New construction question in Southlake (Castle Hills: first time home buyer, neighborhoods, buying)

[diovan]

I'd like to get a home in Southlake. What I have seen of resale homes has not really impressed me.

I like the new or model homes I have seen in some areas but people on this site are against the volume builder homes and I am curious to know why. The models they demonstrate really appeal to me, more than resale homes. Am I missing something?

Also what is the general consensus on the Carillon development? Should I be afraid of the mixed retail part. If I bought a home there, how likely is it that the retail part would bring down the value of the home?

[synchronicity]

Originally Posted by diovan

I'd like to get a home in Southlake. What I have seen of resale homes has not really impressed me.

I like the new or model homes I have seen in some areas but people on this site are against the volume builder homes and I am curious to know why. The models they demonstrate really appeal to me, more than resale homes. Am I missing something?

Also what is the general consensus on the Carillon development? Should I be afraid of the mixed retail part. If I bought a home there, how likely is it that the retail part would bring down the value of the home?

IIRC, one poster here was seriously in talks to buy in Carillon, but abandoned that once it was announced that a tract builder (Lennar?) was going to be putting up a bunch of homes in one of the "phases" of the development. I believe there have also been some questions as to what shops are going to be in the retail section of the development. Since the Town Square is already nearby, it's difficult to for me to imagine it supporting much additional upscale shopping, but that's something you'd need to research.

Perhaps a better question would be "what is it that you don't like about the 'resale' homes you've seen in Southlake"? Are you simply partial to new homes? Remember that a "model" home is just that, a model. It hasn't been lived in at all and has been specifically built to show off to potential buyers. As for volume builders, the general consensus is that many volume builders cut corners to a greater or lesser extent on quality. Again, something you'll need to research.

[diovan]

I think I am partial to new homes, but it is based on the models.
I am a first time home buyer and before moving to Texas, I assumed I would be purchasing an already built home.

I feel like the retail development is enough of unknown quantity to scare me off of Carillon. The whole volume builder thing still has me confused, because I do really like the the newer more open layouts they offer, and some degree of customization is appealing. But the supposed lack of quality bothers me. Is there a website or resource to get some real pro-reviews of the model builders or is it mostly anecdotal.

If I found an existing home that felt fresh I would definitely be more interested in that, than building one myself. But I'm not coming up with anything that doesn't feel like a compromise.

[nsumner]

The negotiations with Lennar fell through a long time ago. They are not going to build in Carillon. Yes the developer has been difficult to deal with but there are many other good builders there.

As far as the retail goes, I think it would be a plus as long as it's similar to what Castle Hills did.

They are in negotiations with several retailers as well. Nothing concrete so nothing to publish "yet"

Naima

[pinipig523]

I didn't build in Carillon and I don't regret it one bit. The developer was a piece of work... very difficult to work with.

If you are wanting to stay in Southlake, as far as I know, there isn't much in the way of new communities that isn't a volume builder. I tried and tried... but very difficult to build new in Southlake unless you have found a lot to have a custom guy come in to build.

Even then, it's not worth it.. better off buying used and getting more for your money IMO.

I was seeing numbers of about $1M for 4300-4400 sq feet per new build, custom. You're going to take a bath on resale.

[diovan]

So I take it you are not interested in a large volume builder like toll brothers or k hovinian then. Is that based on any specific experience or just a general sense of subpar quality. Did you end up buying an older home in the area?

[pinipig523]

Originally Posted by diovan

So I take it you are not interested in a large volume builder like toll brothers or k hovinian then. Is that based on any specific experience or just a general sense of subpar quality. Did you end up buying an older home in the area?

Not interested because I wanted the house to have all the bells and whistles... and I wanted to have full control of what goes in.

I didn't want 3/4" subfloors... I wanted top end Advantech 1 1/4" subfloors. I wanted them screwed down. I wanted class 4 roofs. I wanted the best insulation, I wanted foam around the external walls. I wanted to put piers in the foundation, in addition to post tension slab.

I wanted to over-engineer the house because it was to be THE house.

So, really, I could only do custom.

And if you really sit down and run the numbers, a heavily upgraded Toll Brothers home is about the same as a custom home.

Pretty expensive.

So - I decided to wait it out and buy a much smaller and more reasonable home elsewhere, while I bide my time.

[diovan]

@nsumner

I see on some other posts you have discussed Monterey homes and Toll brothers. Between the two do you have recommendation?

[nsumner]

Originally Posted by diovan

@nsumner

I see on some other posts you have discussed Monterey homes and Toll brothers. Between the two do you have recommendation?

I would normally say that it's neighborhood specific. But overall, I like Toll Brothers better. I know that they have had some issues outside TX but here, they build really nice homes across the board.

Monterey is the luxury line for Meritage which is a tract builder, still good, but not worth paying over 500K for.

Look at the standard feature sheet for both builders and the energy package and you can compare the 2. It varies by community.

Naima

[loves2read]

Toll Brothers generally buy/build in more expensive communities from what I have seen...
Meritage is more middle of the road

drive through neighborhoods of both and see how many houses you can spot that have the same basic exterior and you can guess at the floor plan...
think Toll Bros have more variety--