Lennar vs Pulte in the Chicago Suburbs: What Is Included and What Is Not

Lennar vs Pulte in the Chicago Suburbs: What Is Included and What Is Not

Lennar and Pulte sell similar homes in the same suburbs using two different pricing models. Lennar includes the finishes in the base price and lets you choose almost nothing. Pulte advertises a lower base price and sells the finishes separately through its Design Studio. Comparing the two numbers on the two signs tells you very little about which home costs more.

Questions this guide answers:

• What does Lennar actually include at no extra cost, by brand and size?
• What does Pulte include, and what do you choose and pay for?
• Which builder is cheaper per square foot on a comparable home?
• What do both builders leave out of every base price?
• How do you compare the two prices honestly, in about twenty minutes?
• Where is each builder discounting right now, and what form does it take?
• Whose warranty is longer, and does that matter?

George Kolar and Chicago Suburb Living have specialized in Chicago suburban 55+ and active adult real estate since 2005, and represent buyers on both Lennar and Pulte inventory in Naperville, Plainfield, Aurora, Oswego, Bolingbrook and Joliet. Every price, feature and offer below was read off each builder's own published pages on October 22, 2026. New construction pricing moves weekly and sometimes daily, so treat every figure here as a starting point rather than a quote.

The Two Pricing Models in One Sentence Each

Lennar builds under a program it calls Everything's Included. The finishes come with the house, the builder selects most of them, and the number on the sign sits unusually close to the number you will actually pay.

Pulte builds the opposite way on purpose. The base home is specified to a lower standard, and you personalize it in an in-house Design Studio, where cabinets, counters, flooring and fixtures are chosen and priced individually.

Neither approach is better in the abstract. They are built for different buyers, and the only honest way to compare them is on a finished house rather than a base price. Our guide to new construction homes in the Chicago suburbs covers the wider landscape; this post is specifically about these two builders.

What Lennar Includes in the Base Price

These features are standard rather than options, and they repeat almost word for word across Lennar's Keller Farm, Prairie Meadows and Autumn Glen brochures, which suggests this is the Chicago market specification rather than a one-community promotion.

The part that surprises people is how little choosing there is. Lennar's own brochures describe the countertops and the faucet as designer-selected, meaning the builder picks them. The only selection I could find anywhere in the Chicago brochures is whether the cabinets are stained or white.

For a full walkthrough of one plan under this program, including the layout and what the finished home costs, see our deep dive on the Lennar Raleigh at Reserve at Hummel Trails in Oswego.

What Pulte Includes in the Base Price

Pulte publishes a per-plan features list, which is more useful than a community brochure because it is specific to the house. The list below is from the Riverton at Bronk Farm in Plainfield, a single-family plan at $591,990.

One detail worth knowing before you compare anything: Pulte's townhome specification is not the same as its single-family specification. The Ashton at Townes at Sawgrass in Bolingbrook lists laminate kitchen countertops rather than granite, and a fifty gallon electric water heater rather than a forty gallon gas unit. If a sales associate quotes you the single-family feature list while you are standing in a townhome model, ask for the right one.

Where the Two Lists Actually Differ

Most of the two specifications match. These are the lines that do not, and they are the ones worth pricing.

Six inches of cabinet height and an eighth of an inch of carpet pad sound like trivia. They are not. Those are the exact line items a Design Studio will quote you to upgrade, and they are the reason a Pulte base price and a Lennar base price are not the same product.

The honest counterweight runs the other way on two lines. Pulte publishes its furnace efficiency, its SEER rating and its insulation R-values, and Lennar does not publish any of those in this market. Pulte also carries a warranty tier Lennar does not have. If the mechanical specification of the house matters to you more than the finish level, that asymmetry favors Pulte.

Both Builders Leave the Same Four Things Out

Neither builder's published features list includes a refrigerator, a washer, a dryer, or window blinds. Neither page says those items are excluded either, so confirm in writing rather than assuming in either direction.

Two more costs sit outside every base price at both builders:

• The homesite. Neither builder discloses a lot premium as a line item anywhere on its website. You can see the effect in the inventory: at Reserve at Hummel Trails, two Galveston homes of identical square footage are listed $15,230 apart.
• Structural options. Lennar's plan pages show only a count, such as four additional options on the Siena II, without naming or pricing them. Pulte names a few, including an optional wrapped sunroom and a butler's pantry, again without prices. On a home already under construction, structural options are usually gone at any price.

Our guide to which new construction upgrades are worth paying for covers which of these return their cost. The short version: anything buried in a wall or under a slab is cheap now and expensive forever after, and cosmetic finishes are the weakest use of a dollar.

