Drees Homes Reviews

Having bought and sold numerous homes over the last 50 years, from trac to totally custom, to remodels, new and used, we have had lots of experience with many different builders. Drees, from day 1 exceeded those expectations. From the sales department, to the design center help in picking out of all finishes, to the offerings there, we were very happy at every turn. The project managers are the ones really responsible for keeping the building process running smoothly and minimizing surprises. These employees are the best we have encountered over the years. They were on top of the entire build process and the subs, always making sure we were kept in the loop. Shockingly, this was the first house that kept 100% to the time line set from day 1. The final delivery of the home was really a fun experience and the follow up has been perfect in every way. Not to fail to mention, the reason we went with Drees originally, was their home designs, specifically, their beautiful ranch design. We love the home and couldn't be more pleased. Thank you Drees! ... More

The entire process, from initial purchase to final move-in was seamless. Communication was great. The quality and value of your new home seems to be above average. Our experience with the builder's team was great. I have and would recommend Drees to new home buyers.

Everything went very well and both Keith and Joy were very nice and cooperative

Drees is in over its head. They have some beautiful home plans and allow a lot of customization but they are exceeding capacity to the point it is impacting the service and quality of products delivered. The company needs to slow down, establish basic program management processes and define a framework for execution and follow up. I have been in my home for a few months and I still have items that have yet to be corrected. Maybe I am expecting too much from a $1M + community.

Great to work with. Very professional through the whole process. Quality build and addressed all items through the build process and then some. Ryan O. went above and beyond. I would recommend anyone looking for a new build to start with Drees!

Everything has been great! The staff are all friendly and willing to help! Everyone has been great at communicating with any question we have had. We love our new home and surroundings! Doug, Mammy and Mark strive to please! They are there on the front lines and get back to us quickly with any and all problems. I will say though all our problems have been tiny! Thanks to everyone for getting to be a part of the Drees home owners! The Woolwine's

Whole process was professional. Sales design and build team were very responsive to questions and communication was excellent.

The process was perfect from start to finish. We looked at several floor plans and model before we met with our Market Manager. We then spent 8 hours with our designer picking out everything and making the design, interior and exterior, exactly the way we wanted. After move-in, we had one quality issue which was addressed immediately and professionally. We are very pleased with every aspect of the Drees process. Top quality builder!

Excellent support. and answers through the process

We paid very large amounts to water sod and we received dead peices that they will not replace which is not acceptable.

The people on site that we dealt with were excellent and a pleasure to work with. The two person team who we were in contact with were exceptional, and we greatly appreciated being kept apprised of the progress throughout the building of our home. Both are highly knowledgeable and wonderful to work with. Construction proceeded right on schedule, and we are very pleased with the home itself. Any criticism I have is strictly in regard to how our lot was modified after we selected it and made our down payment. The transformation was radical, leaving a large portion of the lot unusable, unattractive and difficult to maintain. The final grading was poorly executed, especially when compared to the homes built around us. When we selected the lot, it was the highest point with gradual slopes to each side. When finished, our lot was lower than the neighbor's to the north and graded such that all runoff created a high-velocity stream right through the middle of the backyard. Additionally, topsoil was completely removed during initial site prep and never replaced. If the latter part of my review seems critical, it is directed at Drees corporate/management and not people we were in contact with. Someone in the organization would benefit from ethics counseling, as well as getting more in touch with customer needs and expectations. ... More

Slow response to issues after closing & ongoing quality issues with woodwork & painting

Poor grading drainage of lot. We were charged big premium for a wooded lot and Drees removed a lot of dirt/ trees /questionable quality on workmanship

Jake was accessible and his communication was good. Any question I had, he had the answer. Wonderful experience

We moved into our home about 2 months ago. We spent quite a bit of money on our home for the neighborhood we are in. We did a lot of upgrades and the craftsmanship was poor of just careless mistakes. We find things weekly that aren’t correctly measured out, dry wall repair was sloppy, and just all in all corners were cut to move fast for quantity not quality. While picking out our choices at the design center we were given misinformation on the cost of upgrading to HardiBoard by $11,000. While construction moved along quickly which was ideal for our situation the quality suffered. The house isn’t falling apart by any means but just has a lot of little things that need fixed and with the money spent I thought it would be better quality. Close to 700k for a house, I feel should be somewhat closer to custom quality than what Drees offers. ... More

I can't say how many people told us that they had heard horror stories about building a house - we experienced none of that. I can't say enough about how great our whole experience has been with Drees homes.

