I have no experience with Ryland, but J.D. Power rates home builders. You could check Ryland's ratings as a starting point. Good luck.

Here is a link that might be useful: J.D. Power Home Builders

Ryland is a track builder. I've walked thru numerous houses they have built around here. They build as cheap as they can get away with.

I sub contracted for them about 10 years ago and yes they are usually cheap. I would expect cheap flooring,windows,siding,roofs,etc., but you can upgrade these for an extra charge. Like everything else, you get what you pay for.

We owned a Ryland home when we lived on the east coast and I would never buy one from them again. They will do everything and I mean everything as cheaply as possible. They lied to everyone in the community about their plans to develop the open space areas and the storm water pond. They claimed that they were going to make all of these trails and park like spaces and in the end they dumped a huge eye sore onto the HOA and walked away.

The residents got together to log complaints about the foundation walls that cracked from floor to ceiling in 75% of the homes in the community. They also applied the black damp proofing paint on the outside foundation walls above the yard grading which was a huge eye sore. They were very difficult to get any work done during the warranty period.

Ryland built some homes in a neighborhood near my house about 10 years ago. They don't hold up well, and in my opinion, are very cheaply built.

You need to remember, Ryland builds different levels of home products, that include different levels of finishes.

We're building a Ryland home, in their Concerto series. The home is anything but inexpensive, and the exterior and interior finishes, while not at the custom-level, are top-notch for a production builder.

My husband is a professional home inspector, and we had three builders we were trying to decide between. We were looking at Plantation, Darling, and Ryland. He pretty much made the decision for us, considering what Ryland included as far as energy-efficient features.

I used to sell new homes for Perry and MHI (Plantation), and they're on par with those two builders, if anyone else is more familiar with their construction.

Just remember - they're a production builder. But as far as production builders go, they are definitely not the worst out there.

If you Google them you'll see they have lawsuits pending against them for shoddy workmanship in several stated!

Maybe your only option is building in a tract development.

However, generally, the Pulte's of the world are all about making money to increase share price.

Look into smaller builders in your area...maybe developments where Pulte doesnt own the entire thing. I would build a smaller house and use a custom builder then a production builder on a larger house.

Its not that they are terrible houses - but what you will get is a "builder grade" house = basically low grade quality.