K Hovnanian or Grand Homes? (Dallas, Plano: hardwood floor, houses, neighborhood)

[zee2007]

I am planning to buy a house in Murphy.Please, can you advice whether to go for Grand Homes or K Hovnanian.Which builder is better?

[nsumner]

Hello Zee2007,
I am familiar with the product of both builders and they are comparable builders. However, every community is different because it will depend on which builder they use in that particular community. Building a home could be a nightmare if the communication is poor & deadlines not met among other factors.

I guess in Murphy, you are looking at the Aviary, my best suggestion is to knock on doors and ask people that have purchased there what they think. [MOD CUT] You will always find sites such as khovsucksdotcom

KHOV has a "satisfactory record" with the Better Business Bureau. See link Reliability Report

Grand Homes have the same rating with the BBB. However, their number of complaints is higher. See the link Reliability Report They have a lot of inventory homes in Rolling Ridge in Murphy. I would suggest the same thing here, and that is to knock on doors and ask the homeowners about their own experience.

[MOD CUT]I would recommend that you buy a house that is already in inventory because you can usually negotiate a much better price and it elimnates a lot of the headaches associated with building.

Moderator cut: soliciting not allowed

This said, I think you will be receiving different opinions from people.

[MurphyPl1]

We looked at both before deciding on a Sotherby. But of those two we preferred the quality of KHov. However, some good friends of ours had a total nightmare when building their home and while it was all resolved, the service aspect was what turned them off.

[intence]

I agree with the suggestions to look at existing inventory, as you can negotiate a MUCH better deal, particularly now in the holiday season when home-buying is slower than normal.

I have read several negatives about Stucco homes built by Khov, so perhaps be especially weary if you're considering one of those. On the other hand, Grand seems to also get a large number of complaints and an agent I was speaking with also didn't have many good things to say about them.

If the home is already built, a thorough inspection should be able to reveal any serious problems, and getting an engineer to do a foundation inspection probably wouldn't hurt either.

[MurphyPl1]

You won't find a stucco home built by either in Murphy so that shouldn't be an issue.

[gOOters]

Is JDPowers a good reference for builders? We just moved to Wylie and avoided a Grand neighborhood based on JDPower feedback, plus we found a great inventory deal at a nearby Centex subdivision.

Having said that, there is a neighborhood on Country Club road that has Grand homes that are going in the low $200s, which seems like a STEAL for the houses they are building. I think you get a free pool too?!?

[Lopez1105]

I would say definately stay away from Grand Homes. We purchased a home and had it built last year in Dallas however, we were unable to sell our home in California due to the market taking a turn for the worse. In the beginning everyone was extremely nice to us and made us feel special however things really changed when we could not sell our home in California. To make a long story short, we no longer received quality customer service , in fact we had a hard time getting anyone to return our calls. We were told the initial deposit would be lost if the transaction did not go through but anything else we put down for upgrades etc. would be returned. This was an outright lie. Grand homes stated it was their right to keep our funds stating we cancelled our contract when in fact they informed us that our contract was void long before since the home was complete and we were not ready to move. Grand had no problem selling our home since it was a beautiful home with the upgrades we had chosen. I would never recommend this company who to me operates under false pretenses and is very unethical. Be very careful!!

[larissanne]

I would stay away from Grand Homes also. We we were going to build with Grand in Plano when my husband had an independent person check the foundation. Grand homes then came back and tried to convince us to use a different foundation. Funny, how Grand homes knew this piece of information and never told us about it beforehand. Now, 3 years later, my husband ran into a resident from the same Grand home neighborhood and they are all suing for foundation problems. They are cheap for a reason folks.

[eka]

I built a KHov home in Murphy last year and have been very pleased. We had some problems with a water leak causing our hardwood floor to buckle. They came in and fixed everything quickly and professionally -- no questions asked and no expense on our part. They even paid for our stays at the Gaylord Texan and the Great Wolf Lodge while the floor was refinished.

While your at it, if you haven't committed already, take a look at the completed Standard Pacific homes in Maxwell Creek. They have some very nice homes that have been sitting for months, and perhaps you could negotiate a good deal.

[case44]

When I plan my future home, KHov will be the first people I'll talk to. I want to eventually have a Spanish-style design, and KHov is supposed to be good with those.