Ryland vs. Perry Homes? (Houston, Spring: big house, construction, cabinets)

[HoustonBornNRaised]

Originally Posted by Timnwendy

I've always been scared of the prefabricated building technique Ryland uses, but I know several Ryland owners, and no one is complaining. Their product must be sound.

Huh? Prefabricated how? It's a production home. Both Perry and Ryland are very conservative in their building. They won't make structural changes, but are both willing to make cosmetic changes to a degree. There's nothing prefabricated about either.

ETA: Both Perry and Ryland held tight when building slowed down. That can't be said for some other builders in Houston, and think this can be attributed to the above. It's not just who builds your house now - it's also who will be around 10 - 20 years down the road.

As an aside, I can also vouch for Ryland Mortgage. My development is three years old. We've had four resales, and none of them have been distressed. The process may drive you nuts, but their underwriters aren't just letting anyone who can fog a mirror purchase a house.

[Timnwendy]

Originally Posted by HoustonBornNRaised

Huh? Prefabricated how? It's a production home. Both Perry and Ryland are very conservative in their building. They won't make structural changes, but are both willing to make cosmetic changes to a degree. There's nothing prefabricated about either.

I don't know if Ryland still does this, but years ago they would deliver some components to the home site pre-fabricated. For example, the house framing would come in pre-nailed sections. The tradesmen on site would then have a much faster time doing the framing, since they only had to connect the pre-fabricated frame sections.

The part that scared me was that I never knew how long those pre-fabbed sections had been stored, or where, or under what conditions.

[HoustonBornNRaised]

Originally Posted by Timnwendy

I don't know if Ryland still does this, but years ago they would deliver some components to the home site pre-fabricated. For example, the house framing would come in pre-nailed sections. The tradesmen on site would then have a much faster time doing the framing, since they only had to connect the pre-fabricated frame sections.

The part that scared me was that I never knew how long those pre-fabbed sections had been stored, or where, or under what conditions.

Oh, noooo, no, no, no.

I can't speak for their starter-end product (even then, I doubt they do this now), but I know for a fact, mine was stick-built on site. And very well, too.

[Beto]

Originally Posted by Timnwendy

I don't know if Ryland still does this, but years ago they would deliver some components to the home site pre-fabricated. For example, the house framing would come in pre-nailed sections. The tradesmen on site would then have a much faster time doing the framing, since they only had to connect the pre-fabricated frame sections.

The part that scared me was that I never knew how long those pre-fabbed sections had been stored, or where, or under what conditions.

This is done with some lower end builders like KB Homes, KHOV and other who are no longer building.

[lhafer]

Originally Posted by HoustonBornNRaised

I live in a Ryland Rhapsody floorplan, in the Concertos series. I think the house is only as good as the builder, and that goes for Ryland and Perry. I used to sell Perry homes near Lake Houston, by the way.

My husband owns a home inspection business and was all over our house when it was being built, and we're happy to say that we found very, very little wrong with it during its construction. We've been here 11 months now, and we're as happy now, as we were last April when we moved in.

That's funny because when we built, the Rhapsody plan was brand new, and they hadn't built any yet. Although we liked the floorplan on paper. There was a Cantata that was inventory down the street that we walked through and fell in love with. And the lot we decided to buy - Ryland had already done the specs to put an inventory Cantata on it, so that sealed the deal for us!!

Originally Posted by HoustonBornNRaised

Oh, noooo, no, no, no.

I can't speak for their starter-end product (even then, I doubt they do this now), but I know for a fact, mine was stick-built on site. And very well, too.

Same for my house. I can say for a fact that none of our frame, etc came prefab. It was all done on site. We were here every single day, sometimes a couple of times a day watching the build go up. My realtor and her husband (a home designer/contractor) also kept dibs on the house several times a week.

[HoustonBornNRaised]

Originally Posted by lhafer

That's funny because when we built, the Rhapsody plan was brand new, and they hadn't built any yet. Although we liked the floorplan on paper. There was a Cantata that was inventory down the street that we walked through and fell in love with. And the lot we decided to buy - Ryland had already done the specs to put an inventory Cantata on it, so that sealed the deal for us!!

The only model is in Timarron and it is hideous inside. I don't know who they got to decorate that thing, but I'm pretty sure it's what's keeping a lot of them from being built.

Thankfully someone else was building one inside of our development when we signed our contract.

I have two dogs, so the courtyard was a huge draw for me. I have my front door open right now and they can just come and go. Plus, no solicitors can get to my front door. Bonus!

