I don’t doubt your friend had a bad experience but that is not the national reputation for that company. KB probably builds the lowest quality in this region, but they are the cheapest so you get what you pay for. I’d lump Centex, Standard Pacific, D.R. horton and ,most of the rest of the Nationals together, they have high end projects and low end projects. Around here, Pulte has only built the higher end stuff and from the few times I’ve looked at their models, it was very well built. They along with Lennar went with a no options policy (Pulte built half of Morgan Valley) where everything is included, granite, stainless, ceiling fans in every room (not just the outlet but the fan), higher end flooring, even the little things like christmas tree outlets on the second floor, phone and cable in every room, etc. It’s just a strategy but I like it. Mcmillan is not a national builder, sometimes the regional or local builders are better, sometimes they are not. It varies too much for any one builder to the BMW and another to be the Yugo of the industry. If I had to pick a BMW, funny thing is that I would have said Pulte, so that really will confuse you since your friend hates them. You really want a perfect house, find a local builder with a sterling reputation amongst other builders.
BTW, the top three builders in 2006 according to J.D.Power consumer satisfaction polls, covering 12 large metro areas was 1. Del Webb (owned by Pulte) 2. Pulte and 3. Shea Triliogy
