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Old 02-09-2015, 10:42 PM
 
7 posts, read 14,377 times
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Hi all!

We are relocating from out of state in 4months, and looking to purchase a new construction in Allen of Frisco. Would appreciate if any of you could share some information about the communities/builders we are considering. We are considering buying a spec home or build from scratch. But giving our time frame, we do think buying a spec home might save us sometime, and hopefully we can directly move in to the new house without renting one after relocation.

Fall Creek (standard pacific), Star Creek (Highland and Darling), Cumberland Crossing(Drees), Arbors at Willow Bay(Highland)..

By doing research online, we seem to like more of the Allen communities (Fall creek, star creek and Cumberland crossing). Below are some questions we have:

- Currently, are these builders willing to negotiate on the base price in terms of percentage? how about for spec homes, assuming there's more room for negotiations? especially for Standard pacific and Highland - any recent experiences can be shared?

- Haven't really seen a lot of discussions on standard pacific homes at Fall Creek, how's their reputation and build quality? It seems like their standard package is pretty low quality - that means extra $$ in upgrades?? Any one has built in Fall creek can share your experiences?

- The spec homes for Star creek we are interested in are about 0.4miles from the power lines, will this affect resale values? how about health concerns?

- Our realtor said there are a lot of vacant land around arbors at willow bay in Frisco - so once newer homes are built nearby, it might affect the prices on the existing ones? Should this be a concern for us?

- We were also interested in lawler park - but looks like the smaller lots are all sold out. Are we missing any good new communities in West Allen and East Frisco? Any suggestions would be appreciated.


Thanks a ton!! We are so excited for our relocation - but buying a new house in an unfamiliar area is stressful~
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Old 02-09-2015, 11:32 PM
 
206 posts, read 332,969 times
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We are building with Darling in Lawler and our experience so far has been very pleasant and stressless. Last time we built was 15 years ago with Legacy homes, now Landon and it was a nightmare. We are in the early stages of the build and we found couple of nice to have things we requested were missing. It was not on the plan just word of mouth but probably did not convey it to the construction site. Once we found out they were missing, just an email to the sales person and the construction manager took care of it even without a question. I am impressed from day one the service they have provided so far.

The issue with Arbors at Willowbay for us was the distance from 121. During peak hour traffic you have to cross 3 school zones. Good luck.
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Old 02-10-2015, 07:35 AM
 
Location: Frisco
179 posts, read 282,931 times
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I am building with Standard Pacific in Phillips Creek Ranch in Frisco. Last week, I toured the Fall Creek development in Allen and was surprised that all of the spec homes have very little upgrades beyond their standard options. This was not the case in PCR, so perhaps Fall Creek is trying to stay within a certain price point. I made another post that shared my experience so far with Standard Pacific (sorry can't link it as I'm on mobile), so check that out. I've been very happy with the build quality.

We also looked at Darling at Lawler Park. Very nice as well, but we preferred the location in PCR. Darling has a great rep in DFW.
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Old 02-10-2015, 08:35 AM
 
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I bought an existing home in Starcreek two years ago. I love the neighborhood. I don't have any first hand experience with the new builds, but Highland and Darling both build good homes. I'm in a Highland and my next door neighbor is in a Darling and no one I know has had any problems. My home was built in 2007. I do know the new builds are selling pretty fast, so I'm not sure they are negotiating very much. I looked at a new build here in 2012, and the prices have gone up significantly since then. I ended up not buying the new one because there was a huge open field directly behind the alley, and I wasn't sure what they would eventually build.
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Old 02-10-2015, 08:41 AM
 
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Thanks a lot!

We haven't been able to visit the community and actually see the spec homes. So we are not sure how what options do the spec homes have. I saw people commenting about SPH's base price only covers very basic options; so I guess given the price range of the specs; they could be pretty basic with less than 50k upgrades mostly.

Were you able to negotiate on the base price or options with the builder? Do I have to use their lenders in order to get the incentives?


