Pulte Homes Reviews in Chicago, IL

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.

Lack of trades work being checked for quality. It seems the area lacks the labor force to meet deadlines. I would reconsider if I could. Get sod in back because the other option is all weeds. The area was strewn with garbage and nails and old wood throughout process. They try but to much going on.

Design experience in a digital world should be digital. Not read a PDF with all your options. Should be a digital model of one’s home which allows for an immersive experience to put in options and lighting that gives you transparency in cost and choices vs. a rushed feeling when you get to the design studio. Trades are challenging and carpentry at times are a miss. The way they care for your home should be with more care and awareness of where and how they place things that are already built by other trades.

Working with the sales consultant was great for the most part, until the very end when communication basically stopped. For your sake, I hope you don't have any issues because getting them addressed is time consuming and getting someone to actually help you is difficult. You pay a lot of money for not great service. I continue to notice poor craftmanship in my home and the interior paint job has tons of issues. It simply wasn't possible to catch everything during our walk through and now what was missed we are stuck with. My floor creaks all over my bedroom. Overall, I love the look and design of my home, but for the money I paid, I would have expected better work. ... More

Get your issues resolved prior to closing

This is our second Pulte home. Our previous one, built two years ago, showed a much higher quality of finish. At first glance during our walkthrough, the home seemed striking. Of course, your heart is racing at the reveal, and there is so much to see, that it is difficult to see everything. Once we furnish and accessorize the home it will look beautiful. However, being our second Pulte home, we are disappointed at the use of MDF (like cardboard with a nice plastic finish) as a trim material. It is difficult to repair should it get dinged or gauged. We noted several of these dings and gouges during our walkthrough, and the painter had a very difficult time repairing those so they did not show. Also, we closed at the end of December. Though we expressed no hurry to do so, Pulte Management appeared to put tremendous pressure on every Pulte employee from "Sales to Closing" to finish the home by the end of the year (for Pulte's benefit). We found several issues after the walkthrough. The drywall is kind of "wavy". If you place a two foot level on it to hang a picture, the level often rocks back and forth. The "wavy-ness" also shows up in the baseboards. As you sight down the baseboard you can see it dip in and out pretty severely in a few places. You can clearly feel dips/rises in the floor at certain places as you walk through the home. Most of what we did catch during the walkthrough was taken care of quickly. We still have some nail heads that show around the kitchen cabinet area, and you can see light leaking under the center of the front door. The (gray) wall paint is either a cheap grade of Sherwin Williams paint, or only one coat, but just the slightest contact with it seems to leave a mark. There is a large paved patio included with the home, but we are disappointed that the neighbor's AC Compressor is literally right at the end of the patio. Of course, this an architectural/design issue, not a build issue. (We cannot imagine sitting next to the AC unit during the warm summer months.) We are pleased with the efficiency of the home. It seems to be well sealed and insulated. There is a full unfinished basement below the living area that is trimmed out very cleanly. Winter weather did not allow for the outside trim to get a final coat of stain. Landscaping will be completed as weather permits. We are hoping to resolve as many of the above issues as possible before our one year warranty terminates. ... More

The 10 yrs warranty thay they mention at the time of marketing is ONLY for the structural and not for the entire home. Quality of product or workmanship is ok.

You buy a box, nothing is included! basic base selection is dull therefore you have to upgrade and pay more! by the time you add all the necessities to beautify your place, you add & pay $80,000 more. Paint job not very good!

The house is basically a kit so, the fundamentals are good. But the finishing is poor. Exterior and interior painting is poor. Interior trim is poor. Front door does not fit. Basement window well is littered with construction materials. They cut corners everywhere they can. We have built 3 homes and this is the most expensive and the poorest quality. I have requested things to be fixed and so far nothing.

ceiling needs repairs bad and they have still not corrected it. Been 3 months now.

Our experience started out wonderfully but we ignored the fact this is not a custom builder. They are a first off quantity builder, meaning they build as many as possible as quickly as possible. They have a system that helps them achieve this. The home is delivered partially built to the site and put together like a puzzle. You cannot make changes, upgrades or choices outside of their guidelines. Quality is satisfactory but not outstanding, also craftsmanship varies according to quality of crews hired to work. We have lived in a custom built home where the builder took pride in his product, Pulte builds communities with houses that look nice. In order to get issues handled you have to submit them to a site, they forward to the apporioate person, you wait for that person to contact you to make an appointment to address your issue. If not an emergency you are asked to wait until your 11’th month walk through. Most of the people we worked with did their jobs well but they couldn’t do them extremely well because corporate rules/guidelines/regulations tie their hands. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, watch the process as closely as possible, and don’t expect your home to be perfect. We waited over 6 weeks for the foreman to bother to get around to taking care of our celebration walk through list and that’s only because we had to complain otherwise we’d still be waiting. ... More

Quality of materials used is concerning. There are mold in basement which is not covered with in warranty. Radon level is high which is also not covered in warranty.. Any cosmetic damage that you see post closing is also not covered under warranty.. So basically you are taking the same risk when you buy from any ordinary builder except you pay premium price here..

