Pulte Homes Reviews in Chicago, IL

The final paint on the overall house interiors is very bad and requires so much maintenance. The appliances that are provided are not good and they take no responsibility to replace it within the warranty period. The price that we have paid for the upgrades are way too high than they are worth for. Even the lawn was not set properly by them.

Builder charges >2500.00 USD to pain your home 1 wall color and 1 white ceiling paint. They use Sherwin Williams CHB paint on the walls including bathrooms. This paint does not wear well and is NOT recommended by Sherwin Williams as a durable wall paint. CHB was also used on the bathroom walls with no anti-microbial protection. If it gets wet it stains. Garage is not finished and assumed the buyer will spend another ~2K out of pocket to finish drywall and paint. A deadbolt lock is not included for the front door. Hardwood floor and stair railings are considerably marked up Carpets is low quality and has 5 year warranty Having insulation in a garage is an upgrade / additional charge. ~950.00 USD The stair rails are glued in place If you want lights above the shower and in some closets ... it is an upgrade. The design center is a gimmick to make up margin on home -- products are marked up >62% - 81% The builder doesn't leave the homeowner any additional tile/flooring/paint or touch up paint for cabinets. It is up to the homeowner to research contact each company to order. The standard sidewalk is 3' width The cement stoop off the basement is 3x3 Downspouts are not buried Serial numbers are not left for the homeowner to register their appliances ... More

Excellent. Satisfactory answers to all question.

There’s zero accountability all around.

Communication was nonexistent. A clear lack of communication within Pulte, from a sales staff who did not care about the truth, and a site manager who had no idea what was going on. Texts left unanswered for days. 6 months delayed delivery, but no heads up until the last second. Closing walk through the house was still dirty and a contractor took a poop in our toilet. No follow up on unfinished painted areas. Sloppy work on tye bsckyard removal of trees. They left a mess, rotten wood pieces with nails sticking out.

If I could go back amd purchase my home from Pulte I wouldn't. They are very hard to get ahold of near the end of the building process. They are not very good at communicating and wouldn't respond to emails. They made us miss out closing date and then blamed us for missing it.

Building a home with Pulte was one of the worst experiences of our life. We had previously built two homes with smaller builders and had a positive experience with both. The other builders made every effort to meet our needs, with Pulte it was take it or leave it. We met with the Design Center and after making our selections were later told our wood flooring, wall tile and countertops were not available no effort would be made to provide them. Later while we were in Florida we learned the applince package was no longer available. Our predrywall meeting was another issue. It was scheduled on a date when I was out of town on a trip that had been planned for a year. When we asked to move it back a day we were told that was impossible. My wife went by herself and was left with the impression we would get a key and have access to the house during construction as we did with the previous two houses we built. We found out this wasn't true and we had to make arrangement with our sales rep to go in and see the progress on the house. We had no input into the closing date even within the two week window which was all we heard throughout the construction progress. Finally, the landscaping was down in a very hapharzd manner. We had no input and the landscapers gave no consideration to which plants did well in shade versus sunshine. It seemed like they grabbed whatever was available when they left the nursery and planted them. ... More

Code minimum builder. Need to improve customer experience

The overall construction and build quality was decent. The responsiveness during closing period has been great. Just after the closing the customer support experience has been one of the worse. Even for issues as urgent as gas leak they customer experience manager continued to ignore emails snd and any form of communication for weeks. I wouldn’t spend the money to buy a Pulte home again given how bad the move in experience was.

We really like the design of the house. There is a lot of storage space. You do, however, pay extra for every little things. The things that come standard are so basic that everyone - from the sales person to the consultant at the design meeting highly encourages you to upgrade, which then, of course, drives up the cost for the house. Most frustrating has been our closing experience. We had a pre-closing walk-through date set. At 5 PM the night before, we got a call that the walk-through and our move-in date (scheduled for that weekend) had to be moved back. I understand issues around supply, but those should have been known earlier on. We already had everything set up to make the move happen - and trying to manage a move during COVID with a 1-year old baby is challenging enough without the company changing dates on you last minute! Many of the issues from our pre-closing walk-through had not been addressed. We have since added additional items to the list that we noticed (e.g., we paid extra for a mirror in our master bathroom since don't come standard - the mirror they installed was chipped. We didn't notice it during the walk-through as a lot of furniture had paint splatters on it - so I assumed it was the same with the mirror. But when I looked at it, it was chipped). Now, two months later, nothing has been taken care of. Last Friday, we were told that contractors would stop by to address all items on the list. The e-mail confirmation, however, only listed two of about 10 items. We called and were told all items would be addressed. I then rearranged my work schedule to make sure I was available during the time the contractors would come by. And nobody came. We called to let them know and now, almost a week later, nothing has been done yet. I have responded to several surveys sharing the challenges we've had with getting our closing items completed - we then get a phone call from someone higher up in the company promising that things will be taken care of. That sometimes results in an e-mail or phone call promising that work will get done - but then there is no follow-through. I would not buy from Pulte ever again. ... More

Very expensive starting from lot until utilities. Quality and workmanship is not up to the mark for the price paid for the home. Very limited walk through and that not adequate time provided. Floors on level is not even. Paid for many customization but most of them are below satisfactory level.

1.The only builder that wants to save money by not doing the grading properly. 2.Does not care about defects, if it's not identified before closing, you have to live with it. 3.Has a contractor who does not even know how to install garage weather seal properly(light is clearly visible inside garage and cold air is seeping). 4.Does not want to fix the main door frame crack even though it was identified before closing. 5.Flooring installation was not done properly, bulges in the floor from day one. 6.Doorbell camera was another joke, they installed it blocking access to storm door. 7.Basement floor cracks are everywhere (not talking about controlled cracks) ... More

Bad ! Will not buy again with Pulte.

