Pulte Homes Reviews

No other way to say it. This has been an extremely disappointing and regrettable process. What started as my family building our dream home quickly turned into the most stressful time of our lives. And no one at Pulte seemed to care. The process started ok, Aiyana in sales was very up front about what was included and provided the quotes with upgrades we knew we wanted as well as upgrades we were considering so we could budget accordingly. There were a few surprises when we went to sign and just after we signed about changes that needed to be made to fit code. The big one being that we were told after we signed that we needed to add a second water heater or go tankless due to code. This seems like it should have some sort of warning built into the program to notify sales and the customer at the time of selecting an upgrade if there is an additional change required. We have more bathrooms than we need because we want the space for guests. Seems strange that having enough hot water is a code issue, but also that we learned of it after signing. But at this time, we were so set on having the on suite for the bedroom upstairs that we didn't want to remove it. So, we reluctantly decided to remove another upgrade because of wanting to stay in budget and having to add the tankless water heater. We are disappointed because we would have much rather the bay window and it was spun to us that Pulte was doing us a favor for waiving the fee to remove the bay window. I am in construction and customer service. The proper play here would have been to upgrade the single water heater to accommodate or supply the second one for free. Forcing us to pay for an upgrade after agreeing to the price was not right. The next major disappointment came when we went to pick out finishes and the cabinet color we wanted was no longer available requiring us to upgrade all cabinets to get a color we didn't hate. I understand colors come and go, but to only have one color option in level 1 cabinets when brochures showed 3, is unacceptable. We are not over the top people but in our $400k house we wanted something more than the blah oak that you see in a rental property. And being a builder suppling houses at $300k+ you should have more than one option included. Things continued to go down hill from here. Framing was ok, myself and my inspector had to point out multiple spots of damaged trusses and damaged studs that were obvious if someone took the time to walk it. Aaron was the site manager for the framing stage, I don’t know if I ever met him. Just gave me updates when it was convenient for him or when I asked. Then started the finishing stages. I met Steven on site to talk through the next part of the process. Standing in my kitchen he gave me the flyer of the process and promised things would be better and more communication and this would be a great experience… all lies. Decent communication happened for a couple weeks then it stopped. I understand no one wants to give news that materials are delayed, I’m in the industry, I get it. But instead of telling me the truth, again, it was all lies. Things were slow and not good craftsmanship. There was a long delay in finishing the exterior brick of my house. Was told it was due to materials shortage, problem is the brick was sitting in the front yard, where it had been for weeks. Then was told it was a labor shortage, even though my realtor and I both witnessed multiple crews working on houses on my street that were not as far along as mine. Finally found out that two subs were arguing over location of the overhang above the garage… After finally getting a closing date and putting in my 60-day notice at my rental, allowing me to have a month overlap for moving, most work stopped. My house had too many items to count still outstanding but multiple Pulte people told me we would still close in two weeks. I kept getting the “you’d be surprised at how much can get done in a week”.. problem was to get items done crews had to be at the house. Turns out to get a driveway poured you need a permit, and that permit takes 4-6 weeks so you cant pull the permit the week of closing… someone messed up. So we obviously didn’t close that week, so closing was bumped a week, again we didn’t make that either still no permit to pour the driveway. Yes there were many other outstanding items but it seemed that trades would go to other houses because with no driveway they knew the house was not going to close. So closing was bumped another 3 weeks to the end of the month. Pulte ensured me that we would close. Items still were not to my satisfaction and still items to do but I reluctantly close on Thursday April 28th , with the guarantee from Pulte that all items would be completed by Friday April 29. As you can guess by now that did not happen. Many items were not finished so members of crews and Pulte continued to come in and out for weeks. Forcing me to take time off work or work out of the office so someone could be present at the house. Finally got Ryan involved who walked the house and took some notes and again promised items would be finished. But made a lot of backhanded comments about making sure I had the warranty contact info… Again, why am I having to do a warranty claim for original scope? Here we are a week and a half later and some of the items are still untouched. I paid extra for bottom trim on my cabinets, that still has not been installed. The premium crown that I had installed is cracked from nail pressure too high. Most of these items are things that Pulte should have seen, or if there was a good relationship with the subs, they would not let bad quality go. The leash is too long for some of these subs. If Pulte did a better quality check and made them go back and fix items with no additional compensation, they would do better on future homes. They know they can skate by and do it to take advantage of Pulte and the homeowner. You ask for something to be fixed and ... More

