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Old 10-12-2009, 09:50 AM
 
Location: Estero, Florida (formerly Appleton, Wisconsin)
325 posts, read 1,017,246 times
Reputation: 170

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Thank you so much. I really appreciate that.
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Old 10-23-2009, 06:32 PM
 
Location: Texas
2,847 posts, read 2,485,471 times
Reputation: 1774
Love the community, love the people.

Consider the builder:
Unbelievable for a new home

1. Title Company overcharged the $200 service fee already paid by me directly to Pulte Mortgage. I brought it to their attention, 10 days later received refund check. Also Title Company did not have the HUD 1 from my previous home (error on Pulte Mortgage and Title obviously did not audit the file before closing). I supplied it to them the next day. Also Title Company did not pay the Homeowners Insurance timely as I received a letter from the Insurance company telling me it had not been paid. When I called the Title Company, they said my file had been put away and nothing was funded or paid, their error.

2. No keys, no transponder and no garage door opener and no gate code at closing.

3. Rear porch steps not built to code redone with three steps instead of two steps and 7” drop instead of 8 ½” drop

4. Scrape on dining room wall, heavy brushed by painter over a sprayed wall. I have put 1 ½ gallons of paint on the wall myself to rectify the problem.

5. Dishwasher on rinse cycle vibrates very loud. GE service coming next week. As of 10-28(one month after closing) still waiting for repairs.

6. Air conditioner when installed was not checked for “Freon”, line was at 25 degrees, should be 10 to 15 degrees, obviously not checked at install.

7. Air conditioner makes loud bang on start up, Airtron coming to check the issue. Possibly compressor valve. Found out from Airtron, poor install. Copper line from house not bolted to A/C unit.

8. Towel rings in bathroom placed directly over light switches. Poor design.

9. Down spout drainage problem on garage, needs to be re-directed to driveway. (Obviously a problem, as all houses on Pronghorn have corrected downspout) Repaired but with mud and bark left all over the sidewalk and driveway. Sub needs to look up “pig” in the dictionary.

10. Chipped tiles in kitchen, flaw in tile, tillers installed them anyway. Epoxy touched up chips.

11. Have owned 17 homes. This is the first where no welcoming gift received.

12. Unable to connect clothes dryer, no dryer exhaust elbow at wall.

13. Painter stepped in paint and tracked it around the front and rear porch and in front of garage door.

14. Garage door does not seal at top when closed, can see light when closed.

15. Pulte will only make one sheetrock repair in the first year. Nail pop in kitchen ceiling, can live with it for a year, do their one any only fix, or fix it myself, like lots of other things here.

16. Blue tape left on several areas outside, not repaired. (Screens and patio lid)

17. Generally building codes do not allow for wall switches to be behind an open door, switches for living room, behind open door. (Design flaw)

It seems like the weakest link is paint, caulk and trim, both interior and exterior. It looks like a bunch of unskilled third graders did most of the work.

Also considering this is a Del Webb/Pulte 55 plus community, several corporate decisions were made that do not seem like wise marketing, i.e. no option for switched wall plugs, and no second bathroom raised vanity option.
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Old 10-23-2009, 06:48 PM
 
Location: SoCal-So Proud!
4,263 posts, read 10,781,069 times
Reputation: 1558
Wow...quite a long laundry list you've got there. Sounds they're not built to last ( to be fair,a lot of it is small stuff though). Not very smart on the builder's part, as a lot of these folks are retired (I would suspect) and will have ALL DAY EVERY DAY to break their balls.


Quote:
Originally Posted by aliveandwellinSA View Post
Love the community, love the people.

Consider the builder:
Unbelievable for a new home

1. Title Company overcharged the $200 service fee already paid by me directly to Pulte Mortgage. I brought it to their attention, 10 days later received refund check. Also Title Company did not have the HUD 1 from my previous home (error on Pulte Mortgage and Title obviously did not audit the file before closing). I supplied it to them the next day. Also Title Company did not pay the Homeowners Insurance timely as I received a letter from the Insurance company telling me it had not been paid. When I called the Title Company, they said my file had been put away and nothing was funded or paid, their error.

2. No keys, no transponder and no garage door opener and no gate code at closing.

3. Rear porch steps not built to code redone with three steps instead of two steps and 7” drop instead of 8 ½” drop

4. Scrape on dining room wall, heavy brushed by painter over a sprayed wall. I have put 1 ½ gallons of paint on the wall myself to rectify the problem.

5. Dishwasher on rinse cycle vibrates very loud. GE service coming next week. As of 10-28(one month after closing) still waiting for repairs.

6. Air conditioner when installed was not checked for “Freon”, line was at 25 degrees, should be 10 to 15 degrees, obviously not checked at install.

7. Air conditioner makes loud bang on start up, Airtron coming to check the issue. Possibly compressor valve. Found out from Airtron, poor install. Copper line from house not bolted to A/C unit.

8. Towel rings in bathroom placed directly over light switches. Poor design.

9. Down spout drainage problem on garage, needs to be re-directed to driveway. (Obviously a problem, as all houses on Pronghorn have corrected downspout) Repaired but with mud and bark left all over the sidewalk and driveway. Sub needs to look up “pig” in the dictionary.

