Centex Homes

The rep we were forced to go with had not been there long and was not as helpful as the other. From the beginning they were always pushing the sale (saying the incentives are about to end), if not for our realtor we probably would have walked away from the deal. Which I wish I had at this point. The next step as far as financing went was a disaster, we were locked in to only find out we did qualify for a conventional loan. We had to fight to get this loan not even knowing to the last day of signing it was gonna happen.

We were told by the sales person that the conventional loan was no longer available with the incentives. Then later the loan officer saying it was still available, they did not share this information until we were locked into a FHALoan. After several weeks they finally said we could get the conventional only to find out it was not for sure, because our spot had been given to someone else. We finally got the conventional loan, but only after a lot of back and forth argument. We were not even fully accepted for the loan until closing day. So this was very nerve-racking up to the last second.

Now we are in the home and tons of things that were marked in the inspection have not been completed. Our construction manager said he would personally fix them, which talking to other home owners on our development is not a good thing. Several stories about our cm making things worse in the homes when he tried to “fix“ them himself. There are some instances where he also removed tape marking areas of Sheetrock, paint, and flooring mistakes. Our upstairs guest bedroom slants significantly when you walk into it. Another thing that he said he tried to fix. There is a whole area of just bad painting and Sheetrock going up the stairs that needs to be fixed.

At this to say we have tried submitting these things to the customer service website to only be told we would have to wait like 8 or 9 months. This is supposedly referring to the 1 year warranty on workmanship, which I could understand if these are new problems we face after we moved in, but we have what feels like a used home at the moment. I have tried to contact our original warranty to person to no avail. I finally had to contact the air conditioner people myself to get a coil replaced along with other things fixed on the ac unit.

My biggest thing right now is that it would seem that the construction manager has the biggest blame for allowing the shoddy work and not completing what he said he would. We are trying to figure out our next steps, because we don’t want to wait to get these things fixed for fear of other excuses of why they can’t be fixed and they are done with the development of the property.

We lived about 15 minutes from our build and drove by at least once a week. I noticed that the new sod was not getting watered, and that the sprinkler system was not even plugged in. I contacted the construction manager who flat out lied and said it was because of a recent freeze and it would come back nice and green by closing. We ended up closing with a dead yard. We were told we had to accept the lawn the way it was and that if it did not come back in 30 days they would replace it. Well, it never came back; it didn’t help that during our initial walk through we found several sprinkler heads that did not work or were watering the dirt next door.

It has now been almost 90 days and the sod has yet to be replaced. The grass is an eye sore; we got a violation notice for a poorly maintained lawn, and have been told we are not a priority because they need to concentrate on new homes both with this builder and others. This was just the tip of the iceberg with the issues we have dealt with. The carpet in the family room right as you walk in was two different colors, there was a patch that was a third color and shaped as a hexagon in one part of the room. The carpet in the loft had and still has a large lump that is the entire width of the loft, we were told they are allowed a certain level of error and that this fell within that, so they do not need to fix it; it is easily a trip hazard.

The carpet in the master bedroom was also two different colors and the best part of all, the painters spilled a can of paint on the stairs and the construction manager did not want to clean it up. It is still crunchy where this happened. There was a two-paddle light switch that was fully mudded and taped into the wall, the cover and all. All you could see were the paddles themselves. Our cabinets were scratched up, the dishwasher was not connected, the kitchen sink leaks, and several windows did not open all the way. They had the wrong window installed on the second floor, we were missing most of our screens, and had holes in the shingles on the roof. There were nails sticking out of the trim that we told the construction manager about and all he did was pull them, not bothering to fill or paint the wholes.

We had a light on the second floor that would not turn off, the closet doors were not secured, and the master door was so far off the door wouldn’t shut without excessive force. Outside there was white glue calk all over the roof seen from the second floor and on the siding. The water line for the fridge had the threads faced the inside of the wall, making it so you could not connect a water line. The construction manager said he didn’t think it could be fixed and was going to leave it if I didn’t push the issue with him.

After working with the construction manager for a bit I came to understand where part of the problem lied, and we are not alone. Everyone we have spoken with in our neighborhood has had numerous problems as well. As we created our list during the first walk through prior to closing, there were several things the CM was not adding. He said they were minor things that he would fix himself, and they don’t put the list. When we came for our final walk through, hardly a thing had been fixed. We initially refused to sign off on the list of issues but were supposed to close in a couple hours.