The Plainfield Townhome Test

Both builders sell two-story townhomes in Plainfield right now, which makes this the cleanest direct comparison available in this market. Same town, same product type, same bedroom and bath count.

The headline pair is the first and the third row. Lennar's Chatham starts $26,000 below Pulte's Ashton and gives you eleven more square feet, and it does that while including 42 inch cabinets and a quartz kitchen countertop against the Pulte townhome's 36 inch cabinets and laminate kitchen countertop.

That inverts what buyers expect. The usual assumption is that Lennar's base price has to be higher because more is included in it. On Plainfield townhomes today, Lennar is both cheaper and better equipped at the entry plan.

Two cautions before you act on that table. Pulte publishes its townhome square footages with a plus sign, meaning the figure is a floor rather than an exact number, so a like-for-like elevation may measure differently. And neither column includes the homesite. If you are weighing this product type at all, our comparison of buying a townhome versus a single-family home is worth reading first.

The Aurora Ranch Test, With and Without the Age Restriction

Both builders also sell single-level ranch homes in Aurora, and here the comparison turns on something other than price.

Lennar's Prairie Meadows starts in the low $400s, with plans from $416,990 for 1,428 square feet up to $451,990 for 1,880. The community page lists a community center, a park, pickleball courts, a picnic shelter, a fire pit and roughly fifteen acres of open space. It is not age-restricted.

Pulte's Del Webb Lincoln Prairie, also in Aurora, is 55+ and runs from $404,990 to $603,990 across ten ranch plans from 1,502 to 2,754 square feet. Our breakdown of what a Lincoln Prairie home actually costs once fees and taxes are included works the total monthly number rather than the sticker.

So in one town you can have pickleball, a clubhouse and open space without an age restriction, or a larger amenity program and considerably more square footage at the top of the range with one. That is a decision about what you want the community to be rather than about which builder is cheaper, and it is the most common fork our ranch buyers face. For the wider picture, see ranch homes for sale in the Chicago suburbs.

How to Actually Compare a Lennar Price With a Pulte Price

This is the part no builder will do for you, and it takes about twenty minutes.

1. Get Lennar's included features sheet for the specific plan, not the community brochure. You want brands and sizes, because that is what the other builder will have to quote against.
2. Take that list to the Pulte Design Studio and ask for a price on each line. Not a total and not an allowance. A line item price for the cabinet height, the countertop material, the appliance package and the flooring that match what Lennar gives you as standard.
3. Add that figure to the Pulte base price. Only now do the two numbers describe the same house, and only now can you subtract one from the other.
4. Add the homesite premium at both. Neither builder includes it in a plan's starting price, and as the Hummel Trails example shows, the spread within one community can run into five figures.
5. Handle the incentives separately, because they are different currencies. A price reduction changes your loan amount, your equity on day one and your property tax basis. A rate buydown changes your payment for a few years and changes nothing else. Do not put them in the same column.

Most buyers skip steps two and three, which is exactly how a builder with a lower sign price wins a comparison it would lose on the finished house.

Where Each Builder Is Discounting Right Now

Both builders are discounting. They are doing it in forms that look nothing alike, and one of them is close to invisible.

Lennar is cutting prices and not advertising it

As of October 22, 2026, no Lennar Chicago-area community page advertises a dated incentive. Every one of them carries the same undated line about promotions available when financing through Lennar Mortgage, with no rate and no dollar amount attached.

A warning that matters if you are shopping online. Lennar's Chicago promotion page from earlier this month is still publicly reachable and still displays a 3.500 percent first-year rate. Its own fine print required a purchase agreement signed between October 12 and October 18, 2026. That window has closed. If you find that page, you are looking at an offer you can no longer get.

What Lennar is doing instead shows up in the inventory prices, where several standing homes are listed below their own plan's base price:

A home priced $49,000 under its own plan's base is a discount, whether or not anyone calls it one. This is the clearest signal available of where Lennar's flexibility actually sits, and it is only visible if you compare each inventory listing against the plan it was built from. Almost nobody does that.

Lennar is currently publishing two different prices for the same homes

There is a stranger version of this at Reserve at Hummel Trails in Oswego, and it is worth knowing about before you shop there online.

On October 22, 2026, Lennar's Landmark collection page and the individual listing pages for the same homes carried different prices on six of the seven available homes, by $3,000 to $10,000 each.

In every case where the two disagree, the individual home page carries the lower number, and the community's own published price range is built from the lower set. We are not going to tell you which figure is correct, because no Lennar page shows a previous price, a price change or a date stamp, so either reading is consistent with what is printed.

