Drees Homes Reviews

Workmanship in general was good except masonry work which shoul and can be greatly improved. Responsiveness to issues before closing and customer review were great but not so much after that. Our experience with builder was considered satisfied. So far after 2.5 months in the house we have no big problems.

After having 5 new homes built, I’d say I’m getting familiar with the “standard” and typical experience. Drees was definitely my best experience thus far. Overall, the home is beautiful and well constructed. We had typical issues, and our building manager resolved those to our standard with little resistance. We were on time and maintained the expected building schedule. We had frequent communication during the process and felt informed. Overall, this could have been a 5 star experience. However it may or may not be associated with Drees, the most unfavorable experiences were outside of the home: the land. The landscape is terrible. The ground is extremely bumpy, the sod is hardly surviving even with massive amounts of water and care, several shrubs have died, and the plant choices aren’t impressive. Not only that, but Drees and the developer were not in the same page and so we were given mixed information about how the common space associated with us would be finished. Finally, with complaints, the developer stepped up and has (verbally) confirmed they will be developing the common area to create consistency with the rest of the neighborhood and enhance how unsightly it is currently. I’d say since the entire experience from my perspective was owned by Drees, this was a solid 4/5, and had true potential to be a 5/5. ... More

Dave was very informative and helpful with what to expect when moving into my Townhome. My salesman was doing his best, but not quite up to speed on what to expect when moving here.

Michael was great to work with - if an issue arose he was on top of it immediately. We were very impressed with his coordination of all the sub-contractors to complete our home on time. The one item that needs to be addressed is the lack of communication between David, the Design Center consultant, and Michael. One would we would have a mantle on the fireplace while the other would say no to a mantle and it would not be included in the house. One would say we would not have an arch going into the dining room. We ended up with an arch but not knowing was frustrating.It was evident that the right hand didn’t know what the left was doing. I suggest a meeting with all involved with the building of a home should sit down together to confirm what the new homeowners should expect would be very beneficial and would eliminate some of the stress in building a new home. ... More

This home has exactly what we were looking for. There are lots of small details that make it special. Love it.

A few corners were cut for expense management. One example 1/2 of the kitchen cabinets had soft close hinges and 1/2 did not. Dead tree on the punch list died again 4 weeks after the closing and I had escalate to get mgmt. involved to get it replaced.

This was our second time building a new home and while we did not have a bad experience with our previous builder, the overall experience and quality of our Dress home was exceptional. The start of the building process was easy and convenient with the community sales representative. Once construction was about to begin the communication with our construction manager, Ed, was thorough and consistent. Amanda at the design center was wonderful to work with and helped make the selection process as easy as possible. The only frustration we had during the entire process was getting responses from Dress with information lenders needed. What ultimately set Drees apart from our previous builder was Ed. Ed went above and beyond to ensure we had a great building experience and were happy with our home upon closing. We are still impressed with how much better the craftsmanship of our Dress home is compared to our previous home. I would definitely recommend building with Drees. ... More

Our builder was great to work with. He kept us up to date on the progress during the build and addressed any questions or concerns we had in a very timely manner.

Staff are great. Quick to answer questions and fix concerns.

Great follow up process after purchase

I would recommend Elevate to anyone. Even though some of my criticisms are harsh, the overall process, responsiveness of Chad and many of the Elevate team seems to care about customer satisfaction and that outweighs my concerns. I do think do to some lesser quality materials used the value is less than desired but still an OK value - not good, not great, but OK. Now the details. First the great - Chad is an amazing project manager. He is responsive, helpful, and knowledgeable. Megan in the design center was a pleasure to work with and Elevate had many nice upgrade and standard options. Todd was great too. He was very helpful with the design of the house and incorporated many of his ideas. Also Elevate has been very supportive even with some challenges with Hamilton County zoning. Huge props to the team for leaning in and ensuring my wife and I are supported and taken care of. Now the not so great: 1) The TRIM AND Cabinet DOORs Elevate uses are incredibly cheap particle board. It breaks and chips with the slightest touch. For the price charged use real wood. 2) The Garage Doors and Standard Opener are also only OK. They do offer an upgraded opener. Take it! While it is only marginally better the standard is quite low end. 3) DO NOT paint your GARAGE door. Make them upgrade to 9600 series which has better R value and will come colored. Painting will chip, scratch and make the doors stick and is terrible. A maintenance nightmare! I am asking Elevate to switch my doors to 9600 series because after 2 months my doors already need touched up again. IF Elevate does the right thing AND updates my doors to the 9600 series, I will update this review. Again when people are buying $800K to $1.5M homes, get the better garage doors, openers, and trim. 4) LVP installers did an ok job. Elevate has already agreed to fix unlevel areas so huge props to Elevate 5) I was not thrilled they elevate saves money by doing the following: 1) uses 24” on center for none load bearing walls 2) uses 2x4s for the roof joists and does not make it so they can have attic storage 3) uses I-Beams for floor joists versus engineered floor joists 6) was disappointed that Elevate will not 1) install Garage ladder due to number non load bearing weak 2x4s used as joists 4) does not offer a garage floor coating 5) concrete was poured WAY too wet and ended up cracking - yes concrete cracks, BUT it does not have too - on the plus side they do install a vapor barrier which gives added protection. 6) uses Guardian which did NOT center my speakers properly in my Media room even after I asked the guy to use a tape measure and NOT eye it and does not offer a ring like recording service only offers full monitoring security. 7) did not hook up the fridge water line and had a major leak under the tub which required part of the ceiling to be tore out and replaced. I am concerned about the plumbers and the quality of the work 8) Electricians installed a 50A breaker when a 60A was clearly specified AND put home lines in my secondary panel and I also clearly stated I did not want those in my garage panel - did it because it was “easier and cheaper” for them I am hopeful many of my current concerns will be addressed at the 90 review and if they are, I will update the review. Again, overall a good experience and I would recommend Elevate to any, I am concerned about the 20 year quality of certain items due to some of the construction methods and material used, but time will tell. If I had it to do again I would have insisted on the better Garage Door and opener from the start, told them I wanted 16” on center construction, insisted on real wood trim and cabinet doors AT a FAIR price - already charging insane amounts for cheap particle board upgrades-, use structural wood for joists so it can add an attic space above the garage, AND use engineered floor joists versus I-Beams - if you ever want to run something in the ceilings I-Beams make it 10 times harder. ... More