I regret why I signed the closure documents, trusting the people they would resolve later on. I have been told that people would come over but nobody turned up since the time of closure.I still see that few of the works couldn't be completed before closure.These issues have been there since closure and delay. 1) Carpet Issue-I have few nails popped out and kids were injured too.Can you please send someone to tuck in the nails? It is really causing issues while we walk on stairs and afraid that if any guests would hurt themselves. 2)Painting-During the closing walk through,Jen promised that painting would be done at a few places which are still pending and drywall guys couldn't understand,it is not fixed till date. 3) Kitchen drawers Soft closure- During the closure walk through, we informed Jen on this concern.Few of the kitchen drawers are not soft closure which need to be fixed. 4) Window-The downstairs bedroom window doesn't have mosquito net.I think there was a shortage during closure which was told will be fixed once stock is fulfilled? 5) Cement Plot- The cement lot was misplaced at the backyard door during construction.It needs to be placed at the right position in the backyard door,During the construction(Jen/Jodee knows the issue). I would like to replace the rusted pipe with new ones.I do not want to pay for rusted pipes and wrong placed concrete.I paid extra for soft closures and did take upgrades too even though I haven't got fully finished house.Before closure I suppose pulte does deep cleaning when I see my house still has dusty windows spiders all over. Iam sure you didn't charge me for spiders. ... More

Sales rep was not forthcoming and not up to date with information. It was obvious he was being cautious with what he communicated. Customer Care seemed more about ensuring that issues were addressed and closed as quickly as possible rather than focusing on customer satisfaction. Rep was not helpful and challenging to work with/communicate with.

Everything was a lie the price on the value of the home is off $262,000 you made extra in profit the work and ship was poor had nothing but problem since I moved in over 34 of them and they’re still not solved

This has been one for f the most disappointing home building experiences. The quality walk-throughs weren’t productive. Our closing date changed multiple times because the house wasn’t ready for the appraisal. Our appliances were moved out of the house several times and we were told our doors came from another house just so we could get closed. We couldn’t use the stove or dishwasher for over a week because of the wiring. We had several kitchen cabinets that you have to open with chopsticks. (Finally corrected). Our garage floor was covered during both walk throughs and we didn’t know that it was damaged. We have baseboards pulling away from the wall. I’ve dropped several tickets but no one at Pulte wants to fix anything. I’m disappointed in our Pulte home. Our realtor and project manager are some of the nicest people and it’s not their fault that Pulte needs to fix their operational processes. ... More

Poor quality and warranty. I wish to do not buy house from Pulte.

