Pulte Homes Reviews in Chicago, IL

The quality of the builders, Eric and Gus, is fantastic. I could not say anything better about them and their responsiveness to issues. On the opposite spectrum, I would never recommend using Pulte Mortgage. The loan process was the worst I have ever dealt with and took the fun out of watching the house being built.

Before we buy we need to check the agreement with builder and prices

We are happy with the home overall but we were disappointed and frustrated with the buying process. Too many people associated with the purchase of the home. Mistake made on husband’s Social Security number. When we received phone calls and we had to return call it took sometime 6 hours. Also we would receive documents that needed us to fill out and sign at like 5:00pm with expecting a quick response.

They were great, mostly kept to deadlines and built the house much faster than I expected. The quality was very good, but probably not "luxury" as described. The house shows beautifully, but everything is just a tiny bit smaller than it looks when you start living in it (showers, width of driveway, size of garage, dishwasher, sinks, etc) all feels smaller than it looks in the model. Very efficient, but I would not describe as luxury. Lots of things got pushed until after closing, but they are pretty good about keeping their promises and trying to respond to all issues.

Make sure you double check all your sales options from the very beginning. Mistakes can be made and you have to live with them. Our construction manager was awesome and easy to work with. We had a contractor come into the house shortly after it was built to do some work for us and he commented on numerous things that were done very well in the house, which made us feel really good about the purchase as he didn’t have to say that. When you go to Pick your colors and materials for the house it is a three hour session, get as much information upfront as possible from the sales people so you know what you’re looking at before you get there. You’ll spend too much time searching through things you could’ve looked at prior to getting there. Pulte could have a better set up if they put things on their website and allowed you to click through them. All in all we feel the house is an excellent home and our experience was a decent one. There were bumps and sales people could have been better, but our Construction manager was awesome and we love the house. In the end, I think that is all that matters. ... More

They closed the house on time and overall, it looks good and met my expectation. Quality could be better though.

Buying a home is overwhelming what more if it’s a new construction. The realtor who assisted us was very helpful. She didn’t mentioned that the price of the lot went up from the first consultation to the time that we signed up which is a week apart. Just a week!!! I tried to appeal but to no avail. They just made more money out of me. The house is just okay. It seems that they rushed the construction. It took them less than 5 months to build on a winter time. Pulte needs to reconsider their general contractors. There’s a lot of hard dried paint on the carpet. The carpet edges were not smooth. The grout in the bathroom tiles are not smooth. The thing on the edge of the tiles are peeling off. The floor has a lot of crack. I have the pictures saved on my phone I’ve been finding things since day 1 and I am still finding things that needs to be repair until now. The construction manager Anthony and Justin are very helpful and kind. It is hard to recommend Pulte to homebuyers. ... More

All went as planned from Day1. Some minor issues with lot pricing in the starting stage .. otherwise it's very good experience.

Less than 24 hour notice closing was canceled because of sod issue Have yet to be reimbursed for costs associated with cancellation

Pulte bank and Pulte as a organization can use targeted diversity equity and inclusion training as historically the company struggles with homebuyers of color. I did experience this! I do enjoy having my home complete.

Overall a good experience, a lot of little details we over looked that I wish we paid more attention to. Everything we asked for they did. If I could do it again I would but I would be more involved and went and inspected the house more through out the building process.

There was great communication between the sales office and me but their seemed to be a lack of communication elsewhere. There were a few instances where I was told one thing and it was wrong or for some reason it had to be changed. I wished I was aware of those changes before they were put in place. For instance in the design center, I was showed the cabinet garbage holder and was told that’s the one I would get and I got a cheaper version instead. There was also the instance of the whole process of getting an offer accepted and not being able to actually see the lots before the offers had to be put in and signed. This was also with having a limit on the sales appointment. I was mailed the contract very early in the morning and had to sign it before 12pm the same day. ... More

I think my over all experience with home part is good but the main thing is the cost of optional items for even very small things. I think when some one is buying new home builder needs to spend default on few things like kitchen backsplash, side/back fences, bathroom soap holders, heated garage door, cabinet knobs, internet cable underground or fan plugin points. These are some basic default things for each home for which cost should be not charge to customer. This thing does not goes well with Pulte being so renowned builder you should consider these option by default in your basic unit. Last the title company, please change it or upgrade your staff. ... More

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

The sales team Vickey was great, she helped us from the first time we walked in and she answered all the questions and concerns we had, 5 starts for her. Construction manager Carson was great as well. He knew his stuff and very detailed explaining all the house features. 5 starts for him Lending department, pulte mortgage was the worse. They kept asking for documents that I already sent, weeks went by without any response, it was 7 days before my closing and they yet had us qualify for the loan. It put us on a bad spot specially since we were moving from another state. I cost us thousands of dollars due to their negligence. 0 starts for pulte mortgage. ... More

The construction manager was amazing. Can’t say that about the rest of my experience buying from Pulte.

The sales department was fabulous. Especially Jenny. The design team needs a complete overhaul. Not enough time to select what you want. They were not knowledgeable and they were extremely misleading. We did not get things they said we would like Slow close drawers in the cabinets. We paid for them but never got them. And the construction team said that wasn’t an option. It was too late to change anything. Sean’s on the woodwork in the cabinets are very visible, used bad paint all throughout the house. We have been in the house 5 weeks and our front door has had to be “repaired” twice already and will probably need to be done again, the ceiling in the bathroom cracked, and our son’s bedroom door almost fell off. There are a number of things we do love but overall, I’m not sure I would recommend Pulte to anyone without telling them to be seriously cautious. ... More