KB Home South Bay

Very careful when you buy a home which is not ready. KB studio is like a loot studio and In the name of warranty they will try to sell you everything which triple the price of market price. Salesrep are very unprofessional and to sell the home they can tell you any thing which is far from reality.

DO NOT buy a KB home. Our home is full of defects which KB refused to fix so we joined a group lawsuit as did a huge percentage of owners of these poorly built homes. Not sure about other states, but in «consumer friendly» California, the law is completely on the side of the builder to the point it is corrupt. First, KB was allowed to drag out the mediation process. We purchased our home 10 years ago and have had water coming up through the slab from the beginning. We went to mediation along with other owners and apparently KB is able to ignore anything the mediator says too, even though he is recommending recovery for us. This after two crews of inspectors tore up our home to document the situation. Moreover, only the original owner is eligible to receive anything under mediation. We are original owners but over the course of 10 years, several original owners sold their homes and KB knows this. Then there is the delightful portion of the law that says an owner is only able to address actual damage to the home. So if you have a leaky roof, you can consider damage to drywall but not ask for funds to repair the roof itself. KBs plan is to delay everything with their team of lawyers and not pay a dime to fix the homes they built with cheap workers and cheap materials. Once they have your money, their attitude changes and they do not recognize their 10 year warranty or even the recommendations of a court appointed mediator. In the end, it will be up to each individual homeowner to take them to court which is like David going up against Goliath. Shame on KB.

KB Homes constructed a wonderful home for me and my family but I have to take issue with the the location of my home. It’s bad enough that I have to hear all the deliveries being made right behind my home but the night club which also sits behind us plays music too loud on the weekends for me to enjoy my days off. KB homes must have known that this would be a problem for future homeowners, yet they failed to disclose this information to us before we purchased the home. Unfortunately I’ll be stuck with this problem for awhile until I can pay this home off and find a better location to live. The builders shouldn’t have put these home so close to commercial sites.

I have the most horrible experience with KB HOME. I was looking the Towns at the Berryessa Crossing located in San Jose, CA. I had a nice floor plan very desirable by lot of buyers and it is scheduled to be ready around May 2015, as of now, it is still an empty terrain without any foundation yet. I signed a purchase agreement back in October. Almost two weeks later, I had an emergency and I told them that I wouldn’t be able to purchase the home any longer since I will not have the down payment. Right away, I called Nancy my sales rep from KB Home in the evening and she said that she will send me the cancellation form and that I will get my 3% deposit back.
The next day, I called Nancy and she said that she will email the form asap. Later that morning, I received the called from Nancy letting me know that KB Home «corporate» will not return my 3% deposit (almost 18 thousand dollars!). I asked why and she passed the phone call to Maricela Gutierrez (
). Maricela told me that because I already chose the first options then I will have to pay for liquidated damages. I said but they haven’t even pour the foundation yet. Then, she said in a harsh tone that this is a business and because I signed a contract. I cannot just back out like that. I asked for a better explanation, then she lost her patient and in a rude manner Maricela hung up the phone.
I went to the sales office and they said that «corporate» will not give me back my deposit. Maricela wanted to show me in the contract where it said that I can’t get my deposit back.
Later. Nancy sent me the cancellation form instructing the escrow holder to give my deposit to KB Home. In the email she said: «Corporate will not be issuing your deposit back. I am very sorry. Permits has been approved for your options and you loan has been approved…» The only options I have for that moment was the bathtub, ceiling lights and the doors. BUT again, the foundation is not there yet. They haven’t started building anything on the terrain yet. I contacted their preferred lender agent and he said that my loan was in process and therefore NOT approve yet. Even the loan agent did not understand why they were doing that.
I talked to my real estate agent and got advise from a real estate lawyer. They both told me that I didn’t have to do anything. One of the contingency is to get the loan so if I don’t get the loan then they would have to return my deposit.
As long as I don’t sign the cancellation form, they can’t sell the property to anyone else.
After five days, I got another email from Nancy «.Just following up on the status of the cancellation form? We are here if you have any questions at all. I will need some type of response soon as corporate is requesting. If we do not hear back, corporate will be sending you a default notice.»
My lawyer advised me to wait for the default letter and see what it said. Couple of days later, I talked to the loan agent and he said that they will not approve my loan since I will no longer have the down payment.
Days later I got another email from Nancy saying «…We have sold your home to someone else. Please sign the cancellation form and send back to us asap. You will be getting your deposit back if you process quickly.»
This is definitely a lie since they can’t sell the property to anyone else because it is under contract/​escrow.
They sent me the same form but this one said that they cancel the contract «Prior to 30 day. Cannot obtain loan approval». My lawyer noticed that they only filled out the total field but didn’t specify where the money goes either — To KB Home or To Buyer. I am not sure if they did this intentionally but I filled the total amount of my deposit to the — To Buyer field.
I signed the form and I finally got my deposit back from the title company almost two weeks later.
This is the worst experience of my life! I am under enormous stress since I needed the cash right away. I had to borrow money from my credit cards. KB Home, a 2.1 Billion revenue in 2013, is such a big enterprise company and they were trying to take my hard earned money away.
KB Home tried to lie, deceive, intimidate and threaten. This the worst business ethics I have ever seen. Regardless that, we are in the seller market and the property already went up 60k. They still wanted to steal my money.
Lets see if KB Home’s CEO, Jeffrey Mezger will do anything about this. They scared me from getting my American dream fulfilled
I will not suggest anyone from buying properties from KB Home!
Below is their contact info.
888-​KB-​HOMES
Berryessa Sales, San Jose, CA
408 593‑0031
408 899‑6537

