Pulte Homes Reviews in Chicago, IL

The overall construction and build quality was decent. The responsiveness during closing period has been great. Just after the closing the customer support experience has been one of the worse. Even for issues as urgent as gas leak they customer experience manager continued to ignore emails snd and any form of communication for weeks. I wouldn’t spend the money to buy a Pulte home again given how bad the move in experience was.

We really like the design of the house. There is a lot of storage space. You do, however, pay extra for every little things. The things that come standard are so basic that everyone - from the sales person to the consultant at the design meeting highly encourages you to upgrade, which then, of course, drives up the cost for the house. Most frustrating has been our closing experience. We had a pre-closing walk-through date set. At 5 PM the night before, we got a call that the walk-through and our move-in date (scheduled for that weekend) had to be moved back. I understand issues around supply, but those should have been known earlier on. We already had everything set up to make the move happen - and trying to manage a move during COVID with a 1-year old baby is challenging enough without the company changing dates on you last minute! Many of the issues from our pre-closing walk-through had not been addressed. We have since added additional items to the list that we noticed (e.g., we paid extra for a mirror in our master bathroom since don't come standard - the mirror they installed was chipped. We didn't notice it during the walk-through as a lot of furniture had paint splatters on it - so I assumed it was the same with the mirror. But when I looked at it, it was chipped). Now, two months later, nothing has been taken care of. Last Friday, we were told that contractors would stop by to address all items on the list. The e-mail confirmation, however, only listed two of about 10 items. We called and were told all items would be addressed. I then rearranged my work schedule to make sure I was available during the time the contractors would come by. And nobody came. We called to let them know and now, almost a week later, nothing has been done yet. I have responded to several surveys sharing the challenges we've had with getting our closing items completed - we then get a phone call from someone higher up in the company promising that things will be taken care of. That sometimes results in an e-mail or phone call promising that work will get done - but then there is no follow-through. I would not buy from Pulte ever again. ... More

The only positive from building this house was Dave, the construction manager. He helped always and was very kind and caring. We have many areas where paint is there. We have many dents in our drywall that were just painted over and never filled in. We have paint drips all over the house on our floors. The three external doors all close wrong and weather striping is coming off. We have huge ditches in our yard that the city said had to be made or we'd have flooding. No one compensated us for no yard now but charged us additional money for a corner lot. At least they could have taken away the extra charge for the lot to compensate us for having no yard. We may have 15 x 20 piece of yard to have outside fun in. Our side yard on the garage side is so slanted that you can not even walk down that side of the house. We paid extra for a side garage door to go in and out of and we can not even use. They forgot the door and had to cut the concrete on the garage footings to put the door in. They also do not have the concrete slab outside the door attached to the foundation. Plus it is so high you a difficult time steppng onto it. It also has the under gravel showing and no dirt covering it. We have a dog and can not even put a fence up because of the deep ditches. Now for Morgan at the mortgage company. She made our life miserable with her uneducated knowledge of the closing process. We knew more than she did and had to tell her numerous times what she needed or needed to do for us. She even stepped in for someone off on our day of closing and caused us a huge delay in our delivery of our furniture etc. from our movers because she said she didn't have the correct paperwork even though the person doing the closing had received it from them and had it on the closing paperwork. She did nothing to help but did more to make us crazy. We would tell people at Plute at different levels and they would ask who we were speaking of and we'd say Morgan and they'd go Oh. Like they had heard this many times before about her. I also used your insurance company for our house and haven't received anything regarding it or paid for anything. I keep having to ask for information and help to get our house covered. I will have to do this again today to see if we do have house coverage. So I'd say we have NOT had much good come from buying a house from Pulte from many of the Pulte owned companies. Sad to see the workmanship on something you pay hard earned money for. ... More

1.The only builder that wants to save money by not doing the grading properly. 2.Does not care about defects, if it's not identified before closing, you have to live with it. 3.Has a contractor who does not even know how to install garage weather seal properly(light is clearly visible inside garage and cold air is seeping). 4.Does not want to fix the main door frame crack even though it was identified before closing. 5.Flooring installation was not done properly, bulges in the floor from day one. 6.Doorbell camera was another joke, they installed it blocking access to storm door. 7.Basement floor cracks are everywhere (not talking about controlled cracks) ... More

Bad ! Will not buy again with Pulte.

