Pulte Homes Reviews

Our initial experience was fantastic. Anna was punctual, answered all our questions, and set reasonable expectations. Once the field managers became involved we began to have one issue after another. It was a series of over promise and under deliver, missed follow expectations, and empty promises. We still have a short list of repairs that were supposed to be completed prior to our closing. We have now been in our home 6 weeks and having to follow up repeatedly to get anything done. If we were to ever go through the process again we would not close until every item was complete as it has been like pulling teeth to get a response after closing. ... More

They are eager to sell you a house, construction times vary a lot and when things need to be fixed it turns into the speed of molasses running down hill. The lots usually end up looking a great deal different than the plot map they give the owners!

First the positive: the home is pretty, laid out well, and the neighborhood is great. We love the flow of the home and the overall feel is quite nice. Our project manager has been nothing but superb and has gone out of his way to make things right and we are grateful for him and his work. Having said that, Pulte seems to cut corners and puts up low quality materials wherever they can, and this includes all the upgrades that we were charged for. The painting is the absolute worst. In many areas you can see the dry wall or it is two tone because they put one layer of paint on in places and two layers in other places...on the same wall. They use a flat paint in the entire home which is not recommended for high traffic areas. It has no durability or protection from day to day living and will ding with the slightest touch. Flat paint is cheaper than an eggshell finish but not as durable. In addition, they skimped so much on the paint that the seams of the two by fours and nail heads can easily be seen through the paint. The edges of the walls have not been finished off properly in many places, which results in the edges pushing through the paint. There are numerous paint bubbles and excess paint thickness making for an unfinished looking product. The wire shelving in all closets is of low quality and full of burrs that will snag anything you put on it. The wood quality in several places (door frames, molding, baseboard) is low grade and not properly sanded in places. Towel racks were just randomly put up in places where they make absolutely no sense (i.e. in areas where there is no sink, tub, or shower). This is our third semi custom build and it is the worst quality of workmanship to date. Each of our homes were in the same relative price point. You can certainly get a Pulte home that looks great but beware of quality issues throughout the home. Our project manager, Justin Miller is excellent and the company is fortunate to have him. He appears, however, to be hamstrung by company policies. A few tweaks to these homes would put them at another level, yield better customer satisfaction, and reduce the number of visits to fix things that weren’t done correctly in the first place. Benchmarking to the lowest price and lowest common denominator is not the best strategy. ... More

I enjoyed the design meeting and appreciate that the studio was able to fit me in despite the surprise scheduling deficiency with the sales office. (Maybe I should have called to confirm the appointment.) I was also impressed by the construction manager’s turnaround time and attention to detail on items needing attention.

Quality awasn’t up to par with what you expect from a new home. Appliance broke within a week of moving in, finding minor issues every day. House didn’t appraise at selling cost, builder didn’t budge on price, etc.

Frustrating trying to get outstanding problems taken care of. Interesting that we were told by Pulte that to keep tradesmen safe they were stopping warranty problems until January 1. Today a tradesman showed up to take care of a problem that was identified before our move in October 15. He had not been notified not to keep the appt for his safety and ours.

Builder should hire subcontractors that will put more attention to details and final completion before handing over the property.

We love our new home. As the build began to come completion we had some issues develop and because of lack of responsiveness in communication, had some last minute changes that was not part of the original plans. In the end, the builder came through.

The base price is not nearly what you will end up paying. Pulte does not deter from what they know. This is a double edged sword as they are building homes quickly but without variation.

A new house may sound nice, but do your research. While my wife and I thought we were getting the best deal at the time I think we rushed into the decision. The 4 months prior to closing became nothing short of making you think you made the worst investment of your life. We went with Pulte because of the experience and quality we believed we were getting. Our appraisal came in at the cost of the house (even though the appraiser had to go back 1 year to find those comps), but measured smaller than the builder put in our contract. There were several issues with the Pulte Rep and getting us answers or providing bi-laws for the association and Master Association. We found cracked tiles, rebar sticking out of the wall, off centered studs behind the walls, cracked cabinets, and damaged floor boards under the carpet upon closing...just to name just a few things. While we fought tooth and nail to get things replaced before we signed our name on the dotted line; Pulte went as far as a threatening letter to say that we would pay them per day we did not close even though the house was not of quality they promised. While Pulte has a warranty typically you have to go through the process to get things done (which can be a long drawn out process) and we wanted it done before we moved in. The closing itself was a breeze and we are quite happy now that we are all moved in. If I were to do it again, as nice as the house is...I wouldn't build with Pulte because it was not the quality we expected and it was not the experience we were promised. ... More

Overall this was okay. We were familiar with the builders as we built another house with them. Its unfortunate that any upgrade you get with them is still okay material quality. Specifically the carpet is poor (both low grade and high grade) and we were really disappointed with the cabinets. We went "top of the line" and our cabinets look pretty cheap. This sounds weird, especially with low interest rates but I'd recommend getting only structural options and then replacing cabinets, countertops, lights, flooring with higher end products. You'll net the same price but with the headaches of a renovation but the quality will be much better. ... More

Workmanship is worst and buyer has to find all the issues.. at one point we are exhausted finding issues and working with them to fix it.

I should have spent more time and money for final inspection. Small issues keep happening. Leaking, wrong door handles, stick out nails, sloppy hanger, empty space from lawn, etc.. I didn’t expect these issues when I bought.

Walk through prior to close was not thorough at all and too many issue and things to fix after closing. Unnecessary!

