Meritage Townhomes and Homes

[Fly dude]

Originally Posted by Ideo

I heard from my inspector who did a lot of inspections of many builders. He told me to avoid Meritage. I'm glad that I didn't choose this company.

Hey Ideo.

Can you me more specific, about why your inspector said to avoid
Meritage? I've heard nothing bad about them, including talking to
some future neighbors. Would like to hear more details. Thank you.

[Ideo]

I hired 2 inspectors when I built my house. Both of them were good and didn't like the quality of Meritage Homes. They adored David Weekley and Trendmaker - the builders I couldn't find the models I like and could afford. They told me that my builder is just "above average" (I actually think mine is just "average"). Note that I didn't buy Meritage because I didn't like their models. I don't know about their quality. However, talking to your inspectors is always a good idea. These folks have inspected lots of houses.

If you look for the builders, there are at least 3 interrelated factors that could affect the quality of your new home: (1) construction manager (or supervisor), (2) building materials, and (3) contractors. Unfortunately, the builders tend to be able to control all of these factors.

Supervisor: If you have a good supervisor, you should be just fine. However, not all of them are capable of managing the "schedule & cost" and, at the same time, the "quality" of your house. Many of them just finished their school/2-yr college (or just completed their assignment in the army), and the company made them to take some construction management courses before assigning them to the sites. I also heard from my inspectors that they prefer supervisors who worked their way up from foremen. I disagreed with them on this issue! Moreover, the builders often change your supervisor before your house is complete. This is normal, but "not a good practice."

Building materials: it's a sole responsibility of the builders to keep their promise. There's no excuse for low quality construction materials. I don't think that you'll see a "big" difference in this factor. For example, I always have a hard time determining which builder is "greener" than another one. Everybody is green - just bright or pale green! I would die for the "foam insulation" (rather than the pink Owen Corning batt) but none of the builders will do that for me because it costs ten times more than the batt.

Contractors: it's getting more and more difficult to find good contractors. It's possible that different builders in the same subdivision use the same contractors (to save their costs, easy to manage, whatever). In this case (and many cases), the quality of your houses will depend upon the supervisors who determine "when to pay the contractors" or "don't pay until their get things done."

Good luck with your search!

[scammed1]

I hired 2 inspectors when I built my house. Both of them were good and didn't like the quality of Meritage Homes. They adored David Weekley and Trendmaker -

Adored-I have never heard of inspectors adoring builders.
Do yourself a favor and go to the sites of Homeowners for Better Building and Homeowners Against Deficient Dwellings, 2 national grassroots organizations.
They are full of information. Learn the laws of Texas regarding hombuilding in this state. There are also recommended books to read and excellent articles.
You can search for builders on the sites and also go to Ripoff Report.

Texas has a state site for home inspectors as well.

[SEPUEDE]

@ Chris_ut

Please elaborate regarding their title company/lender being shady?

[Rip808]

I have bought 2 Meritage homes and never had issues with any of them. Good luck.