Home Builders in Oklahoma...how 'bout D.R. Horton? (Edmond: sales, countertops)

jonny13 · 04-25-2007, 07:16 PM

I'm looking into having a house built in NW OKC and was wondering if any home buyers out there had recommendations (NEG or POS)? I'm not looking into having a major custom house built, but rather pick from one of the many cookie-cutter selections on the market and add a few upgrades to them. I came across D.R. Horton and was rather surprised at the square footage value they offered on their homes. Once I turned to the web to do some more research on them I found the first link on a Google search was to the Consumer Affairs website which had 6 pages worth of really scary home buying experiences.

So along with any references/recommendations of home builders, does anyone have specific experiences with the builder D.R. Horton? Thanks for the help.

MsHell · 04-26-2007, 03:20 PM

I bought my first home from DR Horton (then called Schuler Homes) in Hawaii. They did not do the electrical wiring correctly and it took a long time to figure out there was a problem and DR Horton would not take accountablity for it. I had to pay 3x the normal electric bill for 6 months with no reimbursement.

Personally I would never buy from them again, based on my experience.

angelafx · 04-26-2007, 06:49 PM

I do not have experience with DR Horton however we are considering buying a DR Horton home in Tucson AZ. The thing about homebuilders - at least the big ones like DR Horton, No 2 in the nation last year- is that the quality can vary greatly from one area to the next or even one neighborhood to the next. My brother works for another Top 3 builder and his quality standards vary from the homes that are being built one street over. Same, builder, different neighborhoods one street away! They use different insulation methods, they have different sub-contractors for some trades, etc. Your best bet is to research as you have been, and then to ask around in that specific neighborhood if possible. It sometimes helps during the building process to BE the squeaky wheel. Walk through your home regularly as it's being build and inspect everything for yourself. It's actually quite fascinating and you may recognize any problems.

jonny13 · 04-30-2007, 05:08 PM

Thanks Angelafx and MsHell for the feedback. DR Horton is a pretty big company so I would expect to find several people on both sides of good and bad experiences. However, strangely enough I haven't found much of anyone to tell me of the good experience they had. That should probably be enough of a sign to stay away, shouldn't it? I really did/do like the area they are building in and the 2 story home plan was at a fantastic price. Too good to be true maybe...or at least too good to be that easy. I'll keep looking for another builder, and certainly appreciate the feedback and suggestions.

Oh - one last thing...is it uncommon for a builder to provide references of customers they built homes for? I asked this of DR Horton and they said they did not do this type of thing because they don't like to give out people's phone #'s. So I in turn asked for them to give out my number and have the people call me instead. So far the phone hasn't rang once.

Thanks again.

SmittenJRC1 · 05-01-2007, 12:37 PM

My Fiance and I back in February decided to go with a D.R. Horton home, and have one built.
In the beginning, our sales rep told us that they don't charge a whole lot on upgrades, mostly their cost, because they have already made their money and don't charge you a whole lot extra for them. We fell in love with the plans, and the house.

However, as soon as we paid that $500 and signed the contract, things changed. One rep was quoting us one price, the other was quoting a WAY completely different price. When we chose our floorplan, we chose the bay window option, and was never told it was extra for it. So we go ahead and pick out our lot, with one that had already had all the permits pulled for our floorplan, so that it would speed it up. Two weeks after that, we get a call from the other sales rep telling us that we have to come change lots because of the bay window, they couldn't build on there because the permit wasn't pulled for that. So us, naive as can be, go in there and change our lot. Right after we decide on that, the other sales rep informs us that it will $2,500 extra for the bay window, and sticks us with that. We loved it, and so we just looked past it. (Come to find out, you can add bay windows, push back walls, ALL sorts of things after they have pulled the permits. They just wern't willing to pay for their sales reps mistake.)
Then, we get to the part where we choose all of our upgrades. Let me tell you this, i have NEVER heard of such an upmark on upgrades! They rape you on it!!! $8,000 just for granite countertops? When you can buy them retail for $2,000? Just to upgrade your carpet padding from this really thin, cheap stuff is $800 to get something decent enough to have mold and mildew protection. Just to have tile in your shower, not some cheap fiberglass insert, is like $800. To have stainless steel appliances, its $2500 extra, just for a stove and dishwasher. Oh! And get this, they don't even include sod in your backyard! You have to pay like $1,000 extra just to get GRASS in your backyard!!!

We started seeing way too many red flags, and just kept overlooking them, until finally my friends talked us into looking at this other builder who was in about the same area, and didn't charge hardly anything at all for upgrades, and everything was basically the same price! Our house at D.R. Horton was going to cost about $145,000 for a 1456 sq. ft house, with tiled shower, upgraded carpet, and a bay window in the front. At the other builder, for $143,000 we can get a 1550 sq. ft house, with granite countertops, crown molding, tiled shower and tub, a jetted tub, fully sodded and landscaped yard, 12" tile, and stainless steel appliances. And when I asked the builder how much it would be to add a bay window in the front, he told me probably nothing at all because his cost is essentially the same!!!

