Lennar vs Pulte Homes: Deciding on Your Home Builder

New homes are exciting. Customers can pick out the floorplan and features they want, helping to customize their home into the perfect space for their family. Both Lennar and Pulte Homes build a variety of homes in locations across the United States, but are the two companies equal in terms of customer service and quality? Take a look at the numbers to decide.

Homeowners need to know what potential pitfalls are waiting for them and how to avoid home construction issues. So, while no company is perfect all the time, customers did have some opinions to share in their Pulte and Lennar reviews. From construction flaws to issues with home warranties, there is a lot to learn from others who shared their experiences online in hundreds of Lennar and Pulte Homes reviews. 

Key Insights:

• When comparing Lennar vs Pulte, both offer a variety of homes for different life stages with stylish and flexible design.
• Lennar and Pulte Homes offer multiple extended warranties on new home builds. 
• Lennar vs Pulte reviews reveal challenges in resolving workmanship issues under the 1-year home-building warranty with both companies. 

Using our collection of Pulte Homes and Lennar complaints, and the company websites, we worked to compare Pulte Homes with Lennar according to the following measures:

• Customer reviews, pros and cons
• Customer service experience
• Product and service offering

1. Lennar vs Pulte: Customer Reviews, Pros and Cons

Both Pulte Homes and Lennar promise customers:

• High quality construction.
• Comfortable, desirable options in newly built homes.
• Extended warranties when things go wrong.

When you look at Pulte and Lennar reviews, however, things don’t always go as promised by the respective company websites. Both Lennar and Pulte Homes customer service seems to leave something to be desired by customers, who have voiced their frustrations online. 

When it comes to Lennar vs Pulte, the online reviews on PissedConsumer are telling. The Pulte Homes rating is 1.6 out of a possible 5 stars, with many reviews sharing issues with workmanship and concerns with quality. 

In the Pulte Homes complaint, one customer explained that after five years, the floor of the shower in his Pulte home has been repaired by the company four times. The customer feels that all Pulte has done is 

repair the floor temporarily to exhaust the warranty.

They feel that “obviously the floor workmanship has been substandard.”

The Lennar rating is similar at 1.5 out of a possible 5 stars with customers expressing frustration about the quality of workmanship and warranty concerns as well. One reviewer complained that the pool built with a Lennar home had issues with the coping. After repairing it once under the Lennar warranty using non-matching materials, the homeowner had to make a “legal threat for Lennar to agree to change them again.” A few months after that the customer’s “$70,000 pool started to loose water” and he stated that Lennar customer service

does not what to know anything once your year is up. So now I am responsible to incur the expense of having my pool repaired do to poor workmanship. I also have electrical breakers that keep popping.

Pulte and Lennar customers have explained that both companies have pros and cons.

2. Lennar vs Pulte: Customer Service Experience

Based on Lennar and Pulte Homes reviews, it is evident that many customers find the companies’ customer service frustrating at times. To determine the overall customer service experience with the two companies, we analyzed online complaints left on PissedConsumer.com. 

Both of the companies build homes across many price points and work hard to make would-be customers feel good in a new home. But new homes do come with some issues,  and that is clear in Pulte Homes reviews and Lennar complaints online.

When it comes to access to contact information on the respective websites, Lennar vs Pulte does not break down equally. Lennar includes a full contact menu that offers would-be and current customers options to send a message, call the company, or chat live through the internet. 

Pulte Homes customer service, on the other hand, is a bit harder to pin down. The website looks promising with categories for Pulte Homes customer service in repairs, financing, and home building questions. Still, all the Contact Us menus take customers to different contact forms without options to reach out in a more personal way. 

When it comes to contacting the companies about concerns, Pulte Homes reviews and Lennar complaints tell us that it may not be as simple as contacting the companies through their respective websites. 

In the Lennar review, one customer explained that after moving into a new home, their family has encountered “issue after issue” and that when they called to ask about their concerns, Lennar customer service “were not actually wanting to answer me” and instead “just directed me to the website.” The homebuyer summed up their experience by saying:

I have been having a horrible experience, buying, moving and transferring services.

