Pulte Homes Reviews in Columbus, OH

To be fair, we have never contracted for a home to be built before, so there were a number of misunderstanding between us and the sales agent. We also made some bad design choices. Our sales agent was not new to the building industry, but was relatively new to this role. She does a yeoman’s job following up on questions, but by now I hope she is recognizing what is important, and what is trivial so she can better guide future customers. Positives If we asked a question of our sales representative, we got an answer. If a change we were thinking about was too expensive, our sales agent was sometimes able to get us a more cost-effective solution. Our field manager was generally regarded as one of the better, if not the best in Columbus. This guy is universally recognized for his ability to work with the customer. He did everything he could to remedy disappointments, to the point that he overspent his budget on our house. Even though we are now in a larger house, it is much tighter and better insulated, so in that respect it is more comfortable. Pulte will put ADA features such as wider doors in at pretty much their cost. We missed on one door, but the field supervisor added an extra stud during framing so we could open that space in the future if we chose. Disappointments The Design Center consultant said it best. “Pulte is a production company”. This works to the buyer’s advantage in controlling costs and getting the project finished, but it is a disadvantage to folks like us who missed key design elements. We never had luxury vinyl tile (LVT) before. It SHOULD NOT be offered as an option for the great room area. It looked like a wonderful option in the design center. However, it is loud underfoot, shows dirt easily, and is hard to clean. Since it is a floating floor, the LVT in our new home transmits vibration right through the subfloor and granite to items in the cabinets, island and countertops. We chose the free-standing gas range. We like the range, but you cannot walk within 20 feet of it without rattling the burners. Verify and clarify every detail that you can before the plans are submitted to the architect. • Know exactly what type of light fixture is going in every location. Base level fixtures are not aesthetically pleasing and/ or create dangerous conditions when it is time to change a light bulb. • Verify where the light switches will be. We have found several places where the switches are inconveniently located or where a three-way would improve livability. • Upgraded carpet pad is a separate option that we almost missed. • We had a huge misunderstanding over the style of window “grills” (field supervisor’s term) “grids” (manufacturer’s term) or “mullions” as they are called in the “Included Features” document. The net result is we have replaced the glass in our picture window. The “upgraded” paint still feels cheap and scuffs easily. Bottom line, make sure you understand details you see in the model are very likely not what you will see in your house unless you specifically agree to it in writing. Then you have to balance builder’s price to your budget. Some of folks take the standard feature, then rip it out if they think they can do something better themselves. We found this to be absurd. We wanted an ADA height toilet in one bathroom only, but were only given the option to have all ADA or all standard height. Whose house is this? Why should our toddler grandchildren have to scale a tall toilet when a standard toilet is hard enough already? Make sure you are willing to live with the size of lot you chose. None of the driveways in our subdivision had been installed when we went into contract, so we did not see this issue. The two-car driveways are not wide enough to get out of the car without stepping on to the grass (and/ or mud). They are only 1-car length, so you cannot stagger parking to facilitate getting in and out with two cars in the driveway, which is tough on seniors. If you can, find out what the grade will be looking like up to the entrances. The driving force for us was to get to a home where we could live better given our arthritis. Our lot ended up with some extra incline and extra steps at the entrances making it that much harder (and potentially dangerous) to enter and exit on icy days. Pulte delegates warranty work to the subcontractors unless it was an appliance issue for which Whirlpool has a separate service provider. We have had a four warranty issues so far that were eventually addressed, but it takes patience. For the most part, these were installation issues. • The pendant lights over the island were not hung to even lengths. • The horizontal dryer duct was not installed before the ceiling was sheet rocked. Everyone missed this on inspection. This was serendipitously caught after I dropped a pair of pliers down the opening while connecting the dryer • The dishwasher had multiple installation issues and factory defect. These were correctable on site. • The outlets by the sump pump were incorrectly installed with respect to GFI requirements. We will say that all of the service representatives were courteous, explained the problem, and completely. ... More

Was overall a smooth process

Very great experience! Highly recommend.

Very smooth process. Completed on time. Easy to work with.

We had a wonderful experience with Tiffany, Josh and their teams. We had a ton of questions and they were eager to help. They assisted us where possible and helped point us in the direction to someone who could help if they couldn't. They were professional and always supportive throughout the process. We really enjoyed it and love our house.

The buying process was easy, the finance piece was easy and the people were great. However, once I moved in, I found multiple things broken or just poor (cheap) quality. I was so disappointed to move into a brand new home and find so many things that needed (and still need) to be fixed (inside and out). I've built with 4 other builders and lived in several other homes and this is the worst built home I've ever lived in (floor plan is great but everything feels so cheap). I could go on and on but I'll simply finish by saying I'm so very disappointed!!!

