Pulte Homes Reviews in Chicago, IL

There are cracks in my new house . This is at the ceiling which is clearly visible . this is not handle properly.

Bad experience with Sale Agent. Felt I was judged from the beginning. Sales agent did not mentioned all of the possible options. She decided that I could not afford the house. Sales agent was pushy in making me choose Pulte Mortgage. She did not explained all in details. For a first time buyer, there is so many choices and decisions to make. The Sale Agent should always give complete explanation, description or options of what is part of the house. Had a different experience with the Construction Manager. He was very helpful and understanding and listened to my concerned if I had any.

If I could change something it would be the elevation and house selection which was rushed and not explained at all. Explanation about structural add ons to the house was poor and lot appearance features like height and elevation not explained. I had no idea the about the details like shingles, garage door appearance etc. Craftsmanship and, closing has overall been good.

We moved in 2 months ago and still do not have a sidewalk, back stoop, driveway, final grading or sod. Pulte was in a hurray to get us closed in March but not to complete their outside work except where required to get an occupancy permit for later closings. The Pulte personnel we deal with are helpful but I think their hands are tied by the ridged policies of Pulte. As to quality of workmanship, I don't think they do a better job than any other builder. A buyer has to pay a lot for extras just to get good, but not great, quality finishes. $1,313 for a basic laundry tub. $1,330 for a couple cabinets in the laundry room. $183 for a single ceiling light and another $120 for the switch to turn it on! Bathroom faucets spill water on the back of the sink. The upgraded paint they use rubs off easily. Drywall imperfections are obvious. Garage is dry walled and taped but not mudded or painted. Front stoop roughly finished and loaded with stains. Trim around front door roughly finished. Perhaps this is to be expected for any new construction, but it doesn't make a buyer of a half million dollar house feel special. We have a generally well built home but I would not say it is exceptionally good quality. If possible for a buyer, he or she would be better off using an outside contractor for painting and closet cabinetry. Finally, Pulte continues its nickel and diming at closing by requiring the buyer to reimburse it for transfer taxes that are by law customarily a seller's obligation. ... More

Workmanship: It's okay but aesthetic precision could use some work (Personally being a big fan of proper symmetry and angling, I see some areas aren't exactly perpendicular/parallel. Again, those are only visible upon minutely observing but for the price we pay, I would think those should be a part of the inspection from the builder's side) Wall corners are delicate: There were some aesthetic/cosmetic issues when we moved in (scuffed corners, paint touch ups missing). Some times, a soft dash with the wall/door corner makes a slightly noticeable dent in it. I would think those materials should be a little more durable. Also, We know that the house settles in as you use it and stay in it, but some of the cabinet corner gaps and wood surfaces seem to be expanding (these are minor observations but I hope they don't get too bad). We are still within the 1 year workmanship warranty period so I hope those issues get fixed. ... More

Honestly i wasn’t too happy with the process. Started off with a sales consultant who didn’t follow up with the process of the bidding. Then because of lack of communication, we had to change the model of the house we wanted and the colors for the exterior. We were told dates of work to be done and no calls or emails to inform us of delays. We understand labor shortages and supply shortage but a simple email or call would help the buyer know estimated times. Then upon closing the title rep gave us the run around. The lawyer that represented us was even frustrated and he’s been doing this for many years and dealt with many new builds. The construction on the home is great the only issue is they didn’t clean up the leftover materials and scraps. I’ve been finding wood boards and small metal gutter pieces that are dangerous in the yard. The front door was dented when being painted and that wasn’t repaired and now I would need to file a claim for the door because we didn’t notice it sooner. We were told we would have something down in the yard for our dogs because the sod cannot be installed until a later date and that hasn’t been done either. We have nothing but a dirt pile and mud. ... More

Good comfortable house. Things to be fixed take longer than expected. Nothing to do with material just simply getting things fixed.

