Pulte Homes Reviews

Construction process was good up until closing. Day of closing there were still workers in the home. Landscaping had not begun. The walk prior to closing had the home still waiting to be cleaned. The closing with Pulte Mortgage went well. Came back to house to find workers had left trash and some items were incomplete. Landscaping was not completed until almost 60 days after closing. Field Manager was unwilling to address items from the 30 day list due to our schedules not lining up during the summer. He said that policy was the reason. I reminded him of the fact the home wasn't complete at closing and we waited on landscaping for two months. He decided that coming in and trying to restore the goodwill of the last 60 days was secondary to just shrugging his shoulders. If I had sold a customer a $500K house, I would make sure they were satisfied and willing to pass along the story to anyone who asked. Now when asked, I have to tell a potential homeowner to make sure they watch out to make sure everything is complete because you might come up short. Please treat this as an opportunity to look at your customer service approach. It shouldn't be so hard. ... More

Too many negative happened during construction. Not the slightest bit of cooperation from the building side. Landscaping was a complete joke. Only positive results were from the sales, design and mortgage areas.

Our street address with the county auditor is still not correct 7 weeks after we moved in. We have issues with our mail and any other deliveries because of this issue. Please work to get this updated.

Chipped bottom corners and some paint with scratches, nails left outside the windows

Let me begin with a positive, our location contact person Laura has been a huge help in the home building process and has gone to bat for us more than once. Our builder Lincoln has also been helpful and patient with us as well. My major issue is the quality of the products and the workmanship. We were very excited to purchase a new home in an area we love, but I am still waiting on actually enjoying my new home without finding something wrong. Typically it's little things you would feel silly pointing out, like spackle left on an outlet or portions of wall that may have only gotten one coating of paint rather than two, caulking that is missing in spots or was not properly applied, or a scratched up stainless steel sink. There are bigger issues (like the master bedroom heating up at night if the door is closed because the AC is not flowing properly) that we have complained about and are in the process of being fixed. But my issue is, THIS IS A BRAND NEW HOUSE! After putting so much money and thought into this new home, I am not completely happy with what we received. Don't get me wrong if you don't pay attention to details Pulte is fantastic, but if you sweat the small stuff, I would look elsewhere. ... More

There were many things that could have been done better in the home. It was not cleaned before we moved in. The cabinets don't work in the kitchen. The pendent light fixtures are not wired correctly. We had to purchase new outlet covers because they were broken.

I believe Pulte Homes is struggling with a skilled trades labor pool, as well as sufficient job site supervision. While there are a number of things that are flawless with our home, there are also a number of things that continue to be issues that should have been addressed. Pulte Homes presented themselves as craftsman that could provide an upscale home backed by a national brand. When push came to shove, the real answer, from their own mouths, is that they are just a production builder. If you are the type of customer that expects great attention to detail, you will need to be incredibly involved in the build process. Much more than you might believe is necessary, unfortunately. My ratings reflect a mediocre experience. I would caution a friend to be careful, but I also would not tell them to run away. If you decide to work with this builder, take exceptional notes, and make sure to document the agreed-upon actions via email. ... More

Seeing little stuff that needs to be fixed

My neighbors have two story homes, and one of my neighbors has the ability to look into my shower from their second story windows. This is a privacy issue. The garage floor has several cracks in it, even though the house is new. The home warranty covered the repairs, though. Regarding security, the front patio and driveway lights were on a 30 minute timer vs. allowing the lights to stay on all night. I had to file a service request to get the lights fixed, when this issue should've been addressed before the close. A Maytag dryer purchased from Lowe's in 2016 was brought into the home, and the house's dryer outlet couldn't accommodate the 2016 Maytag commonly found at home improvement and department stores. As the buyer, I had to hire an electrician to fix the outlet. Pulte would not change the dryer outlet, when they should've asked me what type of dryer I was bringing into the home before the close and installed the appropriate outlet. The inside of my garage door has a hole in it. Pulte ordered the wrong part to fix the issue, so the repair of my garage door is delayed but will be completed soon. When I moved into the home, the toilets had a weak flush. A toilet brush had to be used to push the toilet paper into the water, so the toilet paper would go down the toilet. ... More

We are happy with the house. However, the closing was delayed, which impacted our moving schedule, due to items identified in the initial walkthrough not being addressed on time. Pulte wouldn’t agree to customize anything, even when we just asked to not install items. As an example, the bar soap in the shower is the cheapest one you could find (in a $390k house) and they wouldn’t agree to not put it up. The communication was a struggle at times between agent-realtor-builder. For example, our first walkthrough was delayed by 2 hours due to lack of communication between Pulte agent and realtor. Lastly, we ended up with a nice house and the builder did address all the pending items before closing. He has even come out to address a minor issue after closing. ... More

Work in detail is not good.

quality is very poor

Waking true the home was ok , they tell me that everything that wasen done right they will come to fix it that was a month ago still waiting. The warranty Manager tell that he will contact us after 30 day is been 36 days still waiting. My advice don't close on the house in to you are not sure everything is done right.

