Meritage Homes

[Rakin]

It has nothing to do with Builders in TX, these guys are from Florida if I recall. Hate to hear your story, you guys picked a mediocre (at best builder) and should have had an inspector look at the home.

One rule in working with a builder is you never close until everything big is right. Once you close you lose just about all power with some bulders. This of course is not true of the good builders.

[ALQNsMommy]

Thanks for your support, Rakin. Just so you know, we did work with a realtor (not a newbie either). She seemed to think that Meritage was a quality builder. She also closed on our behalf since we were moving from out of state. By the way, why is it that new homebuilders and realtors (in general) don't seem to get along? And, yes, it does have to do with Texas (not Florida) home builders. It is the branch office here that we've been dealing with as well as local contractors. Are you sure you're a realor and not in the construction business?

[Rakin]

Purely in the real estate business for the last 11 years, although I was a partner in 26 glass companies for 19 years. I've been around new construction about all my life and even today 60% of what I do is new.

I love working with reputable, quality builders and 1st to criticize many that are not. I'm surprised she signed your closing papers for you. That's very unusual and something most Realtors would not do.

If your agent thought they were good, it's just a matter of opinion. I agree with your earlier post.

FYI - From Builder Implode website:

Ailing/Watch List*:
14. Reeves Williams
13. WCI Communities
12. Barratt American
11. Pulte Homes Inc.
10. Centex Homes
9. D.R. Horton, Inc.
8. KBH Home Inc.
7. Hovnanian Enterprises Inc.
6. Ryland Group
5. Standard Pacific Homes
4. John Wieland Homes and Neighborhoods
3. Beazer Homes USA
2. Meritage Homes Corporation
1. Lennar

[macjoubert]

Originally Posted by mancia22

Hi all,

My husband and I are possibly moving to Dallas/Fort Worth Texas and are interested in purchasing a home. After doing some research I stumbled across Meritage Homes and thought they were a great buy. Does anyone know anything about the quality of these homes? Or any other quality new home builders in these areas or surrounding areas? Any suggestions would be much appreciated!

P. S. I've heard so many negative things about KB Homes, so that is definitely not an option for us.

Thanks!

A friend of mine built his house with Meritage, he has nothing but nice things to say abt them.
A few points, he did a thorough analysis and got the construction engineer he desired, supervised lots of material purchases and constant inputs during the construction phase.
It helped that he was friends with the agents managers as well.

[nevernever]

Don't buy a meritage home. I know every experience will be different, but it took over a year for my home to be built. i had two other friends who built a little before me and they also had problems with getting the project completed on time. We are starting to have a lot of "settling" defects. the design is great - especially for the price. they should get design awards but not customer service or construction awards. i have only been in my house for two years and i am going to sale it. if i can't sale - i will walk away b/c i see a long life of problems ahead and i would rather hurt my credit for a decade than stay in this house. in summary - pretty homes, so just look at them and get ideas for what you want, but go with another builder. i'm in houston, so it may be different in other markets.

[ALQNsMommy]

Oh my gosh! Can I ask what sort of "settling" issues you've had? I imagine they must be pretty serious if you are willing to lose money on the deal just to get away from your property.

[Robo Cop]

I have been reading this chain and suprised about the stories i am reading. I love my Meritage Home and their service was great. I called them after reading about the BBB issue and they said it was due to another division not following up on a claim filed in the Dallas chapter. There have been reinstated (I also double checked the website). ALQNsMommy; you bought in SA and you are slamming them in Dallas? I bet this is a totally different operation, under different management w/ different staff.

[meritage1]

If you should choose to build a home with Meritage be sure to hire independant inspectors throughout the entire building process to protect yourself along with a final independant inspection prior to closing. Be prepared to not close on the house until all items are fixed-do not close with the promise that things will be quickly resolved after you move in unless you are willing to live without these items corrected. It is much easier to postpone the closing rather than deal with hassels of getting items corrected. Be sure to hire concrete, electrical, HVAC, natural gas, etc. inspectors during the building process while these items are being completed. Meritage has been known to cut corners (substandard concrete, debris mixed in with concrete creating voids in the foundation and driveways, too many outlets/switches on a circuit, gas leaks, HVAC not wired correctly, etc.). Be very cautious and do your homework so that you know the facts when being told things by Meritage (or any builder) are true and not just statements to pacify the situation. Also, the JDPowers survey results should not be relied on as there are known cases where Meritage employees have offered to fill this out for the customer, or asked to fill it out a certain way as bonuses to Meritage employees are paid based on high responses of individual surveys. You will receive several surveys from JDPowers and it would be recommended to not fill any of them out until all items are corrected throughout the warranty period to possibly help the response of warranty items.

[Nedra 13]

We have a Meritage Home and Paid a little less than $280,000 three years ago. The beams from our second story are pressing on the ceiling of our Master bedroom. In addition we have a five inch crack in the upstairs bedroom and our children's retreat. The floor creeks really bad in this area. I read my warranty manual and this concerns fit the guidelines of a structural defect. Oh I forgot my Kitchen in the Panty are falling down and the wood has warped. I sent in a request to get fixed a year ago and nothing was ever done. In addition, all the rivots under my sheetrock in the garage are starting to come undone to the point you can see each panel. I was told this is cosmetic and not a warranty issue. I am really disappointed in the quality of my home. I love the floorplan hate the craftsmanship.

[nsumner]

Originally Posted by Nedra 13

We have a Meritage Home and Paid a little less than $280,000 three years ago. The beams from our second story are pressing on the ceiling of our Master bedroom. In addition we have a five inch crack in the upstairs bedroom and our children's retreat. The floor creeks really bad in this area. I read my warranty manual and this concerns fit the guidelines of a structural defect. Oh I forgot my Kitchen in the Panty are falling down and the wood has warped. I sent in a request to get fixed a year ago and nothing was ever done. In addition, all the rivots under my sheetrock in the garage are starting to come undone to the point you can see each panel. I was told this is cosmetic and not a warranty issue. I am really disappointed in the quality of my home. I love the floorplan hate the craftsmanship.

Everything you describe should be covered by the 10 year warranty company. You shouldn't contact the builder, contact the 10 year structural warranty company. You should have been given their contact at your closing or at the time you signed your contract. A 5 inch crack isn't a called a crack anymore, it's a hole!

Naima