Pulte was great to work with during the construction process. We were notified of each phase of construction and response time for questions was very good. I can’t say the same for issues after closing on my home. The response time is much slower, requires multiple attempts (takes several weeks). There were also a few surprises which were not told to us during the buying process. The home quality appears to be okay. There could have been more care taken in leaving the outside of the home cleaner, eg. cement splatter, pieces of siding and nails. The Design Center experience was fun, many options to choose from. Overall, I liked working with Pulte. ... More

The Pulte salesperson separated from Pulte just after I signed the purchase agreement in January. I was not able to do a walk-through to view the construction progress. I did a walk through the morning of the closing in mid-March and everything looked okay except for a few missing upgrades that the sales rep had verbally promised. The governor issued a Covid 19 "stay-at-home" order so no repairs can be addressed at this time. The essentials are working fine... HVAC, electricity, plumbing, water... My repair list is long but does not include any major concerns. I've purchased and added weather stripping for the drafty doors that will just need some adjustment. I fixed the door bell by moving the wires so now it has just the one chime... it goes just "ding", but not "ding -dong". Thanks to YouTube I have fixed the balance shoes and pins on the windows. In some cases the pins are completely missing so the windows cannot stay open. I've taped down where the wood floor has raised splinters so it doesn't injure my stocking feet. Unfortunately the Pulte Warranty Manager, like the sales representative, was released from employment. He had kept a list of all my needed repairs and had planned to address them as soon as Covid would allow workers to resume employment. He always responded immediately when I contacted him with issues. He is terribly missed by me and all my Pulte neighbors. ... More

We expected the Fire Place to be in the wall NOT IN THE CORNER. No one told me that it would be in the corner and no one told me that I would lose one window and it would shorten the space in the gathering room. Second FAULTY LAYOUT with one light outside the garage door hiding behind the Pole. No one offered to have wash sink in the Laundry Room which is very important to have it. Most of work seems to be to finish the construction this way or that way and take my money and run away. Very bad experience.

Our second Pulte home so we’ve been through this before. The sales and closing occurred nearly 12 months apart so plenty of time for us to become foggy on our choices and decisions. Everything turned out to fairly well. Reviews during construction seemed rushed and did not permit us to realize the corners that Pulte now cuts to keep costs down. The garage is only rough finished with fire tape. There are no lights of any kind in any closets. Some closets are so squeezed as to be useless. The finishes are rough and amateurish in key areas such as the front porch and enameling of baseplates. The list could be longer but, all things considered, we are fairly proud leased with our new home. ... More

Will need to be very critical of build quality issues

In general, I like the house. But I expected a little more quality for the price I’m paying. But that my just be a product of the current overpriced housing market. Also, some of the workmanship, such as on the doors, the cabinets, and shower, could have been better. My experience with Pulte Mortgage nearly soured the whole experience. I would strongly recommend saving every single correspondence email with Pulte Mortgage in case they accuse you of not replying or if they try to offer you something different from their correspondence. The sales team was amazing. Generally the responsive tone of Pulte is great although I will have to re-submit a request after not hearing back from someone for over a week. All in all, I would at best recommend Pulte to others but with reservation. I would not recommend some of the upgrades we got though. ... More

Overall experience is ok and quality of the house isn’t great.

At Trails of Woods Creek in Algonquin, homebuyers are passed along from sales rep Kristen or Christine, to Celeste at the design center, to construction manager Anthony, to Brandon for pre-drywall review, to Alex for pre-closing review, to Kerie for after-sale support. It would be helpful to have a single advocate homebuyers could turn to at any stage for support or to have their questions answered. It is difficult to find out what is included in the base price, because the models include so many options. This is especially true for lighting and electrical outlets. Be persistent and keep asking. Ask to see the base plans. You may be surprised to find that there are no overhead lights in the bedrooms, or that no mirrors are included in the master bathroom. While the base price might be competitive, options are often significantly overpriced. For example, for $734, Pulte will not install the two standard toilets included in the base price of the home, which can be bought for $114.80 each, and instead install tall height toilets which can be bought for $167.30 each. No additional labor and $105 additional parts costs, and for this they charge $734. It is best to avoid options which can be easily changed out after closing at less cost. ... More