The entire experience has been nothing short of horrible. From the very beginning, I was overpromised and underdelivered. Prior to closing, I identified a list of issues that I was assured would be taken care of either before or shortly after closing. Instead, I had to constantly follow up just to get basic items addressed. The workmanship was extremely poor—baseboards were coming off, carpet threads were loose, and the paint job was blotchy and careless. I opened a ticket for the HVAC system because the AC unit was noisy and had condensation on it, only to be told the noise was “within threshold.” After pushing for months, the HVAC company finally came out (three months after closing) and confirmed I was right: the connection wasn’t done properly, and the system was overpowered, which caused the intense noise. The same thing happened with the carpet. I raised concerns that it was not stretched or tucked properly, but I was told it was “within tolerance.” A few months later, there’s now a bald spot at the top of my stairs—exactly what I warned them about. Every time I raise a valid concern, I feel gaslit and dismissed, as if customer satisfaction and quality mean nothing compared to rushing homes out the door. The worst discovery came when I replaced one of the builder’s basic toilets. Upon removing the baseboard in the master shower, I found mold. I immediately filed a ticket, and while this was the one issue they acted on quickly (within a week), the fact that it existed at all was alarming. After much insistence, they finally conducted a proper inspection and had to tear down the entire wall in the master, remove moldy boards, and rebuild. While there was no active leak at that point, it’s clear there must have been one during construction that was never disclosed or handled properly. This was my very first home purchase, and instead of being an exciting milestone, it has been the worst experience of my life. I would strongly recommend avoiding this builder. Go with a smaller contractor who values quality, accountability, and customer service—because this company clearly does not. ... More

Beware of sales they get involved with closing in a bad way

I reached out multiple times regarding various issues, but received no response or timely resolution. Additionally, the pricing is significantly higher compared to other builders in the Mundelein area. Unfortunately, despite the premium cost, the quality of work—especially in areas like flooring and plumbing—has been disappointing.

Don’t buy. The construction and sales team are not sharing correct information and the warranty says 11 months but they deny to fix it.

I would never do this again

My overall experience purchasing a home with Pulte was deeply disappointing. While they are incredibly efficient when it comes to collecting escrow payments, that urgency doesn’t extend to providing timely or transparent updates. We received our official closing date with less than two weeks’ notice—seemingly driven by their internal push to meet end-of-month sales numbers rather than any consideration for the buyer’s planning needs. The sales process was equally frustrating. The sales team uses scripted enthusiasm to create a sense of urgency and exclusivity, suggesting that you’re getting a remarkable deal that required “pulling strings.” In reality, the pricing and incentives turned out to be fairly standard—nothing extraordinary. When I expressed this perspective, the salesperson was visibly irritated, which was unprofessional and disappointing. As for the build quality, it leaves much to be desired. While the finishes might look nice at first glance, they mask the use of noticeably low-grade materials. It’s a “looks good from far, but far from good” kind of situation. Post-closing, the customer service has been a major letdown. The service team is slow to respond, and when they do, it’s typically to deflect responsibility rather than offer solutions. Several issues were dismissed outright or deemed outside of warranty, even though the home was brand new. Getting help from the service team feels like talking to one of their flimsy interior walls—no support, no resolution. In short, this has been an incredibly frustrating experience. While Pulte excels at collecting payments, they fall drastically short when it comes to communication, service, and build quality. I would advise prospective buyers to proceed with caution and go in with eyes wide open. ... More

Less than two months since we moved in, there are numerous issues that need to be addressed. The workmanship and materials used are of poor quality. Additionally, the communication regarding the completion of exterior items is extremely poor. We had to follow up multiple times to obtain a timeline for their completion. Overall we are not happy with the purchase and value for the price paid.

