Pulte Homes Reviews in Austin, TX

Major grade/drainage issues: Well, where to start this experience. •The day before closing and after a rain storm, our upper neighbor which did not have sod or grading, had erosion sweep into our yard and the builder had to frantically remove the erosion from our yard, place erosion barriers up and put new sod for us to close the next day. Unfortunately, they did not remove all the erosion, and this affected our grading away from our house. This was the first red flag. • Intermittently, I noticed that water would pool by our outdoor AC unit on our right yard from the builder saturating the houses close to the upper neighbors’ yards with sprinkler water and this water would run though our upper neighbor’s yard which did not have sod or a grade. • The water would pool by our AC unit making our right side unusable. On top of this, the erosion barrier that the builder put up by the AC unit failed to prevent erosion from moving into our right yard by the outdoor AC unit. • This combination of events caused our right yard to become muddy and unusable. • Multiple messages were sent to the Builders PM to put a new erosion fence and regrade/re-sod our yard. A new erosion barrier was not installed. • A warranty ticket was submitted to regrade the right yard and add sod. I escalated the issue to the Warranty manager. He stated they would regrade and re-sod. • The above issues occurred over two months of closing. The last straw was when I found the upper neighbors sprinkler (possibly intentionally/carelessness by the builder) pointed towards my right yard where my recycle and trash cans are located which soaked them. • After talking to the PM about regrading my yard and possibly putting in a trench in, they finally regraded my yard with a 0.5” grade with about a 4' x 10' long area and then resodded. I asked the PM if this enough and he stated yes and if not, they will rip up the sod and regrade and resod again. Great! • The yard still has standing water when the upper neighbor waters their yard, we have placed outdoor gutters by the retaining wall ourselves to resolve the issue. Major HVAC issues: • After two weeks of closing, we noticed the AC system could not hold temperature in the Texas summer, we phoned the emergency line for the AC company: CASA mechanical. The company came the next day and noticed there was a leak in the coolant line (location unknown) and charged up the HVAC system with refrigerant. • The company came back multiple times to do leak testing and decided there was no leak and charged up the HVAC with refrigerant. Two weeks later, the AC could not hold temp. they did another leak test and replaced the outside compressor thinking the compressor coils were leaking. The CASA mechanical company gave no work ticket. I also was relaying information given to me from one technician to the next, essentially project managing the technicians. Mind you, the HVAC system is under warranty. • Two weeks later after replacing the compressor, the HVAC system could not hold temperature again, they charged the unit up and essentially supervising the technician, I stated there must be a leak in the coolant line within the walls of the house. The coolant line had to be pressure scoped within the walls. • Lo and behold, a technician had to rip up our dry wall to find a framer’s nail puncturing the coolant line which was leaking freon gas into my daughters’ room. • Framer finally came to put new dry wall in and painter finally painted the replaced dry wall. • The above issues occurred over a two-month window after closing. These experiences are beyond frustrating. It appears they have downsized during Covid and they have fewer project manager managing builds but this is no excuse. ... More

This is the second home from Pulte we purchased because of the quality work based on the first one. Unfortunately, the quality of the workmanship and materials on this new house is so poor, we just can’t even compare to the first one or even some fixer uppers. Doors and door frames are refurbished with new paints over them but still can be seen visibility on the outside with dents and uneven surface. Most windows don’t seem new with serious scratches on the handle bars. Shower tub also with serious scratches. People not cleaning after themselves, which left paints in the kitchen sink and shower. The wall in the garage is made of the cheapest material I’ve even seen for a new build, if I had not asked the site manager to fix some of the stuff, one would not believe it’s a new house. All of the above plus other small details not worth mentioning, are just one would not expect for purchasing a brand new house. Minimum zero attention to detail and carelessness are how I would describe this new build. I would like to invite the senior leadership in Pulte headquarters to come check out the quality of work and see for themselves and tell me if this is what a new house should be nor would they be happy with it. I got tired of asking the site manager to fix this and that, I rather deal with it myself after work because I knew there was no way to demand further, which was going to waste a lot of my time, plus the site manager had a tight schedule and other demands from other home owners. On the flip side, the site manager was great. I’m just disappointed at the materials that Pulte decided to use for a new house, maybe it’s just mine. ... More

Poor workmanship, the quality process is very very poor. Houses pass quality inspection with lots of things missing from what we signed up for. Many items are not in working order and had t be fixed after closing. Response to issues is very poor. Construction team just tries to dust off issues.

