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They used be called Ray Ellison homes back in the 80's. Your home is built using particle board instead of real wood. Appliances, fixtures, and everything is done on the cheap, so you get more square footage for the money. They built the Glen subdivision in Windcrest (North East San Antonio) and built more than needed so a lot of vacancies dropped property values and then the ex-felons started to move in, and ran the place down.
Ray Ellison has a street named after him in the City of San Antonio's Far West side over by 410/90 Lackland area.
First is was called Ray Ellison, then RayCo, and then they changed their name to Kaufmann Broad, and later shortened it to KB Home. Made N. Fry Road neighborhood in Houston run down.
The Simpsons replica home was built in Las Vegas about 2 decades ago by them. It is probably falling apart. Look at a home in Alief off Cook and Beechnut (those patio homes in Wellington Park) same quality as KB Home.
Former HUD Secratary (who aided in the housing bust) involved:
Aug 5, 2000 Added to Builders in the NewsCisneros coming back to S.A. By Elizabeth Allen and Jeanne Russell Express-News Staff Writers Henry Cisneros is returning to San Antonio to build homes, not rebuild a political career.... Cisneros' firm, American CityVista, will enter a growing market for urban reinvestment. He plans to use some of the money he earned while president of the Univision television network to help launch a joint venture with Kaufman and Broad Home Corp. to build homes in Southwestern cities.
A replica of the house at 742 Evergreen Terrace, known as The Simpsons House, was constructed in 1997 by California-based[7]Kaufman and Broad homebuilders at 712 Red Bark Lane in Henderson, Nevada.[1] The house was designed to closely mimic the design of the animated house in The Simpsons television series.[1]
The $120,000 house was constructed for use as the grand prize in a contest known as "The Simpsons House Give Away",[8] sponsored by Pepsi, Fox, and the homebuilder.[7] The contest was announced on July 10, 1997.[8] The rules of the contest stipulated that the winner either accept the house or a $75,000 cash payment. In addition, the winner of the house, if they chose to occupy it, was contractually obligated to repaint the exterior in accordance with local homeowner's association rules.[9] Contest entries were included on various Pepsi products and 15 million were submitted nationally.[1] The winner was Barbara Howard from Richmond, Kentucky.[10] Howard chose not to accept the house, instead taking a cash payment per the contest rules.[10] In 2001, after removing most of the details relating to the television series, the house was sold by the builder to another owner.[1]
SO BAD SHE TURNED DOWN THE HOUSE AND HOA IN LIEU OF CASH, VERY SMART PERSON!
My dad used to be a Superintendent for Kaufmann and Broad in the 80's-90's. Their homes are tract homes. The quality isn't going to be custom, and some corners will be cut. What those corners are will depend on the guy running the site.
There are some supers who could give a rat's knackers about the final product. Others will go out of their way to make sure it's done right. The best you can do is be that pain in the ass homeowner who shows up unannounced, and regularly to inspect your home. If anything doesn't look right, walk over to the boss' trailer or give him a call.
My sister lives in a KB home, and has for the last 20 years. They're ok homes but as with anything you get what you put into it.
Oh, and my dad always told me to walk the job site before considering buying. A dirty site is a sign of bad management. Bad management = bad work.
They used be called Ray Ellison homes back in the 80's. Your home is built using particle board instead of real wood. Appliances, fixtures, and everything is done on the cheap, so you get more square footage for the money. They built the Glen subdivision in Windcrest (North East San Antonio) and built more than needed so a lot of vacancies dropped property values and then the ex-felons started to move in, and ran the place down.
Ray Ellison has a street named after him in the City of San Antonio's Far West side over by 410/90 Lackland area.
First is was called Ray Ellison, then RayCo, and then they changed their name to Kaufmann Broad, and later shortened it to KB Home. Made N. Fry Road neighborhood in Houston run down.
The Simpsons replica home was built in Las Vegas about 2 decades ago by them. It is probably falling apart. Look at a home in Alief off Cook and Beechnut (those patio homes in Wellington Park) same quality as KB Home.
Former HUD Secratary (who aided in the housing bust) involved:
Aug 5, 2000 Added to Builders in the NewsCisneros coming back to S.A. By Elizabeth Allen and Jeanne Russell Express-News Staff Writers Henry Cisneros is returning to San Antonio to build homes, not rebuild a political career.... Cisneros' firm, American CityVista, will enter a growing market for urban reinvestment. He plans to use some of the money he earned while president of the Univision television network to help launch a joint venture with Kaufman and Broad Home Corp. to build homes in Southwestern cities.
A replica of the house at 742 Evergreen Terrace, known as The Simpsons House, was constructed in 1997 by California-based[7]Kaufman and Broad homebuilders at 712 Red Bark Lane in Henderson, Nevada.[1] The house was designed to closely mimic the design of the animated house in The Simpsons television series.[1]
The $120,000 house was constructed for use as the grand prize in a contest known as "The Simpsons House Give Away",[8] sponsored by Pepsi, Fox, and the homebuilder.[7] The contest was announced on July 10, 1997.[8] The rules of the contest stipulated that the winner either accept the house or a $75,000 cash payment. In addition, the winner of the house, if they chose to occupy it, was contractually obligated to repaint the exterior in accordance with local homeowner's association rules.[9] Contest entries were included on various Pepsi products and 15 million were submitted nationally.[1] The winner was Barbara Howard from Richmond, Kentucky.[10] Howard chose not to accept the house, instead taking a cash payment per the contest rules.[10] In 2001, after removing most of the details relating to the television series, the house was sold by the builder to another owner.[1]
SO BAD SHE TURNED DOWN THE HOUSE AND HOA IN LIEU OF CASH, VERY SMART PERSON!
