Del Webb Reviews in Sarasota Bradenton, FL

Overall good experience, did not like factors that the market drove more than the builder (bidding on lots, high interest rates, lack of materials), but overall a good quality home. Some extra attention to detail would help and better quality materials (cabinets mainly) as well as cleanliness during the build would have been greatly appreciated and made us feel the home was really worth the cost.

Quick to respond to questions

Took way too long for completion.

Overall we have had a good experience with Pulte. The buying phase was great (although Pulte mortgage was awful). Construction was delayed about 2 months but this is happening with all home builders. Our construction manager kept us up to date and communicated any delays and progress. For the most part the quality is good but we are still waiting on many things to be fixed/repaired after 6 weeks in the house. Luckily most are minor.

This is my fourth new home; my first from Del Webb (Pulte). I purchased from Del Webb (Pulte) because of their reputation. By far this was the most disappointing new home turnover I have experienced. In the past a builder would provide a buyer with a book containing all instruction, model numbers, and warranty cards for the new items in my home. We found inside one of the kitchen drawers ‘information for one appliance, not complete, nothing else. We also found the home was not cleaned very well. There were several marks on the tile floors in both bathrooms which did not come up when my wife washed the floor. The wood floors also did not look very good and the sliding glass doors were not cleaned well. The worst part however was what happened on the second day we were in the home. Early on a Saturday morning we discovered raw sewage coming out of the showers and toilets. We contacted the emergency number provided and it took six hours for someone to show up to check on the problem. We were told that the sewer line was clogged with paper towels, what the plumber described as several roles’ worth. Finally, several uncompleted items were pointed out to the project superintendent during the construction process, a few several times, and nothing was done to correct them. Now we are waiting for a crew to come and take down our sliding glass doors so that the outside wall which was not finished can be repaired. I feel all of this could have been avoided. I would like to say though that the warranty manager, Joey, has been very responsive to our concerns. ... More

Cost of options is way to high. If you can do without certain options wait and make the changes after closing. You will save a lot of dollars.

We love our home and community but were very stressed due to the salesman not returning calls. We would have to email him as many as five times and he still would not answer. It would have been smoother with someone who was willing to communicate with us

Home is average - unfortunately it was a "spec" house and was already built so things could not be changed or upgraded - lots of "missing" upgrades - and a few design issues - how many doorways can be put into a area less than 10' square ? this has 5 - insane

Overall, we were happy with the home we received.

field managers should pay more attention during the construction period

Our experience with Del Webb was generally good except for an instance of their trying to charge for a change order which was necessitated by their mistake. Utilmatelly the charge was removed.

Double check ALL the little things before you sign.

This was our third new build construction home, and sadly it's the worst as far as quality. The attention to detail and overall craftsmanship is lacking throughout. Unfortunately, it's the sign of the times given the labor pool. The folks building homes today simply do not care about the work they do. They get paid by the job regardless of how poor their work is and it shows. Ironically, Del Webb BayView is part of Pulte's "flagship" line of homes, but you wouldn't know it. As bad as the homes are in Bayview, there are far worse builders/homes out there. Buyer beware is all we can say ... good luck! ... More

There seems to be a GREAT emphasis on surveys even more than true customer satisfaction. I was asked to complete a survey before I knew who my customer satisfaction rep is. My project manager Ben was very responsive and respectful. He’s stopped by since closing, a few times to check on things. My sales person Valen has been less than useful. In order to get to her I had to go through corporate. She is programed to say NO without even checking. Close to a dozen phone calls to change my paint color. Her suggestion was for me to repaint it once I moved in. That’s frankly moronic and insulting. There wasn’t even drywall when I first asked. Only when I explained I would discuss with my project manager did she even check. Two phone calls to him and it was resolved. I relocated from 1000 miles away and wanted to order appliances while I was in town. I called Del Webb to ask for locations of a Home Depot or Lowes. Again, via text , I was referred back to her. When she finally responded, I was told “I have no idea“. I worked in a culture of “we strive for 5” on surveys. I’m in healthcare. I found the emphasis placed on it paramount to administration even, at times, above outcomes. Take great care of your customers and positive feedback will follow. There are too many options in the area and your potential customers are more savvy than you give them credit for. Still waiting for multiple chips in tile to be fixed. I’d welcome someone to put the effort into that and asking me for follow up. I guess we will see. ... More

The house was build well but not great. Little details and finish left a lot to be desired. The process relies on and leaves too much of finishing touches to warranty which is a challenge for timely fixes AND an imposition on our time. We were firm with our punchless but numerous things still fell through the crack ... be persistent BEFORE closing to get things fixed.

