MORE new home nightmares with America's biggest builder D.R. Horton 

I am a realtor and had a builder try and pressure us into closing before the house was fully complete, but we weren't going to do that. I told them to do whatever they wanted to, and that we already had hired an attorney. The contract doesn't say that my client agrees to purchase an incomplete house. They told us the deal was canceled and I laughed in the sales rep's face and walked out with my clients. The next day the sales rep called me and said that they were going to have the house ready in 3 days and that they wanted to schedule the final walkthrough and closing on that day. We agreed and they indeed had been working with multiple crews nonstop to get everything finished and fixed. As a Realtor you need to know how to play games with the builder. People please hire a very good attorney and don't go straight to the builder thinking they have your best interest in mind. They do not represent you.

Thank you for stopping me from purchasing a D.R.Horton home in Green cove Springs.

Anytime a contract calls for arbitration, refuse to agree with it or walk away. Biggest red flag ever.

Cities that approve these builds need to be held accountable as well. They green light every house so they can get that property tax when in reality they should be holding off each part of the home building process until things are done right.

If a realtor ever told me I don't need an inspection, that's when I fire that realtor and find a new one.

My first home purchase was new construction. There were a lot of small issues, cracks appearing etc., but about a month after moving in, my front yard exploded with a literal geyser of water spewing into the air. The builder fixed it after several hours of phone calls and fighting. And then water leaks started happening all over the house. They did come and fix them but it was always a fight to get them to come out. One of the contracted repairmen gave me his personal number and told me to just call him for any other issues. Turns out all of the pipes they used were cheap plastic made in foreign countries and were not put together properly. All of the houses on my street had similar issues. My neighbor had to have their garage floor completely torn out to replace the piping. This was over a decade ago so I can assure you this scam has been going on for many many years. At least half of those houses are now rentals. I currently live in a house that's about 120 years old and it's as sturdy as a rock. I will never buy new construction again!

"The faster we can build em, the lower the prices we can sell em!" $300K to over $400K: Are those the "lower prices" that result from the "fast building"?

These videos are still criminally underviewed. But don't worry; one day the algorithm will bless you and everyone will discover your back catalogue.

Never trust a building as large as DR Horton. The only way for a builder to get that big is by doing the exact things DR Horton does.

Why does everyone keep referencing their slogan as “Americas number one homebuilder” and assuming they meant in quality ? Dr Horton is Americas number one home builder BY VOLUME. Quality isn’t mentioned on the slogan

How TF are these companies still around and not sued to the ground? And who TF moves into an unfinished house?

A tip, try to see the house AFTER a heavy rain. you'll notice those little dark spots on window sills, and drip runs on walls, and if you have a basement, it'll show any water penetration.

We bought our home in Orange Beach, AL in 2019. We have been rebuilding since then. We have been fighting for justice since then. I have a bone graft in my neck from sliding down stairs that were so out of code we had to tear them out and rebuild them. We have mold problems that have made me extremely ill. I can’t just sell out and leave this nightmare for another family. I couldn’t live with the guilt of lying to someone about this horribly built home. The stress of this situation has been physically and psychologically overwhelming. We still have repairs that need to be made from our walk through in June 2019. I have hundreds of pictures of what they have done to us. DONT BUY A HOME A HOME FROM THE WORST BUILDER IN AMERICA…..DR HORTON!!!!!!!!

What are the LENDERS saying about this???? The home is their collateral!!! I'm sure the value is greatly affected!!!! I would think lenders would black list HORTON.

THIS is typical corporate ethos in America today. Quality and customer service: OUT. Cheap workmanship, MUCH HIGHER CEO PROFITS: In.

This is where the federal government (The Attorney General) must step in and bring the hammer down on DR Horton, to the extent that, the cost of doing business as usual, will lead to bankruptcy!

I've been remodeling since we moved into our DR Horton house and finding tons of poor craftsmanship. It will be better the way I leave it compared to how it was sold to me.

We can blame corporate greed and pot head contractors until the cows come home, but the big question is, WHERE WERE THE HOUSING INSPECTORS?

$500k houses are the old 100k homes. You couldn't get a nice home for 100k, now you can't get a home for $500k.

