Kb homes?? (Houston, San Antonio, Austin: houses, neighborhood, buying)

[where_to_move]

would u buy a home that you liked everything about except that the builder was KB Home???

[yaxzone]

I now would not. We were very close to buy one from this builder, in Spring Trails in Pflugerville. The one on 18625 Pencil Cactus Drive, Pflugerville, TX 78660. It is back on the market now, the house looks nice and has some cool things. Space is pretty good for what you are paying on the location that it is in, however, we found some issues with the way the house was built.

Because it is KB home, we decided to check everything about this builder we could find online, here in Austin there were a few complaints but nothing like in San Antonio or Florida. To make things short, we had a 3rd party inspector take a look at the house, we are glad we did. He found issues with the way the level on the back yard was finished. Right next to the house where the exit to the back yard is, there is an area that is too low compared to the sides, so water accumulates... When we first came to see the house on a sunny day, that area was wet. We were just told that they had been watering too much. That area was wet for the month that we were coming in and out checking the house. By the way, this house was built 6 months ago. The other issues were with lots of cracks in the inside of the house, almost every joint where the walls meet there was a crack. So because of the wetness on the back, the house has been settling unevenly. The other big issue was with the stucco walls on the side of the house. The builder forgot to include control joints, according to the code for building with stucco, it is required that every 8 feet or so, there must be a joint. This builder completely, left them out. Each side of the house was supposed to have at lest 4 to 5 joints. The builders explanation is that it is not needed and that the house is under warranty for 10 years. The lack of joints can cause the whole wall to crack once a section starts. This of course will allow water in the walls and to make it worst, the builder also forgot to open all the weep holes on each side of the house. The front had just a few on each side. When doing one of our final walks, we were told that even though they are close there is enough pores open for the water to get out.

We asked them to fix those things but we got a no so we got out of the contract. A few days later we checked their web site and the house is back on the market. So, I would strongly recommend to get a third party inspector. Make sure to get some one that has examples of their work on line. We now have purchased a house from Standard Pacific and are so excited to move in. By the way, the 3 third party inspectors we talk to indicated that one builder that passes without a red check every time is Standard Pacific so that is really comforting and has given us a piece of mind. We are glad we finally finished this exhausting process.

Anyway, best of luck on hour home search.

[FalconheadWest]

That's a tough one... what do you think of the neighborhood? Many people think they're buying just a house, but you're buying into a neighborhood and everything that goes with it. Because of the typical "look" of a KB neighborhood, where all the houses look like huge boxes and no dimension, people either love it or hate it, and that's a question none of us can answer for you.

[ROY DUBOSE]

i haven't heard any bad news first hand (only rumors about foundation problems east of 35 in the round rock area)

from what i've seen, they have lots of floorspace for a low per square foot price -- is there a general area you're looking at specifically?

[Vector28]

My daughter owned one (near Houston) and from her experience I would say no. BUT, if you really like everything else about the area, find an inspector you are comfortable with and go through the house with a fine tooth comb. If KB will remedy the problems the inspector identifies before closing you will probably be OK. I would not accept a refusal to remedy based on a particular item being under warranty. Your ability to get something fixed will diminish the instant you close on the house.

[mm57553]

No. You like everything about it NOW, but you won't like anything about it once it starts falling apart.

[Breezerboat]

NO WAY. I had one in Cedar Park. And even though nothing major was ever wrong, I could tell it was cheap. The sub floor upstairs is super cheap. a 100 pound girl walks across the room and things on our dresser would shake a little. It was our first house. Now we live in a Standard Pacific. There is a H U G E difference in quality. ... and neighborhood...

[jobert]

I'll third that. Stan Pac makes a pretty solid house.

[Trainwreck20]

My sister and BIL bought a 'cheap' builder home (may even be KB, not sure) and yep, it was cheap. On the other hand, they bought it cheap and the appreciation is probably about the same percent as every other home in the area. You put less money in and you get less money out. They did have several issues that they have fixed over the years (not sure how long they have been there now...10 years, maybe?), but none were deal breakers. Their kids, in the meantime, have become quite the home contractors . My BIL is a financial manager, and from a strictly econmoic point of view, he did better in a 'cheap' home, at least in the area that they were looking in. They do not mind that there are a few interior doors that are not quite perfectly square, or that there was vinyl for kitchen flooring (since replaced by tile).

It all comes down on how important - to YOU - the finish quality of a home is. I am somewhere on the fence (it would depend on just how good the deal was, and location, etc.) but for my wife, it would be a complete no-go .

[love roses]

"

Originally Posted by Breezerboat

NO WAY. I had one in Cedar Park. And even though nothing major was ever wrong, I could tell it was cheap. The sub floor upstairs is super cheap. a 100 pound girl walks across the room and things on our dresser would shake a little. It was our first house. Now we live in a Standard Pacific. There is a H U G E difference in quality. ... and neighborhood...

"


We lived in one in Denver and didn't have any major problems with it. We did have to have a few cosmetic things done, but they were treated in a timely manner. I agree with the above however, because the sound proofing was really bad. I could be upstairs and hear people whispering downstairs. I don't know what to put that down to except maybe poor insulation and thin walls. Our house now doesn't have those issues. We're in a Legacy.