On Lovett Homes

[Pumapayam]

They have to be better and KB homes and Royce homes.

[PureTexan]

Man I know that guy is mad, but that site is racist as heck!

Are we talking about the same site? I went to the site www.lovetthomes.org, but I found nothing racist at all. Exactly what are you referring to? That site seems very factual, and not just some "this builder is bad" garbage. My Lovett house seems to require about three times the maintenance cost as the 40 year old house I moved out of. Most of this "maintenance" is correcting things that were done wrong to start with. These are real problems, and the site is 100% correct about Lovett not giving a darn about any of the problems. I think the site is right on, saying that "Beauty is only skin deep".

[texas911]

Lots of first time posters and surprise surprise, this thread is directly linked from www.lovetthomes.org. I think this forum is being taken advantage of.

[PureTexan]

Lots of first time posters and surprise surprise, this thread is directly linked from www.lovetthomes.org. I think this forum is being taken advantage of.

I just typed "Lovett Homes" into a Google search, and found that two of the top four results were this forum and the www.lovetthomes. org site. Try it, Dude. Thank god for forums like these that let people share their opinions. It is comforting, if nothing else, to see that other people have had the same experience as we have.

[texas911]

Its jus suspect, how do we know its not one person posting as multiple people to try and get their views across.

[amadeuz]

Its jus suspect, how do we know its not one person posting as multiple people to try and get their views across.

I've been on vacation for the last week so those posts were definitely not by me. Anyway, what would be the point of posting fake posts? Do you think I want to drum up fake sympathy for myself? I personally think that many people have had bad experiences with Lovett, but had nowhere to vent until now. Maybe Mr. Liu can finally have an opportunity to read about how he is affecting other people's lives since he refuses to hear about them or listen to them. So people, keep on posting!

[Lovett Homeowner]

That a rancorous individual could fabricate multiple identities to discourage Lovett's prospects is interesting to contemplate. I am reasonably confident, however, that the misguided many who find themselves unwittingly domiciled in one of Lovett's nightmarish products are entirely too occupied with repair issues to offer much time to the task of creating fictitious identities. I agree with the person who suggested that there are simply many people who have suffered unfortunate experiences with Lovett, and misery, as they say, prefers companionship.

[pachanga]

Maybe Mr. Liu can finally have an opportunity to read about how he is affecting other people's lives since he refuses to hear about them or listen to them.

DON'T HOLD YOUR BREATH... he could care less... it's all about the $$$$$$$ with frank

[amadeuz]

Texas911, if you don't have beef with Lovett then why the heck are you even reading and posting on this thread? Obviously, you've never been screwed over for thousands of dollars before by a greedy and nefarious company like Lovett. So no one is taking advantage of this thread. We are voicing our opinions and will continue to do so.

On another note, thank you all for your participation in this forum. I encourage everybody out there to continue posting your bad experiences with Lovett Homes. Due to external circumstances, I won't be posting here as much. I would just like to offer some more advice on people looking at buying from Lovett.

Do not EVER buy a spec home from these people during pre-construction phase. I personally would never even buy a completed home from Lovett after my own experiences, but if you must, wait until the home is at least 90% completed so you can do your own inspection and know exactly what you are buying. Read the contract very carefully. It will be completely one sided in their favor. It includes an arbitration clause and a DTPA waiver among other unfavorable clauses. Unfortunately, this DTPA waiver will be held enforceable if you sign it. In other words, you really don't have much legal relief.

Please know that this is a contract of adhesion, i.e. a take it or leave it contract. If you feel uncomfortable at all with signing such a contract, DO NOT SIGN IT. Even if you love the house. I repeat, even if you love the house. YOU WILL BE SCREWED BY IT. In addition, Lovett requires a 10,000 dollar NON REFUNDABLE deposit. Rarely do homebuilders require such a hefty upfront fee. Only a homebuilder who expects a customer to back out because of their shoddy workmanship or horrendouse customer service asks for this kind of deposit.

