Pulte Homes Reviews

Unhappy with the process and home price. The price of the last 5 available homes went down 20K in a week after we signed the contract for our home, which was totally unfair. I was negotiating with Sales Consultant and management to reduce the price of my home for almost a month and i don't understand why they did not consider my request if they have a plan to reduce the price. Also they say we go by contract but they wont follow the contract, only buyer need to follow the contract.

Our loan officer, Christina's communication experience was terrible. She only emailed us, or answered incoming questions she never gave us knowledge of the market or programs that might best suit our needs or goals, pre empted any sort of financial goals and I will never refer a buyer to Pulte Mortgage for that alone. When Pulte's appraiser produced what your Regional Manager said "was a lazy" appraisal our Loan Officer delivered that 28k news via email and did not call and explain how funds would then come from us. Your Regional Manager made a call, put in for a recert which was denied. That appraiser should be removed from your rotation after using a 16yr old comparable and ONLY used NMLS homes and 0 of the recent homes sold. Without the Regional lowering the purchase price, we would have walked and been happy to lose our earnest money. Our processor Kelly was wonderful and she too agreed that the communication from our LO was not what anyone as a buyer should experience. We were told by Bobby only 5 homes in the neighborhood were aloud to have balconies, which we learned was a lie after he was promoted and was moved out of the community. We were told our microwave was on backorder for no time frame so we were forced to take an unmatched appliance. I was told it was a happy choice by my building manager without her concern of how I would view this choice. I have never seen more emails in my life. Too many emails and not enough verbal communication is confusing the buyer. Without OUR OWN realtor involved we would have spent 28k extra dollars and went in under water in value. I am grateful to our realtor and Kelly, our processor for their help. I would never encourage a buyer to use a builder mortgage company without appraisal knowledge and the ability to walk away. We went thru 2 onsite community representatives, 2 building managers. When we experienced a problem after moving in Larry was nowhere to be found and no ability to leave a message. ... More

As Pulte is a very large company, the quality and professionalism differ per department. The sales department did a great job of showcasing and promising services, but as soon as the contract was signed, they let us hanging. The builders did a good job and we had great relationships with the construction managers. The worst experience we had was with Pulte Mortgage. Extremely unprofessional, not communicative, not helpful or supportive at all. We had to switch to another lender because it got so bad. The servicing is run at minimal effort. Things do get attended to but you have to wait, sometimes for weeks. ... More

The house closing was scheduled even though I was out of the country and unable to do a walk-through with the builders. Pulte was not flexible on the closing schedule. Once I returned and had the walk-through, closing, financial portion had already been completed and now finishing the punchlist on problems With the home remain on resolved after several weeks. Unable to have the Furnace people address issues that should’ve been addressed before closing. Difficulty just having a lightbulb put in the garage door opener, it is unfortunate at these smaller items remain unresolved. I’m hoping that we can resolve these issues to a mutual satisfaction ... More

The home we moved into has a lot of issues that could be avoided with some extra care during construction of the home. We found several floor tiles cracked or chipped. We also found, after being in the house for a month, that good workmanship was lacking in many cases: painting spills and misses, door weathstripping ripped, cracked pavers with a lack of paver sand and lanaii that should have been cleaned. There was also a cracked window glass and a shingle has already blown off with only wind below 50 mph. What would happen in a hurricane is a question mark. We have contacted Pulte warranty to address these issues and have waited a week without even acknowledgement of our call. This is clearly not acceptable. We feel taken advantage of at this point. ... More

We have purchased four tract homes in the past 25 years. This purchase and closing process went well but the finished product is not what we expected or were assured We were unable to have the house inspected by an independent inspector prior to closing for several reasons. In any event, our post-closing inspection revealed issues of sloppy quality control. We have an extensive punch list. We are disappointed and would not buy a Pulte home again (this is our second). We will not recommend Pulte to others.

Build quality is poor. Team just looks to deliver the house as per the schedule and were not concentrating on the quality at all. Very poor in reviewing the work done and correcting the issues intime.

