Pulte Homes Reviews in Chicago, IL

Our experience with our salesperson was great; however, our interactions with the construction manager were disappointing. Several important details were overlooked, such as instructions for using the dehumidifier and guidance on setting up our utilities. During our final walk-through, many of the identified issues were still unresolved. While the after-sales representative has been responsive, many of the problems we reported have not been properly addressed. For example, the exterior power outlet still allows outside air to pass through, and we continue to have other open issues that remain unresolved.m ... More

The overall home buying process was relatively smooth, and we appreciated the support provided by both the sales agent and Pulte Mortgage. However, we are deeply disappointed with the quality of our new home, especially considering the significant amount of money we invested. Hence, we expected the quality of workmanship and servicing to match it. While we understand that it’s possible for minor issues to be overlooked during construction, the number of noticeable problems we've encountered in our home is concerning. We were informed that our home would undergo several quality checkpoints, but there have been multiple issues that we feel could have easily been addressed during the construction process. One of the first issues we noticed was the appearance of our walls, which have noticeable curves that should not be present in a newly built home. We had one of them fixed during our celebration walkthrough but we found another that is much more noticeable and we have been told it’ll be fixed after one year. Additionally, our stove top, which is an essential appliance, required repairs twice shortly after moving in because the knobs we’re not placed correctly (potential hazard) and arrived with a dent, which was disappointing for a brand-new product. Our doorbell has also been a persistent problem, starting out with intermittent functionality and now producing a strange noise, despite having been serviced once already. We asked for it be serviced or replaced but now we must reach out directly to the manufacturer for help which frustrating because a lot of our time has already been taken up by all of these issues that do not seem to end. Furthermore, we had a vent that needed to be placed under our kitchen sink area attached to the island. We did not know this as it had been covered up without a cutout for it and we only noticed when we turned on our heater recently and felt the air coming out slightly. However, that was somehow missed during construction and this issue had been promptly serviced by Pulte but again it was just frustrating and concerning to continue discovering these problems. Another concern is the condition of our flooring, where one of the floorboards arrived with a slight crack, which should have been caught during the inspection process. We were also disappointed to find that some of the upgrades we had requested—specifically the light switches and exterior finishes—were missing and the standard had been used until we pointed them out during the building process. This oversight was disappointing and concerning to see as no one seemed to notice until we visited the house ourselves during the construction process to see. We understand sometimes things may be missed in the hustle and bustle but these two things were missed at separate times, one after the other and we felt that there was no one paying attention to these things if it happened more than once. It made us worry that our other upgrades may also be overlooked such as the thicker carpet padding we paid extra for. Additionally, the upgraded granite countertops, which we were excited about, came with noticeable chipping, and despite having them serviced, the problem only worsened. We had hoped that the service would correct the issues, but unfortunately, it only made matters worse and there were more noticeable dents. We asked for someone to look at it again and perhaps have it replaced as we invested more for the stone but have yet to receive an update again. To make matters more frustrating, many of the smaller issues, which should have been relatively easy to fix, have proven difficult to address as it categorized as being fixed after a year or something that cannot be addressed by them. For example, our doorbell has issues again despite the fact that it was serviced not long ago, and we are finding it increasingly difficult to get the right assistance for these problems. While a few of the issues have been acknowledged and resolved, there are still many outstanding problems that we would like to have addressed. As a family, we are frustrated that a newly built home, for which we paid a significant amount, came with so many flaws. The ongoing difficulty in getting these issues properly fixed only adds to our disappointment. Ultimately, we feel let down by both the quality of workmanship and the service provided after the purchase. We hope that Pulte will take these concerns seriously and ensure that other customers do not face similar challenges. ... More

Our home has about 6-10 minor issues that we keep getting promises for repair - but it hasn't happened. We've lived her for almost seven weeks. Home is very nice and generally good construction and features, with the notable exception of the interior paint - it's terrible, apparently sprayed on with no primer, and we will be repainting everything as soon as we can.

The homes are not worth the price. They are made of cheap materials.

