Pulte Homes Reviews in Jacksonville St. Augustine, FL

Overall, the home is great! The design studio was amazing and staff super friendly. Kerry was very helpful at answering our questions and making sure our home had the specific upgrades we wanted. However, we closed on the home from across the US and there were still many things wrong when we moved in. There were many issues flagged during the walk through that were supposed to be fixed, but were not. We are trying to put in warranty calls, but no one answers and the automated system doesn't allow for voicemails. Stepping on nails/carpet tacs in each doorway, severely cracked granite countertop, and a giant spot on the outside of the home that needs painted... no answers! The home design and office staff are great. Quality of materials, build, and follow through... poor! ... More

I'd like other potential new homeowners to know that they should not close on any empty promises. In other words, do not take over your new home until everything (repairs/owed parts and or equipment) has been 100% satisfied. Just because there may be a warranty in place, a new homeowner should not have to dip into their warranty on day two of one taking over their new home. You do not want to be left wondering, "How much lipstick is on that pig"? I do not need Sonny (Senior Construction Manager) telling me he's completed thousands of homes, and my concerns are minimal (not exact words). He's completed million-dollar homes, and he never had any issues. Well, I see the materials going into my home, and I am not ok with split wood due bad nail placing or simply bad wood (materials). Currently, I'm left to listen to my neighbors with their complaints of having to still wait for their repairs to be completed, months later. Tonight alone, my neighbor has a leak from the second floor to the bottom. How long will that take to be repaired. This is one of many complaints she has. I have emailed my concerns (list of 21 and growing) with only about four items being addressed. I am trying to reframe from bringing in someone that WILL have my repairs fixed. I will reach out to my crew next week Monday 7 Oct 2024 and my concerns will be addressed then. I refuse to wait months for resolution on something that should have never taken place. Thank you for reaching out to me. ... More

Overall we are happy being in our new home and determined to make the best of it. This is our second Pulte home experience. The first experience was very good. This time, 9 years later, we found the experience to be very frustrating. The sloppiness of the workers. We have scratches on tubs, windows, mirrors. You name it and it was handled roughly. Because we did not catch the multiple issues on the final walk-thru( we were told to just make a list after the walk thru and they would fix) they will NOT repair or replace. Ridiculous! They changed items in the house we ordered without informing us or giving us any say on the matter—they said “we can do this, it’s in the contract”. Well, there is a basic decency when dealing with someone who has taken the time to special order a home. My advice, don’t plan a house to your choices, you won’t get them! Our construction manager did the best he could by us, but could not resolve issues. No one else returned calls. Pulte has problems in St Augustine. ... More

Several items were not completed before moving in. Several delays in finishing house. We spent thousands in rental fees while waiting for Pulte to finish our house. When my wife went to get an entrance key for the gym, the person to give those out to her told her she would need to provide a warranty deed before she would be allowed to use the facility. Why is this? Doesn’t Pulte Homes know of a thing called email. Could Pulte Closing just send an email stating who we are and which house we have bought. I am not impressed by Pulte Homes. One thing that bothered me was the contractor supervisor told me and my wife that he provided money to one of our neighbors for their rental fees while waiting for their house to be finished. We asked for this help for our cost and was turned down. Was this favoritism on Pulte’s part, I don’t know but it seemed that way. ... More

This was about an average experience. We paid for a full home and got an almost completed one. It's still not completed from items identified months ago. Communication was submitted oar to start became very good near closing and has become almost non existent again. Pulte basically acts as a scheduler for a lot of sub contractors. So I strongly recommend yiu pay for a pre drywall inspection, a pre close inspection, and try to get an expert to come woth yiubduring the walk through. If yiur walk through dorsnt take 4+ hours, I guarantee you are missing something and it's a real pain to get something corrected after closing. I highly recommend finding a construction or inspector for the walk through too or getting a friend or anyone and paying them for their time so they actually help. The more eyes, the better because there are going to be lots of issues and everyone might find something you didn't. My wallk through had over 50 corrective items on there. ... More

