Pulte Homes at Breckenridge around Southport (Indianapolis, Franklin: hardwood floors, 2009, movers)

[Pera]

Hey there,

My wife and I visited the new Community by Pulte Homes called "Breckenridge" today and we were very impressed with the homes. We spent some three hours with the lady who works at the office to find out more about the different homes Pulte was offering in their community and possibly building a new home.

We even picked out a possible lot that we could build our new home. The price is very affordable with most of the major options included such as granite tops in kitchen, cherry cabinets, etc.

If anyone here ever lived (or living) in this community or in a Pulte community at all, would you mind sharing your experiences positive and negative? I would especially appreciate if someone that built a new home with Pulte could share his/her experiences. Thanks!

[sweetana3]

We visited a friends house just east of Zionsville in a big Pulte development. All I can say is same, same, same. Each house was only slightly (very slightly) different from their neighbors. Small lots. The inside was pretty standard and she had to monitor the whole building process. She said if she had not done this, many errors would have remained.

A lot was an upgrade from the advertised base price. I was not impressed with the base choices at all.

Be careful about those houses that will be around you and good luck if you are buying into a new or fairly new subdivision. I wish you good luck.

[Pera]

Originally Posted by sweetana3

We visited a friends house just east of Zionsville in a big Pulte development. All I can say is same, same, same. Each house was only slightly (very slightly) different from their neighbors. Small lots. The inside was pretty standard and she had to monitor the whole building process. She said if she had not done this, many errors would have remained.

A lot was an upgrade from the advertised base price. I was not impressed with the base choices at all.

Be careful about those houses that will be around you and good luck if you are buying into a new or fairly new subdivision. I wish you good luck.

Can you elaborate a bit more on this?

"The inside was pretty standard and she had to monitor the whole building process. She said if she had not done this, many errors would have remained."

I wonder what she meant by many "errors". We are first time home buyers so I don't think we would even know what these little errors are even If we are on site 24/7. We were quite "ok" with homes looking like each other since this seems to be the new trend nowadays.

There were couple things that we really liked about the community at Breckenridge. First is the location,which is between "Franklin Trace" and another community that has custom built homes starting from 500K and up.

Second is the price. With most of the upgrades we would want in a house minus a finished basement, the price was around 200K. We tried to find something that we would liked around this range however we really didn't find anything that would compare to the house we could build in Breckenridge.

[ronnieglasses]

My family has lived in our Pulte home for 3 months. We have been nothing but satisfied with the entire process. We just had our 3 month inspection (new build) and all I can say is "impressive"! We had minor issues that may have even been a little trivial, honestly. But Pulte took care of everything! The wall in our downstairs 1/2 bath had a little blemish with the drywall, they fixed it. There was a tiny chip in our hardwood flooring (still not sure if our movers did the damage or not ), they fixed it. Long story short, we had four contractors out to our house on the day Pulte said they would be. I felt spoiled! I honestly could not believe the extent they went to make sure that we are satisfied with our home!

Our community is lovely (Estates at Meadowbrook), filled with a very diverse group of families. It was 65 degrees yesterday and my family did the whole "bike ride through the neighborhood and check out your neighbors" thing! It was great. As far as all the homes looking alike: Your going to get that with any commercial builder. The quality of a Pulte home is obvious and true. We're only 3 months in but we've seen the houses on our street go up and sell within weeks. I think we made a good choice in builders and my family is comfortable. That's all that matters to me.

Good luck!

[Pera]

Originally Posted by ronnieglasses

My family has lived in our Pulte home for 3 months. We have been nothing but satisfied with the entire process. We just had our 3 month inspection (new build) and all I can say is "impressive"! We had minor issues that may have even been a little trivial, honestly. But Pulte took care of everything! The wall in our downstairs 1/2 bath had a little blemish with the drywall, they fixed it. There was a tiny chip in our hardwood flooring (still not sure if our movers did the damage or not ), they fixed it. Long story short, we had four contractors out to our house on the day Pulte said they would be. I felt spoiled! I honestly could not believe the extent they went to make sure that we are satisfied with our home!

Our community is lovely (Estates at Meadowbrook), filled with a very diverse group of families. It was 65 degrees yesterday and my family did the whole "bike ride through the neighborhood and check out your neighbors" thing! It was great. As far as all the homes looking alike: Your going to get that with any commercial builder. The quality of a Pulte home is obvious and true. We're only 3 months in but we've seen the houses on our street go up and sell within weeks. I think we made a good choice in builders and my family is comfortable. That's all that matters to me.

Good luck!

Ronnie,

I really appreciated your response. This was exactly what I have been looking for.

We did a drive through yesterday and saw a familiar picture with the neighbors walking around with kids, kids playing basketball around the courts and couples riding bikes. If you don't mind me asking, which house plan did you go with? Also, what upgrades did you get? I am thinking about getting the granite tops and cherry cabinets for kitchen since this will add a very nice resell value to the home.

We thought we didn't need a finished basement as of yet (no kids so far!) and we would use the basement for mostly storage. Also, I believe we would have an easier time to work on the basement and upgrade it later then we would with upgrading the kitchen since we would have to move everything once again for workers etc.

As far as the building process, did you go to the site often to check on the process? Also, did you guys go with the Pulte mortgage or did you find your own. I know these are a lot of questions but since I found someone that actually was, at one point, in a similar situation as I am, I would like to take full advantage of it

Once again, I will appreciate any information you can share.

Thanks!

[ronnieglasses]

Originally Posted by Pera

Once again, I will appreciate any information you can share.

Thanks!

Well, firstly we decided on The Kessler. Initially, we thought we wanted The Sterling, but there were none available and we had a deadline. At the time, the incentives were awesome. We have a nice size lot, 5th bedroom (bonus room) that my kids (2 and 7) romp around in until we finish the basement. We got the optional 3 car garage, hardwood floors throughout, but we settled on Corian countertops. All in all, my wife and kids are happy. If you are working with a realtor, make sure you make them work for those incentives because Pulte will certainly deliver. I honestly think that our street will be completed in the next 6-9 months. Like I said earlier, the houses go up, and weeks later a moving truck is unloading another family. It's pretty awesome!

We did go with Pulte mortgage because they offered more incentives, like buying down our rate, etc. They also threw in a stainless steel fridge that matches the other appliances, to close the deal! Not the top of the line, but certainly well worth it! So, feel free to ask me more questions or even send a private message if you want more details.

Again, good luck!

Ron.

[blynn27]

I live in Breckenridge and have enjoyed the entire process. A little annoying is the "no privacy fence" provision in the covenant for some lots. Any questions, DM me.

[TnTWalter]

Pulte is a very popular production home builder here in Indy area. They're also nationally recognized. They do pride theirselves on customer satisfaction and will do what it takes to make things right. That said, I'm not a huge fan of production neighborhoods. I'd rather invest in an older established home. But it sounds like you like the neighborhood, etc. I don't know the area but wanted to throw out good opinions on Pulte.

[domergurl]

And Pulte is merging with Centex ...

[plaidmom]

Originally Posted by TnTWalter

That said, I'm not a huge fan of production neighborhoods. I'd rather invest in an older established home.

I agree and at this point in time, I would be very very cautious about buying anything that was not in a completed, if not fully established, neighborhood.

Did anyone else catch the Indy Star this morning? :

Vacant lots fill subdivisions as builders go bust | IndyStar.com | The Indianapolis Star