The construction manager told us it was common practice that the remaining issues would be handled by after closing warranty, the CM even went as far as typing up an email, showing us this email, and then deleting it never sending it to the warranty manager. We were very apprehensive about signing but he reassured us and begged us to sign it, so we did. What a mistake that was! We contacted the warranty manager to find out it was all a lie and we had been conned into signing the documents. All of the issues we had were supposed to be fixed and handled prior to closing.

We were very blessed with the warranty manager, however, who had really gone to bat to get most of the issues resolved even though it was not supposed to be her job to do so. There are still some issues that she has not been able to get resolved. We were one of the first houses to close in our pod, after seeing the lack of oversight I completely understand how the issues come about. First off, the workers are sub-contractors of the sub-contractors, they drink on the job, there are always crushed beer cans around the homes under construction. The worst part is the CM knows about this but does nothing about it. In Florida it rains a lot, the windows are left open 24 hours a day rain or shine on the houses.

I mentioned to the CM that a fully dry walled home behind us had its windows open all Memorial Day weekend and it rained a lot, his exact words were “it's not my house” and left the windows open for several more days over which we had heavy rains. One of the worst experiences we encountered was the painters next door spray painted the under-construction home on a windy day. The paint and primer covered our car, side of the house, soffits, patio furniture, grill, A/C unit, and anything else that was down wind. I contacted the CM who met me at the house with the painting company. However, not a word was said, not even an apology. We then found out it was a sub-contractor of the main painter.

The sub-contractor is refusing to take ownership and won’t even give the contact info or company name. Now I am forced to hire an attorney to get this resolved, and of course Centex is not offering any help. What should have been an extremely happy time in our lives has been nothing but stress and disappointment. I do really want to stress, the only saving grace in this experience has been the wonderful warranty consultant who has gone out of her way to try and make what she can right. Please, Please Please, consider another builder!

PGP Title - I called them because Chance **, New Home Sales Consultant, said it would be smoother using them. I did not receive a callback. I followed up with Chance, and he reached out to PGP Title. Again, I never received a callback. Eventually, I did receive an email from Jennifer **, escrow officer, where the information was based on my using Pulte Mortgage. I felt that despite this all being one umbrella company, the representatives in the divisions do not talk to each other or cannot view the information as they should. That is the main benefit of using a one-stop-shop. Chance did take some time to update the contract. I had to ask a few times.

Centex: The framing was done. I noticed some damaged lumber and wanted that addressed. I let Tyler, the on-site construction manager, and Chance know. No response. Upon my follow-up, Tyler dismissed me, saying it was not damaged and said they were knots. My realtor told them I wanted everything fixed and the construction to be stopped so Centex could address the issues. Chance said that they were not going to fix it. I drove by the house and realized that Centex continued construction by installing sheathing that covered up the problems despite my concerns. I had a framing inspection done, and I'm so grateful for that because he noticed more issues. This house should not have even passed inspection.

Pictures are worth 1000 words, so you can see the lumber that has mold in it. All the nails that weren't fully flush with the wood. More than 50% of the wood used was damaged. The column for the patio is not fully supported on the concrete. They were drinking on the job. There were Beer cans all over the place. They knew my framing inspection was scheduled and didn't have the decency to remove the beer cans. This was more confirmation of their carelessness and how entitled they felt to selling this house.

Eventually, a meeting was scheduled about the way forward involving my realtor, Tyler, Chance, and Lou ** (Not sure of the spelling), the head construction manager for the east side of San Antonio. Unfortunately, he denied most of the findings, my licensed home inspector noticed. Furthermore, Centex refused to fix all the significant issues. Therefore, I did not proceed with the home purchase due to the below-par construction of the home. I'm disappointed. I'm frustrated about my wasted time and the poor customer service I received from Pulte Mortgage, Pulte Title, and Centex. This experience is unacceptable. I hope this is not the norm, but I will not use Pulte/Centex services again. I am so sorry for whoever purchased **.

Roughly 2 weeks prior to sheetrock stage we received an email stating we were no longer in line for this property and it would go to a bidding process. This was a huge waste of time and house prices have gone up 20% in the area in the last 8 months. This was however a blessing in disguise as we have seen other reviews and put a house that better meets our needs under contract.

I cannot afford whatever costs are involved living on Social Security. Lennox told me that I could get any tech I want as long as they are licensed HVAC so I chose to get another tech because Airtron cannot remedy the issue. I am hot and uncomfortable. I have started contacting the Governor, Attorney General and legal hotline for Texans consumer protection advocates. Centex should take responsibility for this. This air conditioner has been having issues since I bought the home. It is a lemon. Centex does not care for their people once the sale is closed. Unhappy home owner!