Our journey with Pulte to build our first home was good if not great. From the first step the Sales consultant was a huge help in getting us to know about the community and the house. There were a couple of instance where he did not notified us about a couple of things which may have been better if we would have known about it. The design center appointment also went. There were a few hiccups during our closing and after few calls we were able to solve it with Pulte's team. Pulte's loan team was also nice and helped us in every possible steps. Once we moved in, construction manager was also very helpful with all the questions we had. The landscaping and driveway works seems to be taking longer than expected and we hope it will be done sooner rather than later. ... More

Be wary of what is or is not included in upgraded features. For example, we paid a ton of money for a walk-in shower with a spa package but we can now not fully use the jets without soaking the drywall outside of the shower because the upgrade didn't come with a shower door. The frustrating part is that the standard shower comes with a door so why wouldn't the upgraded one. No one will answer me.

Once you move in stay in home you will notice lot of things like finishing doors touch up holes on hardwood floor and walls nails... you will notice so many issue... when you invested half million with smart home option, pulte did not provided me second garage opener and never communicated. Pulte just change their polices but never communicate with home owners.

When we purchased the home , wife and I were put a very slow , non- communicative, treadmill, moved in with no information or instructions or any normal helpful tips.

Not great for the price point! You would be paying 500k or even above but wont get the quality befitting the money.

One coat of paint on all of the walls is hardly even the minimum and several spots were completely missed, leaving bare drywall. One supply duct per room and the zoned system not being fully realized is unfortunate to see as I am a DDC specialist. There was no pull string for the ISP to pull their wire to the Low Voltage panel in the basement through the chase pipe even though the plan states that there would be. The speaker wires were done incorrectly along with other cost cutting measures by Procom. Rushing to close even though the outdoor work wasn't done yet was a red flag indicating that Pulte cared more about finances than the homeowner's ease of moving in (the FAQ provided stated that in most cases the driveway should be done upon closing). The gas and 120V outlet in the garage were installed IN THE CEILING 10 feet away from where we discussed installing them IN THE WALL with Anthony, the original construction manager. This is most likely due to our construction manager changing between three different people within the course of 6 months. ... More

Every single person is a model of friendliness and warmth. That said, several errors on their end led to missing or inaccurate customization builds. Very disappointing to walk into your new home and find that something isn’t what you selected. Also, I was given a lengthy sheet of structural options just 24 hours before final selections were due because the sales agent just forgot to share it with me over the two months I had already been working with her. Seems like these simple issues could be solved with tighter processes for people in these sales roles.

Pulte built a structurally sound home. Buying process was painful. Design Center was a great experience. Quality of workmanship was mixed (example; floor and tile work were great, Paint and finish carpentry not so great). Overall, a builder's grade quality home. Optional design choices offered are very overpriced. Staff is responsive to issue resolution.

Buying a home with Pulte was a bit of a challenge. I think the product is nice and a good value, but they definitely oversell what they provide. For instance, we got the smart home package which on their website claims to include a video doorbell. We only found out this apparently no longer includes that feature weeks before our closing? Even though the website still states the smart home package includes a video doorbell...? Also, our builder Garrison was pretty arrogant and insecure during many occasions. For instance, he assured us the baseboards that were installed 1 week before closing were correct only to find out after our closing all baseboards had to be re-installed because he was actually wrong...? Also, we had a family friend come with us for a pre-drywall walkthrough since my wife and I are not aware of what to look for in these situations only to be told that we COULD NOT bring anyway with us at our final walkthrough. This seems odd since we are paying a lot of money for a house but we can't bring in any counsel to help us keep Garrison and his team accountable and to give us peace of mind? We also know of other homes in our development where there is constantly trash littered within the home, some shotty worksmanship, and even things such as hot plates with ground beef scattered all about the home. Pulte really tries to sell their quality and first class product and service which just did not measure up to reality. However, all in all, the house does look great and after a couple of weeks in, my wife and I are happy so far. So little situations or annoyances aside, we do believe that Garrison and his team did build a nice house that we are looking forward to making our home for years to come. ... More

The two weeks leading up to closing and now the weeks following closing have not been good. Communication has lacked, follow through has been non existent. Punch list items from final walk through are still not done and we’ve been in the new how over a month now.