Homebuilders in TX - the best & the worst. (Dallas: home builder, buying)

[futexan]

Who do you think are the best - & the worst - & why...

[futexan]

As I already informed the moderator,a better title for this thread would be...

Homebuilders in TX - the best & the worst.

[futexan]

OK,thanks.

Let's have some comments from people who had actual experience of home construction quality. Not hearsay,not rumor,only first hand knowledge.

Reliable & trustworthy info is very important...

[calmdude]

There is a 2007 JD Powers survey available on line somewhere - at least for Dallas. I would not be surprised if it exists for other major metros also. It ranks various builders in terms of design, satisfaction, etc. In a forum, a lot of the response will be (a) limited to people who happen to see your post (b) from passionate experiences (real bad/ real good), etc. Powers list will include a much much larger sample and be more reliable. Good luck.

[calmdude]

.. here you go... it is available for many cities.

2007 New-Home Builder Customer Satisfaction Study | J.D. Power and Associates

[Tarrytown]

ARB in West Austin builds beautifull homes, I work for them
ARB Homes and Design

[futexan]

Calmdude's list is helpful,yet reliable testimonies matter...

[MurphyPl1]

I find the DFW list interesting. Centex and Fox & Jacob are low-end builders. I suspect that it's not as much about quality and customer service as a lower expectation level at that price point. I have a friend who built with F&J and she didn't know she could even negotiate the price. They thought it was "here's a house, here ya go" and not much interaction. Where with the higher price points you've got people who are much more involved in the decision making in all aspects of their life and have a higher expectation level of the builder.

Plus the lower end homes offer very little in the way of choices and upgrades which means far fewer opportunities to screw it up. Get to the semi-custom level and you can easily come up with a laundry list of things that need further attention.

I built with Sotherby and was very pleased, even with the problems we had.

[futexan]

Nice trustworthy comment.

[charlessims22]

My wife and I built a Centex home in 2004. It was the worst mistake we have ever made. We were sold an AC unit that never worked. Centex did nothing about it. Customer Service was a nightmare. It ended up costing us $7000 to replace. We have talked to many other Centex home owners as well. Just a dire warning before ever buying a home from these liars.