Too many things they leftover to fix. They said after closing we will fix but now they don’t show up

This bad experience started with a bidding war on lots. Then the high prices for features, then not disclosing that home wouldn’t be ready at our forced, rushed closing date. They stated that our landscaping and driveway wasn’t done due to their bust schedule even though other homes not even sold had theirs completed before winter hit. Then their mortgage people’s refusal to us for withholding funds since the home wasn’t completed at closing and Bradyn, the manager, had no estimate when it would be completed since they had 30 more homes to work on. Poor response from him and poor craftsmanship on exterior trim work, etc. I will never buy from them again, nor recommend them. ... More

Beyond terrible experience. Pulte just wants to close as many houses as they can as fast as possible. Very poor quality of workmanship. Multiple serious issues including all windows being defective and leaking water that damaged the interior of the house, multiple cracks in the foundation walls leaking into the basement, leaking water from porch to the garage and basement were all discovered in the first week and we are still dealing with repairs after 2 months. The person responsible for warranty claims is a good person and tries to be helpful, but the process of warranty claims and repairs is terrible. There is 150+ houses in the community and only one person to handle all claims which is impossible for one person to keep up. So they become unresponsive and actual repairs take months to even begin. Multiple repairs weren’t addressed the first time and repairmen had to come again as the root cause weren’t addressed. There is no way to track your submitted claims and no way of communicating other than email which again, is very unresponsive. Overall, I wouldn’t recommend Pulte to anyone ever in my life and I would strongly suggest anyone considering them to look elsewhere. ... More

We have waited for the kitchen doors to be installed we have been waiting since 2 months now still waiting for the doors to be replaced money has been taken service has not been done. We are paying HOA for the property no swimming pool no club house is ready yet but monthly payments are taken by pulte what an ugly situation

We had really bad experience with one of our stair selection. We opted for stairs on the upstairs and when the home was done built Pulte put in a drywall there instead. This was so heartbreaking and Pulte was never ready to get it fixed or provide compensation for us to hire some one outside to fix it

So glad you asked. Where do I start? Home was in a FEMA flood zone. This was not disclosed at time of sale. Amy, salesperson, could not show me samples or pictures of the exterior siding or brick when asked. Closing credit was to be applied for flood insurance but this was not done. Flood insurance was not purchased by Pulte as indicated on closing documents. Issues with basic functions like heat and water. Issues with home are not being properly addressed. I feel if Pulte can make a nickel more profit as opposed to customer satisfaction they would choose the nickel. I am happy with the layout of the home and the community. Overall very disappointed At this point I would tell people to avoid a Pulte home ... More

Absolutely not a great experience buying home with Pulte, they do not maintain the community after the closing. They do not respond on time, for warranty issues, have been trying to reach construction manager, their responsiveness is absolutely disastrous.

Bad architecture overall, bad location choices hvac and heater in base ment, fridge location in kitchen etc., just to save their construction money, they realize limited lots to create artifical demand and increase price, very limted designer choice and its a lot if every chnage. Make scene every time you request for small changes, after closing, if we find any issues they mention it either too small or does not seems to be issue, we will fix when we have 9 months walk through. Substandard grass which require too much maintenance and bad garden plant choices. Overall not satisfied

Build quality was sub par , paid excessive money and response on issues much worse . Driveway and pathway and lawn is taking more than 3 months or even for some neighbors 6 months to compete . While new home buyers now are getting everything on time .

PLEASE READ MY REVIEW,after the closing we discovered that the actually house quality is a trash,all the walls and ceiling are unbelievable uneven,you can’t even install a shelf or any pictures,after one week from closing we saw the roof fell off on the half of the garage, the backyard door isn’t intact,when is raining all the water flows in the house,stove installed in only 2 screws,4 inside doors are not closing properly…and more more other things.

Responsiveness to completion and warranty issues is terrible.

I recently purchased a home from Pulte and have experienced numerous issues with the quality of the products and customer service. No one came out to repair the furnace in an emergency, leaving our house temperature to drop below 50 degrees Fahrenheit for three days straight. I was troubleshooting over the phone. Additionally, there were condensation issues with the windows, which the builder refused to cover under warranty. Finally, there were no trims or molding on the basement stairs they had in other homes but decided not to do for my house. I was assured that all issues would be covered in the first year, but this has not been the case. This has been incredibly disappointing. I have paid 50K premium over the Lot premium price and bought upgrades of 91K, and still, Pulte has cheap out on so many things and given me a really bad experience with customer service, they do not want to do anything, ... More

Still dreaming. Quality. Quality. Quality. Still dreaming.