K. Hovnanian® Homes Reviews in Washington, VA

For the price of the home. We expected the finished job to be of great quality, but it has not been. There have been one issue after another. The site manager Catricia has been great getting some things fixed, but this could have all been avoided if the workers took pride in their work. The loft floor is still a problem. The floor is noisy as if it is not in place. This is not acceptable for this type of house.

The home is beautiful and the project manager is wonderful at Gambrill. However, the loan officer was horrible and made the process extremely difficult without purpose.

We love our new condo. It is beautiful and comfortable. The people working with us during construction were friendly and helpful. The reason for the lower rating is for two reasons. First, the construction was delayed 10 months later than the timeline we were originally given, which cost us a huge amount to store all of our our household goods and to pay for temporary housing. Second, the floor had damage upon move in, leading me to believe it is a cheaper product.

After a number of unforeseen events we greatly appreciated the quick response and professionalism extended to my wife and I by Karen, Tim and Dale

Let me start off by saying the sales process in the beginning was fantastic. K. Hov had a fantastic sales representative that really took care of us and made us feel like part of the family. The whole process was great. We got to see our house every step of the way being built. They let us walk through whenever we wanted with very short notice. It was very transparent very the day we went to look at our dream house/lot. At the end of the process is when it became a real show. Our closing was delayed due to permitting issues with the city. We finally got to sign, almost a month after our original move in date to only find out an easement was added to our back yard which only allows us to use 50% of the back yard because of drainage concerns and incorrect grading by K. Hov on the lot. One week into our new home, the entire finished basement flooded with community sewage. It was found by the city that a builder had blocked the main sewer line with concrete and construction debris. Again, K. Hov quality control person was very responsive and worked through the pandemic very well to keep us updated with when they were coming to repair the basement damage. They sent someone out to clean within a couple hours, the plumber was contacted within an hour and the city showed up within ten minutes of the flood. The employees of K. Hov definitely deserve better management from the top. When I contacted K. Hov president to express my displeasure, he didn't seem to care. He wanted me to go through my homeowners insurance when it was clearly their fault. I threatened to sue and he told me to go ahead. Very rude. I expressed my concern about buying our dream home and not being able to use the yard and he said thats something you should have looked into before signing the papers. The employees should go work for a company who cares. We have been fighting with the builder and the city now for almost three months to get the drainage issue in the back resolved before the basement ends up flooding again. Again, great upfront process and great employees. They just work for a president who doesn't care once he gets his money from the homeowners. ... More

Be prepared to install all the ceiling fans and lighting. The only built in lighting is in the bathrooms n kitchen. The kitchen lighting would be great IFF there were multiple control swtches and circuits. There is only one circuit so all the lights come on. No separate switch for the island lightng. Under counter lighting works nicely as is on its own circuit. The porch deck is poorly thought out. Too small for normal deck chairs. Only enough room for one person. Flooring on deck is open plank and all the porches are vertically aligned so the drip upon each other. Many windows good natural lighting but only single sash. Can only clean the interior. Interior paint is the cheapest flat white paint available. We had to purchase high quality HIPA FAN/FILTERS to collect all the dust/flaking paint particles we stirred up as we moved in. We repainted both bathrooms with a high quality semi-gloss to avoid moisture problems. ... More

Good responsiveness to taking care of things once we moved in but excessive delay in completing condo (10 months) and lack of information along the way created an overall poor experience.

