Has anyone moved into a KB home? (Wesley Chapel: sales, chapel)

[jeajea]

Have you had any problems with that builder? customer service? delays in building? problems with your house? etc

I am moving into Wesley Chapel and having a house built with them (still waiting on permits) but was curious about the experience I may encounter.

[Floridasunshine]

I dont want to say anything negative, As I have never built a home with them. I hate Mercedes Homes.
Use the search on this site and type in KB HOMES , there were some negatives back in Nov under florida site.
ALso google, KB Homes Complaints.
Good luck , keep a close watch on your home going up. We had a awful time with a Mercedes home we got our money back after 9months of he**.

[jeajea]

We're moving down from NYC but we haven't even gotten permits in, so building hasn't even started.

I've now been reading the bad quality reports on here, so I'm hoping things work out.

[Hadleigh]

Hey Jeajea,

You can always cancel your contract. Most of the big builders are sustaining cancellation rates of 50% or more. It may be cheaper for you to get out now than have a poorly built home to live in.

[rioasad]

KB Homes builds standard, cookie-cutter homes. They are one of the top-5 builders in the nation, so obviously, they cannot be that bad. You are always better off dealing with a smaller, more personal builder, but that is a LOT more expensive. There are some complaints about KB online, but considering the amount of homes they build, it isn't overwhelming.

[ntfeldman]

We work with a lot of new construction clients and have a handbook we give each of them to take them from pre-signing to closing. Plus we set you up during the negotiations to have the home built subject to YOUR inspectors approval. Some times the builders really balk at this but we've always been able to write it in. (their contracts stick you with lots of extra closing charges too and legally you as the buyer have the right to choose the title company you close with but they aren't going to tell you that.)

I can not believe how many people walk into a builders sale center and listen to a sales person tell them all the wonderful things they are going to get with the house - and while you're sitting in that lovely model dreaming, you sign papers and then a few months later the misunderstanding begin. And it doesn't matter who the builder is - it will be a tough process. There are just too many moving parts and too many things that can go wrong.

Never, never, never never never build a home without having YOUR team of professionals (an attorney, an inspector and a Realtor) looking out for you. YOU need someone else to write those threatening letters to settle the disagreements - disagreements that I guarantee you will occur. Once you sign, the builder's sales rep doesn't have to do diddly for you and all you'll get is finger pointing ("I don't handle that", "I'll let so and so know") but no one is accountable and no one has the authority to make it OK.

KB is an OK builder but every builder has issues with their product. We had a client building a million dollar plus home get into it with the builder at the last minute and if it hadn't been for their attorney and their Realtor : ) they would have had a really expensive issue on their hands.

County Inspectors DO NOT - REPEAT DO NOT - do anything other than determine that the property at various stages of the building process has been built to legal code. Sloppy isn't a measurable criteria, the way your plans were suppose to be is not a measureable criteria, sound, safe, correct are not a part of the deal. And there have been properties here that were inspected and passed by the county (all counties) that then rotted or failed a year or two later and even though the County was determined to be culpable for the approvals, YOU CAN NOT SUE THE COUNTY and win anything other than an apology.

I work with a lot of builders. The good ones that are in it for a career are all trying to make a living and build you a product that you'll like and want to be proud of. There are going to be misunderstandings - just make sure you've got your representatives on your side looking out for you. They can save you far more than you will pay them out of pocket and the Realtor at the very least is paid by the builder (and some of us rebate part of our fees back to you for upgrades or closing costs!)