Overall we are very happy with our new home.

We have already submitted a very detailed review to Drees Homes. In a nutshell, we love the construction, the process, the communication from Nick; the house is solidly built and there are hardly any issues (cosmetic issues will pop up but no construction issues). Beverly did well at the design center. For most part, Kristi in sales did well as well. Tammy and John in customer-care are on top of all of our needs. Financing process was smooth; the execution was horrible. Few areas where things should improve: 1. We had requested for dual-zone dual-HVAC system. We were told flat-out that Drees does not offer that option. We were sold a dual-zone single-HVAC solution. Nearing the end of construction, we saw the house across the street was installed with dual-zone dual-HVAC system. We were blatantly misled and sold what sales wanted to sell. 2. In addition to the Design Center options, let us know we can purchase items from outside vendors (Menards, Home Depot, Floor/Tile shops, etc.) and give us allowances so we can truly make this our home with items that were more relatable to us. 3. Steve at 1st Equity did well during the process. Unfortunately, FEM did not manage its partner Huntington Bank well and we had one of the worst experiences EVER on closing day. Choose better, more reliable partners. 4. Lay out the process of the closing day as it is an important day for Drees and buyers. We had people walking in/out of the room without introductions or why they were there, including whom or what they represented. Few fixes and Drees will provide a solid experience! ... More

When ever we had questions on anything regarding house, Charlie and Susan were on top of the issues and were able to resolve them quickly and efficiently.

My wife and I selected Drees as we were able to do some customizations to the plan. The people throughout the entire process were very helpful and responsive. The only thing that could have been improved was that they were building several homes at the same time and while they did a fantastic job addressing small build/follow up concerns at the end of the process (resolved them all), many could have been addressed during the build effort itself. I would recommend Drees to others. We love our new home.

We’ve built multiple new homes as well as purchased market homes. Drees does a nice job, but like any builder you need to co-manage the process, trust, but verify.

Everything went well - only question quality of some materials used

Customer service was very high and they were quick to address/resolve issues or concerns. Some subs did not meet our workmanship quality expectations but probably same across the board with any home builder. In general though good quality materials and workmanship. Felt we paid a premium price and there was no negotiation. Granted materials had gone up a lot during pandemic but lumber dropped a lot early 2023 from all time highs and our timing was such that we felt some room should have been available. We feel it will be some time before we build any equity but that may be true of any new build these days. The value was probably fair for both parties. ... More

The process was fairly smooth but did not like using First Equity. I thought Peggy was short and rude at times and made the experience less than pleasant. The house itself is nice and the customer service is outstanding. I would refer a friend if they decided to build a home. Like every investment a partnership must be formed.

I was fortunate to working with a team of people who came together to get me into my home on my timeline. I have my 60 walk tomorrow. I only have a few items to be addressed.

We had a few issues, but they always said, "We'll do the right thing." And they always did. Great home and loved the experience.

Beautiful Market Home we purchased. If we had time we would have built but overall the house is great. Market Homes have some TLC that has to occur once you get into the home and notice things we are hopeful at our check in they will be making things right.

Smooth process throughout. Interior design process was very collaborative

When we moved in we were elated at the prospect of peace and quiet in our beautiful home. I am a very handy man and probably would have been a carpenter if it weren't for my nagging back injury suffered many years ago. My wife and our college age son moved in and immediately we had a problem with hot water heater the Drees team went into action getting a plumber out to chg the all of the heating elements. The sudden and serious AC partial failure in the midst of one of the hottest summers on record was approached with poise and professionalism by again the Drees team (Customer service professional and her Supervisor) They made sure AC company came out until we were somewhat cooled. Overall the TEAM has salvaged what started as a nightmare and has made it beautiful dream. ... More

Mike was responsive to concerns. The deck as sublet and of lower quality and the reason for the overall 4 stars. I noted that on my prior review but no one contacted us.