Lake Forest Preserve in Union County? (Marvin: new house, neighborhoods, buying) - Charlotte - North Carolina (NC) - City-Data Forum

Gator803 · 04-21-2008, 01:32 PM

Hi to all of the Union County folks on the board.

My wife and I currently live in the Indian Land area - we love our house and neighborhood (Wieland neighborhood), but our four year-old has special needs and we are very impressed with the UC schools and services for special needs children.....so....after looking around quite a bit, we're seriously considering building in Lake Forest Preserve. My understanding is that Orleans Homes competes more with Wieland than they would with Ryan, etc...the building quality and niceness of Wieland and Orleans neighborhoods seems pretty similar.

Does anyone know many particulars about Lake Forest Preserve or Orleans? Any reason to NOT be in that neighborhood? I've heard mostly great things about Orleans, with the few bad experiences sprinkled in - some have had bad experiences with Wieland as well but we had a great one. Anyway, not trying to be too verbose, does anyone have any thoughts, opinions, etc on Lake Forest Preserve?

Thanks in advance!

yrgm · 04-21-2008, 01:57 PM

LFP was very high on our list when we were looking last summer. When we weighed it against resales there was no comparing. Now things may have changed in the past few months, at the time the best they would do was 20k off the price. By the time we put in reasonable upgrades we were close to going over budget. Not to mention we did not even hit the design center, probably another 30k. JMO..but a 2-4 year old resale usually has landscape, blinds, builder kinks resolved, etc. We also heard some of the negs on Orleans and decided it was not a good move "for us". I did watch one of their spec homes (Bradford Grand) with some upgrades on a very nice lot start out in the 550k range reduced to 499k before it was sold. Be carefull and don't overpay, 500k is plenty to buy a great home in western Union Co. Good Luck.

yrgm · 04-21-2008, 02:06 PM

from the wife,
Lake Forest Preserve is beautiful IMO. We went there several times and fell in love w/ the lot that backed to one of the ponds. We did not build there since we purchased a resale in UC. IMO I don't think you would be making a mistake if you built or bought there. I believe on the corner of 84 near Lake Forest a Chester Brook Academy is being built. I think it is and will be a great community. I personally had no dealings w/ Orleans except for the ladies in the model home whom were super nice- so hopefully someone else will also respond. Good Luck

I just realized dh posted above..he is right--good luck w/ the pricing, options and design center...it's hard to stick to a budget

Gator803 · 04-21-2008, 02:25 PM

Thanks, that's great info. They are offering high incentives right now. We're looking in the "premiere" section - base prices are low 500's to low 600's, and when you add options that include finished 3rd floor, grand morning room, etc, you can easily get to 700+ after a visit to the design center. We're looking to stay around 630-650 max. I do agree that you can get a great home for 500 or so resale, but we have built houses before and have had better experiences building than with resale (we've built two, bought one resale). We love the idea of the Chesterbrook Academy going up - we also have 8 month-old twins, so that will be an option for us eventually. And the neighborhood does not seem nearly as "far out" as some of the neighborhoods in Union County.

NCyank · 04-21-2008, 02:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gator803

Thanks, that's great info. They are offering high incentives right now. We're looking in the "premiere" section - base prices are low 500's to low 600's, and when you add options that include finished 3rd floor, grand morning room, etc, you can easily get to 700+ after a visit to the design center. We're looking to stay around 630-650 max. I do agree that you can get a great home for 500 or so resale, but we have built houses before and have had better experiences building than with resale (we've built two, bought one resale). We love the idea of the Chesterbrook Academy going up - we also have 8 month-old twins, so that will be an option for us eventually. And the neighborhood does not seem nearly as "far out" as some of the neighborhoods in Union County.

Is the premiere section the entrance off of 84 or Cox Road?
There is also an elementary school planned for the other end of Cox road, not the same end as Chesterbrook Academy. You never can tell with planning (see high school reassignment) but it would make sense that LFP would feed that elementary school.

Gator803 · 04-21-2008, 02:44 PM

Premiere is the entrance off of 84. And thanks, I didn't know about the new school. Yes, I'd think that in all likelihood LFP would feed into the new school - assuming it's on par with other Union County schools, it would be great to have it so close.

yrgm · 04-21-2008, 02:55 PM

Gator, I see my wife is also trying to help out, we share the same screen name. I forget which section is which, but I always liked lot 80,81,82 (the ones my wife mentioned in her post). If your a John Wieland fan make sure to check out Brookhaven. Also check out Marvin Creek, the backside of Cureton, Hollister and The Chimneys of Marvin. I know you prefer that new house smell, but check out Prov Downs for resales, in that range you can get yourselves one heck of a nice house w/ some land.

iresfrank · 04-21-2008, 08:29 PM

Lakeforest is GORGEOUS if the $699k price range is what you are looking for.

Orleans is a pricey builder but you get good quality.

moet · 04-22-2008, 06:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gator803

Thanks, that's great info. They are offering high incentives right now. We're looking in the "premiere" section - base prices are low 500's to low 600's, and when you add options that include finished 3rd floor, grand morning room, etc, you can easily get to 700+ after a visit to the design center. We're looking to stay around 630-650 max. I do agree that you can get a great home for 500 or so resale, but we have built houses before and have had better experiences building than with resale (we've built two, bought one resale). We love the idea of the Chesterbrook Academy going up - we also have 8 month-old twins, so that will be an option for us eventually. And the neighborhood does not seem nearly as "far out" as some of the neighborhoods in Union County.

Hi,

I'm looking/looked at LFP also. Is the "premiere" section the high end homes?

Can you tell us what the high incentives are right now that they are offering?

How are they to work with? When a price is given for an upgrade, is it a final price, no room for talk or will they bend on the pricing?

I've built two homes already and each time you learn things that you wished you knew about pricing of items.

Do you know the average age of the people buying in LFP?

Would you happen to know if the people who are building are mostly from out of state?

When we drove around, no one was out at all in their yards, etc.

Thanks in advance!

bjallen · 05-07-2008, 01:46 PM

Hello all,

I live in Lake Forest Preserve and have had a great experience so far. We looked at several different developments in the area and felt like this was the best fit for our family as well as a great value going forward (Location, amenities, etc). My wife is a realtor, so we had access to all of the MLS info, etc. Send me a Personal message if you want more details about the pros and cons. Overall, the experience has been very positive.

There are tons of young families in LFP. We have an 18 month old and one on the way. There are 4 other families with children under 2 just on my street. It's very child-friendly. The clubhouse is also great for birthday parties and similar gatherings. If you want more details about the models we considered (and eventually chose), design center, pricing, etc - just send me a personal message. We also have a lot of experience with new construction. We relocated from the west coast... but this is the 5th house we purchased since 2002. Between that and wife being in RE, I may be able to help answer questions. I hope the house search goes well.