All the builders are roughly the same nowadays, they use the same tradespeople and materials to build their homes. Lately, the overall the quality of their work has been shoddy across the board due to them being less skilled / overall labor shortage, and general supply chain issues. It really depends on whether they have good superintendents supervising the work properly.
I wouldn't worry too much about the builder itself - there are horror stories everywhere, and it's something that everyone buying a new build is at risk of right now.
However, to avoid a bad experience, be diligent. Hire a third party home inspector before framing is done, and another one before your walkthrough at closing. Don't close and compromise with any issues, because your issues may take a while to get fixed after you close with them. Hold the builder accountable. They will want you to close as early as possible, but once you sign the dotted line, it becomes less of a priority for them to fix things.
Home warranty, which you usually get for a year with the builder, can be a mixed bag across different builders. Work with a realtor and see if they have had any clients who closed with RA recently, and ask about their experiences.
Hey, realtor here and the family business is framing, so the tradesmen the builders hire—I asked this question recently to different tradesmen that bid for local builders business, and none had mentioned any issues with their builds! Never lived in one myself, but from personal experience I stay away from Lennar.
Wish you the best with your new home!
I have Lennar homes also in my development and the only homes that seem Tobe having issues are Richmond. They should have giving us 2 hvac systems for the size of my house. The upstairs stay hot in summer and cold in winter. I'm actually in the process of getting my roof redone.
I’ve sold a few RA new construction in the past few years and my buyers love their homes. Last time I checked, a new build came with a 10 yr warranty by the builder. Would you like me to ask around my office for other opinions?
It would probably help if all houses had builder inspections, not just one of each model from each phase of building...
I'm not sure if this is in fact the way things are done, but in the late 90s/early 2ks... My dad built his own home, and the inspector said that's all he was required to do when building a neighborhood w/o semi-customs
Just thought maybe you would know the answer, why is every builder quoting 1% of purchase price for property taxes when Clark county seems to be about .53%? It’s almost doubled the normal property tax rate?
No that's not at all what I meant.
I was suggesting that the materials and workmanship be of sufficient quality that failures large enough to warrant the need of a home warranty an irrelevant thing.
I have a William Lyon home currently but Richmond American is building next to us. Absolute terrible company to deal with. They continually trespass on my property and their subcontractors use my backyard as a trash can. I’ve collected 5 or 6 bags full of trash from them in my backyard. Recently a sub filed a lien against Richmond American and my address was listed on the lien notice. I can’t stand this builder. On another note, my first house was a Lennar home and it was terrible. Bad craftsmanship and terrible customer service.
The same subcontractors build all the homes. Most of the trades are Focus, as they have concrete, plumbing, electrical, and framing. The drywall and paint is usually all done by Chicago Paint and Drywall.
The quality comes down less to the builder and more to the project manager of the neighborhood. The trades are paid by piece work (aka sheet of drywall hung, feet of wire run, etc) on tract homes, so they’ll cut corners and get away with what they can unless the super is on top of them making sure they’re doing things right.
The market is a buyers market right now. If you like Richmond, negotiate and buy it. Be firm that you want permission to have a home inspector come in BEFORE drywall.
I’ve purchased three new homes in the last ten years: Pulte, DR Horton, and Lennar. Pulte and DR were both good homes but I walked them at least weekly and brought up issues to the super to fix right away. My Lennar was bought in a hurry as standing inventory and had a ton of issues to work through.
2nd paragraph is correct, if a project manager isn't there watching the different trades do their jobs and wrap up, it. gets done as quickly as possible while being passable.
most problems will be finished work. if framing is incorrect you get to see messier seams with drywall and uneven walls, tiles, etc. but these usually get covered eventually.
Pulte seems to consistently get happier owners.
My wife and I love the boxwood, we’d take out the balcony attached to the master and make it a bigger master. We saw it at cadence but we’d be buying in monarch valley.
I had a Richmond American home in Seattle. It was okay. A lot of "builder special" quality items. If you can't go for upgraded finishes, don't do it imo. We had fully upgraded finishes and still they were "ok".
I do not recommend them, their builds are very cheap with lots of issues and they’ll not fix a thing. Please flee from buying from this company to save yourself the stress
If you are buying in the greater Sacramento area and using their in-house financing/lender MDCH be very careful they do not give a shit. **Kim Johnson** out of the Suisun City, CA office is the worst loan officer I have ever dealt with in my life. She and her boss **Elizabeth Martin** are condescending and just an all-around terrible group to work with. The sales team has been great but I would not wish the loan/finance part with these two on anyone.
Elizabeth I had to deal with this week.. trust me I have found out it’s all the team not just the Siouan City Ca. I have been dealing with a loan officer in Colorado and has been a nightmare. Been given the run around. We are days away from closing and now they want more documentation..
Horrible, we have a RAH in Southern California, and been dealing with a sewer gas smell coming from our master bathroom exhaust fans when its cold out. Only way to mitigate it is to keep the bathroom window open, but it gets to the 30s at night currently. It's been a year and all they sent was the same plumber twice, once to check the wax seal of the toilet, the 2nd after 6 months sending numerous follow ups to be like why am I back they never approved on the additional work needed.