Do not believe a single thing coming out of that Lovett snake oil salesperson's mouth. Be sure to get EVERY SINGLE THING in WRITING and IN that contract. You want a parking spot...IN WRITING. You want a gate...IN WRITING. Once you sign that contract, that salesperson could care less about your needs. Just be aware of that.

Lots of first time posters and surprise surprise, this thread is directly linked from www.lovetthomes.org. I think this forum is being taken advantage of.

::This post edited by Editor::

[informed]

If you want examples here are a few:

1) One of our bathrooms was incorrectly tiled i.e. incorrect pattern. Our design sheet clearly showed this. However, Lovett refused to change the tile out. They maintained it was not a mistake! This was no "plan change." It was merely a simple request to correct a mistake. The sales lady was not sympathetic or receptive at all.

2) At one point, we decided we would rather switch the tiles in another bathroom rather than the messed up bathroom. Again, the sales lady was very uncooperative. She was extremely rude to us. However, when we got in touch with the contractor (who was very nice) he said it would be no problem!

3) We repeatedly had to take initiative to contact the sales representative for anything. She was not responsive to our emails or phone calls.

4) The incident that broke the camel's back was when a 12 foot tall utility bank was placed directly in our backyard. The way are home was arranged was that the back of the home was facing the street. So basically everyone seeing our house would only see these 4 12 foot tall poles. When we looked out through the living room all we could see was this monstrosity. The sales lady never showed us a survey of our lot and disclosed the presence of this utility bank. When we confronted about it, she told us a bold faced lie and said we did know about it. Unfortunately, we are in the process of going through arbitration now, so we'll see what happens.

When I mean everything, I meant everything! Anytime we made a request to change things, whether minor or not, it was "no." Not a maybe, or we could do that. It was "no." Evidently, Frank Liu is not fazed by bad publicity or litigation anyways. He could've simple given our earnest money back and saved alot of time and trouble, but he knows that nobody is going to buy a home with freaking utility poles in front of it.

So please do not think that I am just wasting space and bad mouthing Lovett for no reason. I hope this helps.

Texas911, if you don't have beef with Lovett then why the heck are you even reading and posting on this thread? Obviously, you've never been screwed over for thousands of dollars before by a greedy and nefarious company like Lovett. So no one is taking advantage of this thread. We are voicing our opinions and will continue to do so.

On another note, thank you all for your participation in this forum. I encourage everybody out there to continue posting your bad experiences with Lovett Homes. Due to external circumstances, I won't be posting here as much. I would just like to offer some more advice on people looking at buying from Lovett.

Do not EVER buy a spec home from these people during pre-construction phase. I personally would never even buy a completed home from Lovett after my own experiences, but if you must, wait until the home is at least 90% completed so you can do your own inspection and know exactly what you are buying. Read the contract very carefully. It will be completely one sided in their favor. It includes an arbitration clause and a DTPA waiver among other unfavorable clauses. Unfortunately, this DTPA waiver will be held enforceable if you sign it. In other words, you really don't have much legal relief.

Please know that this is a contract of adhesion, i.e. a take it or leave it contract. If you feel uncomfortable at all with signing such a contract, DO NOT SIGN IT. Even if you love the house. I repeat, even if you love the house. YOU WILL BE SCREWED BY IT. In addition, Lovett requires a 10,000 dollar NON REFUNDABLE deposit. Rarely do homebuilders require such a hefty upfront fee. Only a homebuilder who expects a customer to back out because of their shoddy workmanship or horrendouse customer service asks for this kind of deposit.

Do not believe a single thing coming out of that Lovett snake oil salesperson's mouth. Be sure to get EVERY SINGLE THING in WRITING and IN that contract. You want a parking spot...IN WRITING. You want a gate...IN WRITING. Once you sign that contract, that salesperson could care less about your needs. Just be aware of that.

Do not rely on Lovett's slick website regarding its customer service. There IS no customer service. Frank Liu, the owner of Lovett, and in no uncertain terms, one of the richest real estate barons in Houston, once gave a talk at Rice University entitled, "Making Money is Easier than you Think." That is all that you have to know about Lovett and its philosophy. Making money.