It’s much better to lose your earnest money deposit than to take on a home that’s costs you a fortune and headaches for years to come.

I almost bought one. I just called to cancel the closing. The inspector found alot of bad things on the home.

The performance and reputation of this company is below low; and this needs to be broadcast to a wide audience so that people do not get taken, bilked, and demoralized.

That is just crazy. Skilled craftsmen retired during the housing crash of 2008 and no one was there to learn from them. Now it's such shady labor workers with few work ethics. Don't buy a house less than 20 years old.

leaving empty beer cans in an attic is common. Thats the least of your worries in a DR Horton home

I just walked out of a deal after the walk through never seen such poor craftsmanship and cheap materials . I knew i would have to rebuild the house in 2 years so i just took a loss on the escrow money but i know i won't have headaches and a money pit .

Folks it's not just DR Horton. You should also know that Minto , Dell Webb, Lennar, Pulte, Taylor Morrison, NVR, and all of the others are TRASH. I was a building inspector for CAP Government doing inspections at WestLake in West Palm Beach. Minto is building thousands of new flakey, zero lot (can't even get a lawn mower between 2 houses) and poorly constructed, but as soon as I started failing them for $#ity work I was reassign to the office. In Port St Lucie, YUKON was the main shell contractor for the new construction of just about every new home over on the Tradition side of PSL. I know the homeowners are having issues. It's not about quality with developers, it's about quantity. I wish I could somehow upload all of these photos I have.

I am so glad you did this expose. I escaped a DR Horror home purchase in 2005 when my inspector found more than 3 pages of punch list items that the contractors COULD NOT RESOLVE before closing. They told me they had 1 year to finish the repairs…I told them if you want your money today, I need these items finished today! I walked away from the home. Said NO DEAL and met with the VP who kept saying “we are the number one home builder in America.” I said I work at the number one hospital in America, but if your mom dies at my hospital, you don’t too much care if we’re number one. You want your mother alive. Am I right?! Best move I made was to hire an independent inspector and listen to his advice. I bet W Buffet wouldn’t live in a DR Horror home.

It is not just DR Horten, they all use the same subcontractors , the very cheapest

I think that D.R. Horton should consider changing their tagline from "America's Builder" to something like "Making one family homeless at a time" or "The Best in Unlivable Houses".

It’s unbelievable that the Attorney’s General in these states aren’t investigating this company!

I don't know if the new builds in my town are DR Horton but the roofs are already rippling, leaking and warping and the subdivision isn't even finished yet. Its clearly visible jist driving by. And they are not cheap, especially for my area. Bless every poor soul who decides to buy one of those raggedy homes.

I own a pressure washing/ christmas light business SOOO many DR hoton homes you can find all sorts of flaws in seconds of looking at a home. The second you get above eye level on a ladder it just gets even worse.

Being a superintendent for these big corporate builders is miserable. The worst job I ever had in forty years of working construction. I’ve seen stuff that was totally insane, and bosses d said walk it and get customer to sign off. Total trash. If those houses last five years without remodeling/repairing it’s a miracle.

The entire concept of subdivisions is a sham, and so are HOAs

I worked for a builder that constructed apartments. I inspected the subcontractors work. There would be all kinds of things that were wrong. A nail in a copper line that finally leaked, or one that hadn't been soldered. Electrical not hooked up properly. A slab that sank, leaving the deck overhead slanted. A two bedroom foundation was poured using old plans, when a three bedroom foundation was actually intended. If any thing can go wrong it will. To intentionally take shortcuts that harm is unconscionable. I enjoyed having a job that that helped insure the quality of the build.

Every homeowner of a DR Horton home deserves a minimum $20K refund.

I'm an electrical contractor in central Florida. I worked for DR Horton in the early 2000s basically by default, because they bought out the builder that had hired me. For a couple of years the homes were solid and well appointed. The quality went rapidly downhill when the recession of the 2000s hit. I worked for them for about a year into the recession until their demands to gut my pricing more and more became impossible. Looking at the quality and condition of the homes they've saturated my region with makes me so glad that I bailed on them when I did. I would be embarrassed to have my company name associated with their product. People! Stop buying these sh-t boxes!!!

