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Old 12-29-2017, 08:27 AM
 
Location: Greenville,SC
176 posts, read 533,347 times
Reputation: 72

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Look into Eastwood Homes. They are building here in Powdersville and seem to build a very nice home.
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Old 01-02-2018, 12:57 PM
 
2,781 posts, read 3,255,818 times
Reputation: 2158
Quote:
Originally Posted by JeffDavisCSA View Post
So out of the three home builders I have inquired about, I heard negatives on every one if them. I would assume there would be benefits of buying new but that doesn't appear so here.
Pretty much all of the high volume spec home builders are going to build a home that meets the bare minimum required by code. If they build to a higher standard, it eats away at their profits. For any new home built, you will end up with a better home if someone knowledgeable with construction follows the project and inspects behind the builder along the way. The days of quality local builders that build homes for middle income people have passed, replaced mostly by national builders that build at a Walmart level of quality.
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Old 01-02-2018, 06:28 PM
 
56 posts, read 57,022 times
Reputation: 111
I agree with WhiteWaterVal. An add is that these builders to have a range of prices in different locations, so more $ often did get you more in many cases (no surprise). Locations often varied as land prices/demand fed into the overall cost and what you could get. So need to do like for like price/features/location to compare quality.

We went with Mungo. Mostly as they had a site that had larger lots than other builders and overall the price/features worked for us ($200k price range). Eastwood was a second. Several others were way down the list. DR Horton - the model we went to was literally sliding down the hill….I also agree on Ryan Homes. I was looking for a house in a different state a while back and found that subdivisions that had been there for ~8-10 years were not holding up well compared to other builders.

The main issue here is the high demand for housing. Our real estate agent (who used to be a builder) indicated that any builder will build 40 homes (for example) a year. If people ask for changes, customization, they will charge, but maybe only build 38. They would just rather take the next two people in line, build 40, and make more $$ overall. Small lot size is also a result of demand, more houses in same space.
  • Things to consider that we learned through the process.
    • Take lots of pictures during the build. Last time you will see where pipes go, electrical, drains etc. Inside & outside.
    • Be onsite as much as possible. Also if there are builds in progress, do some walk throughs to see what the builder does.
    • Builders had a sheet describing the options/content you paid for. However, there was some missing detail, lack of clarity. I recommend you develop a detailed list, room by room, of what you think you are getting. Outside as well. Doors, windows, cabinets, molding, fixtures, locations, flooring, trim - as much as you can do. Review with someone else to get catch something you might have missed. Present this to the builder - ideally have them sign as a cross check.
    • Ask for a grading (water in particular) and landscape design ( plants, trees, pine straw, mulch, stone?). Mungo allowed choices in landscaping plants, but really botched the grading. Took a year to get it fixed.
    • Concrete. I found the Mungo concrete cost was much lower than hiring a contractor later ~50%. So I put in a side walk from drive to patio, pad for the garbage pail, pad for shed, extended the patio. Consider driveway width as well.
    • Hot water. If you have a slab design, they often run the hot water through the slab. Many of our faucets take as much as 3 minutes to get hot water. See if you can have them run the hot water through the interior walls instead.
    • Consider outside: water, extra flood lights around the house, outlets. Often easier to put in sprinkler system before the sod takes.
    • Dedicated outlet in garage for refrigerator.
    • Consider a sink in the garage. Useful for painting and other projects.
    • Cable - I always put in cat 6 network cable for Internet connected TVs, games etc. Bandwidth is better, more reliable. I found this to be true as more houses were built, more wireless, more interference. Catv coax as well.
    • Mungo had a buried channel in the wall for the TV cables. I raised the bedroom outlet to raise the TV to accommodate watching from a semi-lying position.
    • I found that power went out a fair bit here. Often not long duration, but frequent. If you have things like medicine that needs to be kept cold, or just want to annoy the neighbors who are in total darkness, you might consider an automatic generator (generac) . I went to lowes, they sub contract with Carolina heating - did a great job and lower cost.
    • Ask about customization. I found that even little things were often forbidden. You may decide to do these afterwards.
    • I found the options on carpet, tile, etc were way too expensive and limited both in choices and quality. Consider doing these afterwards.
    • Granite counter tops are often standard, but quartz is really much better to maintain.