Pulte is upfront and honest. They guided us through the entire process. It was not nearly as stressful as buying an existing house.

Pulte has great home designs and floor plans. Staff were very attentive to our needs and answered lots of questions/concerns along the way. Now we have been in our home for 2 months, craftsman ship of the drywall and painters is mediocre at best.. very hit and miss.

We love our house, but we feel like some of the work was sub-par. For instance, the paint isn't precise in some areas, the trim boards have some gaps, and some outlets keep tripping the breaker from just using the vacuum. Also, for the price we paid, I feel like the finishes should be a little bit higher grade than what we got.

We would recommend Pulte to any of our friends and family. Even when comparing prices of "update" with other builder, we felt we really got a great house of high quality for a great price as well as a great mortgage rate.

Base price was affordable for us.

My family is already dealing with a lot of issues in the first few months of living in our new expensive pulte home. There just seems to be a lack of care put into making a presentable product for the home buyer.

It was a great experience.

It was a good time

We love our new house and the floorplan, Martin Ray. It's very open and spacious along with several enclosed rooms on the main floor. Be sure to get the sunroom and the upstairs to lower your cost per sq ft. for eventual resale. If you are over 62 and have a nest egg, the HECM financing is unbelievable. Our salesman, Jay and construction manager, Jayson were excellent. The only negatives were a couple of the door placements that opened the wrong way. Also, the appliances were not very high quality. Whirlpool dishwasher died in 1st month, garbage disposal is noisy and slow, Whirlpool refrigerator ice maker needed fixing. ... More

Worst experience. Would never build with Pulte ever again. Had to visit the house every day to make sure house was completed properly and on schedule. Had to go above site manager’s head on multiple occasions to his boss to make sure proper repairs were completed. Initial Electrical and plumbing done incorrectly in the kitchen, no water to the dishwasher, multiple cabinets damaged, windows leaked at the time of closing and then charged $700 in late closing fees because I wouldn’t sign until windows were repaired. Told me since I didn’t find it during the walk through it was my fault. I could go on with even more issues. Do not build with Pulte. ... More

Any repairs needed are taken care of.

The field manager Scott was great

He was on top of what was happening to the home as it was being built. Very knowledgeable about what he goes on with the construction of the house. He is a joy to work with.

Our home buying experience with Pulte was great. Tiffany the sales representative and Josh the Field Manager really did a great job and was extremely fun to work with. The quality of the workmanship and materials at this point I would have to rate somewhere in the middle. I absolutely love the home however, the paint and drywall in several areas needs to be corrected. In addition, to smaller items. Trustworthiness, again Josh was great and he always completed the task how he said he would. As our primary point of contact he was great to work with! The reason for only 3 stars is because of my interaction with HVAC company that came out to my home to complete our warranty issue. The guy was extremely rude and I asked him to leave. Value for the price we paid. Perhaps this is more of a reflection of the Columbus Ohio housing market. But from an investment perspective, the base price of our home has increased by 30k since Feb. In addition, the 2 appraisals that we had completed in July and August by two different banks ( we found better pricing outside of Pulte Mortgage that they couldn't match) was 40K higher than our purchase price! With our home being the third closing in the new section; and with the majority of closings happening over the next three to four months I would assume our value will increase significantly! Responsiveness to issues. Like any new home you're going to notice items once you actually get into the house. Our home is no exception to this rule. Several items I'm still waiting to get corrected. But I trust that they'll be done soon. The HVAC sub was useless but Pulte Warranty did offer to come out and review the issues that I'm having. Nothing too major but at this price point I expect to have issues remedied fairly quickly. ... More

The sales person and building GM were great. They communicated often and immediately tried to resolve any issues or questions

Great people from start to finish - sales, construction and financing. Incredible communication from construction superintendent every week letting us know what had been completed and what was happening the next week. We put a lot of details into our home and they got them all. As there is in every home, there were some issues - they were promptly addressed. We have built 5 homes - this is our first Pulte home and the best experience we’ve had!

I am living in this home for almost 2 months. I love the home and Pulte built the way it was promised. I have only one comment to make. The walls of home are not insulated enough one can hear what's going on in that room. Example: when someone use the bathroom in the 2nd floor, other can clearly hear from the 1st floor. I am not sure how I can fix that now? I would Pulte seriously take this matter and fix it in future homes

Great home and great experience

5star