Shea Homes Reviews in San Diego, CA

They used a lot of extra material for the model home that I bought which I really did not like there was not any option to change any of it. Which I thought was not fair if I am paying $80000 Above the actual price due to upgrades I should have been able to make some changes They way I like it not to pay that much extra because someone else decided for me. The garage opening is super small. I wish they could make some changes to that every in and out of the garage is a challenge. And finally the loan department is not customer friendly at all. Thank you for asking about my opinion I sure hope that you could really help me with the issues. Thank you ... More

The process was a bit confusing and some areas were rushed but overall we are happy to be in our new home. The warranty period has been good, having fixed the issues pretty quickly. Having the neighborhood gatherings sponsored by Shea was a nice touch to bring us all together and foster a community, not just people who live next to each other.

The home itself is good. The 1-3-5-11 check-in plan is a good idea and has been helpful. Tami who helps with the move-in process and the periodic check-up is fantastic as is Eddie (maybe Freddie, sorry) who seems to be one of the lead contractors. They are both amazingly responsive and seem to truly care. Kveta from the design studio was very helpful and kind as well. We never felt rushed. She listened to our wants and needs and helped us to come up with a design that looked great and functionally has been fantastic as well. She allowed us to maximize our upgrade budget and we are very happy. She communicated with us throughout the process. We even had a question after moving in that she helped to answer for us. What was not good was the community representative, Kathy, and unfortunately, she is the one that we had the most contact with. I would not recommend her and wish there had been another representative we could have switched to (if this had been an opportunity, I would have switched after the first or second interaction). She walked us through the community on our initial visit. As someone who is trying to sell me on something and trying to represent a large brand and a community, I would’ve expected her to be somewhat upbeat and pleasant (not over the top, just a little bit, even a smile). She was not. There was no enthusiasm or excitement. If the market wasn’t as crazy as it was at the time, she would not have had a sale through us. I hope that Shea does not rest on the same laurels, that they can do and act however they want because the housing market is competitive. Lack of excitement is not enough of a reason for me to write a negative review about a person or company and as you will read, this was the least negative thing about the experience. She was very unresponsive regardless of the request, but if she sent something to us, expected a return e-mail within the day. For example, I had to e-mail her multiple times the month prior to moving in. I wanted to get the information for the utilities I would need to setup, I wanted to know when I should start doing all of that as well. I never got a response even after multiple e-mails. She eventually e-mailed my wife separately and mentioned that we would get that information closer to the move-in date and not to set anything up for the time being. She could have sent that simple e-mail to me after the first time. Instead, I now have the impression that she either doesn’t care, doesn’t know, or doesn’t care enough to find out the answer for me. When the roles were reversed and she would e-mail us with requests we always attempted to respond ASAP and send her whatever she requested. I truly believe that in nearly every case we responded to her with what she needed within the same business day. If we didn’t have what she needed, we explained how and when we would get it for her. The one time we did not respond to her within 24 hours regarding a question that was actually directed at our financial institution, she sent a follow-up e-mail with our loan officer attached saying that the failure to respond had meant that we were in default or about to be placed immediately into default. This was less than 48 hours after the first e-mail. While I understand there was information she needed to get from us, and mind you this was one or two months prior to move-in not our initial loan info/pre-approval or anything like that, threatening us with default after not immediately responding to one e-mail is absolutely inappropriate and unprofessional. We had made all of our payments/deposits on the first day it was available to do so. A little bit of good faith would’ve been appreciated before jumping the gun and going to such drastic measures. One of my largest concerns was when there was actually a potentially emergent situation at the home prior to move-in. We had a small leak in our house literally the week before moving in. The leak was noted on a Wednesday or Thursday, we were not notified until Saturday (mind you our move-in date was the following Friday). Why we were not notified immediately is still beyond me and I still never received a satisfactory answer. When we were contacted by Kathy she was exceptionally brief on the phone. She gave little to no details and told us to meet her at the house the following day. We were left with the impression that our entire home was flooded and we'd have a delayed move in date. We were told we should contact our apartment complex ASAP to try and revoke our written move out date and to try to extend our lease. Fortunately, when we did arrive to the home, the leak was relatively small and had nearly been resolved at that point. There was a good plan in place from the construction crew in terms of identifying the leak, checking adjacent piping, drying drywall, and checking additional moisture levels. The crew had been actively working on the problem since its onset. Had Kathy, spoken with any of them, I feel that she could have communicated that information over the phone and at least taken some of our worry away. Instead, she left us confused, scared, and unsure of what to do. After talking with fellow neighbors, we understand that at least two other homes in our motorcourt also suffered leaks prior to move-in. The way Kathy interacted with them was, from what I am told, was exactly the same and some of them had significantly worse leaks. Honestly, if there were only very limited interactions with Kathy, I would not have written this review. However, as she is the community representative and main point of contact throughout the whole process I felt this information to be pertinent. I like my home and community thus far, it’s just too bad that Kathy put such a damper on the whole process. As of now, I would buy from Shea again. But, if Kathy were the only community representative where I was looking, that would cause me to pass solely because of her involvement. ... More

I loved working with the sales team before we purchased the property. And post sales was great as well. The final product is nice. But the design process was bad. Response was slow and when we got a hold of the designer, it felt like she did not care to really help us. And got to a point where she was not responding to our requests. Kind of like seeing a surgeon who is ready to punch the clock. And I mean we are spending a ton of money to buy the house, at least act like you care.

