Shea Homes Reviews

It took too long to receive the unit, if shea home had told us estimated waiting period we would’ve made better decision

The home itself is good. The 1-3-5-11 check-in plan is a good idea and has been helpful. Tami who helps with the move-in process and the periodic check-up is fantastic as is Eddie (maybe Freddie, sorry) who seems to be one of the lead contractors. They are both amazingly responsive and seem to truly care. Kveta from the design studio was very helpful and kind as well. We never felt rushed. She listened to our wants and needs and helped us to come up with a design that looked great and functionally has been fantastic as well. She allowed us to maximize our upgrade budget and we are very happy. She communicated with us throughout the process. We even had a question after moving in that she helped to answer for us. What was not good was the community representative, Kathy, and unfortunately, she is the one that we had the most contact with. I would not recommend her and wish there had been another representative we could have switched to (if this had been an opportunity, I would have switched after the first or second interaction). She walked us through the community on our initial visit. As someone who is trying to sell me on something and trying to represent a large brand and a community, I would’ve expected her to be somewhat upbeat and pleasant (not over the top, just a little bit, even a smile). She was not. There was no enthusiasm or excitement. If the market wasn’t as crazy as it was at the time, she would not have had a sale through us. I hope that Shea does not rest on the same laurels, that they can do and act however they want because the housing market is competitive. Lack of excitement is not enough of a reason for me to write a negative review about a person or company and as you will read, this was the least negative thing about the experience. She was very unresponsive regardless of the request, but if she sent something to us, expected a return e-mail within the day. For example, I had to e-mail her multiple times the month prior to moving in. I wanted to get the information for the utilities I would need to setup, I wanted to know when I should start doing all of that as well. I never got a response even after multiple e-mails. She eventually e-mailed my wife separately and mentioned that we would get that information closer to the move-in date and not to set anything up for the time being. She could have sent that simple e-mail to me after the first time. Instead, I now have the impression that she either doesn’t care, doesn’t know, or doesn’t care enough to find out the answer for me. When the roles were reversed and she would e-mail us with requests we always attempted to respond ASAP and send her whatever she requested. I truly believe that in nearly every case we responded to her with what she needed within the same business day. If we didn’t have what she needed, we explained how and when we would get it for her. The one time we did not respond to her within 24 hours regarding a question that was actually directed at our financial institution, she sent a follow-up e-mail with our loan officer attached saying that the failure to respond had meant that we were in default or about to be placed immediately into default. This was less than 48 hours after the first e-mail. While I understand there was information she needed to get from us, and mind you this was one or two months prior to move-in not our initial loan info/pre-approval or anything like that, threatening us with default after not immediately responding to one e-mail is absolutely inappropriate and unprofessional. We had made all of our payments/deposits on the first day it was available to do so. A little bit of good faith would’ve been appreciated before jumping the gun and going to such drastic measures. One of my largest concerns was when there was actually a potentially emergent situation at the home prior to move-in. We had a small leak in our house literally the week before moving in. The leak was noted on a Wednesday or Thursday, we were not notified until Saturday (mind you our move-in date was the following Friday). Why we were not notified immediately is still beyond me and I still never received a satisfactory answer. When we were contacted by Kathy she was exceptionally brief on the phone. She gave little to no details and told us to meet her at the house the following day. We were left with the impression that our entire home was flooded and we'd have a delayed move in date. We were told we should contact our apartment complex ASAP to try and revoke our written move out date and to try to extend our lease. Fortunately, when we did arrive to the home, the leak was relatively small and had nearly been resolved at that point. There was a good plan in place from the construction crew in terms of identifying the leak, checking adjacent piping, drying drywall, and checking additional moisture levels. The crew had been actively working on the problem since its onset. Had Kathy, spoken with any of them, I feel that she could have communicated that information over the phone and at least taken some of our worry away. Instead, she left us confused, scared, and unsure of what to do. After talking with fellow neighbors, we understand that at least two other homes in our motorcourt also suffered leaks prior to move-in. The way Kathy interacted with them was, from what I am told, was exactly the same and some of them had significantly worse leaks. Honestly, if there were only very limited interactions with Kathy, I would not have written this review. However, as she is the community representative and main point of contact throughout the whole process I felt this information to be pertinent. I like my home and community thus far, it’s just too bad that Kathy put such a damper on the whole process. As of now, I would buy from Shea again. But, if Kathy were the only community representative where I was looking, that would cause me to pass solely because of her involvement. ... More