We have decided since seeing this other house, and meeting this other builder that D.R. Horton is nothing but a scam, and have decided to cancel our house with them. There were TONS of other problems that we had with the customer service, and the houses, that would take PAGES to fill.

To say the least, run FAR away from D.R. Horton. They cut corners in quality in every which way, and overpay their millions of workers by overcharging their buyers for everything else!

Caerin · 05-05-2007, 07:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SmittenJRC1

My Fiance and I back in February decided to go with a D.R. Horton home, and have one built.
In the beginning, our sales rep told us that they don't charge a whole lot on upgrades, mostly their cost, because they have already made their money and don't charge you a whole lot extra for them. We fell in love with the plans, and the house.

.....

To say the least, run FAR away from D.R. Horton. They cut corners in quality in every which way, and overpay their millions of workers by overcharging their buyers for everything else!

Which builder did you go with?

irriserv · 05-15-2007, 02:40 PM

I bought a new home in edmond last year after moving from california. It was built by mccalab homes and for the most part the quality has been very good. They have been very very good about fixing every little thing that we have found wrong (like getting a plumber over here in 10 mins for a drip). I would say they may be on the high end of things but a new home may not be the best place to try to cut costs just so you can pay later to fix everything.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonny13

I'm looking into having a house built in NW OKC and was wondering if any home buyers out there had recommendations (NEG or POS)? I'm not looking into having a major custom house built, but rather pick from one of the many cookie-cutter selections on the market and add a few upgrades to them. I came across D.R. Horton and was rather surprised at the square footage value they offered on their homes. Once I turned to the web to do some more research on them I found the first link on a Google search was to the Consumer Affairs website which had 6 pages worth of really scary home buying experiences.

So along with any references/recommendations of home builders, does anyone have specific experiences with the builder D.R. Horton? Thanks for the help.

SmittenJRC1 · 05-16-2007, 02:30 PM

His name is Jack Evans with TimberCraft Homes... He is incredible!!! He is so willing to work with us on our odd requests (like putting a dog door in the wall! lol) And he doesn't overcharge you. He is so great.

I can get you his number if you are interested

Mac57 · 06-04-2007, 08:54 AM

We just signed a contract for a DR Horton Home after doing a fair amount of homework. When I first saw the price per square ft. I had my doubts. I immediately went to one of their other job sites to inspect the property and quality of construction. I got the name of several of their vendors as well and called them to quiz them about the quality of the materials they used. I also called the city inspectors in OKC, Edmond, and Mustang. They use the same materials as everyone else and some cases it is better and the inspectors had no issues with D R Horton. They do use a one pour/monlithic for the foundation which is something new to Oklahoma rather than the traditional multi pour approach. I spoke to a few engineers and did some further research. As with anything depending on who you spoke to there are advantages and disadvantages. Horton does give the standard 10 structual warrenty like everyone else. Yes once you start adding the upgrades the price can escalate quickly, and we have been to their showroom here on NE 122nd. Again the quality and cost is in line with everyone else. They can do it for less because of their buying power. They sold over 51,000 home last year. Will there be some people who are not happy, or perhaps got the short end of stick sure it just a numbers game like everything else. As far as dealing with the employees of D R Horton at this point they have been great to deal with. They have shot me straight. As a matter of fact the home we are building a two story Horton did not have a model here in the city. The edition we are buying in is the first time they are offering this floor plan. We went to the Fort Worth and looked a model, we were treated as if we were buying a home their by the sales associate.

Alesha25 · 06-13-2007, 08:46 PM

I think that you were more the exception than then norm when dealing with DR Horton. I will have to agree with the other readers. I just bought a house from DR Horton. I have to say... the financial part of it all was very easy, go figure, but the actual construction was a whole other ballgame. Every time I came to the house there was another problem and... I came pretty much everyday. They laid the wrong tile, the wrong carpet, messed up the mantel, the paint job was horrible and they had to repaint. I honestly felt like I had to babysit their every move. In addition, our tree in the front yard, three azalea bushes, and the extra things we planted have all died. Mind you... we work in the yard all the time and we can't get anything to live. We have now decided that since they didn't bother to level the yard before the laid the sod and created all the beds, we will now have to make a drain that goes from the front us the house all the way to back side of the fence in the backyard. I am beyond frustrated with everything. Do I call and have them come fix it (or mess it up more) or... do I just do it myself (this way I know its done right)? To top everything off... they are now building a new house next door to us and have been trampling our grass that we have tried so... hard to grow. My next step is to start looking up the codes about them building a house next door. I refuse to deal with all this while they are building the house next door. Needless to say... there are days I just want to sell this house and move, but we just moved in March.