The entire experience has been nothing short of horrible. From the very beginning, I was overpromised and underdelivered. Prior to closing, I identified a list of issues that I was assured would be taken care of either before or shortly after closing. Instead, I had to constantly follow up just to get basic items addressed. The workmanship was extremely poor—baseboards were coming off, carpet threads were loose, and the paint job was blotchy and careless. I opened a ticket for the HVAC system because the AC unit was noisy and had condensation on it, only to be told the noise was “within threshold.” After pushing for months, the HVAC company finally came out (three months after closing) and confirmed I was right: the connection wasn’t done properly, and the system was overpowered, which caused the intense noise. The same thing happened with the carpet. I raised concerns that it was not stretched or tucked properly, but I was told it was “within tolerance.” A few months later, there’s now a bald spot at the top of my stairs—exactly what I warned them about. Every time I raise a valid concern, I feel gaslit and dismissed, as if customer satisfaction and quality mean nothing compared to rushing homes out the door. The worst discovery came when I replaced one of the builder’s basic toilets. Upon removing the baseboard in the master shower, I found mold. I immediately filed a ticket, and while this was the one issue they acted on quickly (within a week), the fact that it existed at all was alarming. After much insistence, they finally conducted a proper inspection and had to tear down the entire wall in the master, remove moldy boards, and rebuild. While there was no active leak at that point, it’s clear there must have been one during construction that was never disclosed or handled properly. This was my very first home purchase, and instead of being an exciting milestone, it has been the worst experience of my life. I would strongly recommend avoiding this builder. Go with a smaller contractor who values quality, accountability, and customer service—because this company clearly does not. ... More

Beware of sales they get involved with closing in a bad way

I reached out multiple times regarding various issues, but received no response or timely resolution. Additionally, the pricing is significantly higher compared to other builders in the Mundelein area. Unfortunately, despite the premium cost, the quality of work—especially in areas like flooring and plumbing—has been disappointing.

Don’t buy. The construction and sales team are not sharing correct information and the warranty says 11 months but they deny to fix it.

I would never do this again

My overall experience purchasing a home with Pulte was deeply disappointing. While they are incredibly efficient when it comes to collecting escrow payments, that urgency doesn’t extend to providing timely or transparent updates. We received our official closing date with less than two weeks’ notice—seemingly driven by their internal push to meet end-of-month sales numbers rather than any consideration for the buyer’s planning needs. The sales process was equally frustrating. The sales team uses scripted enthusiasm to create a sense of urgency and exclusivity, suggesting that you’re getting a remarkable deal that required “pulling strings.” In reality, the pricing and incentives turned out to be fairly standard—nothing extraordinary. When I expressed this perspective, the salesperson was visibly irritated, which was unprofessional and disappointing. As for the build quality, it leaves much to be desired. While the finishes might look nice at first glance, they mask the use of noticeably low-grade materials. It’s a “looks good from far, but far from good” kind of situation. Post-closing, the customer service has been a major letdown. The service team is slow to respond, and when they do, it’s typically to deflect responsibility rather than offer solutions. Several issues were dismissed outright or deemed outside of warranty, even though the home was brand new. Getting help from the service team feels like talking to one of their flimsy interior walls—no support, no resolution. In short, this has been an incredibly frustrating experience. While Pulte excels at collecting payments, they fall drastically short when it comes to communication, service, and build quality. I would advise prospective buyers to proceed with caution and go in with eyes wide open. ... More

Less than two months since we moved in, there are numerous issues that need to be addressed. The workmanship and materials used are of poor quality. Additionally, the communication regarding the completion of exterior items is extremely poor. We had to follow up multiple times to obtain a timeline for their completion. Overall we are not happy with the purchase and value for the price paid.

Too many things they leftover to fix. They said after closing we will fix but now they don’t show up

This bad experience started with a bidding war on lots. Then the high prices for features, then not disclosing that home wouldn’t be ready at our forced, rushed closing date. They stated that our landscaping and driveway wasn’t done due to their bust schedule even though other homes not even sold had theirs completed before winter hit. Then their mortgage people’s refusal to us for withholding funds since the home wasn’t completed at closing and Bradyn, the manager, had no estimate when it would be completed since they had 30 more homes to work on. Poor response from him and poor craftsmanship on exterior trim work, etc. I will never buy from them again, nor recommend them. ... More

Beyond terrible experience. Pulte just wants to close as many houses as they can as fast as possible. Very poor quality of workmanship. Multiple serious issues including all windows being defective and leaking water that damaged the interior of the house, multiple cracks in the foundation walls leaking into the basement, leaking water from porch to the garage and basement were all discovered in the first week and we are still dealing with repairs after 2 months. The person responsible for warranty claims is a good person and tries to be helpful, but the process of warranty claims and repairs is terrible. There is 150+ houses in the community and only one person to handle all claims which is impossible for one person to keep up. So they become unresponsive and actual repairs take months to even begin. Multiple repairs weren’t addressed the first time and repairmen had to come again as the root cause weren’t addressed. There is no way to track your submitted claims and no way of communicating other than email which again, is very unresponsive. Overall, I wouldn’t recommend Pulte to anyone ever in my life and I would strongly suggest anyone considering them to look elsewhere. ... More

We have waited for the kitchen doors to be installed we have been waiting since 2 months now still waiting for the doors to be replaced money has been taken service has not been done. We are paying HOA for the property no swimming pool no club house is ready yet but monthly payments are taken by pulte what an ugly situation

We had really bad experience with one of our stair selection. We opted for stairs on the upstairs and when the home was done built Pulte put in a drywall there instead. This was so heartbreaking and Pulte was never ready to get it fixed or provide compensation for us to hire some one outside to fix it