The builder used cheep stuff

No flexibility. Many mistakes in the process

House built very nicely Equipment must be tested before final delivery

Overall my home buying experience was great. I love the home and community. Jacqui and Mei in the sales office were amazing, helpful and very responsive. They continued to update me as the home was being built on progress and would send photos of the house. If I asked them a question, they would always get me the answer in a timely matter. All of the on-site construction staff and management were great as well. I had a few meetings/walkthroughs with them and they explained everything to me in detail. I decided to hire my own private home inspector and I was so happy to hear that my inspection went well and only 1 minor item needed to be fixed. I did have one large hiccup that caused a huge issue and headache. We met with our designer Chrissy and the initial meeting went well. Went went over all our design selections and then were sent our contract to sign. A few months passed and we went to the house to view the progress. We immediately noticed that the grout in one downstairs bathroom shower and was incorrect. We had requested the same grout and tile pattern as our model home bathroom. This grout that was installed was the wrong color. After going back and forth with two different managers, not getting email responses for 3 weeks after I followed up and management refusing an in person meeting to discuss this issue, they offered to stain the grout the correct color. This whole design experience really turned me off with Shea Homes and my overall experience. I was just shocked to be refused an in person management meeting to discuss. In the end the grout was stained white and hopefully that will last well. ... More

Shea is a good builder. We've built two homes with them, However the Canyons home has sloppy workmanship. Many items were installed wrong, banged up, loose, missing, incomplete, not working etc

I like how the frame is built.

Good communication and follow up by sales staff, construction supervisors, and warranty rep. Very professional. Homes are very close together, Design Center choices somewhat limited. Quality of workmanship and attention to detail by subcontractors is lacking, especially by painters., GE appliances have many issues, and GE has horrible customer service for warranty repairs.

Overall, it was a good experience. The team was easy to work with, and the workmanship and quality were solid. However, I wouldn’t recommend using the insurance company they partner with. Their representatives were rude and seemed uninterested in helping customers. Emails were often ignored, and when they did respond, questions weren’t clearly answered. Interestingly, they only became responsive when I mentioned bundling car insurance.

The warranty representative was responsive

Maybe I had higher hopes, but the quality of the workmanship and materials wasn't quite what I had expected. Stains on the carpet, misaligned/unaligned wall openings, and a broken appliance that was supposed to be fixed over a month ago. I still trust that all my issues will be resolved since the customer service rep is very responsive. But the wait is way more than I had expected from a builder like Shea.

All in all, Shea was great. The only negative aspect is the White Gloves Service was very poor in that they did not take enough time to explain all the smart home apps and how, to use them. Very Poor.

Water leak was found after close. Bathroom light was unable to turnoff and some other minor issues. Quality control seems to be substandard before closing.

The house quality was good. Also, the builder's representative whose name was Randy was very responsible. He was great! But we were not happy for the delay to build the house. It delayed almost half year for completion to lead to our mortgage loan rate to be higher, which means that we need to pay more money for the mortgage loan.

Very mixed experience while building this house with Shea Homes. Sales people were good, but we had a pretty bad experience with the design studio. We had a great experience with the construction manager but have struggled post close with warranty items. The master planner of this community has also done a horrible job with community area, parks, and pools.