Several issues we are not very happy with: - Windows, while having issues with the locks we were told if you leave the windows open for several hours you might have problems with the plastic locks. They will shift and get out of shape. We have lots of windows and in good weather we like to have them open. Never had this issue with good quality windows in any of my homes. So we have windows that we can look out of, but if you open them don’t expect the locks to work! Maybe you need to find a different supplier. -We have a home on the river, what we were told we could do by the river and what we are learning are very different. This probably would have made us make a different decision. -Electrical wiring, as a home workman with power tools, I just found out the garage is only provided with 15amp circuits. Most table saws etc need 20 amp. This may have been an option that I didn’t notice, but I have never seen this. This should be emphasized to new buyers as an option. Another example of cutting corners. Really how much would that have cost you, maybe $50 in materials, no difference in labor cost. -After being in the home now 30 days I continually see defects that I have not brought up, many minor, walls that are not square or plumb, paint issues that I should have mentioned, but to the point I want to make is using subcontractors is a very mixed bag, some are good, but after seeing how they perform I would say for the most part most just don’t care about their workmanship. -Bathrooms, you install towel bars but no hand towel bars. Just an example of how we feel you cut every corner $$$ wise. -We recently had our ceiling repaired in the kitchen/family room area. Your team was quick to respond and get people here to try to eliminate the issue with very visible drywall Seams in the ceiling. I was told it would never be perfect. I was told by another person who looked at a large area in our basement and he said he would expect the repair would be as good as that room. It’s NOT! The subcontractor tried one quick fix on a small area last Friday and it’s not any better. The room overall is improved but there are still two seams full length of room that are not good. They were here on the 21st, it’s now the 25th and no one has followed up. Am I happy???? -Annoyance- while part of house is natural gas, and we opted for a gas stove and fireplace and the water heater is gas (No option). We wanted a gas line for the clothes dryer, not an option. Our home floor plan to distance is about 3 feet! We called 3 different certified plumbers and they quoted $2200 to $2900. Not Hovanians fault, but here again pinching the penny it’s cheaper to run a electrical line than a gas line, even though it’s widely known gas dryers are cheaper to operate and more efficient. -Would I recommend your homes to someone else? Only if they fully investigated the market and were made aware of some of the issues I mentioned, and definitely hire an independent inspector to not only inspect the home while being built but to survey the plans and discuss with the buyer. The good: -Your staff has been very good to work with, and we like the floor plan of our home. ... More

The sale representative (Joey) was really nice and responsive to our questions and request. Most of the construction managers (Matthew and Ricardo) were nice, addressed our concerns quickly and in timely manner. The whole home buying experience with KHOV was acceptable. Many times, there are lack of communication between the construction and the rest of the team which left us frustrated at the settlement because of the delays.

Overall an ok process. The initial paperwork for the condos was an alright process, but the price jumped up $5k at last second before we committed to buying. This was due to someone else buying a condo in the unit before we signed. During the home décor phase, the specialist was really nice and gave us a ton of useful suggestions on what to include in the new home. However, there were some selections I believe that should have come standard with the home rather than an upgrade since it was marketed as a "Luxury home". For example, you will get a garage door but a garage door opener + remotes will cost $800 on top of the lot price. For the kitchen, you'll need to upgrade to get a gas stove top. Any cabinetry will require you to upgrade to level 2 in order to get hardware (handles) installed. I believe small things like this should be the baseline - not an upgrade. The builders usually gave us a weekly update on the construction of the home. We did have a construction delay of about 2 months due to COVID & labor shortages which is understandable. Though they did have a last minute 2 week delay in closing which was frustrating as it extended past my rate lock period and costed me an extra $1k to hold it. Whenever we did the pre-dry wall inspection and golden key orientation the builders were always super nice and informative, can't say enough good things about them. The model home staff on the other hand wasn't always the friendliest or the most coordinated. One time we wanted to show our family the condo we were buying while it was being constructed. We called ahead to make it was ok with the staff and they reassured us we could stop by for a visit. Once we got there the staff didn't know we were coming and rudely said that we may not be able to visit. After verifying the builders were not busy in the home, we were eventually able to take a quick tour. The mortgage office ok, but often their rates were not competitive with others. The additional "builders bonus" you get if you choose their mortgage company comes at the expense of an increased interest rate which was not explained to me until near closing. The loan fees were also generally higher than other companies, which reduces the "builder bonus" actually going towards your mortgage. After moving in, the condo was overall fairly nice and is in a great location for us. There was one issue that was not fixed after the final walk though and after we had already closed on the house: the ceiling prewire bracket was much lower than the ceiling, which isn't a big deal. The warranty person was easy to work with and quickly sent workers out to fix it without a charge. We also had issues getting trashcans. For some reason our information didn't get passed on to the HOA which caused a 3 week delay in us getting the cans. After now living here for about 2 months we did experience a few other issues: a broken microwave, a missing hot water shutoff valve, and a toilet paper holder that was too close together. The warranty team again was easy to work with, dispatched the right people within a reasonable time, and at not cost. They've been great throughout the process. We've also noticed the paint chipping near corners of walls, but that's most likely due to the settling of the house. They do offer a free touch up kit, and I think they offer to retouch the house at the 7 month mark after the house is done settling. Overall, there were a lot of small things that ultimately culminated in a less than ideal experience. Some of them can be attributed to COVID and labor shortages like the delay, but then there are small quirks like the house upgrades that really should be the baseline. The end product has been great to live in, but in the future I'd be hesitant about going through this process again. ... More