We have had nothing but issues since the initial walk through of our home before the actual closing. We still ave items on our punch list still not completed after a month from the closing date. We have had dates for repairs which were cancelled. our oven did not work. The electrician came and discovered it was never hooked up to the electric pane box behind the microwave. The microwave was damaged. It was replaced with a different cheaper model than the original. t The first time we went to use the oven we noticed a chip on the inside door. We have now requested a new oven. Still have not heard when the replacement will come. We ordered flood lights be put at the rear of the house at the time of purchase. These not installed and were on the punch list. After one month they were finally installed but not with the flood light bulbs. I was told the bulbs would be installed - Still waiting. We had an upgraded kitchen put in. A couple of the cabinets are not installed properly and is missing screws in the hinges. The lazy susan in the corner cabinet does not turn properly. A date to repair these problems was scheduled and than cancelled. We are now scheduled for Dec.5th. We have damage to the wall in our kitchen. the repairs were scheduled and then cancelled. We now have been rescheduled for Nov. 30 for the repairs. We are very unhappy with the way all warranty items and additional prepare requests have been handled. ... More

Kitchen cabinets (dark blue) show lines and are not contructed properly. The contractor agreed to replace a door and to date (six weeks) this has not happened. A dent was noted on the microwave door and this was agreed to be replaced at time of closing and this has not been completed. Electrical outlets installed improperly and crocked and these have just been corrected after six weeks. Upgrades for appliances like washer and dryer, two drawer dishwasher and refrigerator were not offered. The siding was installed crocked and this was noticed by us, and not the builder - this was corrected. When we were told that there may be a leak in the water pipes between our home and neighbors and reported it to the customer service who sent a plumber out and plumber determined no leak, we were sent a bill - how do we know that there is NOT a leak until we ask for a plumber. The problem noted was poor drainage between homes which we had already reported before closing. Overall, we were disappointed in the homebuying experience and the quality of workmanship and choice of appliances. In a few years, we will probably need to replace with better quality appliances even though we got upgrades. ... More

Our friends who visited our home found it good

Overall we are happy being in our new home and determined to make the best of it. This is our second Pulte home experience. The first experience was very good. This time, 9 years later, we found the experience to be very frustrating. The sloppiness of the workers. We have scratches on tubs, windows, mirrors. You name it and it was handled roughly. Because we did not catch the multiple issues on the final walk-thru( we were told to just make a list after the walk thru and they would fix) they will NOT repair or replace. Ridiculous! They changed items in the house we ordered without informing us or giving us any say on the matter—they said “we can do this, it’s in the contract”. Well, there is a basic decency when dealing with someone who has taken the time to special order a home. My advice, don’t plan a house to your choices, you won’t get them! Our construction manager did the best he could by us, but could not resolve issues. No one else returned calls. Pulte has problems in St Augustine. ... More

We were in the market for our forever home and our realtor suggested Pulte Homes. We had certain wish list items and found a model home to fit the bill. A Pulte sales agent pushed us toward a quick move-in to save money with the incentives the builder was offering. We toured the model home to compare what we would be getting from our quick move-in and felt like we had a good idea of what we were getting. We voiced our wish list items and it seemed like the quick move-in had most of what we wanted but not all of the items so we went for it. As the building process took place, we quickly noticed our expectations from the model home tour were mismatched. The construction manager provided us with great communication and explanations of what he was handling. We realized the sales agent misled us in many areas of our wish list. We were unhappy with the choices that we had no control over... features available in a non-quick move-in, having two of the same model side by side wasn't a consideration before going under contract but it happened while our home was being built another model of our kind was being built next to us. Given the choice, we would have customized our home but the lot we wanted wasn't released yet. The craftsmanship is what I expect from a quick move-in... quick and sloppy. The vendors are coming out numerous times to address things that should be standard for a new home. We told the builder numerous times during the building to take their time as we wanted it right the first time but no surprise we have a list of issues to be addressed within the first year. Pulte sales need better communication with potential buyers and realistic conversations. The construction team shouldn't have to be the middle man as he is working off a word order while we are left dumbfounded about how details got passed us. The area case manager is friendly, but it is hard to service so many customers promptly. The financing department is friendly in the beginning and as time goes on, they forget previous conversations you have had and ask for more uploads of documents you shared with the team previously. It seems disorganized talking with team members from the West and East for one mortgage application. ... More

From the initial walk-through we explained the handrail did not match what was in the showroom and just by looking at it, you could see it was poorly installed. We paid 17k for this “upgrade” and it has yet to be fixed. Each trade says doing this or doing that is someone else’s responsibility. It has been 2.5months and not been fixed and with the trades not taking responsibility and executing quality work, I don’t think it will ever be fixed properly. It is very disappointing for an “upgrade.” Also it takes over a month to schedule some of the other basic repairs like light switches not working etc. When the trades come out, they also do not have the photos of what I submitted that needs to be fixed so it is a mess. It is not communicated to me what each company is suppose to fix or work on so I have had very few repairs successfully completed since moving in in August(it is now November). ... More

