Kb - Any Good Home Builders Around? (Peoria, Surprise: job, custom home)

[sunshinecities]

What are your thoughts on KB Builders? I thought someone said something about they don't do a good job on the lawn. How about the house itself? I wonder about the quality of the houses - esp. the ones in Surprise so packed together - tract houses. Any good builders around the area?

[CodyW]

KB gets alot of mixed reviews. And I think it really varies community to community. Most times; you'll have basic problems, unnecessary stucco cracks and such.

Some people here will recommend Hacienda Builders. They build a quality house. Pulte and Shea do, as well. Most of the time.

Though there aren't any communities in surprise, I'd highly recommend Marlor. A lot of people we know ended up in marlor homes, and they have nothing but good things to say about them. Hopefully we'll be witnessing it first hand pretty soon, if our house ever sells. >.<

Builders to definitely avoid? I'd say Beazer, K-Hovnanian, and HomeLife Communities.

[aj661]

Originally Posted by sunshinecities

What are your thoughts on KB Builders? I thought someone said something about they don't do a good job on the lawn. How about the house itself? I wonder about the quality of the houses - esp. the ones in Surprise so packed together - tract houses. Any good builders around the area?

I'm in a KB now. It is much better than the Fulton I came out of. The Fulton's foundation was terribly uneven. They couldn't even square up the tiny the half bath downstairs-it was only about 4x7 and yet it was almost three inches wider at one end than the other!

The KB had it's problems too, but they were repairable. The foundation is great. Forgive me, I don't remember what the process is called right now, but they use tension bars in the concrete to help prevent cracking. We had some baseboards along inside walls that looked like a snake that had to be repaired and some clown drilled through the water line for the water softener. We discovered that after three years when we had one installed. We didn't have any problem getting them to fix it ASAP.

One problem you'll have with any builder other than some custom home builders is quality. Look at the laborers. How many true craftsmen are there in the industry anymore? Most of the work is being done by unskilled labor and supervised by unskilled labor with time on the job.

[sheena]

Originally Posted by sunshinecities

What are your thoughts on KB Builders? I thought someone said something about they don't do a good job on the lawn. How about the house itself? I wonder about the quality of the houses - esp. the ones in Surprise so packed together - tract houses. Any good builders around the area?

It seems once the KB neighborhoods are completed they are not very well kept up. From past experience the builders that nickle and dime you seem to attract people who end up not taking care of their homes. They seem to have lots of renters and sheets on the windows. Not all but the lower priced sub-divisions.

[silentrunner35]

Hi,

We bought our 1996 built Dover Home in 2000 and since then, KB Homes bought them out and started building their own here.. Not impressed -- paper thin walls, shoddy work, not very aesthetically pleasing homes... Not sure how they differ in other states... Basically cheaply made abodes that made be better suited as first time starter homes..

[sablebaby]

The tract homes you find in Surprise are the same in every city out here. I never really liked KB when I was looking for a new home. If it was a cheaper price range it looked like crap, if it was more expensive, it wasn't as bad. If you want a new home you will have to look at all the builders in the area IN PERSON to see what you think about them.

[MotleyCrew]

Whatever builder you decide to go with, hire a home inspector to watch your project for you during construction. Most of the builders here use the same pool of sub-contractors and they build them as fast as they can. We have a Shea home and have been very pleased with it. We had minor problems as most of the folks here did, but nothing that could not be resolved. we like the Cachet homes, Ashton Woods, T.W. Lewis as well and have heard good things about their end product.

[jco]

I have to say that I believe each experience is dependant on the community in which you buy. Our builder was supposed to be one of the best, but they put a very new superintendent on our job and we have had many fire and safety hazards. We moved in and our house wasn't even clean from construction mess! Our first house was built by a not-so-reputable company, and we didn't have a single problem with them. In fact, when we hired a professional inspector to make sure, he couldn't find a thing wrong with the place.

I would check the BBB before buying anywhere.

[sheena]

Originally Posted by Jill Warner

Whatever builder you decide to go with, hire a home inspector to watch your project for you during construction. Most of the builders here use the same pool of sub-contractors and they build them as fast as they can. We have a Shea home and have been very pleased with it. We had minor problems as most of the folks here did, but nothing that could not be resolved. we like the Cachet homes, Ashton Woods, T.W. Lewis as well and have heard good things about their end product.

Beware of Ashton Woods, proceed with caution!!! That's all.

[fotoverdi]

Sheena, what's up with Ashton Woods, now I am scared. I have purchased a home with them in February, and so far have been very pleased. But being in New York and the house being built in Arizona, does cause us some concern as we aren't there all the time, just on visits. Our home is being built in Vistancia up in Peoria.