and still can’t use our kitchen cabinets. We paid for so many upgrades, not only were the materials cheap but the labor/install were shoddy, sloppy, careless, just outright unprofessional. The builder told us this is how it is in San Antonio. They will never be as good as the Dallas area. We should lower our standards/expectations. How comforting! We bought brand new homes before from other builders and remodeled a couple of homes. We never seen such shoddy substandard work ever. Even my husband's DIYs are better. The trades here are an embarrassment to the industry. They have no shame in building crappy houses. ZERO standards. The so-called professional painters don't use blue tape and tilers don't use spacers. Our kitchen backsplash looks awful and our cabinets are not usable. The shelves are cut too short and several of them started peeling before we even moved in. Scratches and dents everywhere on countertop, doors, trims, appliances, and messy paint jobs. You do not get what you pay for. If you want to be disappointed and deal with incompetent workers on a weekly basis, then buy a Highland Home. ... More

We've owned multiple homes and are disappointed in the details of this VERY EXPENSIVE house. Everyone provided awesome service UNTIL WE CLOSED. Then they GHOSTED. Two months in and we still don't have the items on the "closing list" completed and the warranty service is a BAD JOKE. You submit a request and MAYBE they will come out in 4 to 6 weeks. I don't actually know since our items are still open 4 to 6 weeks later. When we moved in, none of our Low-E worked, there was a FULL SIZE tool backing up our bathroom drains (they said they scoped the lines), I couldn't use the lights in my living room and turn on the disposal because there was a short and half of our electrical panel pops on a very regular basis. Our kitchen cabinets are full-out cracking in various places (and not at the seams). There are cracks in almost every bathroom grout, baseboards, door frames and walls. I’ve lost count of the popped nails which the warranty “manager” says they won’t even address until the “1 year service”. Then there are the floor plans. They sacrifice function for design in EVERY AREA OF THE HOUSE. They are pretty houses, but do not function well. (Think lack of linen closets and that you will probably have to buy all new furniture for every room and not even your washer and dryer fit in the laundry room.) ... More

Safety, Housekeeping, Security • Beer cans and trash consistently found in and around build site • Contractors smoking inside of house • Trash and food left in house attracting pests (raccoon removed from attic) • Contractors not observing signs for “no shoes”, dirt and rocks on wood floor and carpets • General disregard for safety (e.g. roofers not tied off, makeshift ladders, etc.) • Houses with flooring, carpets, fixtures left unsecured and in some cases doors/windows ajar Management Oversight • No insight into management decision making process • No explanation or understanding of escalation protocol for raising buyer concerns • Inconsistent supervision and communication to contractors (e.g. placement of A/C condensers) • Poor work-load management and support of construction supervisors (constantly overwhelmed) • Reference construction drawings only when convenient for builder Sales Counselors • Frequently pompous and dismissive in almost all interactions, including initial visit with realtor • Tend to act like buyer requests and concerns are a joke (literally laughing in some instances) • Drag feet on decisions then make urgent demands, making it seem like buyer is causing delay • Attempt to document misleading information on change orders • Incomplete and/or vague descriptions of change items (some missed completely) Quality of Workmanship • Overall sloppiness in workmanship (e.g. tiling, door trim, painting, plumbing hardware, etc.) • Lack of ownership in work (e.g. dented fireplace, scratched appliances, etc.) • Seem to take the “easy” route at every opportunity rather than doing the job “right” ... More

My experience was horrible had some problems at the house that were supposed to be taken care of and our builder never answered our calls anymore