We contracted with Pulte to build a house in Jacksonville Florida in August of 2021. We were living in the Chicago suburbs at the time. Since we lived 1,100 miles away, we were told that we would get regular updates with pictures during the build process. That did not happen until after repeated calls and sales management got involved. It was also very clear to us that there would be face to face meetings required during the build and we made it clear that we needed 2-3 weeks notice to plan travel. The first meeting we needed to attend was the pre-drywall walk through. I was called on Tuesday for a meeting on Wednesday or latest Friday of the same week. Either day was not possible for us to even consider with one day notice and we had a prior commitment on the Friday so we were not able to attend the walk through. My father lives close by so he and his wife were able to do a Facetime call where we did catch only 2 items that were incorrect that were resolved. My father was not aware of the details of the build but went to have some form of representation. There were a number of items that were missed i.e. receptacles out of place being the most inconvenient now. The next step was the pre-closing walk through of which we had 1 weeks notice to pack up and leave the Chicago area to close one week later. Upon arrival for the pre-closing walk through it was clear that the house was not ready. It was promised that all items would be resolved before the closing. I had no confidence and I was correct. Little to nothing was done prior to the closing. The "celebration" walk through was delayed twice in 24 hours and still nowhere near complete. My wife was "verbally" promised upgraded appliances and I was promised additional outlets in the garage as a good faith offering for the aggravation. We did not solicit these items, they were offered. I told my wife not to hold her breath, I was right. We were in a difficult situation staying with family and movers in transit from Chicago so I asked Pulte Mortgage to hold money in escrow or the builder would have no incentive to quickly resolve the list of 85 items to be resolved that we moved into the house with. Pulte Mortgage would not, they are sister companies so my interests were not their priority. Most shocking was that Pulte Mortgage required an appraisal before closing. The home appraised around $50k under sale price so we were required to pay an additional $40k of down payment. We moved into a dirty house, with actual mud on the floors, not cleaned at all. We have had possession of the home for eight weeks and approximately 48 items have been resolved. The customer service team has been good to work with and I do know that they are trying but we should have never been called to move into a house that was not move in ready. We had moved out of our home in October of 2021 living with family we needed to get into our own home. My last home was a semi-custom built in 1990 and delivered on the date promised at signing with minimal issues, not the experience here and not what I expected. At least in the case of this build it's my opinion that there was no emphasis on quality or pride of workmanship. I would not recommend this builder or not ever build another home with them. It is a shame because a new home build is normally very exciting with a lot of anticipation and expectations in addition, for many it's their single largest investment for their hard work. Now that we are living in the home we do enjoy the weather and living close to my elderly parents. I never expected this experience moving into a cookie cutter home, it just speaks to company culture. Everything stated here is indisputable. ... More

Following closing Pulte does not respond to calls and emails for problems found in the home within 2 months post move in…basement water damage, buckling vinyl plank flooring, external GFCI not working preventing proper use of irrigation system controls, automatic garage door stopped working, backordered thermostats. These are just a few of the items.

Quality of construction is fair at best. Absolutely no follow up after closing on punch list items. Grading of backyard has caused flooding and all parties are pointing at each other. Two month old roof is leaking. Stay away.

I would NEVER have a home built again because this experience was so bad. I could name countless examples but one is there was a light hanging out of the ceiling by it's wires, which was told to us it would be fixed before we closed and wasn't, along with COUNTLESS other issues.

From day one we have been Mis-lead, flat out lied to at times, treated like just another number, given a bunch of lip service and have been extremely frustrated throughout this process. We have been closed for over a month now and STILL have issues waiting to be fixed from closing. I could list of probably 20 things that were incomplete prior to us moving in and have not been taken care of like we were told they would. I can’t even begin to tell you the things that I had to do to get this house ready for my family to move in to… the home wasn’t even cleaned up on closing day for us. We walked into a complete mess, trash all over inside, crumbles of dry wall all over the floor and countertops, paint all over the tile and in the grout, baseboards not completely caulked in areas etc.. As we live in the home we continue to find things wrong that appear to have just been slapped together. Just so sloppy of a job. No one cares- already collected the check. I hope this home lasts more than 5-10 years at this point. Overall just disappointed. When you spend as much money on a home for your family, you expect for it to be pretty near perfect- maybe my expectations were too high for Pulte. We did research and read how reputable this builder was- guess you can’t believe everything you read. Will never recommend this builder to any other friends or family. In fact, because of my profession and position, I know a lot of people- they all are very well of my experience and I’m sure that the word will spread. It’s a shame because we fell in love with the model home and couldn’t wait to have our home. Unfortunately, even after a month.. this house has not felt like our dream home like we imagined. There is still a ton of cosmetic work to be done around here. I hope other buyers have a better experience than we did. ... More