I have to say I feel as though I dodged a bullet… I heard alot of bad things about KB once we made our reservation and put down a 3% deposit. But we were trying to stay positve. But in the end the Cons out weighed the Pros so we pulled out. My experience with KB was based on the treatment in the office.
Brett S. was super cool really nice and seemed to know all the answers to all our questions. But once we decided we didn’t want to move forward with the contract and asked for our check back things went south.
On the reservation it states that, should either party terminate the reservation for any reason the 3% deposit would be returned withen 2 business days. That’s because the 3% deposit on a reservation is supposed to remain un-​cashed until our contract is signed (Per Dream P from KB HOME). Brett did not mention that to us and our check had in fact been cashed by the title company…
When I called the KB home office to let them know that we didnt want to move forward, Dream P. who is also very nice told us that it would take 10 business days to get our check back, which wasnt ideal for me. She said this was because we were already in escrow. Escrow?! We hadnt signed a contract we were not in escrow. After a few conversations with her she says that our check should never have been cashed and should have remained in the office and returned within 2 days as stated on the reservation form AND that Brett was no longer with the company!
Dream said she would try to do everything she could to help get out check returned to us faster then the 10 days. She would let me know on Monday if she could get someone to expidite the process.
Come Monday I email Dream. Deam returnes my email saying she no longer will be coming back to Gilroy and Aaron P. will help me. When I call Aaron P. (who was super nice when everything was all good) I tell him who I am and briefly explain that we want our deposit back asap and Dream said it should never have been cashed and therefore returned to us in 2 business days as stated on the reservation paper. His only response «Why?» why??? Because I want my $ 15,000 back now, that’s why! He goes on to say Dream is in fact incorrect and the check had to be cashed and theres nothing he can do to expidite the process call the title company and ask them… basically tough sh! t! What a let down!
Thankfully the title company was much nicer and did get my check to me the next day. But for Dream to contradict Brett and then Aaron to contradict Dream all within the same office, I’m glad I dont have to deal with them anymore thats for sure. I mean it wasn’t the end of the world and I got my money back but it was still a crappy and stressful experience.

So we just moved into our newly built KB Home! And we are super excited! Let tell you the Construction team has been super responsive to all of our needs and have been just amazing. I have emailed them about minor issues and I get a quick response that someone will be on it. They also hold your hands through the process and make sure you are comfortable and that they are not walking away after escrow closes! I would recommend buying from them to anyone!