Overall good experience until the final walkthrough. None of the punch list items had been taken care of so we refused to close escrow until they were. Delayed closing by 5 days. Never received refrigerator which we paid for so had to get refund for that. There was a disconnect between sales, construction, & customer service. No one seemed to be on the same page. We were a previous Shea customer in Trilogy community and the process with that transacton was much more seamless & better coordinated. It is production construction so they are pushing out homes as fast as possible so I guess that explains some of the disconnect. ... More

Given the price point of the home and Shea’s reputation I would have expected much better workmanship from those various trades that did work on our home. The fit and finish on the home was really lacking. We have seen issue throughout our house with the attention to details including paint, tile work, cabinetry and windows to name a few. We know that trades do this work but there needs to be better oversight from Shea. We regards to materials it is definitely clear that the best materials weren’t used. From the faucets to the exhaust vents these weren’t the best quality or the most appropriate for a home of this price. The kitchen exhaust vent didn’t have the correct damper and causes loud noise when it’s windy. The Moen fixtures feel very cheap and low quality. The toilets are below the quality we expected, they don’t even have soft close seats. This is minor but iemblematic of the lack of attention to detail that should be fitting of a house at this price point. When compared to our previous new construction with a different builder the materials are definitely not up to par. Another example of the lack of attention to details would be the HVAC system. For a house of this size there was no zoning. It immediately caused issues with cold and hot spots in the house. Even though the issue was corrected, I think there should have been planning to address this during design and construction. Overall given how these homes were positioned in the market and the price point the trades really disappointed with the quality of work. The materials and attention to details were extremely lacking. As a homeowner this puts the responsibility on our shoulders to try to work after move in the figure it out. Even though this is expected in any new home, the amount of issues that needed attention seems extraordinarily high. ... More

Quality of the home is good but minimum they need to give house for 1889 sqft for the price. On top, house rates shld be stable. Every 2 weeks 30 to 40k increase I did not like it. Communication is good Workers are good Work site manager is good

Top notch service from the sales team (Anne Marie & Jim)! I would rate them 6 star if I could. But the quality of the house built, especially the workmanship was at an extremely low level. I'm a bit disappointed by Shea Homes on that part.

Sales people were very kind to concerns

Please be sure to check all appliances, my oven hasn’t worked from day 1 to now day 60 something, difficult to get assistance thru GE and thru the builder, doing it on my own thru constant calling of GE. Also upgraded painting, cabinet work, etc. has flaws, mostly cosmetic, however, been told it was difficult to get the proper help. The builder has sent people to try to fix the flaws, however, I though I was finished with workers coming into my new home. Speaking to other new residents and they seem to have similar issues.

I ultimately bought the place for the location and view...but Shea didn’t make it easy. It was a struggle every step of the way. I don’t know if that’s because I had already been working with a lender, and didn’t want to go with Shea Mortgage, (they wouldn’t even quote me ballpark rates), or because that’s just how they work. Getting responses, tracking down information, getting forms completed, it was always chasing after multiple people to get what we needed. Now that I am living in the space, I see a lot of workmanship issues, things that were just lazy/sloppy finishes, where I expect more for the price I paid. Still working with them to take care of some of those issues. That side of customer service seems to be going ok. ... More

I loved working with the sales team before we purchased the property. And post sales was great as well. The final product is nice. But the design process was bad. Response was slow and when we got a hold of the designer, it felt like she did not care to really help us. And got to a point where she was not responding to our requests. Kind of like seeing a surgeon who is ready to punch the clock. And I mean we are spending a ton of money to buy the house, at least act like you care.

My experience with Shea Homes was okay overall, but I was disappointed with parts of the process. Their lender offered me an interest rate much higher than the market despite my strong credit, and when I chose another lender, I lost the promised closing cost coverage. I was also told inspection issues would be resolved before closing, but they weren’t though paperwork was signed as if they had been. The home is nice, but the process could have been far more transparent and customer-focused.