[CuriousMTA]

Thanks everyone for the support. To be honest, I've signed a contract with Ryland about a couple of months ago and was little bit embarrass and didn't know what the response would be. I just been asked by others if I was sure Ryland is the right builder choice since they haven't heard of them, but then again they are no builder experts. We are currently on the framing stage. We had thoughts about canceling, not serious one just unsettled feelings, the contract due to some close people I know asking us if we had done our research on the builder. I'm pretty confident we will stick to it as we feel they do a good job. I have no complaint so far.

For some more confirmation, our framing stage has been done piece by piece also. I've been going everyday. We fell in love with the Trieste II plan. We felt that the floor plan design flows really well and that the rooms aren't boxy and have some uniqueness too them. Pricing wise, it seem reasonable not too expensive and not too low.

If there are any other who bought a Ryland home please comment, I would like to hear. HoustonBornNRaised, it's nice that you have a courtyard. I seen a David Weekley one and just fell in loved. The courtyard is located in the front center of the house which is beautiful.

By the way, I don't think Perry homes are bad by any means, they do look nice inside. I just find them to be a little bit square and rooms are smaller. I was considering them because my brother owns one and he said they are good plus the community they live in only has perry building left. So if I ended up move there, I can be closer to his family.

I guess I also have question for those who built from Ryland, How long did it take you guys to build your floor plan? This is another reason I wasn't sure about them. They told me 6 months, whereas perry did my brother in 2 1/2 months to 3 months to complete from ground up. My brother keep telling me they are taking an awefully long time. I told him I'm okay with them taking a little bit longer as long as they do it right...He keep telling me it's odd that they are taking a long time since he see other homes around his area finishing within a 3 months even with a two story 3000+ home.

[lhafer]

No worries! Glad you are doing your research!

We signed our contract to build our home in June. We moved in the week before Christmas. I am glad our home didn't go up in 12 weeks. I worry about the quality of construction on homes that go up that fast.

One thing I loved about Ryland, is we were able to change some things. We turned the gameroom in our floorplan into a media room - closed up the opening to the family room, and double insulated the walls. We put a design on the ceiling in the study that we saw in a different house/floorplan. That room was square, our study wasn't and had to be custom built to fit properly. It looks awesome.

[CuriousMTA]

lhafer,

I'm sure you house looks awesome. I've seen the photos of your floor plan (cantata II) on there website and a similiar floorplan called the hamilton in person. I love the idea of that gameroom as I have a young one's and about to have another little one coming soon. That room would be great as a children play room as we cook in the kitchen. We thought about the hamilton due to that gameroom and also the study being near the kitchen (I usually get hungry while working late at night). What made us not choose the hamilton was due to us wanting a two story. I guess we want to at least live in a two story home at least once in our life time.

The floor plan of the cantata is pretty neat with the rooms arrangement being located at unexpected location instead of the usual dining and study at the entrance and the kitchen on one side of the wall.

I do love the way how Ryland gives a lot of option to pick at the design center although I don't think two days and three hours each day to pick out all your option is enough time. In there defense they did give us a two week spread between appointments to decide.

Man talking about the house now makes me want to move in. I can't wait, this will be our first built house. Our first one was an older home at a much lower pricing point.

[lhafer]

Originally Posted by CuriousMTA

lhafer,

I'm sure you house looks awesome. I've seen the photos of your floor plan (cantata II) on there website and a similiar floorplan called the hamilton in person. I love the idea of that gameroom as I have a young one's and about to have another little one coming soon. That room would be great as a children play room as we cook in the kitchen. We thought about the hamilton due to that gameroom and also the study being near the kitchen (I usually get hungry while working late at night). What made us not choose the hamilton was due to us wanting a two story. I guess we want to at least live in a two story home at least once in our life time.

The floor plan of the cantata is pretty neat with the rooms arrangement being located at unexpected location instead of the usual dining and study at the entrance and the kitchen on one side of the wall.

I do love the way how Ryland gives a lot of option to pick at the design center although I don't think two days and three hours each day to pick out all your option is enough time. In there defense they did give us a two week spread between appointments to decide.

Man talking about the house now makes me want to move in. I can't wait, this will be our first built house. Our first one was an older home at a much lower pricing point.

I absolutely suggest going to the design center outside of your appt times. You will not get any help from the sales people as they are always with appointments. But it will give you time to really look around, think about color combinations. My husband and I went there several times before our initial appt and it helped out a lot. We went in with an idea of what we wanted already instead of feeling like we had a few hours to choose all of our stuff right.then. And actually we totally changed our minds about a few things along the way.

Document.document.document. Keep your own spreadsheet of everything you want and changes you make to the house. I cannot stress this enough. THis is YOUR house. That YOU will be living in. Make sure it's done right. Good luck to you in your process.