K Hovnanian Builders

Now, the bad. First off, our home was rushed to meet an end of quarter deadline. The K Hovnanian mortgage people alluded too and ultimately confirmed this. In fact, our future neighbors, who signed a week or two after us are still about a month or two away from completion. Our home was rushed and it shows. Don't get me wrong, the home is beautiful and will be wonderful for my family. That said, I'm actually looking forward to our warranty period being over so we don't have to deal with their post-sale folks.

I'm going to be vague on purpose since we're considering legal representation. Simply put, one of the systems in the home that requires a county inspection was altered after the inspection occurred. I'm sure this happens from time to time without consequence. However, this was catastrophic for us. My only suggestion at this point for any prospective buyers is to have the home inspected by a third party (we did) prior to drywall and make sure that if any changes are made following that inspection that you are informed and it's reinspected. I'll leave it at that for now and will update the review once we come to a resolution.

Speaking of the resolution, multiple people from K Hovnanian have admitted negligence as a cause of the issue. They literally used the words "negligence" and "human error." Yet, we are fighting with them to simply do what is right to remedy the situation. I hope we can come to a civil agreement here. In the case of negligence, there needs to be recourse. We're asking for very little recourse, but are being treated as if the incident no big deal. It is. Sewage is involved.

Look, it's a nice house. We're in a great neighborhood where our kids already have friends. The schools are great. We'll be happy here. Just beware and be warned that the warranty people are sketchy at best, very dismissive and the attention to detail and liberal policies around making major changes without re-inspection are definitely something to look out for. Would I buy from them again? Absolutely not. At the price point we purchased at, we could have custom built a home on a way larger lot...but we wanted this neighborhood. If I could do it again, we'd choose another builder.

One last suggestion - while the incentives may be alluring enough to make you consider using their lender, shop around. We found that similar loan products with other lenders effectively negate their incentives. Also, and since this is a review of the builder, not their "mortgage" company, I'll be brief. K Hovnanian Mortgage is second rate/junior varsity level at best. Even if it ends up costing you more to go with another lender, do it. Every one of our neighbors who used them all say the same thing: amateurish and waited until the last minute for everything which introduced a level of stress that was absolutely unnecessary.

We were denied any possibility to talk to the project manager, and our real estate agent was told that we essentially had to sign the contract “on faith” and that no changes in the contract identified by our real estate lawyer would be allowed. We were not allowed to see the precise quality of the materials for the build... Nor to know, in writing, the exact price, prior to signing a contract. Beware of bait and switch!

The bottom line is that this business model is based upon predatorial practices, including denying the buyer all the information about the house, including key pricing information, prior to signing a contract, which forces the buyer all rights to sue, if there are issues with the house (and based upon hundreds of other reviews, there are, and it appears that they often refuse to fix them). Demand a copy of their warranty, HOA agreement, and sample contract, and you will see for yourself. Additionally, our reading the “warranty” of the builder identified that there are nearly no scenarios in which they are legally bound or required to correct problems with their product.

As stated in many many other reviews online—take heed at all the attempts to prevent you from making the worst financial decision in your life. Do some reading and you will see that all advice tells you to do your homework on the builder, and have a real estate lawyer (emphasis) review and approve anything you sign. I’ll sleep well knowing we refused to do business with this disreputable company—and that we forewarned you as well. Buyer beware!

Issues: 1. The salesperson was uninformed on options, contract, products. 2. The options are EXTREMELY limited. Do let think "a new home, we'll build what we want". This is NOT custom. 3. We asked to replace the cheap windows with Pella products, which we would pay for. Not allowed. We had to take their poor products which now leak. 4. The salesperson quit and the new salesperson could not find the records of all of our choices; STARTED ALL OVER. 5. Their idea of showing us options was to stand at the window of the model and point "see that house about 4 doors down on the right..." 6. They were late at every turn when they needed to provide information to our mortgage company. They stated that the delays might cost US a penalty! They provided inaccurate information about the home, options and products.