Home looked good on paper, demo house was good as well. After signing trouble began. During build there was a lack of initial contact, got however changed by Raul, sales guy and Steve our build foreman. No changes could be done to house and promises of a water loop got forgotten and I had to pay out of pocket. Build quality is what can pass the code inspections plus lots warranty issues. Screen windows was broken, garage floor cracked, GFCI wiring done wrong, HVAC thermostats misaligned, paint marks everywhere and on everything. Installed carpet is creating allergy reactions for all of family, which I asked them not to install. Pulte declined...Garage was said to have been insulated... but it's not. One of the toilets even included a present from a builders. Home will be great once Pulte fix their mistakes then I can begin and rebuild it to proper finish. If you can get 50% discount then Pulte is worth it. Pulte is an emperor without clothes, upheld by a few good people who really try and do their best. ... More

Not sure where to begin, because there is so much to say. First, Pulte does a great job of having decent sales representatives and after that it is a steep decline in all other aspects of the home build. The design consultants are horrible, lazy, rude, and pretty much incapable of doing the basic aspects of their job. We never asked for their design opinion and I'm glad we didn't, because I could only imagine how bad our home would have turned out (probably even more in cost than we already paid as well). All of this is just the beginning of your issues to come. Pulte doesn't really do anything on your house and takes almost zero responsibility throughout any issues that might arise. I thought this was indictive of just us, but after talking to our neighbors they had a similar experience. This will be a problem for you, because they subcontract your whole house and the workmanship is mediocre at best and certainly not worth the amount you will pay. With all of that being said, if you do spend money on expensive upgrades like us, you should know that the choices you make are actually good quality materials, but they won't be well taken care of when storing, or installing. An example if you don't understand that. We have excellent cabinets and quartz countertop selections and upgraded trimwork / baseboards, but they are installed poorly and look absolutely sloppy, thus leaving us to deal with home warranty post home closing. Most homes typically have small things to worry about, but craftsmanship shouldn't be an every house issue. Again, this is in large part due to them subcontracting everything and honestly not giving a crap about you or your home that you overpaid for. Everything above be prepared to encounter, but for us personally this was also one of the worst things that could happen to you. Our first and second of three project managers, we had were absolutely horrible. They consistently left us uninformed on our house progression, and completely missed our build timeline without any justification, which there wouldn't have been one that wasn't either a lie or bogus anyways, but still, a common courtesy or small compensation for Pulte's inability to meet deadlines should be expected. I honestly could go on for days about how much I despise Pulte, and I would never have built a home with them knowing what I do now. I will never again build with them or ever recommend them. ... More

Right from the beginning, it was so tough to get any update from the construction manager. Target closing date Aug 2021 got delayed for 1 year. Finally closed in Aug 2022. Final walkthrough was a nightmare. They missed to put the window in one bedroom and got caught during inspection. They keep telling about staff shortage but it dint seem true since they are building scores of other houses in the same community. Construction manager didn’t bother to inform us of the status. We kept pushing to get the closing date and finally ended up paying sky high interest, only because of a careless construction manager. Horrible experience with this construction manager. ... More

1. Closing date extended 7 months past agreed upon completion date. "Quality Build" process failed to identify framing, plumbing, and electrical errors. Missed framing of upgrade option for tray ceiling in gathering room, dryer vent located incorrectly due to plumbing line interference. 2. Home had punch items identified at celebration walk, but 6 weeks later remain incomplete. Including missing light fixtures, incomplete exterior paint, damaged cabinets, missing tile grout work, gaps in window caulk, appliances installed incorrectly, damaged vent hood, damaged water heater, missing bathroom hardware, missing trim on fireplace built in shelving, drywall repairs incomplete. 3. Doors are not hung plum and square with daylight gaps and missing hardware including a temporary exit/entry door with missing floor sweep and deadbolt prep not allowing door to lock. 4. AC appears to be undersized or poor airflow for square footage thus running 3-4 degrees above thermostat on 2nd level. 5. "Final Clean" completed but paint spills remained on tile floors, saw dust inside of drawers/cabinets from hardware installations, tile grout stuck to cabinet trim, front porch with masonry cement splattered on walkways. Upon closing, the home looked used as opposed to new construction. ... More

