Gallery Custom Homes / First Texas Homes (Houston, Plano: sales, apartment, neighborhoods)

[JamieFL]

Hi!

I understand that these two company's are the same or affiliated (they also have some of the same floor plans avail) have you had any dealings with either? Have any of you bought one of these homes? How do you feel about the quality? Any information you have about either of these, or one vs. the other, I'd love to hear it.

Thanks,

Jamie

[GoPadge]

I haven't had dealings with either First Texas Homes or their subsidiary Gallery Custom Homes. They have homes being built in 42 neighborhoods and according to the BBB they've had 45 complaints in the past 36 months, 31 of which are in reference to contract disputes. So it appears that they have some high pressure sales tactics, but otherwise build a reasonably sound product.

[stargazer]

My first home was a First Texas Home. We had problems with the upstairs with the flooring on how it slopped. I also had a crack going up on the side of the house above the garage. We had a warrantee that covered the structure of the house and could get it fixed through them however they did not want to return our phone calls and did not deal with us for over a month. Finally my husband sent a certified letter to the owner and they started getting estimates to fix the crack. The slopping upstairs was never corrected and we were told that was normal many a time in a upstairs home, so we lived with it. However I have owned 3 2 story homes since then and I have never had a slopping problem since.

I remember our sales man for the company telling me about Gallery their next division. They do higher end finish outs.

As I said, this was our first home and we were really happy to finally get out of an apartment. It was huge and they gave us many upgrades that most of the other builders could not in the price range. However due to the issues we had along with dealing with people in the organization that just weren't professional, I just would not buy from them again.

[onrway2clt]

I am not fond of them. Do a google search for first texas homes and you will fnd a message board where some home owners had some serious issues with them and the FTH rep came on and started making personal attacks against them.

I sa a few of their spec homes and I was not impressed with the workmanship. I was on the house for less than 10 minutes and found things that were unacceptable. I cant imagine what an inspector would find.

But if you do get a lot of house for the money.

[JamieFL]

Thanks for the information. Even if you can get a lot for the money, if the quality isnt there, then its a waste of money. When we went out there to decide on the area to move, we really loved the Gallery home that we went into in the Saginaw area (Sendera Ranch0) and was really impressed with the quality feel inside and the looks of the outside. After we got home, we found out that First Texas is the same company, however we never went into one of the First Texas models to compare the quality.

We also really liked the insides if the David weekley homes but I think they outsdes are very outdated looking. We also really loved the Pulte homes but they arent buildng in the areas we want to be.

There is just so many builders to choose from.

Jamie

[breriley]

I have a first texas home being built right now in houston texas and read alot of the complaints before i purchased. My deciding factor was when i went to the communitys and talked to the workers actually building the houses i found that they worked for all the builders. there is only a few employees of each of the companys and those guys do not get there hands dirty building anything. the point is any home built can have problems if not supervised properly and a company that has a few complaints is usually going to be on there toes to get a better rep

[socketz]

I would rather own a 2750 sq/ft David Weekly, Highland, Darling, Sotherby, etc. as opposed to owning a 4,000 sq/ft First Texas. Seriously guys, you get what you pay for....Resale is also alot better on homes built by quality builders. And don't say, "in 10 years, nobody will know the difference"...they will. Look at resales in places like Plano. You can tell within 2 mins if the home was built by a semi-custom builder or a big-box guy. Be careful and don't get hung up on sq/ft.

[onrway2clt]

One of the reasons I decided against First Texas.

go to www.ripoffreport.com and type first texas homes in the search box and see the messages from the home owners, also you see some really really disgusting replies from First Texas.

[Bced21]

Originally Posted by JamieFL

Hi!

I understand that these two company's are the same or affiliated (they also have some of the same floor plans avail) have you had any dealings with either? Have any of you bought one of these homes? How do you feel about the quality? Any information you have about either of these, or one vs. the other, I'd love to hear it.

Thanks,

Jamie

I am about to sue this builder. If you choose to build with them check the contract VERY carefully and make sure you have an out if they build a crappy house. Hire your own inspector from the foundation phase through the final walk, and by no means accept the house with thier promise to fix defects. Check badbusinessbureau. com, bbb.com and jdpower.com for research info. Good Luck.

[lilbamagirl68]

Both myself and my mother are building Gallery Homes in West Houston. It has been a nightmare....My mother has been waiting since May of 2006 for this house to be completed. She has had to have an inspector and mold specialist inspect the home several times. Our builder, Jose is the absolulte worst. They have no customer service skills and can't build homes. Her last inspection was 3 weeks ago, the information was promptly delivered to the builder and a new closing date of tomorrow was set. The inspector just left the house and 75% of the problems still had not been fixed. Jose said he didn't have time to get a crew on it....

Oh, and check out their website there are NO contact names and numbers whatsoever. We have sent numerous letters but have had NO response.

We are planning to get together with all the homeowners in the neighborhood and share all the problems we have had. Several have already contacted an inspector and are waiting on the report.

Gallery/First Texas should be very careful....class action lawsuit just waiting to happen.