Luckily I lived nearby the build site, so I was able to keep track of the progress. First, Pulte is charging ridiculous lot premiums, and starts with smaller lot sizes than other builders in the same community. $20k for a 40' wide lot, up to $120k for a 60' wide lot. I have friends in the same community that built with KB who paid $8k for a 55'(ish) wide lot on a lake. 2x4" construction instead of 2x6". Uneven concrete floor downstairs, despite being assured it would be leveled (for LVP install), so my floor has so many spots where it creaks and sinks when you step. Quite a few corners are noticeably out of square, the tubs were beat up, plumbing controls not centered, curves in a couple of walls and the ceiling, a paver patio installed too steep, yard isn't leveled, and the last 5-6' of my yard is unusable because it's saturated with water from a preserve behind me (that was dry when I bought, and now is full of water). The list goes on. The housing market is booming here, and I know that a big part of the problem is getting quality labor. Part of the issue is that most of the people Pulte has been able to hire don't seem to care about the quality of their work. The other part is that Pulte is severely over-charging for the lots. I have built with Taylor Morrison, DreamFinders, Mattamy, and now Pulte. Taylor Morrison was probably my favorite, but they all have their own issues. ... More

Allow me to begin by saying I believe the design and engineering that goes into a Pulte home is pretty good. This is our third new build home so I do have something to compare it to. That being said, my experience with buying a new Pulte quick move in home has been nothing short of frustrating from the sales side through to now 1 month past move in. The sales people are quick to get you under contract and following that communication sort of drops off a bit. Construction was a little slow getting started and progress was slow due to having gone through two different construction managers before getting to our third one who finally was excellent. He communicated very well and tried very hard to make up for lost time. In the end we closed about one week later than expected. While the work he managed went very well, after move in we found the quality of some of the trades used was a little sub par. Particularly the painting we found to be very thin on walls, with poor coverage throughout the home, as well as a fair amount of overspray and sloppy painting on interior doors. Some minor hardware was not installed by closing and now two months later it's been a struggle to get it put up. A plumbing issue that was identified at our post closing walk through with our Pulte warranty manager took three weeks to get corrected. While the balance of our identified issues are not urgent to be fixed, we have yet to hear how and when they will be addressed. I believe most of the material used in the home is of excellent quality with no complaints of fixtures, windows, doors and HVAC, however some of the appliances are of a low quality. Particularly the dishwasher which is a low builders grade quality priced online at around $350. Overall I'm not yet sorry I decided to go with Pulte, but based on our experience I wouldn't expect to move into your new Pulte home problem free, unlike our first two new builds. ... More

Quality of work is poor and rushed and sloppy

I love my home, HATE my back yard. It is the worse job of laying sod I have ever seen. The sod was half dead when it was layed and already infested with dollar week. The grading seems to be off b/c every time it rains more soil washes out from under the sod causing ruts to form that you can't see but you can practically twist an ankel in if not careful.

Every builder tries to cut corners…stay on top of them. Overall we are happy with our house but the customer service in the last month was terrible especially the title agency.

Material used vs price of home was disappointing. But seems to be the Pulte way. I never got the opportunity to interact with the builder until I closed on the house. I submitted a "punch list" over two weeks ago and only one item has been addressed. My last Pulte home. Sell 1st, customer service 2nd.