Pulte will build you a better and more efficient home than most home builders. However, I am upset with Pulte’s quality control. There have been numerous imperfections with my build that required or require rework. It’s even worse when you feel like a pest when you have to contact the build manager to address the issues and they end up getting mad/annoyed like it’s my fault for catching the imperfections that they failed to fix. It takes less time to do the right thing first than it does to explain or fix the problem later on. It seems that speed is prioritized over accuracy these days when it comes to home building with Pulte. ... More

We have been disappointed with the workmanship - we have had a list of as many as 15 items that needed repaired after we first moved in. Two months later, we are still waiting on most of them.

I love the location and the house. But I have had issues. At the walk-through, I fully expected to find many cosmetic issues but I found disappointing, larger issues. The carpeting was stained by some contractor that the whole thing had to be replaced, the pavers by the pool company is is a substandard installation with cracked tiles and molded tiles, and the house was just dirty, although the so called cleaning crew had cleaned. The kitchen is damaged and they tried to do it make shift repair, and the whole island just looks shabby. For the money I paid, I was disappointing. Further, the attention and customer service I have received post closing is poor with unreturned emails and ticket responses. While I love the house and for the most part the house is in good shape the lack of customer service, slow response and presentation of the house at the walkthrough had left a bad taste. To the PM’s accolades, he knocked out all the important non-cosmetic items and some cosmetic items off the list. The major outstanding item is the pool lanai and the poor workmanship by the pool installer which we had to use through the builder since it was the only pool builder they contract with. That is still a major problem we are left to battle out on our own with no backing from Pulte. ... More

Still have a list of things that have not been taken care of that we’re supposed to be done by closing.

I chose Pulte because I knew I was going to use some upgrade materials. Bottom line the contractors are fair to mid. I would not recommend a Pulte home over any other reliable builder.

Not worh for money. the quality of materials was very bad and the design was not great. There is no room to take fridge in the kitchen , we strgulled a lot. we need to remove the stove to put the fridge inside , poor design. The front door doesnt make sense both the powderroom door and front door hit each other. the door will damage in few months itself . All the door quality is poor. The door stoppers are not planned where to place also. The staircase rails are just placed it can fall off any time its not glued also. Stove and granite is not connected in the side and the back of the stove is also left open with a big gap poor design . ... More

The quality of pulte has gone significantly since the covid . It's been 26 days since we moved and we are already seeing the commode water drain peeling of from the wall. Also the windows are of very low quality. They cut corners to save money and make profits with cheap quality materials. Tankless water is making loud noises.

The buying process was good, although some information requested that would have helped in our decision making process were not disclosed. Don't be fooled, it is sales. The building process was very good, Jared was excellent keeping us update to date and responding to our concerns and issues. After closing, the response of the 30 day warranty team leaves a lot to be desired. Attention to issues and timeliness was poor. If not for our persistence I don't know when issues would be addressed. This department needs to be improved.

As is typical with new home builders, particularly production builders, they will be more responsive when they don't have all your money yet (i.e., you haven't closed). Once you close you've got about 30 days to figure out what's not right (regardless of warranty), after that you might as well be invisible. We have bought new homes from a couple of different builders over the past few years. I would rate Pulte as slightly below average. Their after close responsiveness is about average (and average being not that good anyway), but their build quality, at least for our home, was below average. This is compared to other homes we've purchased/viewed by other builders, even those that have worse reputations than Pulte. For such a large production builder, their build process seemed disorganized and in some cases it appears the materials were literally used or 2nd hand materials and supplies. The construction manager we had was decent, but he had to work with what he was given, which is probably minimal. I have a feeling a lot of the issues come from the white collar part of the business, where squeezing out every penny of profit is the most important thing, regardless of quality and customer satisfaction. Of course this may vary by market. Being in Florida where demand is still relatively high, the builder has an edge. Whenever you point out quality issues along the way, they will just say "it passed inspection", as if that is the barometer for good quality, when it is really just the minimal baseline for safety. It's like if you purchase a brand new car, and before you drive it off the lot you notice it has dents and scratches, and the dealer says to you "well it has passed all the required safety tests, so you are good". Hmm. I really only give them 3 stars because I rounded up, but in reality they are closer to 2 stars. ... More

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Build quality is not good

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