I just want to say I am amazed not only having issues myself and finding other negative reviews but after finding all the websites, news reports and youtube videos regarding alleged shoddy construction practices and fraud related to KB Home. One site I believe had claimed that there are possibly 20 communities in one state having serious construction and warranty issues with KB Home! Just do a google search, search youtube for videos regarding KB Home issues to see for yourself. In fact there is a vehicle driving around the Bay Area with large decals for a website called

With the recent heavy rains, the roof has leaked again where KB supposedly fixed the problems.
For those of you buying new homes, and happy with the sales reps (not exactly a good measure of construction quality), the real test is to wait several years to see if your home holds up.
For the poster who so «intelligently» suggested contacting the window manufacturer, since KB uses inferior vendors, the window company is now out of business. Moreover, protocol is you contact the builder, who is responsible for the home warranty. As for appliances, you must have very low standards, but that perhaps is the demographic KB is targeting, those with low standards. I don’t expect everything to breakdown in less than 10 years.

KB Home advertises built to order, we think it’s piece of sh** to order. In 2010 my husband and I purchased a new KB Home. At first the experience was wonderful, everyone was extremely professional and everything seemed great. Then things seemed to change after KB Home was leaving our community and we made our first warranty claim. We made the mistake of initially buying into the claims of quality, customer satisfaction and 10 year warranty for piece of mind which we now believe is complete bullsh** and initially trusted this company.
Within the first few months we noticed some slight bubbling in the vinyl floor like a slab crack had been developing underneath. KB Home sent some Christopher Walken looking floor guy that arrived two hours late. He doesn’t introduce himself, just standing there staring at us after the door was opened for him to come in and was very unprofessional. He was supposed to open the floor yet refused saying KB Home will not pay him to put it back. He also told us that it’s normal and all these KB Homes have cracks, big cracks, cracks everywhere.
Later I get a call from a KB Home manager saying «I need to come out and have a talk with your husband.» Some KB Home Manager looking like Vito from the Sopranos dressed in all black arrives. This guy was also unprofessional, doesn’t introduce himself, doesn’t say anything at first, also just standing there staring. He comes in, stops, looks at my husband and first thing he says after coming into our home is «so I hear you’re going to sue us?» After my husband told him what was said he says they’ll pull up the entry way vinyl but flat out refuses to pull any carpet saying the crack could go across the home to the other side but if it does is purely cosmetic, which we believe is warranty fraud. We also believe these guys know this is common with their homes. We were getting real sick of these KB Home a** holes so we just said screw it and left it alone at the time. We didn’t buy a new home that was advertised as a quality home with a 10 year warranty for piece of mind with customer satisfaction to be dealing with this kind of unprofessional bullsh**. After we felt like they later screwed us over on our downstairs ceiling and feeling like we could no longer trust KB Home we pulled the carpet finding a crack going from one side of the house to the other.
To make matters worse these clowns can’t even properly repair our downstairs ceiling issues. Quite honestly we don’t know how they could even build a freakin’ entire house but can’t properly repair a ceiling even after replacing the ceiling drywall with their best crew. When you turn the light on you can see bumps, ripples and waves. It looks like we’re living in a slum home and KB Slum Home’s own District VP starts to get loud at my husband in our home for pointing out the remaining issues, saying it’s a nice ceiling, there’s nothing wrong with it and that our expectations are way off. We’ve had a long list of issues we could have complained about, only expecting KB Home to resolve a couple of issues and they couldn’t even do that. We think KB Home seems to consider it a warranty repair even if the work is shoddy and they’ll tell you it’s acceptable.
If anyone thinks KB Home is great we think they are either extremely lucky, they haven’t owned the home long enough, are oblivious to their home’s issues or are just suckers for KB Home’s BS like we were with no clue what possibly lies ahead. We are so sick of these KB Home a**holes, their bullsh** inspections, their shoddy repair attempts, and being treated like somehow everything is our fault. We think KB Home is a JOKE and the homes they build are garbage but they make them look pretty and grand with all the cheap design touches to try and make their piece of sh** homes appear better than they really are.
BUYER BEWARE we are not the only homeowners having issues with KB Home! Please check out
for more information about our story and other homeowner stories. It’s not just us having issues with KB Home please do your research as we believe KB Home violates an FTC Consent Order through deceptive practices and warranty fraud. It wouldn’t surprise me if these clowns are now running around on their best behavior after all the websites, youtube videos and news reports about KB Home.