The practical lesson is the one that applies to every number in this post, at both builders: get today's price in writing from the sales office before you make a decision on it.

Pulte is publishing a rate at one community and small savings at another

Pulte's temporary buydown is live at Townes at Sawgrass in Bolingbrook and, as far as the published pages show, nowhere else in the Chicago area. The terms read 2.99 percent in year one, 3.99 percent in year two, and 4.99 percent in years three through seven, at a 5.826 percent annual percentage rate.

Against the Freddie Mac thirty year average of 7.40 percent for the week of October 15, 2026, that is a large monthly difference in the early years. Our guide to what builder incentives and rate buydowns are actually worth works the arithmetic. The short version is that a buydown of this size usually beats a price cut on monthly payment while leaving your loan balance, your equity and your tax basis untouched.

Four things in the fine print before you rely on it. It is a seven-year adjustable product, not a thirty year fixed, and the rate can move every six months after year seven. The quoted rate assumes a 780 credit score and twenty percent down on the conventional version. Pulte Mortgage is not required to buy the home but is required to get the rate. And the rate-lock data behind the published figure is dated October 5 to October 18, 2026, so confirm the current number with the sales office rather than quoting the page.

At Prosperita in Naperville the offer is different again, a 7/6 adjustable fixed for the first seven years at 4.990 percent. At Bronk Farm, Pulte is posting dollar savings on two standing homes rather than a rate, $6,416 on one and $7,388 on the other.

So the tidy version of this story is wrong. It is tempting to say Lennar cuts prices and Pulte cuts rates, and that is roughly where things stood a week ago. Today both builders are doing both, at different communities, in different amounts, with only some of it advertised. Our running look at new construction deals across the Chicago suburbs tracks the specific homes.

The Warranty Is Not the Same Length

Lennar publishes a one, two and ten year limited warranty: one year on workmanship, two years on electrical, plumbing and mechanical systems, ten years structural. The page names Colorado and Utah as shorter, and says nothing different about Illinois.

Pulte's Chicago plan pages describe a one, two, five and ten year transferable limited warranty it calls the Pulte Protection Plan. The ten year structural and two year systems tiers match Lennar's.

Two tiers of a warranty are not a reason to pick a builder, and neither warranty replaces an inspection. Both of these are limited warranties with exclusions, and in Illinois you also begin with an implied warranty of habitability that a builder can ask you to waive in the contract. What matters more than the tier count is what you did before closing, which is covered in new construction inspections and warranties in Illinois.

Register Your Own Agent Before You Walk In

This is the most expensive thing a new construction buyer can get wrong, and it has nothing to do with which builder you choose.

The person at the model home works for the builder. They are pleasant, they know their product, and they represent the seller.

Lennar's published broker policy is stricter than most buyers realize. It requires the buyer to register their broker on the buyer's first interaction with a Lennar employee, not merely the first visit, and it requires the broker to accompany the buyer on the initial visit to the community. A buyer who fills in an online form alone has arguably already tripped the trigger. The policy also gives a sixty day window from registration to a signed purchase agreement.

Pulte's Illinois policy is not published in a form we could verify. The safe practice at either builder is identical: name your agent before you make contact, and have them with you the first time you walk in. It costs you nothing.

Which Builder Fits Which Buyer

Neither of these is the better builder. They are built for different decisions.

Lennar fits the buyer who does not want to make fifty finish decisions. The specification is good, the price is close to final, and the process is short. That matters if you are selling a home at the same time and have no bandwidth for a Design Studio appointment. See how to buy a home while selling your current one and, if the timing is tight, bridge loans in the Chicago suburbs.

Pulte fits the buyer who wants the house a particular way and will pay line by line to get it, or who cares more about the mechanical specification than the finish level. It also fits anyone who needs the lowest payment in the first few years, because Pulte is the one publishing a rate.

If you have to close this year, the builder matters less than the home. A finished house with no construction schedule left beats a better floor plan that is not built, and at both builders the standing inventory is where the flexibility is. Our guide to closing on new construction by year end has the calendar math, and new construction delays in Illinois explains why an estimated completion date is doing more work in that sentence than buyers assume.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Lennar or Pulte cheaper in the Chicago suburbs?

It depends on the product type, and the base prices do not answer it. On Plainfield townhomes as of October 2026, Lennar's entry plan starts about $26,000 below Pulte's for slightly more square footage, and includes taller cabinets and a quartz rather than laminate kitchen counter. On single-family homes the comparison varies by community and has to be run plan by plan.

What does Lennar's Everything's Included actually include?

