Grand homes vs Highland Homes vs Gallery Custom (Garland, Rowlett) (Dallas: custom home, new construction)

[Manfred31]

I will be relocating to Dallas soon and am hoping to build a home in Garland or Rowlett. Now my Realtor she took us around last week and showed us Lakewood Pointe (Highland homes), Herons Bay (Gallery Custom homes) and Kensignton Gardens and Enclave at emerald Forest (Grand Homes); from her recommendations it seemed like she liked Grand homes the most followed closely by Gallery custom and then Highland. To quote her she felt that the first two were more custom builders while Highland was more of a regular production builder. Now I was hoping that folks from the area would offer some insight about the communities and builders, both pros and cons. Need to make a decision soon as Lakewood pointe only has a few lots left, any advice will be highly appreciated. Also please do let me know if you agree with my realtors assumption that property values in Rowlett will increase due to the extension of George Bush Hwy. Thanks.

[nsumner]

I chuckled at the comment that Grand homes is more of a custom builder. They are far from being a custom builder. I would rate Highland as the best of the 3. In fact they are in a close out community in Lakewood Pointe and that's where you will get the most buck for you money.

Gallery Custom Homes would be second. They put a lot of details and upgrades as a standard item in their homes and they are very motivated to sell in Heron's bay and Creek Valley (I like this community better than Heron's Bay). They have a few specs and you could get a good bargain there too.

Yes I think that the property values will increase as the turnpike gets completed 12 months from now. They are making a lot of progress and are on target. It will make the area a lot more accessible to many places and alternate commute to the airport as well.

Naima

[momof2dfw]

You need to find a new realtor........ Grand Homes more custom......... NOT! Grand Homes is one of the worst builders around. Most realtors will not even recommend them. They basically just won't even mention them to avoid "steering" when dealing w/ clients. Also, drive down Centerville a block on the other side of 66. Make sure to have your windows down on a nice humid day. Do you really want to live THAT close to a waste water treatment plant???

Highland Homes has an excellent reputation. I'd pick them over any of the others if lot, floorplan and location are all what you are looking for.

[Rakin]

I do a ton of new construction and agree with Naomi & Momof2 above that you need to find a new agent who knows what they are doing. Highland has one of the best reputations in TX and builds a quality, top notch home. Are they perfect ? No but they stand behind what they do 100%.

Grand Homes (IMO) is on the opposite end of the spectrum. They consistently rank at or near the bottom of JD Powers surveys and deserve that reputation. I've seen some of their homes with serious issues after just a few years. Their model homes are impressive but what you see is not what you get.

This is just my personal opinion (from years of construction and RE business). I personally will not take one of my clients into their models. One problem they have is they have such a bad reputation that their communities are very difficult to resale.

Stick with Highland or as a good 2nd choice Gallery. You'll be glad you did. I also would question your agents knowledge on builders.

[adixyz]

I have a Highland Home and their home quality and customer service is excellent. My house is 2004 built and they responded to my service calls even after the warranty was over.

[GayleTX]

Please...........any builder but Grand! I would question your realtor's motivation in recommending Grand....either she's brand new to the business, totally clueless, has a nice 'incentive' encouraging her to recommend Grand or all of the above.

You might want to do a search on this website for all the posts about Grand....it is the most discussed topic where builders and complaints are concerned. You should also just google them to get opinions outside this website. (They do have wonderful floor plans/design - that's what has kept them in business, but beauty is only skin deep as they say).