These people tried to get a large settlement from Lovett over something that was largely thier fault and when the courts didn't settle in their favor they have decided to go on line and tell half truths and lies. Some people have no honor and will say anything when they don't get thier way, Shame on You once again!!!

::This post has been edited by Editor::

[dbigtex56]

These people tried to get a large settlement from Lovett over something that was largely thier fault and when the courts didn't settle in their favor they have decided to go on line and tell half truths and lies. Some people have no honor and will say anything when they don't get thier way, Shame on You once again!!!

And you are...?

Seems to me if you're so 'informed' you could be a bit more specific.

[ChampionsAdam]

I was wondering the exact same thing. 'Informed' joined the forum yesterday and specifically to respond to the complaint regarding Lovett Homes. Coincidence? I think not.

[amadeuz]

And you are...?

Seems to me if you're so 'informed' you could be a bit more specific.

In light of recent comments by "informed" I must respond. dbigtex56, your suspicions are correct and I think for the first time, an actual Lovett employee has been reading this forum! In fact, I am almost positive that it may be the salesperson we dealt with. Otherwise, why would "informed" respond only to me and not the other participants who have had poor experiences. I find it laughable that "informed" is making these ad hominem attacks on me, accusing me of "half-truths and lies" in view of our experience with Lovett.

This person plainly does not know what they are talking about. First, a court of law cannot possibly have been involved since Lovett has an arbitration clause in their contract, giving the consumers no chance to hear their case before a jury or the right to appeal. In arbitration, your complaint is only heard by one arbitrator or a panel of arbitrators. It is an expensive proceeding which many people cannot afford. However, despite this, Lovett has gone through many arbitrations. Obviously, this is a testament to what type of company it is. Secondly, anybody can verify the truth of what's in the Lovett contract. People need to be aware of the unconscionable provisions in that contract.

As to "half truths and lies," why would I lie about my own experience? There's no gain for me in doing so. As a consumer, the best defense is information. Having gone through a bad experience, I want others to make an informed decision based on as many resources as they can. This forum just happens to be one of those resources. Albeit, it is biased, but at least people will have an inkling that everything's not fine and dandy at Lovett.

At any rate, if you actually took the time to read through this forum, I'm not the only one that has a beef with Lovett. Why don't you respond to the other people who have had problems with your company?! Furthermore, I've never made any personal ad hominem attacks on anybody in this thread. So please refrain in kind, "informed."

[amadeuz]

You may not believe me, but I did not make that post. I'm pretty sure, "informed" is either a company representative or even the actual salesperson I dealt with during my forgettable experience with Lovett. Hey, at least I know I'm getting somebody's attention over there.

I was wondering the exact same thing. 'Informed' joined the forum yesterday and specifically to respond to the complaint regarding Lovett Homes. Coincidence? I think not.

[gwilson]

The two most important things you can do when buying a new construction home or building one is:

1. Hire a lawyer to look over the contract. This might cost a couple thousand, but it is cheaper than the alternative.

2. Hire your own independent inspector. This, again, will cost you money, but it will save you lots of time and stress.

I am a builder and I question the intelligence of anyone who does not do these two things. Even a cheap 120k home is a lot of money to risk on a faulty product.

[HoustonMidtown]

Home building requires a lot of research on the builder. The better products seem to come from smaller "custom" builders. They are out there. I actually had a good experience working with a smaller company.

Same here - Jewels Custom Homes - excellent job on my previous townhome...

[ChampionsAdam]

You may not believe me, but I did not make that post. I'm pretty sure, "informed" is either a company representative or even the actual salesperson I dealt with during my forgettable experience with Lovett. Hey, at least I know I'm getting somebody's attention over there.