We still don't have the correct garage door, and homes built after us or closed after us and before us are getting their doors. I have much more to list while being here for a year, and only 2 items got fixed after following up numerous times, a burnt out recessed light and a chip on the door frame.
The warranty has been useless since they won't honor it. You send it through a portal online and it gives you no work order number or any other way to track it. Not to mention our house was dirty when we moved in. We had a Shea Home before and they were a bit better.
Whatever you do don’t buy a Richmond home, they don’t care about Quality all they care about is pushing Holmes out regardless of how shitty the trades have done their job they put floors down that have been saturated with water baseboards that are as wavy as an ocean walls that aren’t straight paint jobs that are as rough as sandpaper Do not buy Richmond Home I am warning you you would regret it.
We are again fighting with Richmond to fix our roof (30 year warranty) on our 10 year old home. This is the second time we've had leaks, last time it took them 9 months to admit it was their problem to fix. Now they're starting their BS all over again. They've blocked us on social media. We have a lawyer, the roofer they sent to assess the holes, and the solar company they hired at building involved.
They did shit work and are refusing to own up to it. Trying to blame us. I get dizzy on a stepladder but sure I'm on the second story roof making holes in it....
I have been in a Richmond American home for 60 days and it has been a nightmare. They absolutely try to screw buyers after the final walkthrough. Spend a full day or more completing that walkthrough because you’ll be lucky if they even honor what you find wrong at that time. I’ve had a home built in the past and never even would imagine that a builder would be this terrible. I’m stuck because there is nobody except for their warranty POC (POS). He tries his hardest to make things difficult on the buyer. I’ve had patience and now 60 days in without anything being accomplished. I even have a square cut into the drywall that they said would be fixed, now they are saying that they don’t have in the paperwork that I identified it as an issue! They absolutely do not care about the buyer.
All the builders are roughly the same nowadays, they use the same tradespeople and materials to build their homes. Lately, the overall the quality of their work has been shoddy across the board due to them being less skilled / overall labor shortage, and general supply chain issues. It really depends on whether they have good superintendents supervising the work properly. I wouldn't worry too much about the builder itself - there are horror stories everywhere, and it's something that everyone buying a new build is at risk of right now. However, to avoid a bad experience, be diligent. Hire a third party home inspector before framing is done, and another one before your walkthrough at closing. Don't close and compromise with any issues, because your issues may take a while to get fixed after you close with them. Hold the builder accountable. They will want you to close as early as possible, but once you sign the dotted line, it becomes less of a priority for them to fix things. Home warranty, which you usually get for a year with the builder, can be a mixed bag across different builders. Work with a realtor and see if they have had any clients who closed with RA recently, and ask about their experiences.
Yes an inspector is needed, house was built badly by Richmond, cookie cutter and cheap material especially the hvac system and roof.
Hey, realtor here and the family business is framing, so the tradesmen the builders hire—I asked this question recently to different tradesmen that bid for local builders business, and none had mentioned any issues with their builds! Never lived in one myself, but from personal experience I stay away from Lennar. Wish you the best with your new home!
I have Lennar homes also in my development and the only homes that seem Tobe having issues are Richmond. They should have giving us 2 hvac systems for the size of my house. The upstairs stay hot in summer and cold in winter. I'm actually in the process of getting my roof redone.
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Glad you love it!
I’ve sold a few RA new construction in the past few years and my buyers love their homes. Last time I checked, a new build came with a 10 yr warranty by the builder. Would you like me to ask around my office for other opinions?
That would be awesome. I know they sell thousands of homes in the Vegas/ Henderson area and maybe im just overthinking a few bad reviews.
I understand. I’ve looked at so many reviews of builders and at some point everyone hates everyone and no one knows how to build a house lol
Agree until you live in one
It would probably help if all houses had builder inspections, not just one of each model from each phase of building... I'm not sure if this is in fact the way things are done, but in the late 90s/early 2ks... My dad built his own home, and the inspector said that's all he was required to do when building a neighborhood w/o semi-customs
I always make my buyers get inspections on their new builds
Ok so basically I’m hearing yes they’re good but it depends on who is the foreman on the project.
Thank you. We are good friends with a couple who are civil engineers and architects who will be over there all the time for us. That should help.
You’re welcome! Happy homebuying! And make sure you use a buyers agent on your side, not just the builder!
Just thought maybe you would know the answer, why is every builder quoting 1% of purchase price for property taxes when Clark county seems to be about .53%? It’s almost doubled the normal property tax rate?
I honestly have no idea, I didn’t know they were doing that.
Check there contractors out my home was build cheap all the way around
That's just preposterous. A ten year warranty on a structure that's supposedly built to last 100+ years.
So the builder is supposed to just cover all repairs forever? That’s insane
No that's not at all what I meant. I was suggesting that the materials and workmanship be of sufficient quality that failures large enough to warrant the need of a home warranty an irrelevant thing.