You can find additional information about how to contact Lennar customer service here. 

Pulte Homes is not immune to tough online reviews. In their Pulte Homes review, one new homebuyer explained that their family had tried their best and had been

chasing Pulte Customer Service reps to complete warranty work discussed at closing or identified in our new home inspection.

The review explains that the situation is not unique since “nearly 60 of my new neighbors are experiencing the same challenges.” The reviewer suggests and recommended the readers 

Save yourself and look elsewhere. Don’t invest in a Pulte Home.

You can find additional information on how to contact Pulte Homes customer service here.

3. Lennar vs Pulte: Product and Service Offering

Comparing Lennar vs Pulte, they both offer a variety of homes for different life stages. Lennar has the tagline “Quality homes, built for you” and offers single family and townhomes as well as move-in ready options designed for multiple generational living.

Lennar vs Pulte doesn’t draw much of a difference here, since Pulte Homes also focuses on “functional spaces designed for the way you want to live” and includes a variety of floor plans and options for home builders to customize their selections. 

The summary of the Lennar vs Pulte Homes features is given below:

Both home builders offer home buyers many floor plans to choose from in different parts of the country in newly built neighborhoods. Both companies also offer some customization of these plans as well as new home warranties after the home is built. The Lennar warranty offers a limited 1-year warranty on workmanship, a limited 2-year warranty on systems, and a limited 10-year warranty on structural elements. 

The Pulte Homes warranty includes a 10-year structural, a 5-year water and leak, a 2-year systems, and a 1-year material and workmanship warranties. This has many similarities to the Lennar warranty.

Of course, having a warranty doesn’t always mean things go perfectly. In his Lennar Homes complaint, one customer explained his frustration with Lennar Homes's quality. The customer states

…It's been a nightmare that has been going on for 4.5 years, but will try and summarize some of it below. In January 2012, I contracted with WCI Communities (now Lennar) to build a dream home in the Westshore Yacht Club neighborhood located in Tampa, FL. At the time, I could have absolutely no idea of the nightmare I was about to walk into and one that continues with no end in sight…

The customer continues his Lennar Homes quality review by explaining,

* 25 A/C Malfunctions * 16 Rounds of Antibiotics * 80+ Outstanding Construction Issues * $24,360 Unreimbursed Repairs During Warranty * $82,360 in Legal Fees * $568,750 in Lost Work Time * $211,650 in Unrecoverable Investments * $917,180 Total Expenses Related to Lennar Construction Issues I still have more than 80+ ongoing construction defects

The consumer finishes his thought on Lennar builders in the Lennar reviewas “…Buyers beware and do your homework. Lennar is not a good company to do business with at all.”

Pulte homebuyers have shared their thoughts on warranty coverage as well. In her Pulte Homes review, one homeowner explained that their list for repairs under the company’s warranty 

has over 100 items still needing attention including the roof, plumbing, electrical, grading, tiling, and countless cosmetic issues.

Despite writing to the head of customer service and the CEO of the company, the homebuyer “cannot get the items completed” and warns would-be homebuyers to “have an attorney on standby.”

When you compare Lennar vs Pulte, it’s easy to see where the companies are the same, where they differ, and what their pros and cons are. Overall, buying a new home should be exciting, but it is reasonable to expect a few headaches along the way, as this is a months-long process with many moving parts. 

As you’re planning your future home and considering the right builder for your needs, be sure to see what others are saying online. After all, what better way to learn than from the expensive experiences of others? 

If you have had any home construction issues with Lennar vs Pulte, then you may leave a review to help other consumers.

*The company ratings on the PissedConsumer website are calculated using a mathematical algorithm that evaluates the information in the company’s profile. The algorithm parameters are: users’ rating, the number of resolved issues, the number of company responses and more. The PissedConsumer algorithm is also subject to change in the future.