Meritage Homes (Dallas, Fort Worth, Euless: sales, real estate, how much)

[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!

[Guingirl]

I have a friend that has a Meritage home in Crawford Farms. They really like it and honestly the build quality looked pretty good to me. They have the same granite that we have in our custom home and I really love their tiered media room that they have. It is really nice!

Depending upon your price range, you might also be able to do a custom builder. There are quite a few nice master builders out there. If you want a few names, just let me know. Other community type builders that are really nice are: Cross Timbers Homes (they are a smaller builder but really nice quality with a price range starting at 175K and up- my Mom has one of their homes and they are sooo on the ball!!); Standard Pacific, Toll Brothers and Darling Homes for higher end semi-custom homes.

[mancia22]

Thank you so much for your input! The maximum we would like to pay for a home is 325,000 (including any upgrades). I have looked into the Darling and Toll Brothers homes and they were a little out of my price range. If you could give me the names of the other master builders that would be great!

Thanks!

[Guingirl]

I sent you a direct message with names.

[harishv]

Try Highland homes, David Weekley homes and Drees homes. All good names and seemed like very solid builders. Drees is the most expensive of the 3 and getting a house price under 325 with upgrades might be difficult. the other two - no problems!
good luck.

[walty_14]

Also, look into Sotherby homes.

[Fairy Princess]

Hello Everyone:

Meritage homes in the past were a great builder, however, I am presently building a home with Meritage in Craig Ranch. I have had to hire a structural engineer to evaluate the home. I am haved hired a stucco engineer. Due to the building shortage. The company has one construction supervisor over many areas. You will be your own construction supervisor and have to hire experts while building the home. They are also using poor quality woodwork, doors, etc. It is not the same craftmanship as the model you are looking at, also they never use the same subcontractors so everytime new subcontractors come in to work on the home, they don't follow any custom designs as they are not using the upscale craftman that they used to put together the model home. No matter what the size of your home, it will take forever to get the home finished as they don't have any standard work crews that they use over and over so the house sits until the company can find someone at a very low budget to do the work and that also is the quality of the home. My home had many inspections it could not pass for over three times and also stop work orders were placed on the home. Other buyers are experiencing the same problems and have scared me to death when I see other home owners problems. These are areas where I never checked out the electrical and plumbing not installed. It will be over one year for a one story home to be built and it will not be the quality of the model. I put an extra 60,000 and a 40,000 pool in. The pool builders are the best, but I don't have any kind words for Meritage. Other buyers, have just walked on their homes and I may also walk. It is your best interest when building to see, does the builder use the same subcontractors and the same grade, bulk weight on the lumber and inside interior wood. My home is costing more than it should as I am my own construction supervisor and have to spend already well over a $1,000.00 to hire outside inspectors because if I see many errors, what else am I missing. I am not a builder, I have no experience with electrical, plumbing, framing, slab pouring and inside finish out on a home. I have built many other new homes, 2 in the Dallas area. This is the worst experience I have ever had in building a home. Please don't do what I did, knock on new home owners doors in the neighborhood you are looking at, find out what they have to say about their new home, find out how long did it take to build the home and what additional outside costs they occured. Good Luck with your new home decision.

[Susan Hanson]

HI--I'm a real estate agent for RE/MAX. I am actually taking clients out to a new Meritage development called Villas at Texas Star by Texas Star Golf Course in Euless on Saturday. They want to live in the Euless area and prefer new construction--same price range you are in mancia22. I appreciate fairy princess's info--I'll be sure to tell my client. I haven't worked with Meritage before. I can let you know what I learn about Villas at Texas Star. [MOD CUT]

[NS_Highlander]

Below are some tips many people often don't think of to help ensure the new home you get is of lasting quality. This pertains mostly to those considering building, but also to those considering spec homes or resales.

1. If you are moving into a new construction neighborhood or a fairly new resale, check the reputation of the builder. Even if the house you buy now is in good shape, the rest of the neighborhood could be a slum in a few years. For example, I saw a house a few weeks ago that had windows that were taped and not flashed, as well as no moisture barrier between the siding and the OSB board. If the rest of the houses are built like that, I will put money on that neighborhood having rot in the walls in the future.

2. If you decide you want to move into a certain neighborhood also make sure the builder is transparent- even on spec home or resale. There are builders I have dealt with that does not allow walk-thoughs, phase inspections or for you to ever (and I mean ever) talk to the guy who is building your house. The first thing you should do is ask the sales agent what their polices are on the previous issues. If they have such evasive policy's, politely and promptly leave their office.
The question is what are they hiding? Companies like this cut very important corners and do not stand behind their work. Remember, if the customer service is lacking before they sell a home to you, what is it going to be like once you own it and the problems that come with it? Something to think about.

3. Get your home inspected by and ASHI certified inspector. ASHI has the highest standards, more so than NASHI. If you are building, have them phase inspect the progress. If the company won't allow it, LEAVE! Evasive builders never build houses built to last.

4. Get a good Realtor and make sure you are dealing with someone that will represent you when it hits the fan. Someone who will go the extra mile. If the Realtor has their stuff together, they will help you avoid some of the landlines out there. Never deal with an online Realtor that gives a rebate or a kickback. The service is just lacking.

5. Put your emotions aside, and be objective. No matter how much you like the floorplan or the location, it isn't worth getting a bad investment that will fall apart.

[ALQNsMommy]

Fairy Princess -

How is your house coming along? We moved into a Meritage house last June (it was a speci - semi complete when we purchased it from out of state). Our lives have been a living hell since then! The craftsmanship is unbelievable poor. Very substandard builder. Run for the hills!