Shea is a good homebuilder and their staff are hard workers. I wish they will consider to keep the sink in the big laundry room (not even an options for buyers).

It was nice to be regularly updated on the build of the home via email and to be offered to view the home in multiple stages. However, at the same time if there are any questions or issues that arise there would be times that getting feedback would take some time. You can tell there is not enough ancillary support compared to the amount of homebuyers, so that individualized customer care can be properly given.

dissappointed with the overall quality and lack of customer support...need to elevate any issues to corporate before anything gets resolved. 4 months after movein, still don't have all of the features operational. general quality is also dissappointing....virtually no sound insulation between 1st and 2nd floors, garage floor was cracked, numerous chips on driveway, fit and finish of cabinets is off, etc.

Ensure to take your time during the walk-thru process prior closing to your house. We had a major option that was missing after closing, We could’ve not close if only I caught it during the walk-thru. Other than that we keep finding faulty items all over the house. The warranty reps been taking care some of them so far. To compare it to the other new construction home I bought 18 years ago, this has so many issues.

Rob promised me to replace the dented range hood on 11/21. It is still not done as of today. There are also other smaller issues never addressed since closing.

we had a misaligned microwave, misaligned under sink bathroom cabinets (big one and you wouldnt notice until you put stuff in there) paint not cleaned in 2 of the windows, dishwasher they loaned (due to delay from covid) made a leak in our kitchen so we never got to use, crack on the wall, obviously bent fence -- we're 2 months at our home now and these except for the dishwasher and the bathroom cabinet are still the same. we were promised a touch up paint but never got it either. we've contacted them multiple times but nothing. there are things you wont really notice in the customer walkthrough so i suggest if you can really spend double the time given to be sure. some of it we told JAVIER (from the walkthrough, and the one assigned to fix things) even before closing but he said "you're going to delay closing if we fix this" which would be a hassle if you had moving plans already. he said we have the 1,5,11 month program (visiting the home to make sure everything is fine) so we can fix it then. well that 1 month have passed and guess what, only 2 issues got fixed. ... More

Good people , nice sales staff, , I just got an easy problem ( the technician of the AC company forgot to contact a little part that make the AC drain water in the roof and drywalls . But the shea warranty is good .

It was a mixed feeling experience. Sometimes the customer care was there sometimes it wasn't. We had an issue with closing and it felt like all transparency went out the window. Without that issue it would've been an amazing experience.

To whom it may concern, I am writing an open letter regarding our disappointing experience buying our brand new Shea home in the new community of Côta Vera. We were fortunate enough to be in phase one, and although we knew phase one would come with delays and some issues (we were also phase one in the Escaya community), we never expected to have this many issues. As far as delays, there were way more than expected. We closed on our home at the end of March, and when we signed the purchase agreement we were told the anticipated closing would be towards the end of December. That being said, when a house is sitting there “completed” and we were basically “waiting on the city,” one would expect to close and move into a move-in-ready home. Which is so far from what we moved into. Since officially moving into our house on April 6, our front door has been a revolving door of Shea employees/contractors here to fix or repair things that were either blatantly installed broken … or weren’t installed at all. Currently my days consist of waiting around for these employees to actually show up, some come unannounced, some show up late, some are so incredibly rude it makes me feel uneasy (as if we are purposely inconveniencing them), the list goes on. Meanwhile, my 2 year old son and I are trapped upstairs in the loft so that we aren’t in the way, unable to leave the house at all, and feel completely uncomfortable in our own home. I’ve had to rearrange our personal schedule to accommodate these individuals, despite all of the issues being Shea’s fault. There has been very little give when it comes to scheduling these appointments, and almost everyone comes at the tail end of their window of time. In regards to issues, these are some of the things we have experienced … our front door wouldn’t stay shut unless deadbolted (the door frame had to be modified), our Kwikset lock does not work, the recessed lighting in the downstairs bedroom was never installed and now we’re left with a home that has to constantly be patch up, the top of our hood was never put back into place after the inspection, the frame around our microwave was installed dented, damaged tiles were installed in our backsplash, our upgraded island and vanity in the master bathroom were heavily damaged and they tried to touch it up but it looks awful, the top of the cabinet as you walk in from the garage is not level (it sinks down), the top to the cabinet at the top of our stairs was installed damaged, our patio door off the master didn’t lock properly, the master closet didn’t have support brackets, the medicine cabinet in the upstairs bathroom was broken, the toilet in our powder room wasn’t properly installed which resulted in the bathroom flooding (so now the floors need to be pulled up and replaced), and our banister and railing was installed with damaged pieces of wood. This list goes on, as we find more and more issues DAILY. Though your customer service has been wonderful (seriously, Thomas as well as your sales team Spencer and Lorena, have been amazing), it’s still the fact that we closed on a home that was clearly not ready for us. We are so disappointed in the quality of work that went into this home. It is very obvious that corners were cut in order to produce our house as quickly as possible. And for what? That house sat there for 3 months waiting for the city to finish the roads, install meters, and do their inspections. And now that we have moved into our house, our days consist of regular communication with Thomas to arrange scheduling of all the random contractors that need to come into our home and fix these issues. We have been here for a little over a month and still aren’t able to feel fully comfortable in our own home. Every morning my son wakes up and asks, “people come mama?” And it’s immediately followed by, “no more people mama.” Which honestly breaks my heart. At what point will Shea stand up and make things right? Simply “fixing” the issue doesn’t make our experience right, or amend the situation. Thank you for taking the time to listen and address our concerns. Look forward to hearing from you & Thanks again for your time. ... More