The buying process with K.Hovnanian was straightforward. The Sales Team was attentive throughout the entire process and the Design Team followed through with all our desired options. We received weekly updates during each build phase. The Build Team was able to address a majority of the home's cosmetic punch-out list. They gave a thorough walkthrough of the home's systems and provided tips for us down the line for home maintenance. Things began to stumble towards the tail end of the transaction. A lack of communication between The K.Hov Teams caused confusion during site visits. The Home was not clean for our Gold Key Orientation and we did not see the final state till closing day. It's been over a month since we've closed and we have not received trash or recycling bins. Our latest affair was a potential plumbing issue. There was a vinegar-like odor in our basement which was causing us to cough. It took over a week to get a plumber onsite for a suspected water leak. No water leak was found but rotting food was uncovered behind a wall near our drainage pipe. The Home is beautiful and in a great location but major issues slipped through quality checks. ... More

The process was pretty smooth throughout. The builders themselves did a wonderful job. The home is absolutely gorgeous and I love it. The liaison/realtor was excellent. She did a fantastic job throughout the entire process. She was incredible with communication and keeping us up to date. Any company should be proud to have her. Now the issue is there was a grading issue that the company had with the city, and the VP of construction failed to inform his team of. The builders and everyone else on the typical level you would meet with had no idea of the issue, and they all said we could build a fence. The evening before our closing date we got a call that informed us we could not move in due to the city holding the occupancy permits due to said issue above. The team had no idea and very quickly went to work on finding out what was wrong. Finally after two days of the VP supposed to give me a call to inform me of the issues, he stated he knew of the issue and that we could not build a fence. He also blatantly admitted they gambled with the revised plans being accepted in time for us to close instead of informing the customers that there would be an issue at all. Very poor communication from upper management and even to their own teams. The accounting and legal team didn't know we weren't closing on that until I reached out to them to inform them as they were waiting for us to show up for closing. Finally agreeing to the cities wishes of installing drain piping we were able to close two months late. This may have been a one time thing. I know their liaison/realtor I worked with is amazing and the only reason we did not walk away from this house. Again the home itself is absolutely gorgeous and I love it. ... More

The lady showing the house (Beth) - terrible experience with her. Sorry to say not trustworthy. Good experience with Robert - site manager.

Pricey, pushy sales people, but great overall product in the end.

I am pleased with my condo but struggling getting used to that kind of living. My sales person was not in the right job but the fiance people were great and the warranty guy is very helpful. I would only caution to asking detailed questions for complete understanding of expectations. Finishes in condo are standard.

The team was helpful during the early stages, and communication was generally prompt. However, there were some concerns regarding the finish and detailing in certain areas, particularly in the bathrooms. The quality of work and the bathroom floor plans and options did not meet my expectations, with some of the detailing appearing inaccurate or incomplete. Additionally, even though we signed the agreement knowing the plan and options, the paid amount does not seem to match the options provided. After adding $100K in upgrades, the house still doesn’t reflect the luxury look we were aiming for. Cabinets in bathrooms, kitchen are not a good quality materials used. garage doors are also not a great quality. I believe improvements could be made in quality control, attention to detail, and ensuring that the final result matches the investment. I hope these issues can be addressed for future projects, as the team has the potential to deliver a more satisfying experience.” Few options like shower area lights in bathrooms should not be an option to be chosen by the buyer! Furthermore, even after paying millions for the home, we are left with additional work to complete, such as painting in the garage and addressing the landscaping. The front trees, for example, are quite spiky and not what we envisioned. Additionally, we opted for a finished basement, but only half of the area was completed. These issues have added to our disappointment and suggest that more attention to detail and customer satisfaction is needed. I hope this feedback will help for future projects. ... More

Jeff was great in helping us out and go the extra mile but the rest of it was a right . We were told one thing but ten it was something else . . But the whole thing was very good

Condo building is not very senior citizen friendly - garages too narrow, doors to trash & storage rooms & garages are not handicap accessible. Even if you are not handicapped, the narrow garages making getting out of a medium-sized SUV very difficult and doors in common areas are heavy to open, and if you have something in your hands, forget it. Three of my neighbors have had issues in first 90 days with their units as have we. Issues were fixed, but not a pleasant experience.

