Buying in Brand New Community? (homes, bankrupt, contractors)

[Rae']

I would suggest researching the builder. A lot of builder's are in trouble, but still not all. Check out what they are trading for publicly, and any other history and info you can find on their financial status nation wide and locally. If you are with a builder that is financially stable in this market and with a reputable history of starting new communities of homes that are appreciating and not having trouble reaching it's projected sales goals, you in turn will increase the chance of achieving the goal of "buying at entry level prices" and appreciating quickly.
There is definitely more risk, but hindsite is 50/50. I've heard a lot of people that wished they had gone into Meridian and other subdivisions and gotten that cul-de-sac or green belt site, or paid what the price was 2 years ago.
It can depend on so many factors, many of which can not be known beforehand.

[Falcorockme]

Originally Posted by elduderino38

I agree with austin-steve. I would also mention that homes physically depreciate in value (when comparing a new home to one that is 5 years old for example) and is reflected in resale prices.

You don't say where the home is or who the builder is. I've seen 50% - 70% foreclosure rates on resales in some of the starter communities in kyle/buda/manor/elgin. This high a rate means that distressed properties are setting market value for the neighborhood. No appreciation there and lucky if not declining.

This brings up an interesting point. So we have been driivng around Circle C for the last week or so. I have noticed that my favorite area of Circle C-- south of Lacrosse, east of Escarpment, also has prices that have apparently gone DOWN in the last couple of years. Meaning the value has declined. I have not noticed this happening anywhere else in west Austin and it confuses me. My wife and I love the established feeling of the area, and would like to get a home there (near Kiker) but will the home median prices keep going DOWN? It is kind of alarming and disturbing. Whereas in Legend Oaks, Western Oaks and other parts of Circle C - and virtually everywhere else in Austin on the west side- it just goes up and up. Any thoughts?

[austin-steve]

Originally Posted by Falcorockme

This brings up an interesting point. So we have been driivng around Circle C for the last week or so. I have noticed that my favorite area of Circle C-- south of Lacrosse, east of Escarpment, also has prices that have apparently gone DOWN in the last couple of years. Meaning the value has declined. I have not noticed this happening anywhere else in west Austin and it confuses me. My wife and I love the established feeling of the area, and would like to get a home there (near Kiker) but will the home median prices keep going DOWN? It is kind of alarming and disturbing. Whereas in Legend Oaks, Western Oaks and other parts of Circle C - and virtually everywhere else in Austin on the west side- it just goes up and up. Any thoughts?

Do you have data that says prices are falling, or is this a casual observation from driving around, pulling fliers? I could run some stats on it.
Steve

[HappyTexan]

Could have been that prices were inflated during the bidding wars of 2006 and are now becoming realistic. There were some hot areas of Austin where bidding wars occurred.

I've been watching some areas of real estate myself and have see some properties come down $30-$40K since last summer but I'm going to keep waiting because I think they are still overpriced.

[Falcorockme]

Originally Posted by austin-steve

Do you have data that says prices are falling, or is this a casual observation from driving around, pulling fliers? I could run some stats on it.
Steve

Casual observation, I got the prices from fliers and then researched what owners paid. However if you go to House Almanac it shows that area went up in the last year. (10-12 percent). But I happen to know from research that the house prices they are now offering on the fliers are lower than what the owners paid in a couple of cases. Don't really want to give out specific addresses though. The only thing I can think of is that people started selling those houses and moving into brand new ones such as in Meridian and Alta Mira... that is what my realtor suggested. But, they are great houses, a wonderful neighborhood down there. I just was concerned about buying there since the owners seem to be upside down.

[HappyTexan]

You can look up the property assessment and when they took ownership here:
Travis CAD Main

[elduderino38]

I think many people bought at the peak of the market back in 2006. If prices from builders have gone down, it might be a good time to buy.

Just to clarify the areas that I saw high foreclosure rates (50% - 70%) were starter neighborhoods where most did 100% with either an adjustable conventional or buy down fha that resets higher per year first 3 years. They SOL because they can't re-fi because either they don't qualify or are upside down or both.

I think a neighborhood like meridian is going to be more stable. One other observation I have however, is ever since the cali, ariz, vegas. fla markets started to slide relocation to austin has slowed (can't sell that house out there for what they want $). And it seems that the most popular neighborhoods for these relo people were nice places like meridian, falconhead, steiner ranch, etc. Maybe that's the cause of the slow down in those hoods and the softening of prices.

Also heard those that did relo here, some don't like austin and moving back. Good opportunity to pick up a 1 or 2 year old house for a good price from a motivated seller. Think of it like buying a 1 or 2 year old car versus new.

[rajeshch]

Hi every one,

We are looking to buy in a new neighborhood called parkside at mayfield ranch. this is on 1431 on sambass road. The builder is legacy homes. the model we are looking at is panola II.

MeritageHomes.com

Its listed at 243,490 and we are considering an upgrade that costs around 3000 more. Can you give us an idea on how much we can offer and what is the realistic value at which the seller would sell. We really like it but if we cant get it closer to 220K or less we cannot afford it and dont want to get our hopes up on a house we cannot afford. any one know somebody who bought in this neighborhood?

Thank You

[HappyTexan]

rajeshch..did you talk to the sales people at the model home site ?
It's different dealing with a builder on a new home then a resale for pricing.

If the builder's homes are selling in the new subdivision then they may not come down in price. If homes are not selling they may come down..but then do you want to buy in a new subdivision that is not selling ? Hard call to make.

[sharp971]

Hi RajeshCH:

We are also considering buying "Lubbock II" Plan there. We are trying to get some options added on top of advertized upgrades but don't think they will be coming down in price on a new home.

You can talk about buying at a lower price for an "inventory home"/"Spec Home" or older homes.

Is it something I am missing? Maybe I should also try to bring the price down?

-Rajiv