Workmanship was horrible! Office customer service was not good! Was told we were buying certain options later to find out towards the end when they were putting materials into the house that tons of options changed and wasn’t updated to us the homebuyers. Carpet was dirty with stains and not takes down in lots of areas of the house. Under the carpet was not cleaned and you can fell it everywhere when you walk in the carpet. The paint was horrible. The house was not cleaned and the painters painted all over the dirt and it looks horrible. Lots of areas were not caulked. The master tub had a huge crack/ hole and was only repaired not replaced. Horrible experience. ... More

Bad quality of sales, delivery - no respect for timelines, quality of build

The patio screen was broken from day 1 and pulte was contacted for it since last 2 months and the issue has not been resolved. Atleast was not expecting this with the brand new home.

I had multiple issues from the time of setting mortgage with Pulte to problems with the home. we had issues with the tiles broken || Laundry room did not have space for dryer (poor planning) || Cabinets cracking || Doors were not sealed correctly and made squeaking sounds. || My laws was damaged by the construction workers || The water lines were broken and leaked waters|| the walls are not build in straight line hmm and i can go on and on || more than half of the issues is still not fixed.

Overall unprofessional experience. I have highlighted this in multiple surveys with names and examples and have received no response back which emphasizes my negative experiences and bolsters my advocacy to warn others to stay away!

Found fa bunch of issues during pre-purchase inspection. Though they promised to fix those, non of them were fixed, Only cosmetic work done and others were ignored, but provided wrong status to us. Same issues reported by other buyers in the community. Multiple issues noticed during move-in, submitted tickets. The agent promised to fix the issues during the purchase process, but not updates after that. No response to follow up. Prior to purchase, heard Pulte was a good builder, but now would not recommend to anyone after the experience.

Donot close your home with any issues pending. Construction Managers are so irresponsible and donot address minor issues despite of 10+ reminders. Lennar has a better quality homes compared to Pulte Homes. With the money they took and quality they delivered is poor. They pretend to be acting on issues but they never.

No responsiveness on the service request line, always asks to leave on voicemail. No follow up. Customer care manager pushes back on everything with no real concern to the home owner. Major water line leak in first 10 days of ownership. Electrical issues. Very late follow up on closing items closing. Overall very bad experience owning a pulte home.

I was really hoping that the home buying process will be good and easy with Pulte group. But I was wrong. Right from first step, I had very bad experiences with Pulte group. They would never stand on their own words. They always change the words accordingly to their situation. All the construction materials used were not even upto the standards they are charging. The output doesn't even come closer to what they are charging for. Warranty department is another bad one. I am not sure if it is here or everywhere, but it's literay bad. Construction manager says that anything they might miss would be covered in the home warranty and home warranty guy says that's home owner responsibility to look at everything on walk through day. I would never go with Pulte again or recommend anyone to go with Pulte group. ... More

I don't have any words to say how bad the whole process is and how much mental stress and pain they can give to buyer. Everything they will say we will fix and force you to close the home and they will give you letter of intent and finally after the close ... you hear the words "" As per Plan"", we won't do anything. The new home becomes 10 year old within a year with so many breaks and fixes as part of warranty. The construction team quality is very poor and they think warranty team will fix incase of leaks and issues. So you end up with fighting with warranty and break walls, doors of your new home. There is no honesty, they will change rules from buyer to buyer, not on their promises and words. The main highlight thing is they will say yes initially and keep delaying a final confirmation and they will say after couple of weeks either No or not possible, by the time you lost your interest and fed up with follow ups. I do not have an option to give negative rating which they deserve 100% and I can say in one word they show " A Magic Show " to sell home. ... More

Overall the experience was horrendous from the lack of communication from the sales office to the six different construction managers we had, to the quality of work, and the timeline in which we were guaranteed to close by (which was 9 months off). I would recommend to stay away from this builder overall. The best thing for them was the last construction manager that we got to work with but that eventually got moved to another community. Their lack of professionalism baffles me.

Bad quality material. Very bad Builder and construction manager. Terrible paint service. They use very cheap materials. I was very much disappointed with the Builder.

