Castle Hills North (Lewisville: sales, appliances, loan)

[RFM]

We are looking into purchasing a house in castle hills north. We liked one of the American Legend Homes.

What kind of price should we expect for 2500-2700 sq ft house in Castle Hills North?

What kind of % of incentive should we expect from the builder (4%-10%)?

How much room should you give your self with most of the big upgrades discussed with the initial offer (1K-5K)?

Do you have to pay the price of the upgrades seperately after the initial offer is done or can that be rolled in your loan and amendmend done?

[tbone9900tx]

if you are going with AL make sure you discuss what is covered and not covered during the 1 year warranty period.

you should look at how much you would be paying per square foot to come up with a price.

Incentive? Depends on how busy they are and that area is selling like hotcakes.

Upgrades at least 10k depending on what upgrades you want.

rolled into your loan and total cost of home is an option.

PM me for a lil inside info and tips if youd like. not that I am know the know all end all.

[RFM]

What is the $ per sq. ft you are looking at castle hills north? Does $100 per sq ft sound reasonable or to optimistic for the lot size you get at castle hills north?

[monicaotis]

Is this a Spec home or a build job? Builders give more incentives on Spec homes.

Do you have a Realtor® helping you that can answer these questions? If not, I am one, and I've lived in CH for 10+ years. I've sold many new homes in CH, and have a great working relationship with the sales reps. There is no discount if you go without a Realtor representing you, as the Realtor fee is in the marketing budget, not the home building budget.

ALH is a very good builder, building in 7-9 different communities across the metroplex. Many items you might want will likely be included as standard features.

Price per SqFt is affected by many things, including Lot premium, buyer selected upgrades, etc. ALH sells 41' lots (wide) and 50' lots. Expect to pay $20K more for the larger lots. You can expect $110-$140/SQFT, with most falling in $120K for the 2500-2700 sqft range.

I'm looking now at their SPEC list, and they offer two specs at approx 2550sqft for $277K, 4BR, 3BA; granite counters, stainless appliances, covered patio on corner lot.

The sales rep said today they have sold 22 homes since January, so the area is selling rapidly. They won't be giving the house away, as there are lots of buyers for the area.

If this response is not appropriate, I apologize upfront. This is my first post. Castle Hills Texas : Lewisville Texas Neighborhood Information & Events

[racehorse]

We didn't buy in CH North because there was adequate inventory in the older part of the neighborhood to find what we wanted for less than $110/sq ft, which is about average for all of CH. You might want to consider looking around in the older part of the neighborhood if you haven't already.

[dentalhero]

Originally Posted by monicaotis

Is this a Spec home or a build job? Builders give more incentives on Spec homes.

Do you have a Realtor® helping you that can answer these questions? If not, I am one, and I've lived in CH for 10+ years. I've sold many new homes in CH, and have a great working relationship with the sales reps. There is no discount if you go without a Realtor representing you, as the Realtor fee is in the marketing budget, not the home building budget.

ALH is a very good builder, building in 7-9 different communities across the metroplex. Many items you might want will likely be included as standard features.

Price per SqFt is affected by many things, including Lot premium, buyer selected upgrades, etc. ALH sells 41' lots (wide) and 50' lots. Expect to pay $20K more for the larger lots. You can expect $110-$140/SQFT, with most falling in $120K for the 2500-2700 sqft range.

I'm looking now at their SPEC list, and they offer two specs at approx 2550sqft for $277K, 4BR, 3BA; granite counters, stainless appliances, covered patio on corner lot.

The sales rep said today they have sold 22 homes since January, so the area is selling rapidly. They won't be giving the house away, as there are lots of buyers for the area.

If this response is not appropriate, I apologize upfront. This is my first post. Castle Hills Texas : Lewisville Texas Neighborhood Information & Events

I have spent all this weekend at Castle Hills North looking, choosing and negotiating on a home. I am looking at a 2554 sq ft American legend floor plan very similar to yours. Maybe because this is the right time of the year to buy or maybe my realtor was very experienced in dealing with CHN salesman but I can tell you the price I am negotiating at right now is alot lower than 277k with similar upgrades or more. Just from observing... I know the saleswomen are only allowed to negotiate to 20k below the MSRP (excuse my car talk). After that they'll have to send a proposal to their managers. So if you don't get at least 20k below the MSRP, your deal is no good. How far you get below that I guess depend on the experience of your realtor and how desperate they are to get the bonus checks.

[TX75007]

Originally Posted by racehorse

We didn't buy in CH North because there was adequate inventory in the older part of the neighborhood to find what we wanted for less than $110/sq ft, which is about average for all of CH. You might want to consider looking around in the older part of the neighborhood if you haven't already.

You also have to factor the energy efficiency of the new home vs the old. The new models will save from 1-3K a year in energy costs over something ten years older.

[racehorse]

You can add energy efficient features to an "older" home, but you can't change location.

[TX75007]

Originally Posted by racehorse

You can add energy efficient features to an "older" home, but you can't change location.

At what cost? That was my point.

You also have to pay taxes. Nothing like getting a higher appraisal and taxes for the same square footage.

[racehorse]

I'm not sure what you mean. Can you elaborate?