As is typical with new home builders, particularly production builders, they will be more responsive when they don't have all your money yet (i.e., you haven't closed). Once you close you've got about 30 days to figure out what's not right (regardless of warranty), after that you might as well be invisible. We have bought new homes from a couple of different builders over the past few years. I would rate Pulte as slightly below average. Their after close responsiveness is about average (and average being not that good anyway), but their build quality, at least for our home, was below average. This is compared to other homes we've purchased/viewed by other builders, even those that have worse reputations than Pulte. For such a large production builder, their build process seemed disorganized and in some cases it appears the materials were literally used or 2nd hand materials and supplies. The construction manager we had was decent, but he had to work with what he was given, which is probably minimal. I have a feeling a lot of the issues come from the white collar part of the business, where squeezing out every penny of profit is the most important thing, regardless of quality and customer satisfaction. Of course this may vary by market. Being in Florida where demand is still relatively high, the builder has an edge. Whenever you point out quality issues along the way, they will just say "it passed inspection", as if that is the barometer for good quality, when it is really just the minimal baseline for safety. It's like if you purchase a brand new car, and before you drive it off the lot you notice it has dents and scratches, and the dealer says to you "well it has passed all the required safety tests, so you are good". Hmm. I really only give them 3 stars because I rounded up, but in reality they are closer to 2 stars. ... More

Unfinished & sloppy. Not the best experience.

The w Quality of workmanship poor

So, going through the buying process with the builder Pulte and the mortgage company Pulte mortgage was a nightmare! Let's start with the builder. So there is a $10,000.00 deposit a new buyer must put down to purchase a house with Pulte. This deposit has nothing to do with your closing cost. This deposit involves you contracting with Pulte to build your home. The deposit can go towards closing if you want. The deposit is refundable if you abide by the terms of the contract. That's the first red flag! The builder did have some perks: $10K of the overall cost of the house, another $15K if you used Pulte Mortgage, and another $2500 for Military folks and house warranty. So when the house was finally "Completed," that's when the fun began. 1. The grass installed on the lawn for our house was dying and had lots of brown patches. The empty houses that Pulte was selling or sold all had beautiful lush greens. Pulte assured us that the house was inspected before we moved in, but it was clear that the inspector had done a poor job. We discovered foam in one of the air ducts, exposing us to harmful germs. The air filter was also not replaced with a fresh one. I strongly advise you to get your own inspector and have Pulte cover the cost. This is a crucial step to ensure the quality of your new home. 3. A kitchen cabinet door fell off just 2 weeks before we moved in. Our pantry rails were missing rail caps, and the sharp, exposed ends were a constant source of discomfort, even causing minor injuries. Despite our repeated requests, the Pulte service team has not provided us with the necessary pantry caps. This lack of response and support has been a significant source of frustration. 5. The Pantry light dangled after 2 weeks of moving in. That has been fixed. 6. Our dishwasher's electrical connection was criss-crossed, so instead of the water draining, it would turn on the garbage disposal. That has been fixed. 7. The doors to one of the rooms did not close properly. we let the construction manager know about it, but nothing was done before closing, but that has been fixed. 8. The wood trim on one of the cabinets in the bathroom is coming off, and it has yet to be fixed. 9. Foam or sponge was stuck in one of the toilet pipes. Whenever we tried flushing the toilet, it would not flush properly and leave stains. That has been fixed. 10. I will not discuss my experience with Pulte Mortgage in detail; that information will be reserved for the Putle mortgage survey. To cut a long story short, don't go with Pulte Mortgage; they are a migraine. But this was not great with Pulte Mortgage: they sell your information to other 3rd parties that come to your house and solicit their services. Finally, my experience with Pulte has not been great! I will probably do things differently if I purchase from them in the future, considering the amount of money one is paying for these houses. ... More