Post closing customer care is not good. Haven’t got any response for the issue which was raised a month ago

Moved in the end of july. The property was nice and clean few unfinshed items. Construction manager and warranty manage cheerful and helpful. A couple of gripes: Landscaping- the first installed small plants all died. They did replace with something else, not what we would have wanted but. The new trees are planted too deep. They cannot mow without damaging the sod with the big tractor. Wound up mowing myself. Bushes along noth side if of the house all dying no matter how we baby them. We will need to submit to redo the landscaping in the spring. It feels like they put in whatever was left in the nursery. Paint- i did not realize the quality of the basic paint. We would have upgraded to something, its barely primer. Went to sherwin Williams to get touch up and they said they could not match because it is contractor paint with dry instead of wet colorants. Punchlist items. We sent in quite a few punchlist items that we did not see at the final walk. If that was our only oppurtunity we would have spent the day going over inch by inch. Some cabinet doors we dropped in the driveway, i put in the garage and when they came to install, they were warped. It has been a couple of weeks since we sent the lists with no schedule to repair other items, or confirmation of cabinet door reorder. Range- we opted for the fancy fridgidare range and it was not in we we moved in but there was a temp in place. It took about a month to get. Then i had to take a day off work to make the swich, they could not commit to a small window of time. Then when we turned it on we noticed the oven did not work. We scheduled a warranty service the next day. They could not come for a week. They provided an arrival window between 8a and 4p another lost day of work waiting. He got there after 5 , worked on for 30 min then said main board was bad. Not in stock, have to order from the factory. No follow up on status. I suppose i need to take off a 3rd day for the next service call whenever it comes. Still no oven. Overall the house is nice and we like it and the neighborhood. It functions well, just a few things i mentioned above that could go better. Over all the team was helpful and the purchase process was smooth, just need to get to the finish line. ... More

The beginning process went really smooth. Like our contact Morgan a lot she helped us get through a lot of the planning stages and exactly what type of home we wanted and needed. Our closing went really well also we still have a few outstanding issues and waiting for weather to break to resolve them.

it's ok, some things could be much better

This is my first time owning a home. The house is big but it’s made as cheaply as possible, super sloppy work. The floor is what’s called a floating floor, so you have your little kids running around or you walk around, the entire floor shakes, kitchen silverware rattles. No attention to details, you will have crooked walls, some spaced are bigger than others and not symmetrical.

Love my house, but I noticed that some work could have been better. I feel like the workmanship was rushed, mistakes were made when they could have been avoided.

The finishing of the inside doors and the dry wall in the corners is very bad. (Very sloppy, not good quality workmanship. Obviously whoever did it didn’t take pride in their work.

Try to inspect everything

The buying experience was very nice. However, the closing was a nightmare. The closing date was pushed by the Pulte title closing company because they would not allow our mortgage company to do an escrow account because of the outside landscaping and the driveway and the sidewalk were not completed. We had to pay an extra $600 which was an hour or our mortgage company fault the manager at the pool day office did not when I agreed to that escrow and then all of a sudden she did. I feel like she just wanted to charge us $600 because we did not go with Pulte Mortgage from the beginning so she didn’t profit on us. Then several issues inside the home has not been completed after the closing as promised. One of them is an outlet in the garage for the garage door opener. Outlet is in the wrong location and the opener cable does not reach it. Instead of moving the outlet into a correct location the construction manager told me to get an extension cord. Needless to say, I am not able to use my garage and I don’t know who else to contact so that correction can be made. This was wrong from the get-go by the electrician and it should been corrected without any ideas of using an extension cord. I would very much like somebody from Pulte Homes to contact me and make these corrections possible. This is not the quality I was expecting from this big company. ... More

When we were buying no issues. as the build process occurred they were a lot a gaps and The field manager did his best to work with our concerns. Pulte upper management is messed up they rushed the home build just so they can try to close the house before the year end and made cuts in proper build by rushing the field team. The field manager was able to resolve a lot of thing after the closing but still not up to par as he has other builds to worry about as well. Pulte keeps talking about how they pride themself on quality sounds more like hurry up and grab the money and not about the buyers benefit. when we received the house after closing this was not the new house that we paid for., it was just setup to be acceptable and rushed through the inspection so we wouldn't noticed and halt the closing. The more we look through the house we keep find place and items which were rushed and not done properly. I might have well bought a 30 year old home because that's what it looks like . Wood trough out the home not properly sanded or finished or painted. home sealing not done properly. Areas throughout the house with paint and blemishes. Floors with nicks scratches even not installed properly at many locations. trims thought-out the whole house not properly installed. This will be the last time i will ever deal with this company as paying a high premium for the property to only get stuck with half finished not new home made to pass a inspection. Pulte as a company deliberately jacked up prices to create a demand in the area. even in the early VIP appointments. Prices were different for the first batch of meetings within the same weekend. lot prices provided were different for the first group then the second group on the same weekend. I understand the as a company you have to make money but creating partiality on the first run is a big no no. Shows how much concern they have for their clients ... More