7. The "included" line of options is so cheap, we were forced to upgrade to avoid having cardboard cabinets. 8. We selected a Trex deck for our back porch, the salesperson not only said it was an available choice, even showed us an existing Trex porch stating "this is how yours would look". Only to find they poured a CONCRETE porch, the sales manager absolutely denied the option to replace it despite it being in the contract! Our attorney noted that while it was in the contract, preamble disclaimers provide them the ability to change any option that the deem needed. 9. The sales Manager was rude, condescending, unprofessional, presented poorly, misinformed and just a nasty person.

10. We visited the building site each weekend throughout the build, EVERY WEEKEND we found errors, problems and just plain terrible workmanship. Trash in the walls (coffee cups, water bottles, McDonald's food bags), the wrong layout, walls where no wall should be, and A CRACK IN THE FOUNDATION WALL, the entire height, with water seeping in! WE caught that, not them. Explanation: "backhoe did that backfilling the dirt". They "fixed" it until the next rain. Leaked again. Had to call a REAL concrete repair co. They said "we have been to many Khov homes for the same issue". Apparently they band aid fix it until your 1 year warranty expires, then it's on you! 11. They trimmed the siding too short and it was coming out of the channels. The windows have patches where they incorrectly trimmed the vinyl.

12. I advised that we would have our own inspector at the pre-drywall walkthrough. We waited for them to provide a date. Instead, they asked us to the site to meet and "while we are here, we need to do the walkthrough". I advised our inspector was not aware so we need to reschedule. Get this, "if not today. The drywall will be used on another home and your build will be delayed by 2 weeks which will cause you a penalty of 10k. 13. The post-sale customer service guy downplays every concern "it's really not a big deal" water in my basement? 14. As we paint and make the house our own we find more and more shows of poor workmanship, cheap products, lack of any pride in the build, and less and less confidence in the structure.

Do yourself a favor, DO NOT USE KHOV!!! We provided a candid, well justified customer post-sale evaluation. With the numerous issues we presented, we were never contacted by anyone from KHOV. THEY HAVE NO INTEREST IN YOUR SATISFACTION AT ALL!!! Once you sign, they own you. This was a terrible, Terrible experience. And this is not my first new home build! RUN!!! RUN FAR, FAR AWAY!!!!

Now it is 3 years later and it fell out again. This time Customer service sent out a GE technician who explained it had been installed incorrectly and due to the way it was repaired, the legs and spring on the door are all bent. He said if he could remove the legs, he can repair it but it will only be a temporary fix and will pull loose again. His recommendation is a new dishwasher installed by GE not K Hov. K Hov refuses to accept any responsibility for the faulty installation.

This is not the only problem. Roof has leaked four times and each time we are assured it is fixed only to have it leak again the following year. First time we were told there were nail holes, next time, flashing was done incorrect, another time pulled up shingles and put new sealant. Each time the drywall was soaked and water dripped onto wood floors. Last time took 3 months before it was repaired. Had to keep trash can under leak because water poured out of light fixture when it rained.

Two months after we moved in, the sewer backed up into bathroom sink and tub. Upon investigation it was discovered the sewer line had been broken when the trench for the electric line was dug. Have also had multiple leaks in the crawl space which have been repaired after numerous phone calls. Save yourself all these nightmares by not purchasing a KHov home.

After the closing, they fixed the wiring for the AC but the AC was not cooling as it should - it used to take a lot of time to cool down. They fixed it by replacing the coil. After that, the AC is cooling as it should downstairs but upstairs is too strong - even blinds are moving when the AC is cooling upstairs. The AC company tried to fix a few times with no success and eventually they told me that it works how it is designed to work and they cannot do anything. Also, KHOV told me that if the AC company told me they cannot do anything, they cannot help me either.

The house is still under warranty, but obviously, it is not designed how it should be, so the warranty is basically useless. Another thing is that AC company told me that KHOV wanted to put only one outside unit for a whole house because it is cheaper while AC company wanted to put to separate units (for lower level and upper level). At the same time, the outside unit is very loud and it is impossible to sleep in one of the upstairs bedrooms. If I buy a house next time, the first thing I would check is if it was built by KHOV, and if it is I would never buy it. I will add the AC company name as well as soon as I find the papers...