Pulte Homes Reviews in Chicago, IL

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

Experience is what I expected. Pulte associates were very nice. Contractors with big builders can be very hit or miss. Carpenters, plumbers, tile workers, and others did a great job. The painters/drywall workers did a poor job. Drywall seams are clearly visible, paint missing in plenty of spots, and overall messy work.

Cold air is flowing into the room, no proper insulation. Even after repeating request issue is not addressed for months.

Sales and contractor as well as design studio is not sync in between. So lot of communication gap. Material used for build this home is not as expected, lot of material things are not finished in our home. No proper finishing of base board paint grout and door handles. Our first floor is totally vibrating a lot when walking slowly. Our floor is EVP still we fill when we walk it is not properly installed.

Sales - Kristine was really helpful with our questions/concerns. This helped us pick the right options and come to the point of putting the initial deposit down which triggers the start of construction. Builder - Joe was also really helpful and build our house in timely manner answering all the questions we had. Closing experience - We opted with Pulte Mortgage and Derek was also great at guiding us and getting us best rates. Can be done better: 1. Co-ordinating with various parties including Pulte builders, mortgage, escrow to make sure I have everything needed for closing. The onus was on us and we kept getting email updates anytime there were changes made behind the scene. We then had to follow up to understand what changed and what are our obligations. 2. Quality: The quality of material is decent. The wall paint chips off so easily compared to previous places I've rented. I'd have expected a new house built to have a better quality than the places we usually rent. ... More

Pulte is a great home builder, and financing with Pulte has made things easier. I highly recommend Pulte as a home builder and to finance your home if needed.

Everything went smoothly. Very good at communication

Entire team was extremely professional and helpful

They pitch high quality workmanship, but the product ends up actually being low quality and they don't care to fix it. They stand behind their contracts and legal jargon to justify houses falling apart from year 1.

So people that works for pulte homes care and some people just going to that type of person.

I had a great experience with the team at Winding Creek. They were very responsive, patient and provided answers to all the questions.

Overall very nice experience. The only reason 4 stars and not 5 is because of lack of flexibility in many things customer wants like changing closing dates, or configurations(adding sun room after selections were made), using concrete over asphalt or taking inputs on not putting sod close to winter instead comeback and do it next spring etc. during building process. I understand there are tight guidelines for various reasons but allowing leeway to customers makes the experience elastic to the customer and they feel they also have some control on the process. The other reason is initially the lots were put in a bidding war before it was awarded. I understand the market conditions and your company trying to make the most of it but the experience was not a pleasant one from a customer standpoint since there was anxiety, lack of transparency etc. Other than that, the staff was professional, friendly and tried their best to get around advice processes. I’m satisfied but if the above considerations are taken, it will truly become from nice to b a great experience. Thanks. ... More

Brandon, the sales rep was not the best to work with. Information was left out, which led to issues during the building process and the close. Other than that, experience was good. The design center was a cool experience, didn't have everything we wanted with their options, but it worked out well and happy with the home.