Communication between Pulte and the subcontractors (Trades) was the biggest complaint we had with the process. It also seems like the job of the project managers is to schedule jobs to be done by the Trades, but not to actually check the quality of the work. Pulte set our initial closing date, under the assumption that the home would be finished by then. We had an independent inspection performed 4 days prior to close, that ended up being 139 pages long. Maybe half of the issues were cosmetic in nature, but several were structural/insulation/roofing/gutters/floors. We had to reschedule closing for 8 days later, knowing not everything would be completed, but our lease was up and we had to get out. It's been a month since we've closed and most non-cosmetic issues have been addressed, but not all. Project manager tells us that Trades are scheduled to be here at a specific time, but half the time they don't show up or even bother to call. Very frustrating. Our last home was a custom build that went exceptionally smooth and was a great value for the price. We were spoiled by that experience. But that builder had a smaller operation and employed most of the Trades, or had very close working relationships with the subcontractors. Pulte is a much larger company with very little control over the Trades. If Pulte is the dog, then the Trades are the tail that wags that dog. The project managers are easy to work with and do their best, but the process restricts what they're able to control. Like many of our neighbors have told us, don't expect everything to be cleared off your punch list anytime soon. Some of them have been waiting well over a year for issues to be addressed. Don't get us wrong, we're happy to be in Del Webb BayView. The people we've met here are great and the neighborhood amenities are wonderful. But the building process leaves much to be desired. ... More

The bidding process for this property was very usual, never had to bid for a home before and possibly placed an over bid not needed. Prefer the land plot already be included in sell of home not separate. Construction took a little longer than anticipated but that is not unusual. Pulte Mortgage communication was not great at all, signed the paperwork at very beginning then basically did not hear from them until a few weeks before closing (after several attempts to reach them). Overall construction was not complete at walk-thru or closing. There were still items that required to be fixed and still working to get some of those items fixed today (extremely slow process). Overall was a good experience, but not great! ... More

We bought in phase 2 in Del Webb Bayview. Signed in April and closed in January. Our construction foreman, Ben, was wonderful. We love living here but be prepared, there is a lot that isn’t included and it adds up. No refrigerator, washer, dryer, blinds or shades, and no light fixtures. Also no lanai enclosures. There are much better incentives now than when we signed up.

House has some issues, but overall satisfied

I would recommend having the walk through prior to closing the day before closing in consideration for all the buyers that are traveling from out of state.

My experience with the salesperson was nothing less than outstanding. Very responsive. The field manager needs more experience. He needs to learn how to do a pre drywall inspection and be more knowledgeable about the product.

We are very pleased with the model we selected although we would have like some freedom to make modifications. We were a little disappointed that some things were not checked by the builder before our closing. Since that time, the company has been responsive in setting up repairs for those issues. We also felt that we were not given clear advice on the options regarding the pool and recreation area surrounding the pool.

Initial planning experience went very smoothly. However material shortages, labor issues and often poor communication resulted in construction taking over 14 months for completion. Some issues are still not done after closing. Quality builder like Pulte should not have this many issues. Overall pleased with final product, yet still waiting for some problems to be corrected.

Very nice experience, Members of the Del Webb team were responsive and helpful. Very few wrinkles in the whole process.

While we love this beautiful community full of excellent amenities, purchasing a home during the pandemic proved challenging due to supply chain issues and a shortage of skilled laborers. Our selection of choices during our extremely short time given with the interior designer was marginal at best and we found our inability to change our mind about anything once leaving that appointment distasteful. Our purchase and building experience was long distance so we had little choice but to rely on Del Webb communications to keep us informed of our progress. Thankfully both our sales representative and building manager were good communicators who worked together to keep us up to speed. All and all despite minor bumps here and there, we are generally quite happy with our new home and are looking forward to enjoying this wonderful community. ... More