I’ve read a lot of these posts here and I’m sorry buying a home is not like buying a dish towel at Bed Bath and Beyond. You can’t simply return it and ask for your money back a week later if you no longer like it.
Buying a house used to be characterized as one of the most stressful life events –and it was that way for a reason. You shouldn’t enter into it lightly and you should do your homework before you commit!!!
Yes, I will admit that every builder that uses subcontractors has issues; however, I think what we see (as far as leaks and mold issues) is more the exception than the rule. Also, you as a homeowner have the responsibility to do some maintenance yourself and to pull in KB as the problems start – not after your house has fallen down.
The person who posted about windows and appliances breaking — did you contact the window company about replacement since they’re under warranty? Few appliances these days are built to last. So again its about having realistic expectations. When you live in an area of the country where it doesn’t rain for more than half of the year, it really should not be surprising that your roof may have leaks. Its not like they can stand on your roof with a hose to test for leaks and roofing materials do degrade over time. Being proactive and calling someone in right away should minimize problems — and you really should not let it go until your ceilings start caving in, to address the problem.
We just built at Amador Pointe in Emerald Vista and are very happy with the house. We’ve found KB to be quite cooperative about addressing issues as they come up. Everything that we’ve identified thus far has been quite minor. The house comes with a 10 year warranty. Every home settles and sooner or later you will have to fix something. Also, as a family who has purchased new houses before, in other parts of the country, we can tell you that these homes are pretty well built.
Do you homework before going in and make sure you’re really serious about the home buying process before you put down any $$$

A new development at Bella Monte in Dublin really caught my eye. On 1/​28, I wrote a deposit check for a lot hold on a specific lot I really liked. My realtor asked for a closing cost rebate as part of the pre approval. The KB sales agent said KB corp might not agree but will try. I have no problem paying the full closing cost but I want to save money when possible. The sales agent said they are selling homes very quickly so she rushed our paperwork in and said KB will reply the very next day. I also offered to pay at least 40% down at closing.
The very next day, 1/​29, less than 24 hours after I signed the agreement, the sales agent called me notifying me that another sales agent in the office sold my lot to another buyer that morning who did not ask for the closing rebate. I have no problem paying for the full price. KB homes have no curtesy to give me a chance to counter. They automatically sell to the highest bidder, even though my paperwork was submitted first. The agent said they are not obligated to notify me. In other words, if you buy KB homes, your deposit and your money is only good until someone else comes in with more money. The sales did offer me another, much more expensive, lot for no incentives. I had heard from people that KB homes are not nice to customers. I didn’t really believe it. But KB homes made a true believer out of me today!

4−2014− 3 years later and i am still quite impressed by KB. There has been no issues and when I have minor questions or complaints, customer service contacts me within 24 hours. Rick Champion that comes by from customer service has been excellent. He comes by each time and answers all my questions. Love the house and nothing has gone wrong so far! KB in dublin rocks!
2012–
I honestly had to admit I was quite worry after reading about KB homes, but decided to buy in Dublin CA. As with all tract houses, they ALL have the same standard issues and problems, but KB exceeded all of my expectations so far. The sales office ladies (Diana and Michele) were extremely professional, kind, considerate and went out of the way to ensure we had a smooth process from A to Z– weekly phone calls. The construction leads (Dave and Matt) were top notched. Matt fixed everything within 1 day and they were all minor issues so far. I had Centex years ago and didn’t recall them being so fast and prompt. The house and upgrades were impressive (yes, standard are standards, dont buy new houses if you expect standards to be top brands), they caught everything before our final walk even though we had our «watch list». Any questions we had garbage, mailbox, yard, fence, etc, Michele and Diana would provide me an answer b/​t 24 – 48 hours. With bad reviews on alot of builders, i must say, it really depends on your own experience and how your own expectations. We went in with low and came out on top. Do not believe everything you read because KB Dublin made this entire process flawless for us– Kudos Michele, Diana and Matt!