STAY AWAY FROM KB HOMES.
1. It's a TOS violation to post the content of copyrighted material.
2. No mention of any "massive protest" in South Austin, or anywhere.
3. Do you own a map? Notice the difference between Kentucky and Nevada? Like the fact that they're practically across the country from one another? Think that might have played a role in that contest winner taking the cash over the house?
While KB Homes are notorious for sub-par build quality and fit/finish, your total non-sequitor of an "example" doesn't help anyone. Also, there's no particle board in their houses.
Last edited by EzPeterson; 09-02-2013 at 05:48 AM..
BIL and sister had a KB home built in the SA area. Yes, the quality is lower than many (most?) other builders out there, but the price is usually much lower, as well. They have been there about 20 years now, give or take, and have had to do some repairs/upgrades, but there is no critical flaw in the structure of the house or anything. When they go to sell it, it will likely sell for what any other house in the neighborhood sells for, I am guessing. In any case, they got into a bigger home for less money, and then spent some money (but much more elbow grease) over the years to essentially get it 'up to snuff'.
We just moved into a 5 year old KB home in Silverado Ranch. Nothing worrisome showed up on the home inspection except that some gutter flashing was done wrong on the roof and it's causing water to run-off too close to our door when it rains. It will be easy to fix. We bought here because of the huge yard, schools, and nice neighborhood. Say what you will, but the builder really went out of their way to save old trees. Lots of front yards have huge old trees and we have a great one that shades the backyard. The development right to the south of us (Creekview by DR Horton) looks to have razed the land and not bothered leaving old trees. I'm sure that that's the easy way to do things.
They used be called Ray Ellison homes back in the 80's. Your home is built using particle board instead of real wood. Appliances, fixtures, and everything is done on the cheap, so you get more square footage for the money. They built the Glen subdivision in Windcrest (North East San Antonio) and built more than needed so a lot of vacancies dropped property values and then the ex-felons started to move in, and ran the place down.
Ray Ellison has a street named after him in the City of San Antonio's Far West side over by 410/90 Lackland area.
First is was called Ray Ellison, then RayCo, and then they changed their name to Kaufmann Broad, and later shortened it to KB Home. Made N. Fry Road neighborhood in Houston run down.
STAY AWAY FROM KB HOMES.
So do you have any personal experience with a KB home or just jump on the KB sucks bandwagon along with all the other people that have opinions without having any actual experience? KB is not the same company it was 10 years ago...and a far cry from what Ray Ellison was.
Ray Ellison is not the same company as KB and never has been, Ray Ellison or RayCo was purchased by KB, which is a California company, in the mid 90's. KB has been around since the 50's.
I'd be more than happy to share photos of my home being built with real wood, name brand fixtures, flooring and name brand consumer grade (not builder grade) appliances and HVAC equipment. Also, if you want better quality stuff, you always have the option to upgrade it, which we did on several items that made sense cost wise to have them do instead of us.
Yes, KB usually does the minimum they need to in order to meet code. But that's what keeps their prices down. I know several people who own KB homes and got their opinion on them before I went ahead with the purchase of one. If you have a good construction manager and stay on top of the construction (frequent visits, lots of questions), you can end up with a quality home.
Been in mine near Houston for 3 years. Had 2 minor issues taken care of under warranty, and 2 taken care of out of warranty. Energy Star certified home, highest electric bill I've had in the summer was just over 1000kwh at around $110 with AC set to 75 24/7 for 1900sqft. The eye of hurricane Ike went right over this area and while my home didn't exist yet, others built by KB with the same construction supervisor survived the 110mph wind gusts with no damage other than a few shingles missing.
When having a home built, the quality comes down to the construction supervisor more than anything. You could have a $500k home built by one of the top rated builders but if the construction supervisor doesn't care, you can end up with more issues and problems than in a $200k KB home with a construction supervisor who does care.
First is was called Ray Ellison, then RayCo, and then they changed their name to Kaufmann Broad, and later shortened it to KB Home. Made N. Fry Road neighborhood in Houston run down.
I usually ignore morons with little more than access to a search engine. jasonamd and EZP have done a nice job outlining the blatant falsehoods. Just wanted to add that the founder of "Home Owners for Better Building" - obviously a fellow anti-KB jihadist of LLC's - has a little trouble keeping her jihad inside the legal limits:
1. It's a TOS violation to post the content of copyrighted material.
2. No mention of any "massive protest" in South Austin, or anywhere.
3. Do you own a map? Notice the difference between Kentucky and Nevada? Like the fact that they're practically across the country from one another? Think that might have played a role in that contest winner taking the cash over the house?
While KB Homes are notorious for sub-par build quality and fit/finish, your total non-sequitor of an "example" doesn't help anyone. Also, there's no particle board in their houses.
1. I got permission to use said material. And it's public record. With your logic, one wouldn't be able to mention the word KB Home. Furthermore If I unable to post said fact here, I will post it on my YouTube channel and elsewhere. Not going to unduly censor me here, that's for sure. I didn't obtain the handle of Liberty Thug for Nothing!
2. Where where you back in 2000? Recounting Gores votes in Florida would be my guess.
3. Yes I own a map, and there was a story about the lady that won the Simpsons home, and refused to buy it because it was built by KB.
There is particle board in their homes, check out the Subdivision off of Uhr Lane and Nacodogches, do some drywall work there and you will see.
But I do not know if they use particle board today, they probably do, and they did use particle board in the 80's, and 90's.
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