Disapppointed with the finishes on the house, seems very rough and ready. Since moving in, we’ve seen quite a lot of imperfections that overall just feel like the house was very rushed and little care was put into it.

I love the layout of my new home. Some materials are of high quality, however I have had problems with every single trade. I found electrical that was not to code and hazardous when using my own electrician to install ceiling fans. The LVP flooring was very poorly installed with multiple gaps. The painters were horrific and got paint on cabinets, towel bars, flooring, all of the light switches… Many walls did not receive two coats of paint. I hired my own painters to re-paint. Plumbing issues. The list goes on and on. I’ve had way too many issues. Shea has been fairly responsive. I would have preferred someone actually supervised the construction as it was being done. ... More

Home was delivered with a lot of visual imperfections (chips, dings, dents, etc) and things that were not fixed depsite notating them in the pre-close walk through. The superintendent called "Shorty" is incredibly rude and incompetent and less than helpful.

Shea sales proudly proclaims their commitment to quality since 1800s. But that's where it stops. Three months after closing, dozens of items still aren't fixed, including some requested to be fixed prior to closing during the final walkthrough. Service appointments are often cancelled at the last minute (or just a no-shows). Those that do show up often don't actually fix what they were there to fix (but still close the tickets). Extremely poor workmanship throughout the house - pretty much every single wall and ceiling have dents, bumps, and mismatched/uneven paint. Just some of the bigger, still outstanding issues include a roof leak, a light that has been drywalled over, dirty windows (palm prints on the outside as well as paint splashes on outside and inside), uneven window frames (to the point that window coverings cannot be installed), leaky water filter, landscaping that collects water against the outside wall instead of draining it away, sporadic whole community water shutoffs as early as 7am on pretty much weekly basis. ... More

There are way too many issues with the quality and workmanship of the house. Very disappointed with the builder. I'm spending hundreds of hours that the builder should have spent in the first place to quality check their production and fix the issues. They shouldn't fall on the shoulders of home owners.

I don't know what I was expecting but the craftmanship and quality of the materials is pretty poor. If I had to do it over again I probably wouldn't go with a new build. I basically paid a premium for the community, not the house.

I waited to respond as it’s been a rocky start. I like my unit even with issues from start. I’m still waiting for them to fix Feel focus here is on the visitors and not those of us who live here. Needs increase in infrastructure stop signs at restaurant and I’m not sure what do you can’t have outsiders roaming around all night long after cafe etc locked and gated. It’s very noisy rarely quiet, too many events which at times make hard to leave or get in. Feel we as owners pay for others to have the experience with no thought how impacts those living here. Mgt has been mostly absent. They don’t respond to issues. ... More

I had a really bad experience with Shea. I was given the wrong information since the beginning, and just went downhill from there. I simply could not trust them. On top of a bad experience, they also had some horrible design choices for this community. It was not on their website, and again try to blame it on the buyer. They tried to sweep any wrongdoing under the rug. I could tell, but they would tell me something different, and this happened at almost every level I dealt with. I did have an amazing experience with the Jr. Rep., who I thought was the only one I could believe.

I had a bad experience and cannot recommend Shea to any new home buyer. There were many delays and the staff were unprofessional. Overall I had a very bad experience with Shea homes and do not recommend them to anyone looking for a timely home buying experience.

Sub par customer care and lack of empathy.

Shea Homes do not follow the best practices and quality maintenance in the house construction, they depend on the third party contractors poor work to deliver the houses for high prices. Also, customer need to travel very painful process in resolving warranty issues and they take very long time to address them. I do not recommend Shea Homes to anyone.

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