Like others have said below KB Home is the absolute worst. They will say and do anything to make the sale or at least get you to put down a sizable deposit which, once they have, they will have you by the nether regions. You also have to pay an arm and a leg to get basic «upgrades» through their design center. Trust me, they may say they’ll give you some kind of credit there but it’s not going to last very long when you realize you need to use it for kitchen cabinets to avoid getting the thick cardboard standard ones.
My advice is if you are dealing with them and your house and the surrounding complex isn’t completely built make sure you get everything in writing. We had picked out a condo in what we though was the best location in the building since we got in early but our sales guy Aaron Parker conveniently left out the fact that they were going to build a huge set of townhouses 1 foot away from our balcony and windows blotting out all sunlight and any kind of view!
Thankfully I got out of this and half my deposit back. I would NEVER do business with KB home again.

First off, if i can put a negative star on this, i would put negative 100 times!!!
KB homes are the worst place to get your house. Like the girl below «Anna N.» said is very true! Robert is an a*****e! He and all KB home members are liars. They do and say whatever they can to get you to buy the place and be stuck with a bunch of garbage! I call them thieves for robbing all the people that bought any KB homes, anywhere.
To «Ken C.» I think you are just proud of being able to buy your house at a young age, but not really proud what KB has to offer.
Here’s a little more info about KB homes. The appliance they put in the house started breaking after 1 month. They tow your car at night even if there is no redline. My friend’s cars have been towed 3 times, parking in nonviolated parking places, and today i recieved a message that i can not park my car in the regular parking areas and have to park my car outside of kb premises, even though we have 3 cars at home. There is no place to park ever. If you get a house at KB don’t ever invite anyone over because it wil get towed! You are on your own when buying KB. They SUCK!!!

I have to warn everyone about buying a KB home in Milpitas, the Cielo community.
We are in the middle of going through arbitration with them. The whole experience has been HORRIBLE.
First, the sales person Robert G. told me he would give me a 50k incentive if I signed on. He later went back on that and told me it has to be tied toa country wide home loan! who says i wanted to use CW! we went through a lot of back and forth and they ended up giving us a 40k incentive.
Later, when the house values went down, he told me he would give me the house at current market value. I asked him for new paperwork and it took him 3 months to reply and by that time the current market value went back up again. By this time, I didn’t want to deal with him anymore and asked my agent to take care of it. He was rude to my agent and very unproffessional. He told my agent he didn’t want to speak to him unless he got an OKAY from me so my agent called me on 3 way and I told Robert that I no longer wanted to talk to him — Robert told me I needed to fax him that in writing! seriously. you have me ON the phone and I’m telling you — DEAL WITH MY AGENT and you want me to waste more time out of my life and tell you that in a fax! we contacted his boss Dan and even Dan told us that was a rediculous request.
In the end, KB home is really shady. They verbally promise you a bunch of stuff to get you to sign and then tack all sorts of conditions on afterwards. the customer service is horrible and the agent is such a bad liar. He’s told my agent he never promised me the market price even though he’s left 3 messages on any answering machine about how he CAN do it (which I’ve kept and forwarded on to his boss and will play it for the judge in court) a verbal contract is still a contract nomatter how shady you are!
PS and the 1 star is only because Unilocal doesn’t allow you to put negative stars which is what this development really deserves.

I bought my first new home with KB in Union City next to the UC Bart Station early this year of 2008. Very proud of myself because I didnt think I’d be a homeowner at age 26.
I assume all home building companies are the same in service and professionalism.
All I have to say is, buy when the time is right. And realize the potential surrounding property value in the future.