Pulte Homes Reviews in Chicago, IL

Not sure where to begin so I will start from the time we decided to purchase the house. The front office seemed to be playing games with buyers. When we first started to look at this neighborhood they had the bidding process going on and we went on to bid so many times for specific lots even though there were plenty of open lots. Without a solid reason, we couldn't figure out why they wouldn't just open up lots. Seems they were a bit greedy and wanted people to pay more for the land than they actually were worth. Hence we gave up after multiple bids and losses due to outrageous amounts being bid for lots. We also requested to buy a lot at a price to what they might have quoted but never got a number so we gave up overall. We also gave up bidding because we wanted a 3 car garage but kept getting responses that there are none, yet we see few lots which have them now. A year later we circled back to this place because the house prices within the Mundelein area were coming up close to new construction costs. So we decided to pull the trigger and sign on the dotted line. The contract was obviously one-sided and couldn’t make any changes. Earnest money had doubled from the first time we had originally come to the time we signed the contract. Not a big deal but a huge amount considering what other builders were asking in comparison. 2 months after signing the contract, no word from the front office or anyone about the progress of the house. After calling a few times to get a progress update, we found out there was a hold on construction due to incorrect paperwork. Luckily the GM and front office sorted it out without changing our home delivery timeline. We were very appreciative of this but if we hadn’t called to find out the progress then this issue might not have been caught/resolved and construction of the house would not have begun and ended on the time they had given us. A few weeks into the process we had to visit the Pulte center to make our interior selection. This was not a bad experience except the items we wanted to see were not even on displace. The demo center didn’t really have much to see visually hence we had to make decisions from pictures and basically imagination of what it would look like. The generic handout they give you doesn’t really quantify the items we wanted to see. We had to google and visit many places to see them physically to better understand them. Also, the 3-hour time to select all the items for your entire house is not enough especially since this was our first home and we had no idea what would match with what. 5.5 months into construction we meet with the GM for the pre-drywall meeting. He was very informative and helpful in answering questions. One change I would recommend is to have a meeting with the client at some point before the pre-drywall so the client has options to change small items like adding in outlets or fixtures. New buyers will not know what should go where until they see them physically. 7 months or so after we were ready to close on the house and had to go through another ordeal. Since we had opted not to use Pulse Mortgage the closing/title department basically didn’t communicate any items with my lender or my lawyer of the documents until days before my closing. The day before our closing I was babysitting and coordinating touchpoints about paperwork progress between my lender and the title company. On the day of our closing, which is supposed to be a joyous occasion for us, I was dealing with last-minute changes and add-ons from the title company. Basically sucked the joy out of the who process. FINALLY, we moved into the house which is going great except for dealing with somewhat of a shotty craftsmanship. We have made roughly 7-9 service tickets and are still counting, nothing uncommon from what I have been told from other new construction owners outside of this community. The worst part is that these tickets are to be responded to within 24-48 and it has been 2 weeks now and not been a single call from the construction office as to when they might come to fix the issues. I understand they are short-staffed due to people leaving or let-go but all we are asking for is acknowledgement of the ticket and when they might be able to fix it. I am not asking for it to be done right now but give me some time frame at least. Overall the experience had its ups and downs and we are torn on how we would perceive this and if we would consider going through this in the future or recommend it to others. The people whom we engaged with were considerate and somewhat willing to work with us, more than what I say from other owners who have had worse experiences than us. ... More

closing was done prematurely, drive way and Sod was not ready. Buyer should be advised what to expect after closing. Causing inconvenience. Our closing was on April 5th and as of today JUNE 3rd., we do have Sod on the Ground.

Had a good customer experience overall. Very disappointed with the quality of my home. You can tell things were done rushed with no care how it would turn out. Painting throughout the house was horrible. Hard to believe that was done professionally. There were a lot of scratches on everything (appliances, countertops, floors, tubs, walls, baseboards, cabinets).

Sloppy over all. Lot of issues found after moving in. Very slow in responding and sometimes no response at all. The defects are not being fixed.