The good: Let me start off by saying that Matt and Everett are amazing employees for KHOV. They go above and beyond for each homeowner. It is a great pleasure in speaking with them and knowing they care in helping out. Matt drove to the condo on his day off to help me out with getting me into the building so Verizon could install my internet. That is the level of customer support which is extremely appreciated though not an expectation by any means. The bad: This condo was 8 months overdue and KHOV senior management was not helpful one bit. As a customer it was incredibly frustrating to deal with the company who would not release an estimated completion date based on circumstances they were experiencing. I couldn't care less about how delayed it was, I just wanted to stop paying month to month lease prices because the rates were astronomical ($4,000+ per month) and moving 3 times in those 8 months. I would've been perfectly happy had they said its going to be delayed 4+ months. That way I could have signed a 4 month lease somewhere and paid a lot less rather than getting an email that says, "hey it might be done next month, but we don't know" Which is why i was forced to go month to month on leases. I expected them to be more forthcoming with information and provide semi-accurate dates based on where they were at that point in time and based on what was going on at the time. Next up KHOV financing. They were the worst bunch of folks to deal with. Usually financing departments call a month before hand and lock in the interest rate. KHOV financing expects you to call them and hound them for paperwork and locking in rates. They are slow to get back to you and show unnecessary attitude. They are incredibly unorganized and unprofessional. My closing cost jumped by $3000 without explanation, and I found this out the day of closing. The only way I got an explanation was because I called them to get one. What made it worse is that the day before, I was told my closing cost would go down by a couple of hundred. The condo - It looks beautiful and I like living here. However, there were 40 issues with it that I had to get fixed by continuing to call Everett. Apparently they "did not rush" when making this building, yet my condo had 40 issues. Electrical socket was loose, paint was sloppy, they installed cabinet doors that were clearly not drilled in the right places initially, covered up and then the correct handles were put on, cabinets took a beating in shipment or installation because some of mine have visible cracks going all the way down the side. Another friend of mine purchased a home a few years ago from KHOV and only had 5-10 issues. ... More

The builder met each milestones in the construction process. Builder informed us of any delays and was able to make the lost time to complete the house on time. On few occasions, we had to follow-up with the builder.

My 3rd new build and the overall workmanship and materials are below average for new construction. Pretty disappointing for the price paid. The paint chosen is literally the worst, it wipes off just by brushing it with your clothes. Not to mention the painters, it seems like a four year old could have done a better job. Paint on the floors, in the carpet. Trim paint on the walls, wall paint on the trim. We had(have) places where the grout does not match for all of the same tile work. The color of grout doesn't even exist anywhere in our house. Had to spend multiple hours cleaning and fixing carpet, Khov did not correct it when pointed out. Same with the paint on the floors and handrails. It became more of an issue asking for it to be corrected than just taking care of it myself. ... More

McDaniel ll Townhome. This has 3500 square feet and a desirable floor plan. The craftsmanship was not what we expected for a Townhome in this price range.

Until you actually live in a home for a while, you don’t notice all of the issues that escape you on your initial visit. Walls were not properly prepped prior to painting. I use blue tape so as not to put marks on the wall itself. When tape is removed the paint comes with it. Painters were sloppy while around trim work (paint on floor). Front door casing not level which allows light and air in. Cheap vinyl flooring. Cracks in ceiling where tape is coming loose. Little things like this annoy me because it appears there is no pride in what is produced and supervised.

Make sure you get the radon tested before you buy a home -- K. Hovnanian is very quick to deny any responsibility for it. Some of the K. Hovnanian people were very responsive to our needs, and others were less so.

The home seems built well, but during the sales process, the sales agent was horrible about getting back to us with answers to questions or when we needed to make changes. The home seems to be built well, and through the process the construction manager was pretty good. But we've had a couple issues (mostly completely dead sod and plants right at settlement) and these things still aren't resolved. I keep getting told they'll be done, but it's been over a month and nothing has been done. Followed up a few times and I just get long winded explanations and excuses.