Wouldn’t buy from Pulte if I know what I know now… a whole bunch of broken promises

The entire build process was tainted by the fact that our closing date was a moving target, issues with the build quality (an entire wall was crooked, dozens of paint/drywall issues, secondary bathroom tub had to be redone due to a framing issue, several door latches throughout the house do not latch), and the title company's inability/unwillingness to work with our lender. The sales consultant consistently told us inaccurate information, the title escrow agent was rude and obnoxious, and our build manager was overworked and stretched thin, no fault of his own. The build manager was the only person who was honest throughout the process, and seemed to be undermined by some metric that corporate was pushing to close on a certain number of houses by the end of the year. He didn't have enough tradespeople to do his job effectively, and the consequence of this was that our home was built poorly. In a market where builders are price-gouging homebuyers, do not expect the quality of the home to match what you paid for it. ... More

I was the PM for essentially the entire project build. I was forced into the house saying if I didn’t close, I may not get the house for a while blaming COVID. The trades rushed to get the job complete and botched everything. I’ve been in the house only 2 months and I’ve had EVERY trade come out, at least once, for one reason or another: - Forgot security system entirely - Botched entire electric plan and wasn’t caught until I said something right before drywall (delayed the project weeks) - Had to regrade about 60% of lawn due to sitting water and lack in grading - Chipped tile - Bathroom tile had permanent marker all over them with serial number for the tile #28314 - Grout seal was left to stain floor tile in master bath and laundry - Concrete runoff left and never removed before sod was laid in backyard - Sod died due to concrete and was never replaced to the point where the dead sod was over run with weeds and grass (still isn’t fixed) - Masonry grout had holes and they used white caulk instead of grout in front entryway - Countless texture and paint issues inside and out - Items left under the carpet (nails, plastic and extra padding) but they laid carpet anyway - Found nails, glass, brick, wire, wood, stone, beer cans, sharp rusted blades all in my grass while weeding - Appliance Touchscreens don’t work for Whirlpool oven and I need to go outside and reset the breaker each time this happens - They installed an old HVAC control and fought me until I showed PowerPoint documentation from my first day that I standard is the touchscreen - Irrigation head broken, lost water for days, and not all my grass was getting wet and subsequently died - 4 Windows upstairs were installed off the track and/or squeeked so bad it had to be replaced - HVAC dampeners we’re backwards so upstairs controlled down and vice versus - Media Room is significantly hotter than the rest of the house so they had to come out and install 6 more vents in my roof Are you getting the point? Where does it end? I’ve only been in the house 2 months! Our neighborhood Facebook group has nothing but TERRIBLE things to say about their experience with Pulte. Even with how bad everything was above, PULTE Mortgage was the WORST of all. Heard from multiple sources they are corrupt and I saw it first hand. My experience was so bad, they offered me a 3% rate and I took a higher rate with another company because they were so manipulative. They do not stand for quality and don’t be suckered into the 5 star client feedback they must have paid for. I truly hope you don’t go with them and have to deal with their incompetence. ... More

I’ll be glad to speak with the Pulte’s Vice President. My house has tons of cosmetic issues and warranty is not doing what they supposed to do. I have all the pictures that prove that our house doesn’t meet the requirements of quality that Pulte sells or offers to their clients. If Pulte considers itself a trust builder, I’ll be more than happy to talk directly to the Vice President. I don’t want to deal with the Salesperson or warranty guys anymore. I want the house that I paid for. Not the garbage that I received. The house is so bad that even the Field Manager got fired. Let me know how can I get in contact with him and how can I send you the proves. ... More

So many issues with my first time buying experience. Sales team is great but the builders not responsive or helpful!

After moving in, we have had so many issues with our home that we regret buying it. It’s as if no one looked at the home to ensure things were done right. Cabinets are misaligned, improperly installed, broken, nails missing from showers, grout is multiple colors or missing, door knobs damaged, paint splashes and grout EVERYWHERE, light fixtures installed crookedly, framing issues, dirt and sawdust everywhere, nails in carpet, metal debris in lawn - this is an absolute nightmare. For all issues we have been told to coordinate with the warranty dept. I should receive a stipend for the work I’ve done to fix my house to the point Pulte should have. This work is shameful. ... More