First off, we love our new Pulte home. For the most part, we are very happy with the home, our upgrades, and the quality. During the process of working with Diane (sales office) and Jake (construction manager), we have been impressed with the time taken to provide details and inform us of the construction process along the way. Unfortunately, at the end of the process and now, 1.5 months of ownership, we most certainly do not feel like a priority any longer, nor do neighbors that we have spoken to. Jake the construction manager turned over the responsibilities for closing out our home to his assistant, Kyle. First, Kyle changed our closing date without informing the Title Company or me and my wife. During the walkthrough he did a good job walking the house and his crews followed up on most needed quick fixes. However, when pointing out stains in the carpet upstairs, he said he would send a carpet cleaner. That never happened. We decided to live with the stains and will work to remove the stains ourselves. The next item, which is major to me and my wife is that our kitchen cabinets are still not fixed. There are several molding pieces missing, a cabinet side missing, self-closing drawers that do not close, and the nail holes/scratches have not been covered. Kyle indicated that he ordered the parts and that they should be received within a week or so. The cabinet parts have still not been received 1.5 months in and Kyle is extremely slow to reply or give adequate updates when he does respond. When reaching out to Jake to obtain an update he pushes the responsibility onto Kyle. We paid an awful lot for this chef's kitchen and we want to fully enjoy it. Lastly, we still do not have our smart lock for the front door. When the smart home installer called Kyle about the lock, Kyle indicated it was on backorder after checking around. Kyle never informed us it was on backorder. 1.5 months in and no smart lock. Is the problem the two different companies not being responsive, or is the problem our construction management? To us, it doesn't matter...we just want our home to be finished and have what we paid for. Overall, like I said, we love our home. But, as soon as Pulte received our money, we certainly do not feel like a priority to Pulte Chasewood's team. That is very disappointing! ... More

Overall construction was good. But we spent a ton of money on upgrades which included flooring, tile work, cabinets and counters. There wasn't much attention to deal at all. Most tiles in the master shower are wonky, and don't line up. The caulk job was amateur at best. Just sloppy. The floor they installed throughout the first floor has several spots where the planks aren't supported and the seams separate from one another. They installed a floor vent in front of my sliding rear door. They have a light switch literally wedged in a corner upstairs...which looks really stupid. The paint on the baseboards throughout the entire home and the door casing has runs, sags and major orange peel everywhere. They shot nails through the sides of my cabinets when they installed the trim on the sides. None of the cabinet drawers in the kitchen operate smoothly, it seems like there's something dragging. The windows they use are not good at all. Several are very hard to open and the are very drafty. And the screens fit really loose which allows bugs to get in no problem. It is basically very obvious the house was built with the emphasis on time and getting it done fast and not the overall quality. The house was over 500k. It looks like a slapped together flip, and not new construction. Don't spend on upgrades, they will never look as good as the model. ... More

Buying experience was ok at the start but closer to the end trying to figure out closing was a bit messy. Responsiveness to issue at final walk thru and days after closing is lacking. Still waiting on stuff/answers weeks later. I get that they are busy and have other home owners but if you say you will do something do it.

Ok ok type, but this builder are on time always.

Home is beautiful. Salesperson should reference a list of options to go over with home buyer-not rely on home buyer discovering that something wasn’t even offered during the building process. Also, salesperson strongly suggested that I not get the backsplash option for my kitchen, and do it myself, but when I thought it through and thought that because I bought a range tower exhaust, it might be wise to have the builder do the backsplash was abruptly told by the salesperson that it was too late and I had to do it myself, regardless of my willingness to pay the $500 change fee. When I made onsite visits, I was appalled to see that workers left empty bottles and cups and trash in my new Kohler bathtubs and that one window screen was severely trashed and on the floor in the garage. Field manager said that as a homebuyer, I could call at any time and he would respond—-not true.....never returned phone calls. Salesperson and field manager blamed the US Post Office for placement and assignment of mailboxes. Was told by both the salesperson and the field manger that my mailbox would be right across the street from my house....not true....discovered after closing that my mailbox was not one of the four towers across the street from me, but one block over. Field manager blamed landscaping company for not installing sod until day after I closed on the house, which benefitted the builder because builder didn’t have to pay the water bill for watering sod. Names of streets are confusing....One half of a block is Samantha Joy Lane and the other half is Samantha Joy Court. Mail is messed up because the numbering duplicates numbers of houses on other streets and mail carriers are severely confused. Construction traffic oftentimes blocks the mailboxes so that those of us residents who have to drive to our mailboxes cannot stop and safely get out to check the mail. Even though I have always been a fan of Pulte Buiders homes, my experience with the people they hire to represent them, has soured my opinion. ... More

The quality of the house was disappointing. Uneven flooring, walls not straight or levels and the siding is not straight and has many bulges

This was our first new build so going in maybe our expectations were to high. While we love our new house and are so glad to be in it finally (after additional weeks of delays) there are a few things that I wish had better workmanship. The tile work in the upgraded shower is probably my biggest complaint. I am not an expert tile installer but I have done some myself and am extremely disappointed by the "professional" job the team did. We had some significant delays towards the end and the continued lack of communication from Pulte and team was upsetting to say the least.