    Good Luck
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Old 01-03-2018, 10:09 AM
 
2,781 posts, read 3,255,818 times
Reputation: 2158
Quote:
Originally Posted by norm42 View Post
I agree with WhiteWaterVal. An add is that these builders to have a range of prices in different locations, so more $ often did get you more in many cases (no surprise). Locations often varied as land prices/demand fed into the overall cost and what you could get. So need to do like for like price/features/location to compare quality.

We went with Mungo. Mostly as they had a site that had larger lots than other builders and overall the price/features worked for us ($200k price range). Eastwood was a second. Several others were way down the list. DR Horton - the model we went to was literally sliding down the hill….I also agree on Ryan Homes. I was looking for a house in a different state a while back and found that subdivisions that had been there for ~8-10 years were not holding up well compared to other builders.

The main issue here is the high demand for housing. Our real estate agent (who used to be a builder) indicated that any builder will build 40 homes (for example) a year. If people ask for changes, customization, they will charge, but maybe only build 38. They would just rather take the next two people in line, build 40, and make more $$ overall. Small lot size is also a result of demand, more houses in same space.
We bought a house that was ~15 years old that had been built by a local builder that built semi-custom homes mostly using Don Gardner plans. We got copper water supply lines, a brick crawlspace, framing significantly above code, and a number of other items either no longer available or only available in a much more expensive house. We also got a lot over half an acre where the mature oaks had been left standing - something that doesn't seem to be done in new construction anymore. They bulldoze all the trees and then terrace the lots in almost all the new construction around here now.
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Old 01-03-2018, 12:37 PM
 
Location: Greenville,SC
176 posts, read 533,347 times
Reputation: 72
This is all good information. My wife and I are looking to build late this year in Powdersville. We liked Eastwood but were turned off by DR Horton, the model we went into was not impressive at all. It lacked the finishing touches you would expect especially considering it was a model home. We will look into Mungo assuming they develop in Powdersville.
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Old 01-03-2018, 01:08 PM
 
2,781 posts, read 3,255,818 times
Reputation: 2158
Quote:
Originally Posted by jgean View Post
This is all good information. My wife and I are looking to build late this year in Powdersville. We liked Eastwood but were turned off by DR Horton, the model we went into was not impressive at all. It lacked the finishing touches you would expect especially considering it was a model home. We will look into Mungo assuming they develop in Powdersville.
Mungo has 2 subdivisions in Powdersville already - Hunt Meadows and Avendell. They are both in the Wren High School attendance zone.
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Old 01-03-2018, 05:59 PM
 
Location: Greenville,SC
176 posts, read 533,347 times
Reputation: 72
We want to stay in the Powdersville school district.
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Old 01-03-2018, 06:14 PM
 
Location: Wake Forest, NC
2,437 posts, read 2,838,899 times
Reputation: 2242
Quote:
Originally Posted by jgean View Post
We want to stay in the Powdersville school district.
Wren schools are a highly rated district in the Powdersville area.
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Old 01-08-2018, 09:29 AM
 
Location: Greenville,SC
176 posts, read 533,347 times
Reputation: 72
Our kids already go to Powdersville schools. Powdersville has several new subdivisions scheduled for this year.
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Old 01-08-2018, 09:38 AM
 
2,781 posts, read 3,255,818 times
Reputation: 2158
Quote:
Originally Posted by jgean View Post
Our kids already go to Powdersville schools. Powdersville has several new subdivisions scheduled for this year.
With all of the growth in the Powdersville schools attendance zone, I wonder if they will eventually have to move the dividing line to shift more people back into the Wren attendance zone. Both areas are seeing quite a bit of development but the Powdersville attendance area is seeing a bigger share of the growth.

I also wonder how long it will be before they start working on the rumored additional wing on Powdersville High School.
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