First, I want to give high praise to Debra *****, the Southwick Sales Manager, and my builder, Joe *****. They were amazing to work with. Joe was ever-present to respond quickly to questions and concerns and took care of things promptly...often on his own. Debra was a friend to us all. At the risk of sounding negative, I want to give a very honest assessment of my experiences with Drees. My first troublesome experience was at the design center phase. One day is, without a doubt, not enough time to make every decision when building a home that is going to cost upwards of $700K. I felt pushed, rushed, and not given enough time to consider my choices and I regret some of my choices now. I have now built two homes with Drees. This time, by myself. The design center experience was fraught with stress and rushed. Overall, I would rate it average to below average. Something as simple as providing samples to buyers of choices to take home would have made it much more stress free. Giving those who need more time to make good choices is crucial to a positive experience. Additionally, after talking to a number of neighbors, many feel like options offered and provided were inconsistent. In the rear view mirror, this looks like an upper level management issue to me (a kind of tone-deafness) , and one that your home buyers suffer the consequences for. The experience should not have inconsistencies at any level. It should be very clear, at every level, what options are there for your home buyers. For instance; second story options, plan options, and so on. It would appear that some folks were given more options than others...or at least that is what it seems like to many when you talk to them. Purchasing the lot upon which I built , to be perfectly candid, felt like a poker game. I chose the lot I wanted; (the large cul-de-sac lot), and then the "lottery" phase began. It felt, not unlike, a used car salesman technique. Buyers should not have to experience something like this. It should have been a first come, first serve situation. Had I lost my opportunity, that would have been mine to lose. Instead, it felt like a bidding war. Just state your price and sell it to the first person. It felt contrived and an inappropriate strategy for ginning up interest. In the end, there was no lottery.... The experience with First Equity was average. I had hoped for better. That's all I'm willing to say about that. I would not use them again. I remain very concerned as to whether there will be appropriate follow-through on the remaining walking trails that those of us in the cul-de-sac were promised. This concern has been heightened by the sudden departure of Drees from the premises, while the remaining houses are built. This was never presented to us as a "maybe it will happen" scenario, and yet I am very concerned that it will become a battle with the HOA and other homeowners, if we suddenly become financially responsible for getting this done without Drees footing the bill. Finally, since Drees has departed, the road has been hazardous to navigate, filthy to contend with, and has been badly damaged. I'd like to know what plans are in place to repair the road when the home-building is completed. In Lakemont, where I used to live on Woodsedge Drive, our small Ridgebourne HOA became responsible for the repair of poorly installed sidewalks (with no rebar) , which cost us over $50k to tear out and repair on our own, 10 years after Drees installed it and departed. Drees wouldn't own it, and neither would the city of Erlanger. I don't want to regret my decision to build and move here. An investment like this should not be one fraught with worry and concerns. Perhaps, better communication would make me feel less like every choice Drees makes is about their bottom line, and more like they have a genuine interest in their newest Southwick residents. ... More

Home purchase was smooth but after purchase customer service has delays to fix issues. It takes weeks.

Very pleased with the staff and especially Derek that controlled the house being built Derek would call us every Monday or Tuesday and bring us up-to-date of what's going on with the house as we built we've built eight homes and we've never had that type of service. Everyone from trees has been wonderful. I can't say enough about how pleased we are thank you.

Buyer agent is unresponsive and do not respond to emails.

Many errors with the home drees built. Had to hire an outside engineer to assess the foundation errors. Rooms framed not to spec plans. Terrible job on seeding back yard. Now dealing with brick issues and the white finish flaking off and show red.

we bought a market home so we didn't have any input as to what went where my inspector didn't find any major flaws so that was good the electric layout is a little confusing, the half of basement not finished has but one switch for all the lights so I put that on a motion detector switch which helped, other than that all is good

everyone was helpful and able to answer all my questions as a first time home buyer and my builder came out everytime i had a question or concern.

Great communication from start to finish. Every question was answered at once. Small imperfections were fixed at once. Excellent support after closing.

good responses to my concerns. I understand that the builders are going quickly and may make mistakes. When brought to their attention they try and make it right.