Disappointed with the attention to detail and the quality from a supposed quality builder. Still trying to get issues addressed in a timely manner. Will think twice before buying a Pulte house again

If I had time machine I would tell myself not to purchase this home

I cannot in good conscience recommend this builder. Our experience was not only horrible, we are regretful. William, the property agent, was great at his job and pleasant but outside of him the experience was egregious. Jim in sales was just cruel. After we purchased the home Amanda became our POC and the support is inconsistent. Our plumbing backed up the 2nd day in the home so I was in sewer water in the shower, the sod was not put down correctly, the interior paint job was amateurish, part of the front of the house had to be repainted and all of this (and more) took 7 weeks to complete. We are still waiting to get the sod fix which probably won't happen. Please read the reviews and warnings on the Better Business Bureau website before purchasing a home with this builder. I don't cry easily but cried a few times throughout this process. ... More

I am currently living in a Pulte home and yes the house is standing but their are so many small details that I am still trying to work with Pulte to fix. My experience with Pulte has been a nightmare. The absence and lack of communication seems to be consistent amongst all levels and teams at Pulte. After the initial deposit, I spent 3 to 4 months figuring out the difference between what the Pulte sellers agent told us about the home we were buying vs what we were actually getting. After we overcame that obstacle, we had to deal with Pulte consistently telling us our home was on track to close with no problems or delays for the dates they presented only to be delayed multiple times. The house was ultimately delayed multiple months with us the buyers receiving notice sometimes 3 days before our estimated close date. The Pulte team ultimately NEVER blamed their ability to plan or their operations, but instead continued to blame someone else. Truly telling. My loan officer said she has never experienced this type of lack of customer service in her 30+ years in the industry. Also it never got better... the day of escrow, Pulte waited until 8PM to communicate that they are sending their required documents to title. Obviously we could not close that day, but we could not close the next day either because Pulte did not sign the documents correctly. You would think that would be the end, but after we got the keys to our home we go in to see our home was not complete. The final FINAL blue tape inspection had already been complete yet nothing was fixed or updated. Why waste our time coming in 3 times and confirming what needs to be fixed if you are just going to ignore everything. What is worse is that there was zero communication from the Pulte team that this was happening. We actually had to call the Pulte team and ask and schedule when they are suppose to come fix all the outstanding items. Spoke to all my neighbors and everyone's experience seems to be consistent with mine. At least we all shared in the misery. ... More

Pulte homes are trash.

The quality of the material is so cheap, the finishing and paint are not professional at all, and before the closing, if you point to them that there is something wrong they will fix it immediately but after the closing, they take forever. when you make a request for something that needs to be fixed they might not answer unit you follow up with them. I chose to buy a new home so I can set and relax since everything should be new, but this is so much headque. I'm spending my day calling and sending an email and waiting for people to come to fix it, and only had the home for 2 months.

If you're looking for a builder that will do just enough to get by, then Pulte is your builder. Throughout the sales process, they tell you about their quality promise and all the steps they'll take to ensure a quality build. Then at each and every step of the way, they'll fail to even come close. We've been in our home for 6 weeks now. The week before we closed, our third-party inspector turned in a 30 page report of defects to be addressed. Absolutely no action was taken. After we closed and moved in, we reported numerous other issues. They keep promising they'll come back and fix it. We've been here for 6 weeks now and we are still waiting (although they promise to come and fix everything next week - we'll see). Overall we are extremely disappointed. I truly believe this overall lack of quality is pushed down from the leadership team - I am beginning to wonder if the execution level team members are given the tools they need to provide a better quality home. ... More

Pressure to purchase. Too much pressure

would not recommend Pulte at all.

You would expect a bit better from Pulte. Pulte has fallen short in most areas. House not worth what we paid. Still have issues with house. Quality is not there. Floors coming up. Paint coming off walls. Trim falling off. Moved in April 2022! Don't buy at Norwood Chase!