There are many spots on the first and second floors where the floors make creaky sounds. Walls are not sound proof (not even semi- sound proof). When a bathroom is used the loud water sound can be heard in the bed rooms. Water and sewer pipes throughout the house make very loud sounds. Sound from laundry room is no exception. Regular talk from the first floor gathering room can be heard in the second floor walk-in closet in the opposite corner of the house.

I had high expectations for this house, but they didn't meet my expectation at all. The construction is subpar at best. The windows make noises when there is even a little bit of wind, there are very loud ticking sounds through the vents and the pipes are freezing when the temperatures are low. This is Chicago, the winters a cold and harsh so a house should be build sturdy not like this. Don't even get me started on the floors, it's all uneven and there are cracks in the celling already. I do appreciate the prompt responsiveness to the issues, however there are too many issues and it's only been 2 months. ... More

We closed 2.5 months ago. Just informed we won’t get a yard until at least July. Kitchen ceilings cracking. Mortgage process a disaster. All in all wouldn’t recommend.

We have had a number of issues including water pooling in our side yard and this is still going on after multiple attempts to get it resolved. The landscaping service is not keeping up with mowing grass and removing dead grass except for the model. Look around this neighborhood and you will see.

Never close on your new home until everything is completed. That includes your outside work. Sidewalks, driveways, landscaping and lawn. I was told before I closed on my new home in February that when the weather breaks they would do my sidewalk, driveway, landscaping and lawn would be completed. That is a lie! There are new houses built right now and they are getting their sidewalks and driveway done now. Here we sit with no sidewalks or driveways (just dirt and rocks). They told me and my other neighbors that are in the same boat that our outside work would not be completed for 2 MONThS! That is totally unfair and wrong. They said we would not get our sod till probably June! That is Not how you should run a business. There are a lot of people in this community that are very angry and upset. Please respond to me about this situation. Everyone told me you probably will not respond. Prove them wrong. Thanks! ... More

still we are waiting for fix backyard door and backyard groung not fixed well (not safe for kids)so i want that fix it as soon as possible

Maybe we just don't understand about production homes but we find quality or workmanship issues pretty much everyday.

There is lot of air leak from all the windows and when we approached the team they informed us that it is how they have manufactured Did we ask for that kind of windows which wont stop the cold air coming inside Staying in Illinois no one needs a house like this We paid the amount for this house no one gifted this to us No proper insulation entire house cannot maintain same temperature Lennar was the best when it comes to quality

Nick was the only positive experience we had during our home purchase. He was very attentive and quick to respond to our new buyer questions. All other departments were very disappointing, especially the finance department. They were not efficient! We were given a lot of generic responses! We didn't feel like Pulte cared about our needs and concerns about purchasing our home. This experience felt like we were on a conveyer belt!

Hard to get a hold of and have someone take accountability for workmanship after closing. People are not responsive.

Poor communication during buying process. Excellent in on line communication however difficult to talk to a person. Sales staff say No to every request without an explanation. Had to speak to upper management several times for simple requests. Walk through was very unfriendly and so impersonal. Follow thru during first days of moving in was ignored by all. Had a burning smell in Microwave and asked in writing if they could look at it. Wanted them to pull the oven out so it could be unplugged. No response Had a fire in microwave 3 days later with the fire department at my house at 1130 Pm( microwave was not in use at the time of incident) Pulte is very poor on follow up, customer service and communication ... More

Buyers need to keep reminding themselves that it is not a custom home. Plan to have to repaint the inside.

Substandard materials used, poor Build quality Better look for other options than investing with Pulte homes Had to Close almost unfinished / sub standard home.

There were issues that needed to be fixed before closing, but some weren't completed. I was assured they would be fixed, and I trusted them. After closing, the issues remained. I reported the problems and submitted requests, but I'm still waiting for someone to address them. I don't trust this builder. They took shortcuts to complete my house, and now I need to fix the problems. I'm frustrated that I can't get anyone to respond to me.