Original Review: I have been in my new Centex home for a little over 2 years and have had Airtron Air Conditioning, (through my 2 year warranty) out to fix the noise on my outside heat pump. Brand new Lennox unit. The times they were out they replaced the shroud (fan housing) but that didn't fix the loud noise. I told them as much. I can't have the heat on at night because the noise keeps me awake and is very unnerving. I gets very uncomfortable and cold because of this. The noise at times gets louder than usual and sounds as if a helicopter is outside. I am a senior citizen and just wanted a home that was peaceful for me and this isn't.

There are a small handful of house models you can choose from, some one-story and some two-story, and the layout can be a bit different between the two kinds. In our one-story, the master bathroom is on the left side of the house. Both showers have a window above them. In the lot directly to the left of us, they allowed the buyers to choose a two-story elevation, with windows upstairs that look out to the right. Which means they could see directly into our shower below them. On our own dime, we were able to frost our window, but as the first people on our small four-house street to buy a lot, they should have had the presence of mind and the diligence to tell those people that they couldn't buy a two-story on that lot, or they'd be looking into our shower.

Construction -- Our floor is laminate, which is fine, but there are bubbles and waves in it and a rather large divot in one spot, which we noticed on the foundation when the house was first being built, but figured surely they would level it before they did the floors. They did not. We pointed it out to them once before our closing, and they "fixed" it. I don't know what they did, but absolutely nothing changed. The huge divot is still there, and there are still bubbles and waves in the laminate in one area. It looks AWFUL.

As for the walls, the paint that they used is, first of all, called "Devine White" (no, I did not spell 'divine' wrong; this is what they're calling it). It is in no way white, not on any planet. It is basically a very pale peach-ish yellow. Furthermore, they used matte-finish paint, so if you even breathe near a wall, it will leave a smudge. Also, within our first month here, the wall and ceiling started to separate from each other in a corner of the kitchen.

There were some other little things, like the sealing around the door had a gap at the bottom which was letting cold air in, and in one of the rooms the blinds were missing the turning rods. At 30 days you are supposed to report anything like this that has gone wrong, because the house is warrantied. So we notified them about the blinds, the front door, the ceiling, and the floors. We heard NOTHING back. At 60 days we notified them again and finally got a response. They scheduled someone to come and fix the ceiling, but they were an hour late. The blind turning rods and front door were fixed on the same day that the ceiling was repaired -- repaired, but not painted. No one notified us about painting, and one day a guy just showed up, in the middle of our work day, to paint. No notification. And we've still heard nothing about the floor.

Speaking of floors, the carpet is laid terribly. You can feel nails if you step on the edge of where carpet meets floor, there are places that are bumpy and/or have a bubble underneath that makes a kind of crunching noise when you step on it, and other places where you can clearly see where one piece of carpet meets the other. And now for my sermon on the Homeowner's Association. It costs over $1500 per year to live in this development, and the list of things you cannot have/cannot do is massive. Everything -- and I mean EVERYTHING -- has to be approved if you want to make your house and the surrounding "yard" your own and not the Stepford cookie-cutout that is this entire development. They will not allow two houses next to each other to be the same color, and when I say "color", I mostly mean one of three shades of grey.

This neighborhood is so depressingly identical and the houses all look like they were stamped out, as close together as possible. What is supposed to be included in HOA dues is lawn care and landscaping. Landscaping is a joke; everyone gets a tree and a row of some puny monkey-grass plants in front -- which have all died, by the way -- with some sad ugly shrubs along the side and in the back. EVERYONE gets these. And so far, at two and a half months, there has been no yard maintenance whatsoever. And of course if you want to replace any of these plants with something you actually like, you have to get approval from the HOA. The HOA will not let you keep your bins where they are visible. The HOA will not let you get a birdhouse. The HOA will not let you have a trampoline. The HOA will not let you have a pool. The HOA will not let you hang bird feeders. The HOA will not let you park a certain way in your own driveway.

The HOA is charging us for use of a community pool, gym, walking trails, and clubhouse that are not even finished yet and that wouldn't be able to be used anyway because of the virus. Were we told about any of the things we could NOT do when we signed paperwork to get our construction started? Did we have some sense that we were moving into a fascist domain? No, of course not. We were told the HOA would provide landscaping and lawn care, and that is all. Oh, and we were told every kitchen gets pendant lighting over the island, but apparently "every" kitchen did not include ours. And finally, every time I try to submit my review to their own website, AT THEIR REQUEST, there are somehow "difficulties" posting my review. Which is why I'm here.