It takes too long to build the houses, while the outside is till being worked on 2 months after closing. the quality of the works, such as garage door installation, refrigerator installation and in particular, the cabinets, are not acceptable in today's standard.

We closed on our house in a new development in early June and we're still living in a dirty mess that turns to slippery mud everywhere when it rains. Pulte reps keep saying that there's an issue getting sod in this market, but the yard for a house by another builder in the neighborhood was sodded last week. Also, the corners cut by scrimping on items such as the disposal are aggravating.

Pulte homes will build a quality product if you MAKE them. That may sound odd because there quality standards that they must always meet, but believe me. If you have an experienced and organized field manager, things will go well. If not, you as the buyer will have to ensure things are being done appropriately. If you do not stay on top of the process (that means visiting every day or every other day), then something will be wrong and the contractors will cover it up. Plain and simple. The construction of my home actually went very well initially. Towards the end, I ran into many issues, including a major issue of flooding from a punctured pipe. It wasn’t the pipe puncture that was the issue because things like that happen, but the incredibly slow response to the problem was terrible. Ultimately due to issues with the field manager and contractors, a leak led to 2 weeks of no response, which led to mold being in the home, then more mold being found after the initial mold abatement was “completed”. There are a lot more details there that will be too long to type, but understand that I would have moved into a molded home with water damaged drywall. It took emails and phone calls to corporate staff to get some sort of movement. Now, there is a lot of good with Pulte homes. There were timely weekly updates on construction (when you have a good field manager), the sales consultants at the model home are top notch. They were like family to me and I never at one point felt like I was just another number or sale. I still keep in touch with the sales team. I can’t speak for all sales consultants, but mine in particular is very good, empathetic and trustworthy. I can’t say enough good things about him. I formed a good relationship with Pulte mortgage after a rocky start. I will say that if you as the consumer don’t do your homework when it comes to interest rates, you will not get the best rate. Pulte will match any rate that you get from other lenders. Ensure that you attempt to get other rates. Pulte won’t offer you the best rate initially. That is a fact. I will say that I was hoping to give Pulte 5 stars, but that is not possible. I will still recommend them over other brands, but there will always be a disclaimer accompanying my recommendation due to the issues I encountered. I was exhausted at the end of the home building process when I should have been energized moving into a new home. In summary, I believe my home is beautiful and secure, and has good value. Just ensure you take the time to make that happen. ... More

Very pleased with my home overall but I opted out of buying irrigation because my yard is so small that watering should not be an issue. Unfortunately the turf company laid poor quality sod over completely unprepared clay. Under the sod are multitudes of rocks and construction debris. The grass turned brown within 24 hours and now a week later, after heavy rain and copious amounts of water from a number of sprinklers I have purchased, there appears to be some hope that it may turn green. I have spent seven days outside, muddy, wet, bug bitten and suffering a shoulder injury from pulling a hose around from the one spigot on my house in an effort to resurrect this lawn because Pulte washes their hands of any responsibility for sod once installed. If it fails... it’s completely on the homeowner regardless of the quality of sod that the turf company throws down. Fresh, good quality sod, laid carefully over well prepared ground does not turn brown and appear dead within a day. This sod was not freshly cut and was hastily rolled out. Two and three inch gaps between pieces and large air pockets under the sod have prevented it from thriving. All I can do is continue to water and hope it survives because Pulte is not interested. ... More

Title says it all.

Customer service is real slow to respond to problems , had appointment for 3 problems today 8-12pm. Only one showed up. Called 24 hrs ago for another problem, left voice msg and havent received a call back

Found quite a few issues of shoddy work. Although Esteban is working to correct, it should have been resolved before I closed...

