I would not recommend Pulte Homes.  I personally had a nightmare experience with Pulte and others have emailed me various issues with Pulte Homes.  First of all, their contracts are written heavily biased in their favor.  I have had attorneys review their contracts and if you have any dispute with them it must go to a arbitration company called AAA arbitration.  I was told by an attorney that the arbitration board can consist of members of the home building industry, so with a solid case  the arbitration board can be biased in Pulte's favor.  In addition, you have to be suspect of a company referring all of their arbitration cases to the same arbitration company. So if you have any issues with your home, you are already at a disadvantage with the company as soon as you sign the contract.  Also if you lose in arbitration, you are liable for also paying Pulte's attorney fees.  Next issue is the lending,  the way the contract is written, if you use Pulte Mortgage(Pulte gives incentives to use Pulte Mortgage so they can further trap you) they issue a loan approval whether you are actually qualified for the loan or not, you are locked in and your earnest money is non refundable.  I had one individual that contacted me that on his loan approval condition, he had to rent out his current home more than twice the average market rental, he could not rent out his home for this amount, could not get the loan and lost his earnest money.  The contract is so vague if you don't qualify on the loan, they have a paragraph that you must make a good faith effort in obtaining financing.  Well trying to decipher a good faith effort with attorney fees that may cost you in excess of $200/hr you may never define a good faith effort. Next is workmanship, Pulte uses a separate LLC for their lending division, and their building companies.  So if you try to sue Pulte for workmanship it not only again goes to arbitration but also a separate LLC that they can easily shut down and move on and you may never get your repairs completed. Also Pulte is notorious for other unexpected surprises for you, including assessments that were never disclosed that you would be required to pay later down the road. Pulte keeps the top attorney firms on retainer, and will drag your claims out until you exhaust your resources in attorney fees that will exceed your damages that you are seeking.  In addition, you may also have to pay their attorney fees if you lose. Do you really want to do business with this type of company?   Here are some articles for you, also I would do Google searches on Pulte and you will find some horrible stories regarding these folks.   Here are 2 unhappy KC buyers - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Agf5qR37nCM   Now Pulte is pulling out of the same KC market! Hmmm, I wonder why, shutting down the LLC and skip out on making their repairs? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svPE3FT_CQs   Testimonials of unhappy Pulte customers   http://home.att.net/~pulte/testimonials.html   http://home.att.net/~pulte/malpractice.html   http://blog.aflcio.org/2008/01/25/report-construction-defects-common-in-pulte-and-del-webb-homes/   http://camplemonadestand.com/defects.htm   http://www.poorlybuiltbypulte.info/report.asp   http://www.abc15.com/content/news/phoenixmetro/story.aspx?content_id=fcadd91e-e251-4de9-b14f-d4bf57a47dc3  

I would not walk away from doing business with Pulte, I would run as fast as you can for the exit.  

If you live in a house built by this builder and are happy, that is great. However, for the thousands of homeowners across the country that do not, it is a living hell.

Pulte is a production builder. They build on assembly.  All houses being constructed have to be ready in time for the next crew.  They use persons that are suspect to build, at least in my subdivision they did.  I can say this because I know for a fact that my house, except for those portions that required a licence, were built by these people.  It was verified by the site superintendent. That is another story.

My house was built on terribly expansive soil.  The foundation was not designed, engineering or built to withstand the soil environment.  Therefore the 600+ psi pressure exerting on the 'floating floor' has wrecked havoc on my house and the damage has transcended to the attic.  How did they propose to fix the issue?  They wanted to give me a new basement floor.  Now they are saying that because I wouldn't let them put in a new basement floor, it is my fault the damage is  escalating. Anyone who has any background or even a brain knows that pouring a new basement floor to make everything look nice, pretty and flat is not going to make the expansive soil stop or even cause it to slow down.  I have documented my road through hell with my web site:

http://www.justanotherlemon.com/CCFL/pulte.htm

Another house in my neighborhood is:  http://camplemonadestand.com

Now these aren't the only houses having foundations problem. I have documented 4 others - and this development is almost three years old.  How many more houses have issues, I don't know -- yet and I will usually find out because the neighbors seek me out asking for assistance on how to fight the builder in getting their houses repaired.  I am not talking about the band-aid fixes they make (and you will see some eye opening pics on my site), I am talking about solving the PROBLEM, and fixing all of the symptoms.

So, if you want to choose this builder or any other builder, my advice: get a structural engineer to ensure the construction process is done properly and correctly.  Don't believe the housing inspectors are going to make sure.  They take it for granted that in new housing, everything is done right (learned a lot here).  Don't bother with a housing inspector, they will just look at what they can see, they can't tell you if the house is structurally sound.

Another piece of advice.  BEFORE you sign the sales contract, take it along with warranty to your attorney.  Have him/her check it out, with a fine tooth comb.  You will find there are a lot of limitations, and well that 10 year warranty? It is only what the builder wants it to be.

BE SMART. Do your homework. do not trust any builder, any realtor, any site superintendent. They are out to make money, they are not your friend - regardless what they say.  The bottom line is the check in their hand, not you.

I had to learn the hard way and if I can help just one person, I have done some good.

You have helped but not in time to save my $5000 ernest money.  Their lender tried strong arming me when I said I would probably use another lender due to their high interest rates.  That prompted me to search the internet and I found you!  I may not recoop my ernest money, but I'd rather lose that than be involved with Pulte Homes.  Thanks for all your information and good luck.

I have a client who purchased a home in a Del Webb commmunity in Arizona. After he moved there he became very ill from allergies. When he decided to sell his house (just a few months after moving in) it was pointed out to him that in the documents he was required to sign at closing (not the purchase contract, others that were presented by Pulte's closing agents at the time of closing) that if he sells the house within 12 months of purchase, that he owed Pulte liquidate damages in the amount of something like 10 percent of the purchase price. And illness is not an allowable reason to avoid this penalty. He had no idea that clause was in the documents he was signing at closing. He'd read the purchase contract but this was additional agreements. So now he is forced to stay in Arizona where he has severe health problems, or pay a huge pantly to Pulte, along with the losses already inflicted by the abominable market. I would definitely recommend running away from this builder.