My experience was joy what I hope from such a well known company. The sells agent or builders consistently didn’t follow through on promises. There was a lack of communication on closing and receiving final paperwork after closing. I was constantly calling to remind staff of things they said they would do or provide to me.

For additional lot payments of $17,000 for an end unit and $23,000 for the lot premium, all that bought was a dining room window and side brick facade that does not align with the front brick facade. Usually an end unit has some bit of property on the side and back. I understood before making my deposit that abutting the fence would affect the size of the deck, but I did not expect the entire back lot to become a quarry due to the English basement foundation or the end unit to have absolutely no side lot. I specifically asked the sales agent about the lot because of my son’s dog and understood that some property would convey, but I should not fence it if I wanted the HOA to maintain it. I’m also surprised Pulte markets and prides itself as a quality builder with high standards and would skimp on two rows of bricks for a $500,000+ property. This is very obvious when standing at the corner of the property and looks like Pulte is trying to increase its profit by skimping on brick. Brick facades on the less expensive Teravista model align, so why not on the highest priced model in the Central Point development, Devereaux? I will not recommend Pulte’s attention to detail in masonry for the brick facade and end unit upcharge assessed to the buyer. The kitchen island placement does not conform to NKBA standards of 36” - 48” space between perimeter counters and the island. It was 63” from the perimeter. I expect a national builder like Pulte would conform to NKBA standards in all of its models, considering its promotions for kitchen innovations and kitchen throw-down competitions. I cannot recommend Pulte’s kitchen layouts because they are inconsistent between models, despite what it markets online for kitchen design and in its own interior photos for the Devereaux model in Charlotte. I have hired a private contractor to move the island for more efficiency. Even more of a surprise after settlement, there are NO - NO- towel racks included in ANY of the 4.5 bathrooms for a house that costs over $500,000!! I'm lucky that Pulte provided toilet paper holders for the 4 1/2 baths - woo hoo! - but is too cheap to buy towel bars and towel rings for each of the bathrooms. I contacted the customer care manager, Chris R., and this is what he said, "Our offerings such as towel bars and rings change from community to community. This is something that is decided upon by upper management and filtered down to the construction team and respective vendors. It more (sic) loosely based on the limited selection of styles and colors that we could offer in a production environment compared to all the differing styles and colors available in the marketplace.” That's a bunch of BS, because the design center offers upgrades on bathroom fixtures for the sinks and could've easily offered matching towel bars for the customer to purchase, since greed and profit appear to be the primary motivation for sales. If Pulte shortchanges the buyer on towel racks at Central Point, I wonder what other corners were cut during construction despite meeting code. This is the sixth home I have purchased in my lifetime, and this is the worst experience of any of them. I’ve been informing friends across the US to avoid Pulte and posted most of this on Yelp.com as well. The name should be spelled P-U-lte. ... More

I was excited to purchase a lot and have Pulte build a house for my family. Below grade work went well. We paid for two floor outlets, and only one was installed, so the slab had to be cut later for the second. It makes me wonder if anything else was missed underground. After we moved in, we did have the drains cleaned at no cost to us because the landscapers had filled the clean-out with gravel. Some very rough lumber was used and spliced instead of being replaced. Plumbing had to be moved to fit in walls, outlet boxes are on twisted studs, and many are to deep to be flush with finished walls. The paint is unbelievable thin and and scuffs even by brushing with a shoulder. They are building these as fast as possible, and I don't think all the inspections are taking place. Because of the CoronaVirus, we could not meet with the foreman and had to do facetime with him leading and showing what he felt like showing. I did get a great interest rate and closing money, so I took it. Forget autopay and your loan will be sold. Pulte finance was a good financial choice but not the greatest, easiest customer service. Pulte Insurance is unbeatable on price. I haven't had to use them yet, so who knows about that. ... More

As long as you follow the standard design, you should be OK. If your model is flipped, or you have some upgrades, you will need to keep on top of things. Many small finish details get overlooked at the push to the end.

Not quick response to construction issues before or after the closing.

Overall it's a nice house. Quality of materials used in the home could be better for the price paid. Workmanship is a bit sloppy. Builder has stopped responding to fix simple issues in the home that are under warranty once we closed on the house.

Quality of the home isn’t the best. Not even a month living at my new home, the drywall started to crack, walls aren’t evenly painted, warranty is non responsive... better off going with a different builder in my opinion

Main issues with our home is details mainly but not limited to painting. These issues were brought up prior to closing, closing was July 14, and it is August 31st and the issues are still not resolved. Our side yard is still wet every day and that leak is still there and we can not get help to resolve this issue.

The sales people were excellent. There are a bit nit picks in the house but mostly fine. The landscaping needs to be improved in the community.

Several of the home owners in the development have had similar experiences of not feeling taken care of after the build is complete and you have closed. We have had several issues, some minor, and some larger, but haven't gotten good responsiveness to issues. There should be better communication and exceptions set with home owners as well. For instance, several of the home owners have reached out regarding large trucks driving too fast in the development, the response we've received is "we don't control the contract workers". Three home owners lawns have been damaged by truck drivers driving through our SOD damaging it, mine was never replaced or no steaks were placed with caution tape like I was told was going to be done. ... More

The builder promised everything would be clean and ready to go when I moved in. I had to call back after my move in date to have everything cleaned. They did not have my keys at the signing. There are gaps letting bugs in under my exterior doors. Warranty company told me to have the brand new house fumigated for bus because they were “already there when I moved in” even though they claimed they fumigated before I moved in and they were suppose to clean before I moved in.