Castle Hills - New construction deals? (Dallas, Plano: appointed, for sale, real estate)

[Spiderbird]

Hi there,

We just came back from looking at real estate in Texas for an upcoming move, and we really like the Castle Hills community. We're interested in new construction, but we're wondering if we have any bargaining power given that we're in the midst of a national buyers market of sorts.

Additionally, I read in the city-data forums that the end of the financial quarter is a good time to seek deals on new construction. Given we'll have a decent agent working for us, could we expect to see some good deals in the next few months?

If it helps, we really like David Weekley and Huntington, but wondering how energy efficient their builds are.

Thanks in advance for any responses.

[nsumner]

Huntington Homes don't negotiate much on their homes. I think that they are overpriced in Castle Hills by 80-120K easily... The homes come with a lot of upgrades.

David Weekley is energy star certified. They have a handfull in inventory. Did you look at American Legend Homes?

Regarding the comment on getting deals on new construction at the end of the quarter. I hope that you know that's on inventory homes only. Builders don't negotiate much on anything they have to build from scratch or that is 3+ months away from completion.

Naima

[austinnetx]

nusmmer,

Do you know what the financial quarters are for those builders?

[GayleTX]

I don’t know about the energy efficiency of Weekly or Huntington but........ American Legend Homes is actually a Certified Green builder which makes them likely the most energy efficient builder around. They build garden homes as well as more traditional homes in a new section that just opened in Castle Hills....nice houses!

Huntington is part of Highland which has recently had a lot of employee lay-offs.... of course, every builder is having a hard time right now but you may want to make sure that whatever builder you choose will be there for your warranty issues.

Castle Hills is a development done by the Bright family in Dallas (they used to own the Dallas Cowboys and have been in the area for years) and, I believe, also own American Legend Homes....so they should be around for the future.

As for “deals” it doesn’t hurt to try! Make an offer and see where you get. Most builders will usually either accept your deal or give you a counter offer. And, like msumner said, inventory homes will almost always get you a better deal than building from the ground up.

[$DFW8$]

Originally Posted by GayleTX

I don’t know about the energy efficiency of Weekly or Huntington but........ American Legend Homes is actually a Certified Green builder which makes them likely the most energy efficient builder around. They build garden homes as well as more traditional homes in a new section that just opened in Castle Hills....nice houses!

Huntington is part of Highland which has recently had a lot of employee lay-offs.... of course, every builder is having a hard time right now but you may want to make sure that whatever builder you choose will be there for your warranty issues.

Castle Hills is a development done by the Bright family in Dallas (they used to own the Dallas Cowboys and have been in the area for years) and, I believe, also own American Legend Homes....so they should be around for the future.

As for “deals” it doesn’t hurt to try! Make an offer and see where you get. Most builders will usually either accept your deal or give you a counter offer. And, like msumner said, inventory homes will almost always get you a better deal than building from the ground up.

Yes, if you're wanting a good deal. then you will get the best deal with an inventory home. Make an offer and see what they say. It never hurts to try atleast.

[Spiderbird]

Thanks for all the replies. Very nice, and very informative.

I also checked out American Legend but we weren't too impressed with their model home. It didn't seem to have a natural flow inside the house, and the lots they had showcased on Castle Hills looked really cramped. Funny enough, they called a tree line right up to Highway 121 a greenbelt.

We also checked out Darling. Seemed good, but expensive compared to the other builders in the area. Their plot sizes looked good.

One thing we're factoring on is the traffic when Castle Hills is completely full. It may be rather sparse now, but come 2+ years, I believe those two lane roads to the North and East are going to be problematic.

I'd like to see higher rated SEER air conditioners from the builders overall, but maybe that can be a negotiating point.

I'll call up the builders tomorrow and see what they have to say about end of quarter deals. (and post back here)

[LynnSlaney]

Originally Posted by Spiderbird

Hi there,

We just came back from looking at real estate in Texas for an upcoming move, and we really like the Castle Hills community. We're interested in new construction, but we're wondering if we have any bargaining power given that we're in the midst of a national buyers market of sorts.

Additionally, I read in the city-data forums that the end of the financial quarter is a good time to seek deals on new construction. Given we'll have a decent agent working for us, could we expect to see some good deals in the next few months?

If it helps, we really like David Weekley and Huntington, but wondering how energy efficient their builds are.

Thanks in advance for any responses.

Huntington & Highland Home are all Energy Certified, not just Energy Star, new homes now come with radiant barrier roof decking. Huntington has been rated #1 on the JD Powers report for 4 years (maybe more) in a row. Usually they will take 7% off the inventory prices across the board. The best deals are the inventory home that are completed...the longer they have been finished, the more the Builder will reduce. Sometimes a home has come back on the market (the buyer canceled), then you really can make a good buy from the builder. Many times the builder can not reduce, but will add blinds or extend the patio slab. Recently Highland/Huntington have been adding the poly-wood blinds. Plantation Shutters are extra!!
***Highland/Huntinton/Sanders is a private owned company, they began building in Dallas- with corporate offices here locally. We have had homeowners tell us that they are always responsive to any customer service issues- even after the warranty has expired. I can not say that about all builders-when something goes wrong, many times home owners call their Realtors for assistance. I can always speak to a "live person" from Highland/Huntington Corp, unlike some builders..actually mentioned on this board today.
**Castle Hills is an awesome masterplan with a great College Scholorship Program subsidized by HOA.

[Spiderbird]

Sounds like it makes sense to keep tabs on existing builds or move outs across the board in Castle Hills. We saw a few already up for sale there, but we just grabbed flyers for now.

I was kind of disappointed to know that 14 SEER was the standard for most buyers in the area (Huntington and Drees were the only ones with differences in the build standard (16+)). Energy efficiency is something I'm personally big on, so I'm wondering if the other builders offer it as an upgrade (I'm assuming they do).

Thanks for the info LynnSlaney.

[austinnetx]

Those 2-lane roads are slated for widening in 2 years. Parker/Plano Pkwy is a major PIA sometimes. There are shortcuts coming home, but leaving you just have to take it.

[TriumphOfTheSprint]

Originally Posted by austinnetx

Those 2-lane roads are slated for widening in 2 years. Parker/Plano Pkwy is a major PIA sometimes. There are shortcuts coming home, but leaving you just have to take it.

Also, Highway 121 will be opening up from Old Denton to Hillcrest (beyond the Tollway and Preston) next month. This should alleviate some of the traffic on Parker (544) and will also begin generating the funds that will be used for the widening of Parker.