Heartland vs. Ryan vs. Miranda (Pittsburgh: sales, new home, neighborhoods)

[pittsburgh1]

I was wondering if anyone can compare houses build by Miranda vs. ryan vs heartland.

[PghREA]

#1 Ryan
#2 Heartland
#3 Every other mass produce builder
#4 Maronda

[dl73]

It depends on what is most important to you - cost per square footage, quality, ability to customize, etc. Here is what I can tell you from my personal experience, and in talking to local people / realtors.

Maronda = large amount of sq feet for the $, but not known for quality and very spec'd. I had a look at one and could visually see fit/finish issues that made me exclude them right away.

Ryan = less sq feet for the money than Maronda, but very good quality, and a small degree of customization allowed.

Heartland = less sq feet for the money than Ryan, but even better quality, and an even greater degree of customization (even structural) allowed.

I don't think you can go wrong with either Ryan or Heartland. From what I saw I preferred the Heartland neighborhoods/homesites to Ryan (the Ryan neighborhoods appeared more 'cookie cutter', backyards sometimes facing each other, etc.) but I'm sure this varies by location. On the other hand I preferred the bigger, beautiful house I could get with Ryan.

For me location and reputation won over size and I went with Heartland. After logging several hours of talking to the sales agents at various Ryan and Heartland locations I also trusted the Heartland sales agents to be more honest than I did Ryan, but I realize that is just a subjective perception.

[aokeke]

We just signed a contract to start building 3 days ago. And all I can say is do your home work before picking options. You might just be more surprised than you had anticipated when you see how marked up these upgrades with the builders are...

[Copanut]

Ryan stopped making good homes in the early 70's. Maronda is crap, but you get a lot of square footage. Heartland will ********* any way they can, especially with financing. There are so many local builders out there or existing quality homes that I would NEVER buy from those three.

Just go look at one of their 10 year old developments and see how good the homes look.

[burger69]

check out this thread entitled: Heartland Homes .. I didn't want to post the URL in this posting because I got warned last time, no URL's. which I can understand because they think you are advertising.... Best of luck!!

[JoeLeaphorn]

I agree with most everything that everyone else has posted. My sister in law bought a home in a Heartland development and they paid a ton of money for something that was far less than what they wanted. Certain things were not done as requested and they had to have a landscaper come in to handle the runoff which came from the hill above their home.

There are many fine older homes in Pittsburgh which can be rehabilitated for a fraction of the cost of many new homes and these exist in all neighborhoods/suburbs.

Unless you want new/custom, I would give serious consideration to these as many of these homes are inexpensive and have much more character than a cookie-cutter plan home.

[groundzero2121]

DO NOT BUY from any of these mass produced builders, I work as a carpenter and have done work on these homes in the past. The quality is garbage. Find a smaller builder who will deal with you on a 1 on 1 basis

[Bazzwell]

Originally Posted by groundzero2121

DO NOT BUY from any of these mass produced builders, I work as a carpenter and have done work on these homes in the past. The quality is garbage. Find a smaller builder who will deal with you on a 1 on 1 basis

A carpenter friend who works for a company like this says he wouldn't take one of the homes for free. I can't be more specific but you'd be shocked at the problems a home inspection reveals on these modern homes. One just several years old failed miserably with flagged items you don't see in an eighty year old neglected farm house.

[burger69]

Over 5 years of our issues and trust me when I casually mention we are not taking this lying down and it still does not end... The most amazing aspect is when you have very black and white details, VERY black and white details (no grey areas) and because of their arrogance, they continue to deny there are any issues... Its amazing!! Google some Heartland developments later this week and take a look at one of the Google results specifically... You would be amazed!