Since this was our first "new build," my wife and I were extremely excited from the beginning of the buying process. We have two little kids and wanted a house we could make a home to make memories in. We were fortunate to be able to afford a house in Sheldon Woods and add all the upgrades we wanted. However, since moving into the house, we learned that some of the materials used were cheap and some of the craftsmanship of the work could have been and should have been better. We began having electrical issues within a few days of moving in, followed by a loose pipe in the walls connected to the washer machine. Actually, we had electrical problems since before closing that were found by our private inspector. These were allegedly minor issues and were fixed by our closing day. We submitted a service request, and they came out to fix the electrical issue (outlets tripping the breaker, preventing us from using them for daily household appliances) and secured the pipe after having to cut the wall. However, since November 9th, I've submitted seven service requests for electrical problems. Problems that should not be occurring. For example, outlets are constantly tripping from simply trying to use a washing machine, a coffee machine, a toaster oven, a hair dryer, a hair straightener, and a vacuum. All of these are new, reliable brands and made for the standard 120v residential outlets. For several days at a time, I have not been able to wash my clothes and, in fact, have had to leave work clothes soaked in the washer because it would not stay on for the water to drain and the door to unlock. All the outlets I had issues with would not be able to hold power once they tripped until several hours later or until the electrician came out and replaced the breakers. Since then, the customer service manager for the area would come with the electrician and try to diagnose the issue of what was causing these power trips along with flickering lights I've told them about and caught on camera. They eventually determined that one of the ports in the "bus" had a poor connection to the breaker and moved the breaker to another spot. However, the problems continued, and I was told the breakers used were Arc Fault breakers connected to GFI's, making them too sensitive. This, to me, made sense to an extent, but not completely, as it was various locations of these trips and it did not explain the light issues. Furthermore, the neighbors have not had the same electrical issues, and I am pretty certain they use all of the above-mentioned household items. I am now on my 7th service request because after the breakers were replaced this morning in my master bath and washer, I plugged in my vacuum upstairs, and it tripped instantly again. This would then turn off the lights in my master bath. This breaker was allegedly replaced again this morning. For the amount of money we are paying for these homes (significantly overpriced), my family and I should not be having this kind of issues. I will say that they come out and try to fix the issues each time I submit a service request. However, it seems as though they are just doing a "workaround" correction and not trying to figure out the true problem of what is causing these headaches. This has become a daily problem and such a nuisance that I have reached out to my attorney and briefed him on the problems. My next step will be trying to get an electrical engineer not connected to Pulte. As much as I love the house, I can not say that I am happy with the end result, nor that I would recommend Pulte to any of my closest friends or relatives. As I mentioned before, other than the electrical issues I've been struggling with, we have noticed a lot of poor-quality craftsmanship throughout the house. ... More

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

Overall my experience with construction quality and material for cabinets are not upto the mark. Within 3 weeks of moving cabinets moved from wall and created crack in backslash and countertop . There is wide gap due to this. Basement stairs have gap and not attached to wall. Wall paint is coming out with a light touch . Cabinets paint is coming out . We feel not confident even after spending huge amount for the Material quality. Feeling disappointed

Not very happy at Pulte marketing side , many recommendations provided were not very helpful. Also after taking possession service requests were not very effective & pro active .

We'd been searching for new homes for more than a year & visited almost all builders available in our area. We really liked the open plan of Pulte quite a bit. The whole process was reasonably good. As this is a process of creating a complex property, there are going to be some issues. But Pulte team has addressed them reasonably well so far, except for may be 2-3. As this was our first home buying experience, we felt that Pulte should try to allow the following: 1. At least 2 visits to design center for customization of home than 1. 2. At least 2 visits during pre dry wall process than 1.

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.

We were excited that we booked our custom home with Pulte but it was not a greatest experience. Below are few areas we had issues with: 1. Since beginning there were delays. Delays to get the permit, could be Govt issues or may be Pulte didn't submit the details correctly. 2. Due to Permit delay, construction wasn't started for approximately 2 months. 3. Once, the construction started, they dig the foundation way back on the lot(lot size more than 10K sq ft). For such a big lot, we didn't have much space in the backyard. We complained and after too many back and forth communication, Pulte finally agreed to move the foundation only 10 feet forward, even though it can go more, but they didn't. They also didn't give any reason why they can't move further. 4. Due to the foundation issue, again the construction was delayed by month or so. 5. Finally construction started, but I think they lack planning the construction phase. I think they need to focus more on the weather and phase of construction. For example, if the house is ready for the roof shingles and it is going to rain heavily next week, please don't wait for the rain to ruin the wooden floor, plan ahead and get the shingles done before the rain. 6. Finally, the home was completed and we moved in. Now, we are finding more issues in the house, for example - Floor is cracking, too loud water gushing sound(no or less sound insulation on pipes), annoying noises from the house, etc. Overall, I am not satisfied with the Pulte homes. They can do better for the amount they are charging. Thanks! ... More

Most of the time no email or call back except for Travis

I always wanted a brand new home and loved the experience picking out everything that was my choice and not someone else’s

We had a great experience from the sales team, through the construction team. Peter was very helpful and we found him always available to answer questions and helpful in our decision making. Bryan was also great to work with as he was incredibly helpful, informative, and responsive.

Production builder…that is all

Feel as though accountability and quick action is lacking with basic warranty issues and it requires a heavy push to get things done with the construction and warranty folks. Seem to blame others instead of accepting responsibility and completing the work correctly the 2nd time.