I agree with you wholeheartedly. I think that someone within their company may have Googled Lovett and the complaint website pulled up and then found the link to the forum or someone told them about it. Either way, they would have been better to let it be. I will say that they do build a very attractive looking traditional home, I was impressed with the elevations on the homes on their site as well as the interiors. Very similar to homes in my area. I was puzzled however when I clicked on the area on their website pertaining to 'Customer Care' it was an arbitration clause and had a place to click agreeing to the clause. That seems rather stupid and not a wonderful way to build confidence in customers. I was expecting something like 'We go above and beyond' instead of 'You will probably complain about our construction and want to sue us'. Okay...I just clicked on the 'agree' portion of their "Customer Care' page, it is for the convenience of their customers when they have a complaint about their new house....may be convenient but does not build confidence.

[amadeuz]

I agree with you wholeheartedly. I think that someone within their company may have Googled Lovett and the complaint website pulled up and then found the link to the forum or someone told them about it. Either way, they would have been better to let it be. I will say that they do build a very attractive looking traditional home, I was impressed with the elevations on the homes on their site as well as the interiors. Very similar to homes in my area. I was puzzled however when I clicked on the area on their website pertaining to 'Customer Care' it was an arbitration clause and had a place to click agreeing to the clause. That seems rather stupid and not a wonderful way to build confidence in customers. I was expecting something like 'We go above and beyond' instead of 'You will probably complain about our construction and want to sue us'. Okay...I just clicked on the 'agree' portion of their "Customer Care' page, it is for the convenience of their customers when they have a complaint about their new house....may be convenient but does not build confidence.

Thank you for your polite response. Yes, they do appear to be nice homes at first glance. However, I believe a builder should be more than just the way a home looks; it should be the whole package from start to finish and beyond. I think Lovett has focused on the appearance of their homes to the neglect of anything else that matters.

And yes, I have noticed the arbitration clause on their website. It's interesting isn't it? Any company that posts an arbitration clause on their website should give someone pause before proceeding with them. I unfortunately didn't notice it until too late. They must employ a bunch of lawyers though, huh?

[builder]

The two most important things you can do when buying a new construction home or building one is:

1. Hire a lawyer to look over the contract. This might cost a couple thousand, but it is cheaper than the alternative.

2. Hire your own independent inspector. This, again, will cost you money, but it will save you lots of time and stress.

I am a builder and I question the intelligence of anyone who does not do these two things. Even a cheap 120k home is a lot of money to risk on a faulty product.

I am glad that someone finally gave some good insight for prospective home buyers. Every builder out there is going to miss things occasionally and make mistakes, some more than others. So when buying a new home, or a used one always get a private inspector. Many times the inspector will find things that are not relevant, but they are one the home buyers side and know what to look for to protect the buyer.

[VicMan]

http://www.lovetthomes.com/CustomerCare.php

Lovett's Customer Care section...

[wannabhome]

HELP!

This not what I wanted to hear. I am currently under contract with Intown Homes in Cottage Grove. They have delayed the start of my home for over 1 1/2 months. We keep getting the the same tag line - "we think we are going to start on this date, no, wait it is going to be this date..we think"! They have started several other properties, but the sold out section where we are building just sits empty! Running out of patience!

Does anyone know if you can get your money back out of upgrade purchases? I am running out of time.

[amadeuz]

Sorry to hear about your situation wannabe. I know how it feels to be screwed over by InTown aka Lovett. Not a pleasant feeling. Unfortunately, if you signed the sales contract and handed over your deposit, I don't think you have any remedy to get your money back. That contact you signed is completely stacked against you. I do recall that there was some clause in the contract stating that if the home wasn't finished within a year that you might be able to get your money back, but I'm not sure. Anyway, that means you would have to wait a year. You can always consult a lawyer.

My advice is it's not worth it dealing with a company like InTown aka Lovett. Walk away. Believe me, we tried the legal route and it didn't work. The money loss hurts now, but you will be better off with another company that builds better homes and holds true to its word. And help others like yourself by spreading the word about Lovett and InTown. Avoid them like the plague!

HELP!

This not what I wanted to hear. I am currently under contract with Intown Homes in Cottage Grove. They have delayed the start of my home for over 1 1/2 months. We keep getting the the same tag line - "we think we are going to start on this date, no, wait it is going to be this date..we think"! They have started several other properties, but the sold out section where we are building just sits empty! Running out of patience!

Does anyone know if you can get your money back out of upgrade purchases? I am running out of time.