I think I'll take an Amish crew and know-how, thanks.

When I have had new homes built I find that you need to be on site everyday, demanding changes to poor work and poor materials, if you don't they will slap a bunch of crap together and call it done.

Most home building allow their workers to sweep garbage, lunch reminants, food papers, candy wrappers and beer/soda cans and bottles, gatorade containers to be swept into spaces such as spaves between studs in stair well walls and other nooks and crannys before the drywall goes up. I have built 4 houses and all builders but one of them, couldn’t stand me because I visited the site weekly and brought the stuff up. There are not enough legitimate people hired to actually supervise the untrained crews, most of whom work under the table to for cash at lower rates, and are working for one legitimately hired contractor/person. They’re untrained, and one person is telling them to do a specific job (showing them on the spot how to do it) and then they move them and show them do something else. The people building these houses and actually doing the labor do not really know what they’re doing and they’re doing what someone else tells them. Basically American homebuilders have become like every other scam in the world. It’s all about marketing and pictures and the walk-throughs for the model homes but they have no intention of ever delivering the product they’re selling you. Best builder I have built with is Toll Brothers. And That woman saying there would be legal consequences. If people don’t move in, she’s got a lot of nerve. And she’s one of the people that they hire who doesn’t really know what she’s doing, and that she gets threatened herself, if she doesn’t deliver these messages to the people. She doesn’t really understand what she’s doing because all of the home builders are hiring people that they can manipulate, order around and threaten with fear to carry out this type of work. This is also part of the delusion of America with a bunch of people coming in from other countries who come from crime ridden areas. They’re not law biting citizens, and they never intend to be. They were raised and live the majority of their life, scamming stealing or manipulating and they come to America and continue this practice. Buy an older home and remodel it. You’ll have better luck.

Buyers and their $500,000 junker homes.

Homeless with a house also sounds very American

this is happening to all price ranges of homes. local condos from $1.3 mil to $300k have water issues. the high end finishes & expensive appliances are put in by unqualified workers. they quickly fall apart & must be fixed after the builder's guarantee ends.

Never use an inspector recommended by your agent. They are working together to quickly close on the house ..search for your own inspector!!

Any builder still using 3 tab shingles in the past 25 yrs is questionable.

As an architectural designer, my suggestion to everyone is always: buy your land and hire an architect/architectural designer. You can pull construction/first home loans to build your custom home. We can handle everything from helping pick land to finish out. We'll hold your hand start to finish. Dont risk your money and know where every cent is gonna go

As a pro handyman I can tell you new houses are built like crap and I can work for days on any of them.

As a home builder, I recommend that you get your own inspections done before closing. Hire your own inspector!!!! They will find annoying things that are not code, and won’t be addressed by the builder. So, get the builder to explain why they won’t be addressed in writing. When you talk to anyone associated with the builder, make sure you send a follow up email confirming your understanding of what was discussed, and get a response!

Let me guess: the buyers did NOT hire an inspector before closing because the builder or an agent told them it was unnecessary to inspect a new build. Maybe people need to reconsider who they trust when buying a home?

In my first new home we could feel things under the carpet here and there. Years later when we replaced the carpet we found cigarette butts, bottle caps and chicken bones under the carpet pad along with dirt and dust. Wasn’t DRHorton though.

I hope there's a special hell for them!! I've been looking at one of there homes, but seeing all the negative reviews from all the way from the BBB, RU-vid and community post I'm steering clear of D. R. Horton homes😢😢

My husband and I bought a Horton home 4 months ago. We had to move for his job and needed a house fast, but the prices keep rising, so focused on a new build. Loved it. But the first month we had a HVAC problem during a snow storm, no heat. They couldn’t come fix it so told us to hire someone else. That person said that it was wired wrong and several other homes had the same issue. Then two weeks later, a plumbing issue where all of our toilets were clogged. They came to fix that and said that they were having a problem with painters putting rags down the toilet. They found rags in ours but also found that the pipes were not connected properly. Also several other homes in the neighborhood had painters rags…. Now we have a water problem in the neighborhood. We live where it rains alot. The water is not draining properly. I took pictures and videos and am in the process of issuing a formal complaint. Wish me luck. I don’t want to move because we can’t afford to do so now and also we love our neighborhood and have amazing views. But if they don’t fix the drainage issues we won’t have a house to live in….