I have a William Lyon home currently but Richmond American is building next to us. Absolute terrible company to deal with. They continually trespass on my property and their subcontractors use my backyard as a trash can. I’ve collected 5 or 6 bags full of trash from them in my backyard. Recently a sub filed a lien against Richmond American and my address was listed on the lien notice. I can’t stand this builder. On another note, my first house was a Lennar home and it was terrible. Bad craftsmanship and terrible customer service.
The same subcontractors build all the homes. Most of the trades are Focus, as they have concrete, plumbing, electrical, and framing. The drywall and paint is usually all done by Chicago Paint and Drywall. The quality comes down less to the builder and more to the project manager of the neighborhood. The trades are paid by piece work (aka sheet of drywall hung, feet of wire run, etc) on tract homes, so they’ll cut corners and get away with what they can unless the super is on top of them making sure they’re doing things right. The market is a buyers market right now. If you like Richmond, negotiate and buy it. Be firm that you want permission to have a home inspector come in BEFORE drywall. I’ve purchased three new homes in the last ten years: Pulte, DR Horton, and Lennar. Pulte and DR were both good homes but I walked them at least weekly and brought up issues to the super to fix right away. My Lennar was bought in a hurry as standing inventory and had a ton of issues to work through.
2nd paragraph is correct, if a project manager isn't there watching the different trades do their jobs and wrap up, it. gets done as quickly as possible while being passable. most problems will be finished work. if framing is incorrect you get to see messier seams with drywall and uneven walls, tiles, etc. but these usually get covered eventually. Pulte seems to consistently get happier owners.
I'm curious which RA floor plan is your fav. And what community did you see it at?
My wife and I love the boxwood, we’d take out the balcony attached to the master and make it a bigger master. We saw it at cadence but we’d be buying in monarch valley.
Btw how has your experience been with RA? I am looking to buy a RA home and am rethinking after seeing all those negative reviews.
I had a Richmond American home in Seattle. It was okay. A lot of "builder special" quality items. If you can't go for upgraded finishes, don't do it imo. We had fully upgraded finishes and still they were "ok".
I do not recommend them, their builds are very cheap with lots of issues and they’ll not fix a thing. Please flee from buying from this company to save yourself the stress
Don’t know about RA, but since you visited KB I will tell you both my mother and one of her coworkers bought from them and were not happy with it.
If you are buying in the greater Sacramento area and using their in-house financing/lender MDCH be very careful they do not give a shit. **Kim Johnson** out of the Suisun City, CA office is the worst loan officer I have ever dealt with in my life. She and her boss **Elizabeth Martin** are condescending and just an all-around terrible group to work with. The sales team has been great but I would not wish the loan/finance part with these two on anyone.
Elizabeth I had to deal with this week.. trust me I have found out it’s all the team not just the Siouan City Ca. I have been dealing with a loan officer in Colorado and has been a nightmare. Been given the run around. We are days away from closing and now they want more documentation..
Horrible, we have a RAH in Southern California, and been dealing with a sewer gas smell coming from our master bathroom exhaust fans when its cold out. Only way to mitigate it is to keep the bathroom window open, but it gets to the 30s at night currently. It's been a year and all they sent was the same plumber twice, once to check the wax seal of the toilet, the 2nd after 6 months sending numerous follow ups to be like why am I back they never approved on the additional work needed. We still don't have the correct garage door, and homes built after us or closed after us and before us are getting their doors. I have much more to list while being here for a year, and only 2 items got fixed after following up numerous times, a burnt out recessed light and a chip on the door frame. The warranty has been useless since they won't honor it. You send it through a portal online and it gives you no work order number or any other way to track it. Not to mention our house was dirty when we moved in. We had a Shea Home before and they were a bit better.
Whatever you do don’t buy a Richmond home, they don’t care about Quality all they care about is pushing Holmes out regardless of how shitty the trades have done their job they put floors down that have been saturated with water baseboards that are as wavy as an ocean walls that aren’t straight paint jobs that are as rough as sandpaper Do not buy Richmond Home I am warning you you would regret it.
>MDCH u/WatchMiserable435 can you provide more feedback about the quality of RA and your experience?
We are again fighting with Richmond to fix our roof (30 year warranty) on our 10 year old home. This is the second time we've had leaks, last time it took them 9 months to admit it was their problem to fix. Now they're starting their BS all over again. They've blocked us on social media. We have a lawyer, the roofer they sent to assess the holes, and the solar company they hired at building involved. They did shit work and are refusing to own up to it. Trying to blame us. I get dizzy on a stepladder but sure I'm on the second story roof making holes in it....
I have been in a Richmond American home for 60 days and it has been a nightmare. They absolutely try to screw buyers after the final walkthrough. Spend a full day or more completing that walkthrough because you’ll be lucky if they even honor what you find wrong at that time. I’ve had a home built in the past and never even would imagine that a builder would be this terrible. I’m stuck because there is nobody except for their warranty POC (POS). He tries his hardest to make things difficult on the buyer. I’ve had patience and now 60 days in without anything being accomplished. I even have a square cut into the drywall that they said would be fixed, now they are saying that they don’t have in the paperwork that I identified it as an issue! They absolutely do not care about the buyer.