Highpointe of Dripping Springs (Vega: sale, condo, new home)

[Daisey31]

Anyone else buy here? What do you think of it? We are taking possession of a new home there on July 17th.

Thanks!

Gina

[FromCalitoSteinerRanch]

Originally Posted by Daisey31

Anyone else buy here? What do you think of it? We are taking possession of a new home there on July 17th.

Thanks!

Gina

We were thinking of taking our "money off the table" in Steiner, and moving to DS, and looked at Highpointe. We owned a Pulte before and were real happy with their after sale service.

My issue is the taxes are about 3.33% in Highpointe (and Belterra). That is even higher than Steiner's 3.07%. Granted, the rate is partially because of a road bond that is $0.92 per $100 in valuation, and it is 5 years into a 10 year bond period, but to have that total tax rate for the next 5 years, on top of the selling/buying, and moving expenses showed us it is better to stay put.

Now after the bond is paid off, and assuming the Politicos don't get another bond in its place, then it will be an attractive tax rate. We may look again in 5 years.

I still dream of the Hamptom one story, with the walkout basement built out, making it a nice 5000+ sq. ft. one story!!!

[gigi927]

I think it's a beautiful community. I like that they've tried to keep some of the trees around (builders clearing all the trees off their lots is a major pet peeve of mine).

[Zzyzx]

Originally Posted by Daisey31

Anyone else buy here? What do you think of it?



Gina

Hi Gina,

We have been living in Highpointe since 4/06.

The community, people and location are fantastic! My wife and I really like the feel of the SW. We were convinced the NW was for us before we moved here from Las Vegas. After a year living in a condo we really fell for the SW area. I'm glad we waited a year before our purchase. We still like the NW, it's just we like the SW a bit more.

The builder has been a major challenge for many in the community, from shoddy workmanship to common areas not being completed properly. Our current issue is; most, if not all homes never received the proper 4"-6" top soil that LCRA had required. Our lots average 1/4 acre +, so this is a concern as our water bills approach the $300.00 a month (summer) price range since we are not able to water properly. I was floored by my water bills last summer.

This was to be a 100% Pulte community, but with the market slowing, they are in the process of selling off land. Rumor is, Wilshire has purhased some land.

My taxes for 2006 were 3.1742 in Highpointe.

If you want to PM me with questions, I will be happy to answer.

Zzyzx

[Daisey31]

WOW! $300 a MONTH?! I hope ours won't be that bad. We have a 17,000 sq ft lot that is lovely in its natural state so I don't think we will be feeding a thirsty lawn.
Did Pulte come back and fix your home? We have a Centex home now and it took awhile, but everything got fixed.
The people there all seem so nice.
What common areas were not completed? The amenity center looks incredible. It is such an elegant community.

[Zzyzx]

Originally Posted by Daisey31

WOW! $300 a MONTH?! I hope ours won't be that bad.

Yes, it was quite a shocker to us as well, especially since it's just 2 people in our household. I highly recommend having LCRA come out once you close to do a irrigation expectation, they are awesome!

Originally Posted by Daisey31

Did Pulte come back and fix your home? We have a Centex home now and it took awhile, but everything got fixed.

We had a 3rd party inspector come in before pre-drywall, he had a punch list that I presented to Pulte that they fixed. There are people who have had driveways replaced, many tiles replaced including my house, one house had the whole brick taken off the house and replaced. Our front balcony was replaced and fixed 3 times before they got it right. You need to be very educated about the building process because the lack of supervision out here is unprecedented. I would take pictures and question everything, even compare your model to others to make sure they are not forgetting things.It's a shame it has to be like this, but it is reality.

Originally Posted by Daisey31

The people there all seem so nice.

The people here are great, very friendly! There are also community run web sites. I really like the community

Originally Posted by Daisey31

What common areas were not completed? The amenity center looks incredible. It is such an elegant community.

The workout equipment is second to none and the pool is salt water, so no nasty chemicals. Very nice.


The baseball and soccer fields have no top soil, they are suppose to be fixing it after months of delays. A lot of the common areas between homes were not completed, they merge with homes that have been built. As a result they have been overrun with weeds that are taking over peoples lawns not to mention how unsightly the lot looks.

Please take in mind this community is suppose to be Pulte's flagship premier community, and for $876.00 a year in dues I expect it to be. What is great about the people in this community is they are all taking pride in this community and are letting Pulte know what they expect.

[Daisey31]

I am glad to hear it is such a cohesive community. I am lucky in that my realtor's husband is a builder and they will be inspecting it here and there. I will also be taking a zillion photos when I can get there.
It is a shame that they have to be pushed so hard. I hope that they have learned from the other houses and that they will do ours right. I should be so lucky, huh?
What is LCRA?
I am nervous about it being built while I am in CA. I would love to be able to check it out constantly. We may be out there sooner than closing, it just depends on how fast our house sells.
Thanks for your great insights!

[Zzyzx]

Originally Posted by Daisey31

What is LCRA?

The LCRA http://www.lcra.org/ is the Lower Coloroado River Authority, AKA your water company. Tom Jackson from LCRA is who handles our community, he is outstanding.

What model are you building?

[FromCalitoSteinerRanch]

Originally Posted by Daisey31

I am glad to hear it is such a cohesive community. I am lucky in that my realtor's husband is a builder and they will be inspecting it here and there. I will also be taking a zillion photos when I can get there.
It is a shame that they have to be pushed so hard. I hope that they have learned from the other houses and that they will do ours right. I should be so lucky, huh?
What is LCRA?
I am nervous about it being built while I am in CA. I would love to be able to check it out constantly. We may be out there sooner than closing, it just depends on how fast our house sells.
Thanks for your great insights!

This is not to make you worry, but I was out almost everday when our home was being built. I found lots of things, and probably saved the builder some real money. One thing that annoyed me was I would tell the supervisor things, and he would say he would take care of it, but it took a few times to realize he wasn't writing anything down!!!

I started to say can I email it to you, and he would say "ya, that would be good" and so I did that. Then the excuses of "oh, I lost that print out, and I deleted the email" started. The final straw was when he admitted he didn't speak Spanish so his guys must not have understood him. I knew at that point we were in for some fun.

I eventually just showed up at the job shack, and at that point I was getting in the way, and must have become the "proverbial squeaky wheel" and things started to get done a little better. Anyways, hopefully your realtors husband speaks Spanish, that may help...

[Daisey31]

Originally Posted by Zzyzx

What model are you building?

We are building one of the last Premiere Sheffields. They are moving them to Classic after this. The only difference when they do that is that the garage will be side entry. They also upgraded the standard options with granite and such.
Now if we could just get our house on the market...painting..painting...