Throughout the entire build process, everyone we dealt with was terrific. The only issue I had with the build design was that the layout that was assigned to us was the opposite of our neighbors on both sides of us. That meant that while our neighbors on either side of us have layouts that provide them with SW views, (which I desperately wanted when we selected one of the most expensive lots available) our layout gives us a SE view which is much least desirable to me. The arrangement also means that all of our windows on each side of the home face directly into each of our neighbors’ homes, as a result of being a mirror image of both. After the home was completed, I met one of our neighbors who informed me that for an additional $2,000 we could have “flipped” the floor plan, as they had opted to do, and had the SW view I wanted so badly. Our sales rep never mentioned that option to us for some unknown reason. Again, all the personnel we interfaced with were extremely pleasant, helpful and responsive. I couldn’t have asked for better customer service than what we received. THEN came the completion of the home which upon initial walk through appeared to only have minor cosmetic repair needs. We loved the materials we selected and the overall appearance of the home. Once in the residence, however, we had time to more carefully inspect the finished product and found a significant number of defects in the workmanship. For some reason, the way it was designed, many, if not most of the cupboards when fully opened bang into doors or walls. To prevent damage, we’ve had to stick little rubber bumpers all over the place. Also, the quality of the workmanship proved to be VERY sloppy. That’s the best word I can use to describe it. Things were installed crooked, we found excessive paint globs on just about every wall, uneven caulking so that in some places along the windows it’s about 1/16” at one end and over 1/4” at the other. Very sloppy paint job around all the windows and paint splattered on the porcelain tile floors that nobody bothered to clean up so i’ve been going around with my fingernails chipping it off. There are gaps around cabinets where there shouldn’t be. We selected and paid for the “Upgraded kitchen appliance package” but I am not at all impressed. The fridge is relatively small for an “upgrade” model and the drawers in the refrigerated do not glide in and out at all, and the bottom drawer scrapes as you pull it in and out. When I reported the problem to the Pulte Warranty Service, I was told that they would send me some lubricant. I haven’t yet received that but i’m doubtful that it will solve the problem as the parts that scrape are plastic. There also seemed to be missing shelves in the door because there’s a huge gap between where the bottom shelf fits and the next one above it has to go. The oven, as it cools down, whistles quite loudly. I was told that it’s just a “hum”, but whatever it is, it’s sufficiently annoying to me that i’m reluctant to use it at all now. The washer is apparently made to use very little water, so even with a large load the items seem to be sitting in about 2” of water which tends to cause it to go out of balance frequently and the entire machine shifts in its position about 15 degrees —- and it’s a heavy machine! When the microwave completes its cook time, rather than signal the end and then shut off...the fan continues to run until you either open the door or press “cancel”. The maintenance supervisor received our initial Punch List and came over to review everything. So far he’s been very responsive and understanding. Although nothing has been remedied yet, it’s still too soon to reasonably expect any action. We have a 3 car garage that consists of one large entry door, a shallow divider wall and one small entry door which actually makes it more difficult to get 3 cars into it than if it were one single garage door entry or if the space between the doors wasn’t so wide) both doors are already having issues after just 6 weeks past closing. I called the garage company who was able to schedule a check on them the same week I called (this week) With all the complaints we have, I want to stress how wonderful everyone was to deal with. Pretty outstanding, actually. It’s really a shame that the product doesn’t measure up to the personnel Pulte hires. They made the entire experience so easy, stress-free and kept us informed about everything during the entire build period. We also went through Pulte Mortgage and Insurance and got a much better insurance rate than with All-State or even Geiko, which impressed me. The Mortgage folks were equally outstanding in the service they provided to us. I would give the construction quality a 2 1/2 stars and the people we worked with all 5 stars. This is definitely a “production” home build and it shows in the final product. I think it took about 3 1/2 months from start to finish on a 2480+ sq. ft. house with a lot of unskilled and poorly trained labor. For a $520,000 home, the finished product falls way short of that price point, in my opinion. Going forward, if all of my “issues” that CAN be resolved, are, I hope to have another opportunity to submit a final review wherein I can provide a much more positive response for prospective home buyers. ... More

Check icemaker in frig, ours was block of ice missing the cube tray! Check all tv hdmi cable are easily accessible, ours was hidden deep inside the wall, had to dig it out. All receptables are on , none are “tripped” , cable man had trouble powering the internet panel...check gutters during heavy rain, water missing gutters.

Have had a gutter issue since purchase. Finally someone responded this week. Grass was dead at time of closing waiting for it to be replaced.

Some details of lot layouts and community buildout were not shared prior to purchase as most would expect. Parts of the community with excellent retention of shade trees and landscaping, other areas not. Overall an OK experience at the Oakfield price point with minor issues post-move in. Paint quality is absolute builder grade and some of the recessed light fixtures were not well installed. Paint will mark easily forcing repainting after movers. The houses go together quickly. A very nice kitchen (which had 3 separate upgrades by us) but the wall between the pantry (a nice feature) and the garage, is apparently not insulated because the pantry gets amazingly warm in the summertime. Some framing issues with corners not being close to square, not a huge issue, but a real quality issue from our perspective. Ask lots of questions... ... More

This is the second home my wife and I have constructed in Indiana and the fifth home owned. Overall, there has been a lack of quality control and attention to detail during the construction process. Following are examples - Dishwasher was either defective or installed incorrectly. The result was the soaking of the subfloor of the kitchen. The level of damage required a water restoration company to come to the house to remedy. The process is ongoing and may require disassembly of the cabinets. Landscapers have cracked sidewalk and driveway while operating a bulldozer. In the building process, after drywall installed, workers punched a hole through the wall to run an extension cord. The steel I Beam running the length of the basement has construction mud caked in multiple spots. Pulte process appears as we will fix on the backside rather than quality control on the frontside before the owner closes on the house. We specifically chose Pulte because of the floor plan of the house and the Hidden Pines neighborhood. ... More