If they run into a shortfall they rush that part of the build...grout over dirt, chipped trim, paint on hardware, etc. These are things that appear in my bath where the doors were late in delivery so it was the last room finished and things were hurried. Other areas showed lack of craftsmanship. Front door remains with a gap at the bottom letting in cold and hopefully nothing else.

Some of the products are not of high quality, such as the paint and hardwood floors. There are some slight dents in the cabinets as well. The ComEd service cannot be switched to my account, and I have to track it with a Comed representative for days to get it resolved. Normally, the builder should talk to Comed first to provide all the meter details and everything else setup before I call them for my account activation

House was not ready to close but we closed anyway. More than 40 follow-ups. 29 left 8weeks past close.

Advertisement shows units available and cost in the middle 200k, reality was there we no home available within two months and the cost was a 100k more than advertised

If they used a higher quality of materials, I think they would have less repair issues.

Read the reviews on this site very carefully. The mortgage process was a teeth grinding nightmare; however, the loan consultant was the saving grace. Mortgage processor asked for information piecemeal and how many times do you need to check with an underwriter for someone who is close to a credit score of 800? Title insurance was wonderful. The pre-drywall walk through was well done with considerable knowledge and helpful detail shared. While there is no doubt the structure is well built, some interior finishes are low quality, overpriced and contractor final work is sloppy. If there are quality checks on interior contractor work it’s not done to the highest regard as the house structure itself. There was ceiling paint on hardwood floors and the marble fireplace that I needed to remove. Kitchen cabinet uppers have chips where handles have been screwed in, dents and one has a screw end visible beneath where the molding was attached. The water from the fridge and kitchen faucet tastes terrible and has a plastic odor. After repeated follow up on the issues, one to the customer care manager (no reply) and a colleague (3 follow ups), I’m advised the water is piped the same as every home out here and it’s definitely safe. Hmmm..so why does it smell and taste so bad. The rest of the items need to wait 11 months. These are basic things that the builder should own and rectify without delay. Sadly, very disappointed. ... More

Over all not very satisfied

Not all available options were mentioned at the beginning, and I only became aware of the limitations with the selection options later, when opting out was no longer possible. Furthermore, I had a very negative experience when I tried to work with a broker, as I was denied that option without any way to opt out. Overall, the sales process was not as transparent as I had expected.

Quality of materials and workmanship is just OK. Subpar if you look closely at the details. Once you close, it’s nearly impossible to get them to do anything for the warranty repairs.

This is one of the most basic home I have seen and bought. The only and biggest reason to buy is because of the school district. The workmanship and quality of the home is below-par. Coming from a Toll Bothers house, and the luxuries offered, quality, workmanship and flexibility with the floor plan, Pulte is on the opposite spectrum of this. I would say it's just a bare house even after adding a 100k of upgrades, nothing special about it. The list of shortcomings is pretty big and i wouldn't want to go into those details. One major challenge I am facing right now is the HOA and their bylaws. Pulte never provided the bylaws before purchasing the house, because they know if they would do that, quite a bit of people will either have second thoughts or might not buy because of the ridiculous bylaws. One shinning part in all of this process was the Pulte agent. She made herself available and guided and helped throughout the process. Lori is just amazing. Other than that getting mortgage from Pulte and working with them was a nightmare. The mortgage agent was more busy than the US President would be. It was a challenge to talk to her. The service managers are also very hard to get a hold of. You would think that, part of the process of buying from a national builder would be after sales service, which is barely there. I would say that I dont see myself living in this house after kids graduate from high school or if Toll Brothers start building houses in the same school district. ... More

The excitement of purchasing a new build was dulled by the high costs of any upgrades. The bundling of un-related items was also an issue. For example, we got to choose the color of our front door, but it was bundled with the color of the roof shingles. The house/lot was not completely ready on closing day. In fact, a month later the lot has still not been cleaned up from construction and the landscaping has not been started. The quality of the structure is yet to be determined, but we are disappointed with the quality of the paint that was used in the house. The appliances and fixtures throughout the house are of good quality. The Sales Associate was excellent in helping us through the process and communicating with us. The Customer Service Representative has been responsive to our inquiries. The Construction Manager was very helpful and open to suggestions prior to closing. However, since closing, he/she appears to be overwhelmed and is slow to respond. In conclusion, we know that the buying experience is different for everyone; ours has add its ups and downs. ... More