Village Builders? (Friendswood: sales, home builder, neighborhood)

[RVD26]

We recently went under contract on a Village Builders new construction home in Cross Creek Ranch.
I see they are part of Lennar and was just curious what people's experiences have been with Village Builders.
Anything I should be on the lookout for? Give me the good, bad and ugly.

[tstone]

I live in one that is 22 years old, been here for 8. Original owners kept all the paperwork. The only problem they had was both evaporator coils were too undersized for the outdoor units. It is typical practice in this climate to undersize the coils to remove more humidity, but they were way undersized (assuming cheaper for them), which caused ice. They had them replaced under warranty.

Otherwise, no problems for them and none for us. Hopefully a '99 compares to a '21.

[RVD26]

Originally Posted by tstone

I live in one that is 22 years old, been here for 8. Original owners kept all the paperwork. The only problem they had was both evaporator coils were too undersized for the outdoor units. It is typical practice in this climate to undersize the coils to remove more humidity, but they were way undersized (assuming cheaper for them), which caused ice. They had them replaced under warranty.

Otherwise, no problems for them and none for us. Hopefully a '99 compares to a '21.

Thanks for that heads up. I'll ask about the evaporator coils. I think we had a similar issue on our current home outside of the warranty period that we ended up paying for.

[a_guerrajr]

Almost bought a new one and a resale one, houses look to hold up well.
I believe they fall under the Luxury builder category w/o being a full blow custom builder like Toll brothers / PIB.

They are a bit more commercialized, but that may only limit those of us that want something unique done in our homes.

[RVD26]

Originally Posted by a_guerrajr

Almost bought a new one and a resale one, houses look to hold up well.
I believe they fall under the Luxury builder category w/o being a full blow custom builder like Toll brothers / PIB.

They are a bit more commercialized, but that may only limit those of us that want something unique done in our homes.

Yes, Lennar is their parent company so they are a bit more commercialized than other builders.
Looks like the bones of the house are the same as Lennnar but with upgraded features and finishes.

[texas7]

Village used to be much better before they were bought by lennar. Now it’s just an overpriced lennar. We bought one in early 2018. We love our village home but it’s far from perfect. The worst interior finishing. Use the cheapest of everything. The door frame trim, it’s crooked, they hide everything with white caulking. After two years the caulking is separating away from the wall where the tiled floors are. They don’t tile to the wall, they instead caulk between tile and baseboards. Two years later, the wood is separating where it meets corners on the baseboards and crown mounding and on cabinet corners. Bad pour on patio and driveway concrete in that it’s ugly. The breakers were constantly blowing until we eventually had all the breakers switches replaced due to the cheap quality switches they use. Once replaced, they were fine. Don’t buy the reverse osmosis or water softener from village. Do it after at about half of what village charges. Our exterior brickwork looks great. Our neighbor however is awful. The grout lines are all wavy and crooked. I see theirs and am so thankful we had a good bricking crew. The painters hung the doors and didn’t use the right sized seal. We had to have the front door replaced as a warranty item and when that happens they send the actual door company out and the installer remarked the seal size was incorrect and replaced it. He told us village has the painters install the doors. Like I said, we are happy, love our home but we are optimistic types. If you are looking for flawless finish from what is advertised as an upscale tract builder — they don’t live up to that. Watch as they build and make sure it stays to the plan as they’re framing and enclosing. They forgot a window in my neighbors house and they had to raise hell to get them to add it back in during the construction phase.

[RVD26]

Originally Posted by texas7

Village used to be much better before they were bought by lennar. Now it’s just an overpriced lennar. We bought one in early 2018. We love our village home but it’s far from perfect. The worst interior finishing. Use the cheapest of everything. The door frame trim, it’s crooked, they hide everything with white caulking. After two years the caulking is separating away from the wall where the tiled floors are. They don’t tile to the wall, they instead caulk between tile and baseboards. Two years later, the wood is separating where it meets corners on the baseboards and crown mounding and on cabinet corners. Bad pour on patio and driveway concrete in that it’s ugly. The breakers were constantly blowing until we eventually had all the breakers switches replaced due to the cheap quality switches they use. Once replaced, they were fine. Don’t buy the reverse osmosis or water softener from village. Do it after at about half of what village charges. Our exterior brickwork looks great. Our neighbor however is awful. The grout lines are all wavy and crooked. I see theirs and am so thankful we had a good bricking crew. The painters hung the doors and didn’t use the right sized seal. We had to have the front door replaced as a warranty item and when that happens they send the actual door company out and the installer remarked the seal size was incorrect and replaced it. He told us village has the painters install the doors. Like I said, we are happy, love our home but we are optimistic types. If you are looking for flawless finish from what is advertised as an upscale tract builder — they don’t live up to that. Watch as they build and make sure it stays to the plan as they’re framing and enclosing. They forgot a window in my neighbors house and they had to raise hell to get them to add it back in during the construction phase.

Thanks for your input and sorry to hear about all the issues.
I have direct communication with the builder, so I'll be sure to stay on top of them during the construction.
We bought the home after construction already began so we're getting our own contractors do some of the work since the builder said it was too late for them to do it.
What do you love about the home? You say you still love the home.

[texas7]

I love the floor plan, I love the energy efficiency, I love the selections on flooring and other small upgrades, I love being back in a one-story vs. a two. I love my neighborhood and general area. We are in Friendswood. The finish is pretty crummy as village claims to be a bit more of an upscale tract home builder and builds in nicer communities. My neighbors all have similar stories. We just roll with it. Good luck. Hope your enjoy your new home. Learned to just ignore the finish issues and we just redo the ones that are glaring. Look inside the kitchen island before they put the countertop down and cabinetry in. They will seal trash up in it. We stopped by daily and the hubs was constantly getting the food trash etc. out of the island and tub areas so that nothing got sealed in. We used a realtor and she went by the sales office and let them have it for having it so trashed out inside during the construction process and it improved some. Just take food trash out yourself if you see it in there whenever you go by. You don’t want that sealed up.