I’m a builder in NC…. I build houses and try to do a good job. Had people say my houses were too expensive and they could get more square footage for less with DR Horton.

You need an occupancy permit to get money from a bank to close. You can’t get an occupancy permit on a house without a toilet and flooring. If the bank didn’t require a copy of the occupancy permit they were negligent. The building department obviously also wasn’t doing their job or was bought off by Horton. Amazing that our government allows these corporations to victimize so many.

You can see some of the quality of a builder by looking at the homes they sold 2-5 years ago. Don't go to the dirt lots with a few models. How is the community looking? Ask around about neighborhood sentiment. Have the HOA fees doubled to fix common property already? Are there obvious signs of them being used as rentals?

I was looking at homes in Florida and went to a Dr. Horton development. What I saw being in the trades from NY appalled me. Dr.Horton will not allow you to hire and inspector to oversee the construction of your new home. They claimed it is insurance reasons but I knew when they stated that I would not or ever buy a DR. Horton home.

Corporate Arbitration clauses need to End now. Florida legislature keeps putting them in everything. Consumer loses every time

The prices are outrageous here for these vinyl sided shantys. I've never understood why they sell like hotcakes.

As a remodeling contractor they are the worst built homes along with ryan/nv, schell brothers, and lennar. Built as cheap as possible with what ever trades will do it the cheapest.

I want to know where was the local building inspectors?????? This is the worst lack of craftsmanship I have ever seen. Shame on the Townships and or cities for allowing these dangerous construction practices. They take advantage of people that have no knowledge of proper building codes nor do they have the time or money to fight such a large crappy corp.

As a former home inspector , always remember the inspector works for you, not the realtor . You are paying for it. As the client, the report goes to you and you alone, not the realtor or builder. It is your choice to share or not to share the report.

Does nobody pay attention in the morning when getting coffee or gas? Construction workers literally buy 12-24 packs of beer daily..

People have to realize they are a publicly traded company. Their bottom line is all that matters 💵💵. I saw some Dr Horton & Lennar homes in central Florida and couldn’t believe my eyes.

Purchased a brand new DR Horton home off a golf course. From day one I felt the southern side of the house was colder and hotter than the rest of the house. Stucco on the southern face was already cracking but nowhere else on the house. Ended up selling the house after eight or so years. New owners wanted different kitchen cabinets. Cabinets were primarily on the southern wall. I'm assuming they changed some outlets or something that required tearing into the wall. The ENTIRE southern wall two stories high didn't have an ounce of insulation in it. Initially they tried coming after me... but I was contractually safe, and besides I didn't know, and certainly didn't have my structure built that way. They got DR to gut the wall down to the studs inside and out. New stucco, house wrap, insulation, drywall, paint.

Stay away from any company that pushes the word America(n) in their name or Slogan. For example, Bank of America, American Airlines, and D.R Hortan, " We are America's Builder". For some reason they always have issues 😮

I’m watching a subdivision of houses being built a couple miles up the road from my home. 22 houses have been built in a couple months. The house are all 20 feet apart and most of them have a backyard that leads into a Walmart parking lot. My gf and I did an open house walk through the other day. The floor plan was pretty nice. I wonder how they will look in a few years

Thank you for making another detailed and informative video about this shady building company

Just moved out of one I was renting. It was soo cheep and falling apart. Walls bulging, nails popping through the ceilings, crown molding cracked throughout and the house was only 6 years old 😂 good thing i only rented one. 😒 but i will never buy one.

Honestly though the biggest builder in america is not a sign of quality people. That's like saying the biggest retailer walmart must be a quality place because it's the biggest or that McDonalds must have the best burgers because it's sells the most. Just remember to keep it in perspective that DR Horton is the walmart and mcdonalds of home builders.