Closed 7 months late. We have 3 good size holes into our attic, and nobody at customer care will return my calls. For over a week I have been trying to get a hold of anyone. Easier time getting a root canal done. Avoid Pulte!

I closed with so many outstanding items but grouped them overall into following categories: a.) Closing was delayed from December 2021 to March 31, 2022. This delay had cost me a few thousand dollars for board, lodging, and additional storage extra fees. b.) The appraised value was much lower than the sales price. Pulte construction refused to giving comps to at least cover the difference. The original comp I got is the same everyone got. c.) The land that I was forced to bid was only 1/4th of the size from the survey to actual property line. I was SOLD during Sales, in which I have I documentation of, that entire land to the left (if you are facing the main door) of my property is all MINE so I was advised to bid really high during the signing of the contract back in June 2021. But right before closing and after the survey from the county, I was only given a quarter of the size! Assigned sales consultant deceived me to bid high but only to get 1/4th of what I was originally sold. These individuals should be further evaluated by Pulte Corporation due to their unethical and false sales tactic. d.) Assigned construction manager should be evaluated on how he treats customers. He screamed/yelled multiple times that was very offensive and not helpful to the overall process. I have proof of a recorded video on one of the visits. He's extremely unprofessional, uncollaborative, and am pretty sure he violated Pulte HR policy. He caused tremendous unnecessary stress which impacted my mental and overall well being. e.)I closed with the following punch list (some have been resolved but it is important to note that these were not ready at the time of closing): 1. Washer/Dryer (W/D) needs to be installed and tested ASAP before home inspection tomorrow at 3/29 at 10AM 2. Water Heater (50 gallon) confirmed and turned on. Water was turned on in various outlets. While warm, did not at time of walkthrough turn hot. Was informed by construction manager that by 3/29/22, water should be hot right away. 3. Blind control to patio door (Living room) has to be functional 4. Microwave install 5. Refrigerator–condensation found on freezer and fridge doors - need to be replaced 6. Stove damage/dent–needs to be replaced 7. Main front steps need to be fixed (bricks are not installed with the right size and sealed properly- hazardous for movers or to anyone heavy) 8. Back bottom door damaged (can see space coming through from chipped door) 9. Front & back doors need to be re-sealed (can see light through) 10. All second floor windows screens have to be replaced–should fit exactly 11. Stove sits lower than counter–stove height to be adjusted 12. Second bath upstairs–mirror plate be installed in window outlet 13. Master bath sink towel handle should be installed (left side is missing) 14. Master Bath shower door has to be adjusted 15. Windows missing Caps in second floor 16. Scratches to all counter tops should be polished 17. All vanity lights to be replaced (missing light bulbs and unmatched vanity lights) 18. All Windows–missing caulking, paint touch up should be repaired by closing 19. W/D doors on bottom has to be repaired/glued 20. Outside front outlet not working 21. There's a longer formal list from my home inspected about 40 items overall. After closing - water heater stopped working and the emergency hotline did not work. I was left w/o hot water after closing and was on the call for hours with customer service but no immediate resolution. They eventually sent a plumber the next day but had to escalate to sales and numerous complaints. Unless Pulte Mortgage is giving information to Pulte Sales/Construction about my financial status throughout the process, I don't know how Pulte Sales/Construction would know that I could afford the balance from the appraisal to the actual sales price difference. Please evaluate the process if Pulte Mortgage is practicing proper and legit business process not to violate antitrust laws. Pulte Mortgage is not allowed to give any financial status of their borrowers to Sales/Construction side. Hence, the two entities were separated to begin with. If Pulte mortgage relayed some of my finances to Pulte Sales, they are in clear violation of the Antitrust Laws and should be reported to the Federal Trade Commission. ... More

The shoddy workmanship and lack of attention to detail were very disappointing. It seems as there were unqualified workers building my house and pulte construction personnel did not hold them to a high standard.

The build quality is awful and the customer service is even worse.