[PureTexan]

HELP!

This not what I wanted to hear. I am currently under contract with Intown Homes in Cottage Grove. They have delayed the start of my home for over 1 1/2 months. We keep getting the the same tag line - "we think we are going to start on this date, no, wait it is going to be this date..we think"! They have started several other properties, but the sold out section where we are building just sits empty! Running out of patience!

Does anyone know if you can get your money back out of upgrade purchases? I am running out of time.

It is so unfortunate that there are trusting individuals like ourselves that fall prey to the wolves. I am not sure which is worse, dealing with a lawyer or dealing with Frank Liu and Lovett Homes. If I suspected that Lovett Homes was full of liars and scam artists, I would not have dealt with them at all, as I would much prefer not to deal with lawyers at all either.

I know there are excellent tradesmen and outstanding builders in Houston, because I have have worked with them on my other houses through the years. Unfortunately, Frank Liu and his company (look quickly as the people in his employ generally do not stay very long) are not honest and forthright in their dealings.

I am pleased to see that this thread is still active, as my post is here to try to help others avoid a costly mistake like I did. When prospective buyers look up "Lovett Homes" in a Google search, they will find the flashy Lovett site, this thread on Houston Architecture, and the site called: www.lovetthomes.org - interesting reader for a homebuyer - What goes around comes around.

There are those of us who like to help others, and then there are those like Frank Liu, with whom you need to communicate through an attorney. I would suggest an attorney at this point if you want to get anything out of Lovett homes.

[832]

No, there is no refunds for upgrades. If a home is building during rain, they do not pump out the water and have to wait for it to dry; maybe that's why.

[bill77056]

The examples presented in this thread are certainly not what any of us would want to experience. Any of you with builder problems have my sympathy.

My experience with Frank Liu and the Lovett employees was very professional. We purchased a Lovett custom house before the foundation was poured. Steve Mann was the builder. This was in 1998. Steve is still with Lovett. The sales representative left Lovett for Greenwood King sometime after the closing. Both builder and sales rep were responsive to our concerns. The purchase price was, of course, based on a certain set of plans. Any plan changes we requested were properly subject to an added fee. Some of the changes were substantial such as extending evelator to third-floor and installing stone in entire entry hall; some were minor such as changing the direction of a door swing; some were construction errors such as failure to add plywood sheath to wall studs along one interior wall. We never had any problems getting the changes; Lovett took care of their mistakes.

In my uneducated opinion, house construction is complicated. We used an archetict to check the framing each week and I was over at the site each day. Catching plan variances before the sub finishes helps to get problems solved without much discussion.

Our neighbors on each side live in Lovett houses build in 1998. As far as I know, they have no problems with Lovett and seem to be proud of their houses.

I think Frank Liu and his builders work hard to keep down construction costs. Such focus does not leave slack for employees to engage small talk with customers. But the focus does give the customer a value product.

Again it should be noted that my experience was nearly 10 years ago and may not be relevant today.

[Can't Lovett]

I barely know where to begin describing my recent purchase experience with Lovett Homes.. I will attempt to make a summary what you as a prespective purchaser will encounter.

1.Design Center Person who has no training, everything we picked out was never installed as per agreement.

2. Sales Person trained to say "NO" & "NO WAY" And then is usually misinformed and has no connection to the building site Manager.

3. No Supervision of any kind while trade crews are working..

4. Building Site Manager has as many as 15 new builds to supervise at one time and spends most of his time going back to the warehouse to return the wrong items delivered by the Design Center or others.

5. Painters are sloppy mess makers, with no brushes less than 4" in size... so much for detail work..

6. Repairs are seldom done as per your request even before closing, good luck after closing...

7. Set-Back Requirements "Visible Line of Site" detailed in lot plot was never revealed until day of closing and original fence line would have to be moved if city inspector was to catch it... so sorry, take your chances was the only comment or assurance from the Sales Person & Building Site Mgr.. Once the city inspector signed off, Lovett moved the fence back into the restricted "Visible Line of Site Restriction" .. So cleaver to fool the City Inspector.