What is the county getting under the table for ignoring the issues!!??

i installed cabinets for horton for 10 years. We were there for just about every closing. I have seen some rush jobs. The sub contractors are not loyal. The " builder " or super intendent is usually pretty inexperienced. They didin't even carry tape measures or levels. These production buiders hire sub contractors and trust them to do good work. The superintendent is really just a used car salesman. This person does not have any construction knowledge. They just have a lot of sub contractors on speed dial

Her agent should have stood up for her instead of worrying about their commission. I am sure she was a first time homebuyer. She could have walked away if she didn't feel comfortable with the deal. There are always other homes out there. Do not get desperate, or you will pay the price. This goes with everything in life (relationships, purchases, etc.).

I'm an Electrician, started in 1976. Drinking on the job was not seen as out of bounds back then. The company I worked for, would have the foreman drop off a 12 pack to every crew that stayed over to get more work done. With OT. Was it right? na probably not. Did the quality of the work drop, na, no one got blasted drunk, and we where always checking each others work. But todays quality, oh it's lacking. But these here homes on this video I'm seeing, Lord have mercy, Big builder like this, has college educated/shiny hard hat "construction" office people, who have never swung a hammer, running things.

I’m a custom home builder who does 2 houses a year and this video is pretty good. A few things though: 1) Beer on the job site is a very normal thing just about everywhere. That isn’t a concern in itself. If a sub does quality work on time and on budget then they are in the top 25% of contractors and nobody cares if they have a beer or two on their lunch break. 2) The biggest issue is assigning 30+ houses to one PM and forcing lowest bids. I can guard that fixing just that would solve 90% of these issues. I couldn’t possibly see assigning more than 8-10 houses to a PM in nearly any scenario. The PM is the conductor of the build, they need to always know what’s going on and visit the site at least every other day to check in on work progress and quality. This brings me to #3: 3) Independent inspectors aren’t exactly a malicious thing. These companies hold a license and if they mess up enough times they will absolutely lose it. City inspectors are often the most overworked people out there and frequently are not trained well. That’s also not getting into the issue of organizing around time sensitive build stages. For example you want an inspector there to example and sign off on the foundation footers but if they are an hour late the concrete in the truck will be bad. They have to be right on time, none of that 4 hour window cable company nonsense. Anyway that’s all, this is a great video. Always inspect your home your purchasing even new builds. But do be aware that inspectors don’t have X-ray vision. They can’t see behind walls or below concrete. Most of the major issues that can go wrong in a home would never show up in an inspection. Ideally you want to contract to buy a house that is at the beginning of the build process and you oversee or hire independent inspectors to review each stage, especially the framing and major rough ins.

why do they still have license ?

As someone who has lived overseas home construction here in the USA is mind boggling. The homes are built so cheap you could put a sledgehammer thru the living room wall from the outside to the inside. At the very least you should request brick or stucco exterior. That provides quite a bit more protection from winds, tornadoes and hurricanes. It's almost like nobody cares about the soundness of the home, only what it looks like. Houses in the US are basically built like throw a way appliances. When it gets leveled by a wind the insurance will pay for it. Wow, what a way to live.

The main problem is the codes and local inspectors. Builders just build to the minimum code standards with the cheapest materials possible. Some places don't even issue occupancy permits and let the builders sell the houses unfinished

Any and all lawsuits should be jointly (Co Defendants) aimed at: the Builder, the Bank, THE REALTOR, the inspectors, the State and Local officials who allow this to happen.

I live in a DR Horton home in Hanover MD. Never consider a DR Horton home

I would never trust DR Horton ever. Best home builder I ever had was Standard Pacific homes in Garland TX!

I worked construction, drinking beer after the work day on the job sight was not uncommon.

Inspectors are a joke, I just bought a home 8 months ago, paid a grand for some papers, dude didn't look at nothing, report contained nothing about anything rotted, well I knew when I made the offer that the deck was ruined but the stupid inspector didn't seem to think that was worth documenting, also electrical issues that were SERIOUS with the garage, a 12awg wire feeding the garage on a 50amp double pole breaker with the wire spliced within the ground using DUCT TAPE and I kid you not, not even close to a proper underground splice, no conduit or nothhing, any added on electrical was backwards wired no GFCI no ground, but none of that was documents, inspectors are a Fn joke, they take your money and don't really insepct anything, unless they give you video of their efforts then don't believe them, they are liars. I use to work for a man that told plp he was an inspector, I never seen his papers, dude was a stupid crack head just shafting people.