We were in the market for our forever home and our realtor suggested Pulte Homes. We had certain wish list items and found a model home to fit the bill. A Pulte sales agent pushed us toward a quick move-in to save money with the incentives the builder was offering. We toured the model home to compare what we would be getting from our quick move-in and felt like we had a good idea of what we were getting. We voiced our wish list items and it seemed like the quick move-in had most of what we wanted but not all of the items so we went for it. As the building process took place, we quickly noticed our expectations from the model home tour were mismatched. The construction manager provided us with great communication and explanations of what he was handling. We realized the sales agent misled us in many areas of our wish list. We were unhappy with the choices that we had no control over... features available in a non-quick move-in, having two of the same model side by side wasn't a consideration before going under contract but it happened while our home was being built another model of our kind was being built next to us. Given the choice, we would have customized our home but the lot we wanted wasn't released yet. The craftsmanship is what I expect from a quick move-in... quick and sloppy. The vendors are coming out numerous times to address things that should be standard for a new home. We told the builder numerous times during the building to take their time as we wanted it right the first time but no surprise we have a list of issues to be addressed within the first year. Pulte sales need better communication with potential buyers and realistic conversations. The construction team shouldn't have to be the middle man as he is working off a word order while we are left dumbfounded about how details got passed us. The area case manager is friendly, but it is hard to service so many customers promptly. The financing department is friendly in the beginning and as time goes on, they forget previous conversations you have had and ask for more uploads of documents you shared with the team previously. It seems disorganized talking with team members from the West and East for one mortgage application. ... More

Field manager was great but after closing, several requests for repairs went 100% unanswered, which we have never experienced from other developers before. Very disappointed. Until now, we still have not received a call or email regarding requests. So poor.

Our builder would often promise to get back to us and never would. Before closing, he stated that items on our punch list would be fixed. One issue was fixed very poorly and I’ve reached out the warranty rep many, many times to be addressed and it still has not been corrected. Another issue he stated was fixed very clearly never was. The quality of work overall is mid level.

I would say for my first homebuying experience it was interesting. First and foremost I would like to thank Amanda because she went above and beyond to make things right and I’d also like to thank Kari in the design center because she also did the same even when it wasn’t in her scope of work. If it wasn’t for those two ladies, I don’t think I would’ve followed through with closing, I think communication needs to be worked on. I think if a customer has an issue it needs to be taken seriously and not just shoved away. They are homebuyer and management may think that they can pull one over on Homebuyer. After everything was fixed, I am very happy however there were a few issues that shouldn’t have been an issue in the first place, so I’m on the fence about whether or not I would ever recommend or purchasing another Pulte home again. ... More

The home buying experience was fine but the craftsmanship and quality are not there. This home is cheaply built and was not even fully finished at the tim of closing. It has been almost 2 months since we closed and some issues are still not resolved.

Our experience started strong with the sales and design center. It fell apart when the construction department took over for the actual work. We now understand why people pay more for “custom” built homes and if we build again that’s what we’d do. We’ve compared them to ours and their better quality and finish is undeniable. This is our second Pulte new home in five years, same area. We paid nearly double the price for an unbelievable decline in workmanship. Dustin and Nathan set high expectations for quality throughout the process and they fell well short. We closed 56 days ago and we’re still struggling to get the closing checklist items complete. Our final superintendent, Nathan, never came back after we closed choosing to not honor his word to complete the work. Warranty finally met with us yesterday so we’ll see what actually gets done. We expressed our concerns in comments and ratings on Pulte’s own survey. They haven’t contacted us which tells me their management team and CEO do not value the survey or customer feedback. Dear Pulte, prove you care. Read home owner surveys for the Preserve at Bannon Lakes and call us. ... More

My experience is not great . Lot of issues with the construction and poor job on the construction

I don’t even know where to begin, I probably wouldn’t go with another pulte home if I had to. Scraps left behind in my new house when I moved in, work wasn’t completed correctly. Basically no effort in making sure it was fixed correctly. Dustin yelling at my partner for having concerns over the quality of the work done on the house. Honestly it was the quality of the craftsmanship of the house that soured the whole process for me.

Pulte has a big problem in the Double Branch Community with the contractor living in unfinished homes, not to mention the using of the bathrooms in homes that are pending purchase. As, a buyer I stressed that the homes remained locked unless work was being done in them.

This is mine third time buying a home and by far was the worst experience as far as quality of work