8. On the day we were moving in the Building Site Mgr. called me to let me know their floor people sanded down the hardwood floors by mistake in the main living area. However, our options would be to move in around the mistake or turn the moving trucks around until they fixed the problem. We elected to move in and let them reslove the problem. This took a week to get the floors re-finished and the mess was intollerable.

9. While we had most of our possessions stored in the garage waiting for them to repair the sanded floors, another one of their work crews came in unannounced (to fix a mess previously made by the original deck people) during the day and left the garage door open to the world. Results was one very expensive road bike stollen while this unsupervised.

10. To date I have all of the upstairs windows with the original manufactures tags on them. Two months later and 5 to 6 broken promises of how they are working to get someone to clean the windows...

I recommend not using the log in system and agreeing to arbitration. Document Document Document and then have someone else fix the crap they promised to fix. Take them to small claims court for a fee of $10.00.... There are many sites http://www.culpepperlaw.com/jpclaims.htm How to file a small claims court issue. Great site... Good Luck... Keep up the effort.. These guys at Lovett are the the scum of the earth.

[PureTexan]

Get ready Lovett homeowners - I did not really suspect that something like this might happen, but we have just been forced to replace ALL of our Lovett installed toilets with toilets that flush.

It seems that Lovett, in the words of our plumber, purchased loads of $40 toilets, in order to cut constructioncosts. These toilets clog every time - even with the smallest amount of toilet paper - we have had to purchase one plunger for each toilet, and have spent more time plunging than I would have imagined possible in a new home.

What does this say for quality?

We checked with several of our unfortunate neighbors (Lovett home dwellers), and several of them have done exactly the same thing. Our replacements cost us nearly $2000!

The toilets we replaced are made in China specifically for builders that want to spend the minimum and have something that looks like a toilet - The resemblance ends there.

If you do make the mistake of buying a home from Lovett - Look at the brand of the toilet installed - If it is other than American Standard, Kohler, TOTO, or another familar brand, you may now know why you have to keep that plunger by the stool.

The after purchase costs keep mounting ...

[VicMan]

PureTexan's only posts have been here.

Again, remember that skepticism is the best strategy with unverified reports. The reports may be true to some extent, but we do not know how true they are.

Remember that competitors may try to slander the other company, so keep a sharp eye out for motives.

[PureTexan]

VicMan could not be more wrong

My work has nothing at all to do with the construction business in Houston or anywhere else. My postings are here to call attention to the lack of quality and total disregard for customers I have been exposed to - Nothing else. Frankly, I have a lot more important things to do with my time than to make 800 posts to a website, like my detractor, VicMan.

Is there somewhere on this site where I can post the invoice from the plumbing company that replaced these toilets? Maybe the credit card receipt?

VicMan seems to be pretty protective of Lovett - I wonder why - HMMMMMM

Maybe a Lovett employee disguised as an impartial observer . . . ?

Be careful, as there is no honor among these types.

PureTexan's only posts have been here.

Again, remember that skepticism is the best strategy with unverified reports. The reports may be true to some extent, but we do not know how true they are.

Remember that competitors may try to slander the other company, so keep a sharp eye out for motives.

::This post has been edited by Editor::

[mpbro]

VicMan seems to be pretty protective of Lovett - I wonder why - HMMMMMM

Maybe a Lovett employee disguised as an impartial observer . . . ?

I don't know...he's made over 800 posts since he joined! :closedeyes:

How did you manage to spend $2000 replacing toilets? We replaced an old toilet with a decent Kohler for like $200 at HD.

My limited knowledge of Lovett is as a high-end spec builder around Rice. I'm not sure they're different than any other successful spec builder. The margins are so low in that business that only the shrewd survive.

I think the big problem is probably poor-quality subs. With the hot construction market, labor is expensive and in short supply. As an example, we hired a company to sand our hardwoods. When the owner looked at the original floor, he said, "see those 'waves' in the floor? After we're done, it will be smooth as silk". Well, the guy's crew must have been practicing on our floor, because there are more waves now than before!