Saw a sign in Orlando that said DR built 70+ communities in that city and surrounding areas…..😮

They put up all these subdivisions in a months time and build em using plywood. These houses are NOT cheap either, they're 300,000$+ !!! Insane!!!

We bought a DRHorton house in Walton County. Closed remotely (bad decision). When we arrived to move in the house was a mess, filthy with trash everywhere. None of the punch list items had been completed. Later we discovered there was no insulation in the attic!!! How does a builder get a Certificate of Occupancy from the county building dept? Because they use subcontractors as inspectors…

The workers are literally pouring through our southern border so do not expect any improvement. They’ll also be working on our skyscrapers-good luck.

Smart people would show up at headquarters like Tony Montana “say hello to my little friend “ 😂 10:24

Fargo, ND is expanding by leaps and bounds. So I checked to see if they build there. Nope. And all of the builders I looked at have great reviews. North Dakota must have great laws to keep predators like them out. All builders were only from ND. I live on the border with Minnesota. North Dakota it is. As if I needed another reason to make my choice.

always get your home inspected before buying

Beer cans in the wall are time capsules, been done for a LONG time Seeing what our gran daddys drank is hilarious

On top of all this it has been said it will take 12 years for people who bought homes in the last 3 to 4 years to gain equity.

We are in Ft Worth Tx, and looked at DR HOrton homes at the stick phase...when i saw some of the stuff they were doing, cardboard sheathing etc, we steered clear....bought from a small local builder, been in the home 9 years and no problems

Regardless of what the contract says, I would sue them openly in a public court. And I would directly sue them to have the arbitrarion phrase thrown out

The best bet is to buy a home built before 1970. Standards were much higher, and materials were generally better than modern equivalents. It's always better to update and upgrade than to rebuild.

Thank you so much for making this documentary. I was home shopping with DR horton and my hubby found these video …

I’ve sold many D.R. Horton homes. I’ve always advised my clients/customers of their right to obtain an inspection. Honestly, site agents and builder usually are not happy about it. D. Bailey, Broker

I have 47 years of experience as a third generation builder. Although greed and poor management are big factors here, the "tradesmen" from south of the border are mostly to blame. Like anything else, there are exceptions but by and large they really couldn't care what kind of mess they make as long as they can scam some money and move on to the next victim. By the time their damage is noticed, they're long gone. If you want a *real American quality home*, buy something built in the 1960's and renovate it if you need to. Yes, there are still quality materials and builders out there today, but if you buy any of these tract home houses built by national builders you're begging for trouble from day one. I could type a thousand pages with what I've seen...

We bought a DRH home in Alabama…yes, brand new. I blame a lot of people…DRH, of course for their shoddy workmanship, but I also blame the city and county for passing them for inspection and issuing a CO. I also paid an independent inspector and I blame him, too, as he passed everything…just a few minor cosmetic things to be done. Moved in and here came the first rain and we had waterfront property we hadn’t paid for! We had a fireplace that we paid $6000 additional dollars for, that would never get a flame higher than an inch…after 6 times of the fireplace folks coming out to make it work, I was told “well it really isn’t meant to work as a working, heating fireplace…it’s just so you can say you have a fireplace when you go to sell your home”……huh? Really?! DRH kept trying to drag everything out to get us past that first one year warranty. Not on my dollars! I hired an attorney, twice, and in the end, every single thing was repaired, replaced and up to code. DRH even paid our attorneys fees…I didn’t ask for that, they offered. Once everything was repaired, replaced and up to code, I sold the house after owning it for 14 months. I couldn’t in good conscience try to sell the house knowing everything that was wrong, but once everything was repaired, replaced and up to code, I could in good conscience put it up for sale. It was a beautiful home and the nicest layout we had every had, once everything was corrected. I would tell everyone, based on our experience, to never even look at a DRH home….they look really nice, but ours was put together with little more than spit and glue. As I said, I also blame the county for issuing a CO and I blame the inspector I hired for passing everything. But the main blame goes to DRH for their shoddy workmanship.

It's always about money. That being said, it is absolutely possible to find a builder or contractor who actually wants to do it correctly.

You know Gramps Warren B is aware of this situation and does not care.