In the Chicago market it includes Aristokraft 42 inch kitchen cabinets, quartz countertops, a GE stainless appliance package, Shaw luxury vinyl plank and carpet, a Ring video doorbell, a Honeywell smart thermostat, nine foot first floor ceilings and a sodded front yard. It does not include the homesite, structural options, blinds, a refrigerator, or a washer and dryer.

Does Pulte include appliances in the base price?

Pulte's published features list includes a Whirlpool stainless gas range, dishwasher and microwave, plus an icemaker line. A refrigerator is not listed, and neither is a washer or dryer. Confirm in writing what is and is not in the kitchen and laundry before you sign.

How much do Pulte Design Studio selections usually add?

Pulte does not publish a typical figure, and no honest answer exists without a specific plan and a specific selection list. The only reliable way to find out is to take Lennar's included features sheet to a Pulte Design Studio appointment and ask for a line item price on each item.

Why are Lennar and Pulte base prices not comparable?

Because they describe different houses. Lennar's base price already contains finishes that are Design Studio selections at Pulte, so Pulte's lower sign price is a lower starting specification rather than a lower cost for the same home. The two numbers only become comparable after you price Pulte up to Lennar's standard.

Is a price cut or a rate buydown worth more?

A buydown usually wins on monthly payment at current rates. A price cut wins if you are paying cash, expect to refinance or sell within a few years, or want a lower property tax basis, because the assessor works from your purchase price and that follows you for as long as you own the home.

Do Lennar and Pulte charge lot premiums?

Both do, and neither publishes them as a line item. The effect is visible in inventory pricing: two identical Lennar floor plans at the same Oswego community are currently listed $15,230 apart, which is the homesite and the options rather than the house.

Can I use my own agent to buy a Lennar or Pulte home?

Yes, and you should, but the registration timing is strict. Lennar's published policy requires you to name your broker at your first interaction with a Lennar employee and requires the broker to accompany you on your first community visit. Name your agent before you make any contact, including online.

What warranty comes with a Lennar or Pulte home in Illinois?

Lennar publishes a one, two and ten year limited warranty. Pulte's Chicago pages describe a one, two, five and ten year transferable limited warranty. Both are limited warranties with exclusions, and in Illinois you also start with an implied warranty of habitability that a builder may ask you to waive.

Which builder is better if I need to close this year?

Whichever one has a finished house you want. At both builders the standing inventory carries the real flexibility, and a completed home removes the construction schedule risk entirely. Lennar currently lists more than a hundred move-in ready and quick move-in homes across the Chicago area.

Why Work With George Kolar and Chicago Suburb Living

I represent buyers at both of these builders, so I have no reason to tell you one of them is the answer. What I can do is run the comparison in this post on the two specific homes you are deciding between, price the Pulte selections that match Lennar's standard list, and tell you where each builder's flexibility sits this week rather than where it sat last month.

I also tour these homes on video, so you can see the plans before you spend a Saturday driving to four model homes. And because I handle the registration correctly at the start, you keep your own representation through a process where the only other person in the room works for the seller.

Start with more about how I work, or call.

Final Thoughts

The takeaway is narrower than a verdict. Lennar and Pulte are selling comparable houses in the same towns, and the number each puts on its sign measures a different thing. Lennar's includes the finishes and almost none of the choices. Pulte's includes the choices and almost none of the finishes.

Price the same house at both and the gap is usually small. The decision then comes down to whether you want to make the decisions, which is a question about you rather than about the builder.

One practical note. Both builders moved prices on standing inventory inside the last two weeks, and one of them is running a promotion page that expired five days ago. Nothing here is worth quoting from memory, including this post. Ask for today's number in writing.

More on this market: Naperville new construction neighborhoods · new construction in Naperville · new construction in Oswego, IL · living in Oswego · Oswego home buying guide · Bolingbrook home buying guide · Romeoville home buying guide · what happens if the appraisal comes in low · the Illinois attorney review period · post-closing possession in Illinois

George Kolar, ABR®, SRES®
Chicago Suburb Living | Brokered by eXp Realty
630-479-1400
George@ChicagoSuburbLiving.com

Disclaimer: All builder prices, included features, incentives and inventory described in this article were read from Lennar and Pulte published pages on October 22, 2026 and are subject to change without notice. Chicago Suburb Living is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Lennar Homes, Pulte Homes, Del Webb or PulteGroup. Feature lists vary by collection, plan and homesite, and nothing here is a quote or an offer. Property tax figures on new construction are estimates until the home is fully assessed; confirm with the county assessor. School assignments change and must be verified independently with the district. This article is general information and not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult your attorney, lender and tax professional regarding your specific situation.