The quality of the materials is low, workmanship is terrible, tiles are not arranged properly, so there is a pond in the shower. The other tiles are not arranged properly and when i pointed out to the superintendent he said they cant do anything about it. The vinyl floor is cracking, the stairs are starting to be uneven, the kitchen cabinets got here with cracked parts and its been 2months after the closing but they don't have an update for them. They said the painting will be in 3 coats, but there seems to be only one, with the lowest quality of paint, several spots have been pointed out on the walk through that need to be repainter because we can see the drywall mud, some of them have been covered but some of them not…. All in all, 2 out of 10. ... More

Beautifully build homes using high quality material

We could not be happier with our overall result. We are thrilled everyday to be here. Our experience with the sales team, management and construction manager was great. Our almost 5 star rating was do to a very bumpy ride with the mortgage team. We did not receive our mortgage approval until the night before our actual closing, which was 8 months after our purchase contract signing.

The good: most everything was well coordinated for our build and move in. The builder reps and staff were very helpful and willing to correct any issues we had. There were a few issues - our microwave did not work correctly when installed and it took longer than expected to get a replacement. The circulation fan was recently found to not be running and the thermostat is not working correctly. The Briargate staff is helpful but had some glitches as mentioned with appliance/ equipment manufacturers/ contractor work as just mentioned.

Time frame quoted was accurate. Response to issues is good.

make sure what model and plane you select, after signing the contract it's difficult to change. Same as design center to choose items.

Experience is what I expected. Pulte associates were very nice. Contractors with big builders can be very hit or miss. Carpenters, plumbers, tile workers, and others did a great job. The painters/drywall workers did a poor job. Drywall seams are clearly visible, paint missing in plenty of spots, and overall messy work.

Sales - Kristine was really helpful with our questions/concerns. This helped us pick the right options and come to the point of putting the initial deposit down which triggers the start of construction. Builder - Joe was also really helpful and build our house in timely manner answering all the questions we had. Closing experience - We opted with Pulte Mortgage and Derek was also great at guiding us and getting us best rates. Can be done better: 1. Co-ordinating with various parties including Pulte builders, mortgage, escrow to make sure I have everything needed for closing. The onus was on us and we kept getting email updates anytime there were changes made behind the scene. We then had to follow up to understand what changed and what are our obligations. 2. Quality: The quality of material is decent. The wall paint chips off so easily compared to previous places I've rented. I'd have expected a new house built to have a better quality than the places we usually rent. ... More

Overall very nice experience. The only reason 4 stars and not 5 is because of lack of flexibility in many things customer wants like changing closing dates, or configurations(adding sun room after selections were made), using concrete over asphalt or taking inputs on not putting sod close to winter instead comeback and do it next spring etc. during building process. I understand there are tight guidelines for various reasons but allowing leeway to customers makes the experience elastic to the customer and they feel they also have some control on the process. The other reason is initially the lots were put in a bidding war before it was awarded. I understand the market conditions and your company trying to make the most of it but the experience was not a pleasant one from a customer standpoint since there was anxiety, lack of transparency etc. Other than that, the staff was professional, friendly and tried their best to get around advice processes. I’m satisfied but if the above considerations are taken, it will truly become from nice to b a great experience. Thanks. ... More

We'd been searching for new homes for more than a year & visited almost all builders available in our area. We really liked the open plan of Pulte quite a bit. The whole process was reasonably good. As this is a process of creating a complex property, there are going to be some issues. But Pulte team has addressed them reasonably well so far, except for may be 2-3. As this was our first home buying experience, we felt that Pulte should try to allow the following: 1. At least 2 visits to design center for customization of home than 1. 2. At least 2 visits during pre dry wall process than 1.

Most of the time no email or call back except for Travis