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Old 11-11-2007, 08:27 PM
 
35 posts, read 114,293 times
Reputation: 14

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I guess it depends on the building supervisor. Because I had an excellent experience with Newmark. The quality was much better than Pulte, Wilshire, Ryland or Bowen. So check it out for yourself. I would stay away from KB homes and Pulte. At least in the Austin area.
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Old 11-12-2007, 12:59 PM
 
212 posts, read 1,076,811 times
Reputation: 78
Quote:
Originally Posted by relocate2boys View Post
I guess it depends on the building supervisor. Because I had an excellent experience with Newmark. The quality was much better than Pulte, Wilshire, Ryland or Bowen. So check it out for yourself. I would stay away from KB homes and Pulte. At least in the Austin area.
You make a great point and most people don't think of this. Meet the neighbors that have recently moved in and get a feel for their supervisor. In my neighborhood, the neighors that had our supervisor are happier with their homes than the neighbors who had the other supervisor. Same builder, same sales rep, etc but it makes a huge difference.

Also you will get better service if you are nice and polite than if you are mean and demanding (I don't know what makes some people so mean when they are dealing with builders). We decided to be the easiest homeowners to deal with for our builder on day one and we got a lot more things done for us than our neighbors did. We also provided feedback to their managers about the great job they did for us and that has helped them work with us. Also agree with others about using an inspector at different stages (foundation, framing, final build). Some of their findings are weak, but if the builder knows you have another set of eyes on them they will take a few extra minutes to double check their work.
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Old 11-12-2007, 05:20 PM
 
35 posts, read 114,293 times
Reputation: 14
You are right be nice and very polite to the building supervisor. We were and he really returned the favor. Plus isn't it just better being nice than arguing.
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Old 10-12-2009, 08:44 PM
 
10 posts, read 24,192 times
Reputation: 11
Default Avoid Bowen Family Homes

Please do your research and avoid Bowen Family Homes if at all possible. You will not be happy if you purchased from them. You can see just how many compalaints there are just by search the web. You can also see the numerous complaints against Bowen Family Homes on my blog at [url=http://brianm76.wordpress.com]Random Words[/url]
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Old 10-13-2009, 08:33 AM
 
130 posts, read 386,642 times
Reputation: 45
Quote:
Originally Posted by lindseyrepp143 View Post
I have a lot of neighbors who's had issues with David Weekley homes - a couple of them had lists of around 30--40 items to be fixed after moving in. One of my neighbors has 8 items left to fix ONE YEAR later. Apparently they are really slow, put things off for a long time and just do a shoddy job of fixing things (one neighbor had to have them come out four times for the same a/c issue).

Our home was built by Mercedes Homes and nothing has ever been an issue. Our a/c kept tripping the breaker for some reason, so they came out in one day and replaced it. My toilet paper holder broke (and I think it was the kids actually!) and someone came out the same day to fix it. They've been great.
- DW salespeople seem to lack some simple business etiquettes. They are arrogance personified. They need to learn to listen to what buyers are looking for. Specially the guy @ Highland Horizon (We got pissed off with the salesguy !) -
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Old 10-13-2009, 08:39 AM
 
1,157 posts, read 2,653,065 times
Reputation: 483
I'm very impressed with Drees. I've received positive feedback on them as well. Taylor Morrison is worth checking out as well. I have a Meritage home and have been very happy with the quality but the purchase and the build wasn't so pleasant. They have done a great job with any warranty repairs we've needed to make.
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Old 10-14-2009, 08:16 AM
 
Location: Austin, TX
302 posts, read 690,797 times
Reputation: 169
I would stay away from KB. Had a bad experience with them. We backed out of a deal to build a home within the allowed period, and AFTER we turned in all the cancellation paperwork, they decided cash our Earnest Money check. AFTER we backed out. Took well over a month to get the money back, and it was not insubstantial. Which in turn delayed our purchase of a home.

I wonder how much interest they got out of my money...
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Old 10-14-2009, 09:14 AM
 
8,007 posts, read 10,434,906 times
Reputation: 15038
We (and all of our neighbors) have Morrison homes (now Taylor Morrison). And we have all been very happy with them.

But like the pp siad, inspection, inspection, inspection (professional inspection, that is). Go to the house frequently during the building process and take pictures/video of anything questionable. Also, make sure any issues are resolved BEFORE closing on the house.
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Old 10-14-2009, 09:25 AM
 
Location: Up in a cedar tree.
1,618 posts, read 6,618,273 times
Reputation: 563
Anyone here ever owned a home by Plantation homes? I hear they do custom work for the buyer.
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Old 10-14-2009, 04:19 PM
 
Location: The Republic of Texas
78,863 posts, read 46,654,236 times
Reputation: 18521
Quote:
Originally Posted by llkltk View Post
Wilshire is not a tract builder. Most builders in Austin over the 250K range will be semi custom. For 500K you can get custom. Tract is KB Home, Centex, etc.

Wilshire is definitely a fast paced tract builder.
Each floor plan is duplicated over and over, flip flopped and different roof cuts, but the same floor plans.
They may get asked now & then like any builder, to build a one off, custom.

Find the really custom builders that build 1-10 homes a year. Those are diamonds, in a mound of coal.

I highly recommend Ron Hoffman Homes/Hoffman Construction, if he has not retired yet.
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