Meritage Pricing Differences in Roanoke Area (Briarwyck/Ranches East) (Denton: foreclosures, houses)

[JPWILLS]

Looking for folks with experience with Meritage Homes in the Roanoke area.

In looking at Meritage homes in both Briarwyck vs. Ranches East (maybe 10 miles apart) they build will build the exact same home in both places, but with a $31,000 difference in price ($223,000 vs. $192,000). Although Briarwyck is nicer and has lower taxes, does this justify the large difference? Is there any chance they will come down in price?

Are we getting good return on our money at Briarwyck or would we better off looking down the road at Chadwick Farms?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

[formerny'er]

The main difference in the two neighborhoods is that Briarwyck is located within the city of Roanoke. The Ranches east has a Roanoke mailing address, but is located in the city of Ft. Worth. If you are in Ft. Worth you will be paying much higher taxes for far fewer city services. City services in Ft Worth have not caught up with the growth in far north Ft Worth. Chadwick Farms is nice, but is also in the city of Ft. Worth. I believe it is in Denton county, so the taxes would be lower than in the Ranches east. Hope this helps.

[JPWILLS]

Thank you for your response, has anybody had any experience in negotiating the price of the home. They do throw in upgrades, but I was wondering if anyone knows if I would have any luck getting them to come down off the list price of the home, thanks.

[formerny'er]

I haven't heard of anyone negotiating the price down much. There are some spec homes in the neighborhood, you might get a better deal on one of those.

[hparker]

I am a homeowner in Briarwyck. It is my experience that Meritage is not as willing to come down in price but will throw in upgrades fairly easily. However, if you do purchase a home with Meritage, make sure they follow through on the upgrades you added into the contract.
Price may be more flexible now considering the current economy. However, I do know that demand in Briarwyck has been high compared to other subdivisions in the Metroplex and Meritage thus has the advantage when it comes to bargaining.

Also, because it is actually in Roanoke there are much lower taxes.

[JPWILLS]

hparker thanks for the response. Have you been happy with your decision to buy in Briarwyck?

[joecustomer]

Briarwyck has a higher amount of community and standard features with of course a different set of demographics living in there. You said it yourself, Briarwyck is nicer. The main question I have is are you willing to pay for the differences? And do you think it is worth it?

The newer communities are going to have less foreclosures with homeowners who had to go through tougher lending rules, thus making the long term value more ideal.

Just driving through the neighborhoods, you can see a huge difference. Some of the homes in the former "Lost Creek Ranches" were first time buyers, whereas Briarwyck is more of a move up buyer. Personally I would buy a smaller home in a nicer neighborhood.

I hope this helps,

[SafetyGuy]

I doubt that Meritage is needing to "give" the houses away so they aren't willing to come down in price.
I know that our house we bought 8 months ago in North Ft. Worth/Keller had been on the market for a while so the builder wanted to reduce their inventory. They of course made a big deal that we were being "given" $25K in upgrades. I jokingly said to our relator that we could put it back on the market the next day and make $25K according to that logic (yeah right!)

[DFWNewHomeSpecialist21]

I have buyer's who are doing a build job scheduled to be completed in Sept. in Briarwyck. I will send you a Direct Message!

[Cupcake77]

I looked at homes in briarwyck, I didn't like the location. Too close to the race track and the neighbourhood itself didn't seem that nice, I also didn't like the fact the enterance was off a highway. I have been looking at the meritage homes in Keller, Marshall Ridge. The neighbourhood is really pretty and the homes don't look slamed together