10. Chipped tiles in kitchen, flaw in tile, tillers installed them anyway. Epoxy touched up chips.

11. Have owned 17 homes. This is the first where no welcoming gift received.

12. Unable to connect clothes dryer, no dryer exhaust elbow at wall.

13. Painter stepped in paint and tracked it around the front and rear porch and in front of garage door.

14. Garage door does not seal at top when closed, can see light when closed.

15. Pulte will only make one sheetrock repair in the first year. Nail pop in kitchen ceiling, can live with it for a year, do their one any only fix, or fix it myself, like lots of other things here.

16. Blue tape left on several areas outside, not repaired. (Screens and patio lid)

17. Generally building codes do not allow for wall switches to be behind an open door, switches for living room, behind open door. (Design flaw)

It seems like the weakest link is paint, caulk and trim, both interior and exterior. It looks like a bunch of unskilled third graders did most of the work.

Also considering this is a Del Webb/Pulte 55 plus community, several corporate decisions were made that do not seem like wise marketing, i.e. no option for switched wall plugs, and no second bathroom raised vanity option.
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Old 10-23-2009, 07:00 PM
 
Location: San Antonio
7,629 posts, read 16,382,216 times
Reputation: 18770
While AliveandwellinSA has legit complaints, ALL builders and ALL new houses come with issues. We had 4 pages of "issues" in our home when we built in 1994 in Westcreek, and I think we can all agree that things are not built like they use to be even 15 yrs ago. FCF, you live in Westcreek, and that is where our first home is, so either you or the original owner had issues that needed tweeking or you would have done different.

Owning a home in both Westcreek and Del Webb, I can tell you these homes are well built, but little issues will come up with ANY new home...here or any other city in the nation. That is one reason we REALLY could appreciate buying pre-owned this time....those flaws had all been ironed out and the window coverings, H2O softner, reverse osmosis and deck were all "included"...we just moved in, unpacked, and began to enjoy the GREAT neighborhood we live in!
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Old 10-23-2009, 07:13 PM
 
Location: Texas
2,847 posts, read 2,485,471 times
Reputation: 1774
Quote:
Originally Posted by Paka View Post
While AliveandwellinSA has legit complaints, ALL builders and ALL new houses come with issues. We had 4 pages of "issues" in our home when we built in 1994 in Westcreek, and I think we can all agree that things are not built like they use to be even 15 yrs ago. FCF, you live in Westcreek, and that is where our first home is, so either you or the original owner had issues that needed tweeking or you would have done different.

Owning a home in both Westcreek and Del Webb, I can tell you these homes are well built, but little issues will come up with ANY new home...here or any other city in the nation. That is one reason we REALLY could appreciate buying pre-owned this time....those flaws had all been ironed out and the window coverings, H2O softner, reverse osmosis and deck were all "included"...we just moved in, unpacked, and began to enjoy the GREAT neighborhood we live in!
Great idea. The best approach is to buy an existing home with all the bugs worked out or since builders do not do things the way they used to, would be to his an inspector to go through a new build with a fine tooth comb. I would do one of these if I could start over again.
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Old 10-24-2009, 04:37 AM
 
Location: San Antonio
7,629 posts, read 16,382,216 times
Reputation: 18770
Having been in AliveandwellinSA's beautiful home, I can tell you that I did not notice the things that made their correction list (except for the wall part that they pointed out) and found it to be a very nice home. ALL new homes, built by ANYONE has flaws, and I just think that one of the benefits of buying a preowned home is that someone else dealt with that "flaw list" but it is important to remember it was there for SOMEONE to deal with. I have never heard of someone buying a brand new home that did not have SOME kind of list of issues to be corrected....I also know that trying to get a house "liveable" is expensive once you consider the other things NEEDED (h2o system, reverse osmosis, window coverings, etc). It was just nice to be able to move in and unpack without measuring everything for ordering and pulling out the check book 17 times per day to buy the needed "______" to get the home settled. Some folks want brand new homes, and that is ok...but having bought both, I lean towards a used home now for the benefits of having those items taken care of, that's all.
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Old 08-10-2010, 10:32 AM
 
2 posts, read 4,621 times
Reputation: 10
Default Hill Country Retreat

How many homes are now completed at Hill Country Retreat, how many acres is it sitting on, and what is the average age? I know it states for adults 55+ but I'm thinking most residents are in their 60's (like us) interested is an easier, maintenance free lifestyle with tons of amenities as we've been reading about and now considering. Any latest updates good or bad about Hill Country Retreat would be helpful. We plan to drive out to take a look first hand but always helpful to read forums from individuals like yourselves who actually live there. Anything to share?
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Old 09-26-2010, 04:36 PM
 
15 posts, read 38,937 times
Reputation: 22
I don't believe it's maintenance free. You are still responsible for yard care, I believe.
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Old 10-19-2010, 08:33 PM
 
2 posts, read 4,621 times
Reputation: 10
Hi! We are considering moving to Hill Country Retreat, driving out there again for the third time, but a bit nervous moving from our home out here by Wimberley. Looking for a more 'stress free' lifestyle, travel more, less yard work (on 2.5 acres now) etc. I see you've been there about a year. Please be honest, what do you think? Are you pleased with the construction of your home? Thanks for anything you are willing to share. Cheryl
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Old 10-19-2010, 09:06 PM
 
3,468 posts, read 8,521,345 times
Reputation: 1621
DW824 ~ I don't know if Paka is posting on here much anymore ~ because she seems to be very busy with and LOVING living in the Del Webb community!!! They seem to be VERY happy there and having the time of their lives. I'm totally jealous!
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