Quote:
Originally Posted by Kosmonova View Post
I am building with Standard Pacific in Phillips Creek Ranch in Frisco. Last week, I toured the Fall Creek development in Allen and was surprised that all of the spec homes have very little upgrades beyond their standard options. This was not the case in PCR, so perhaps Fall Creek is trying to stay within a certain price point. I made another post that shared my experience so far with Standard Pacific (sorry can't link it as I'm on mobile), so check that out. I've been very happy with the build quality.

We also looked at Darling at Lawler Park. Very nice as well, but we preferred the location in PCR. Darling has a great rep in DFW.
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Old 02-10-2015, 08:44 AM
 
7 posts, read 14,377 times
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Do you know if people have concern about the power lines on the east of the community? We like star creek a lot, the only concern is probably the powerlines nearby

Thanks!


Quote:
Originally Posted by bamaintex View Post
I bought an existing home in Starcreek two years ago. I love the neighborhood. I don't have any first hand experience with the new builds, but Highland and Darling both build good homes. I'm in a Highland and my next door neighbor is in a Darling and no one I know has had any problems. My home was built in 2007. I do know the new builds are selling pretty fast, so I'm not sure they are negotiating very much. I looked at a new build here in 2012, and the prices have gone up significantly since then. I ended up not buying the new one because there was a huge open field directly behind the alley, and I wasn't sure what they would eventually build.
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Old 02-10-2015, 08:47 AM
 
7 posts, read 14,377 times
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Looks like the 65s lots are all sold out. The bigger ones will exceed our price ranges as we try yo stay under 550k...have heard lots of great things about darling


Quote:
Originally Posted by shrapr View Post
We are building with Darling in Lawler and our experience so far has been very pleasant and stressless. Last time we built was 15 years ago with Legacy homes, now Landon and it was a nightmare. We are in the early stages of the build and we found couple of nice to have things we requested were missing. It was not on the plan just word of mouth but probably did not convey it to the construction site. Once we found out they were missing, just an email to the sales person and the construction manager took care of it even without a question. I am impressed from day one the service they have provided so far.

The issue with Arbors at Willowbay for us was the distance from 121. During peak hour traffic you have to cross 3 school zones. Good luck.
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Old 02-10-2015, 09:31 AM
 
206 posts, read 332,969 times
Reputation: 118
Quote:
Originally Posted by icecheese View Post
Looks like the 65s lots are all sold out. The bigger ones will exceed our price ranges as we try yo stay under 550k...have heard lots of great things about darling
When we started looking, they had 65s available but the back yard was a turn off and we needed a good sized back yard, we have a full size lab. Anyway, I saw an existing home in the 65s built in 2014 for sale. Check it out, 13315 Mossvine dr I think. Good luck
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Old 02-10-2015, 10:08 AM
 
446 posts, read 838,371 times
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1. No builder will negotiate on the base price. You may be able to negotiate on the options allowances or lot premiums, but even that is getting increasingly difficult w the market currently. There is definitely room for negotiation on spec homes depending on what stage the spec is in (closer to completion/completed = most leverage). As a point of reference, on some larger sq ft homes in Philips Creek Ranch, StanPac was negotiating $30K+ off the list on some specs when we were looking into it.

2. StanPac has a good reputation, frequently cited in that upper tier w Drees, Darling, Highland. Standard features vary by community, but I found them to be pretty comparable to other builders in the price range. Always plan on spending ~7-10% of the base price on options if you're looking to have some nice finish outs.

3. No idea on power lines & resale, except that if they're basically visible from your backyard, expect it to be detrimental to home value.

4. Drees is building in southwest McKinney, 2 mi. from 121. The community is called Barcelona. StanPac is building in Stone Hollow. Both are Frisco ISD and both have smaller lots avail. Stone Hollow, you'll have to definitely visit in person and check out what lots are available bc some are not good w power lines or a water tower "view".
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Old 02-10-2015, 10:13 AM
 
Location: Mostly in my head
19,855 posts, read 65,587,238 times
Reputation: 19374
Vacant land in the area = lower resale price. Why buy used when you can buy new?
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