Can't change floor plan unless we change lots (industry practice?) (Cinco Ranch: cul-de-sac, sales) - Houston - Texas (TX) - City-Data Forum

sugarlandresident11 · 08-10-2014, 05:53 PM

I'm not experience with new home builds, but once there is a contract on a lot for a specific floor plan. Is the lot locked into that floor plan regardless if a buyer wants to change plans or terminates their contract? We were told if we want a different floor plan, we would have to change lots. They have only ordered the materials, but no physical development has begun on the land or house.

Is this normal? It has been a month since we signed our original contract.

HookTheBrotherUp · 08-10-2014, 05:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ronaldmco

I'm not experience with new home builds, but once there is a contract on a lot for a specific floor plan. Is the lot locked into that floor plan regardless if a buyer wants to change plans or terminates their contract? We were told if want a different floor plan, we would have to change lots. They have only ordered the materials, but no physical development has begun on the land or house.

I've no idea, 'just commenting that if no foundation has been poured, or forms set, then the reason must be the footprint and the adjoining property? If the foundation, or forms are done already, I can see the reasoning, or if the plans dictate distance to easements, etc.

sugarlandresident11 · 08-10-2014, 05:58 PM

There are also no other houses nearby with the same floor plan so it still meets their requirement to not have similar looking houses next to each other. I'm just confused by this situation.

trbstang · 08-10-2014, 06:45 PM

With the pace of home sales, they are pretty much in the driver's seat they think. I know on ours, we settled on the floor plan and signed everything, then a few days later we asked if we could change the front elevation to the upgraded one with stone. It was a slight difference on the front of the floor plan with the different porch. The sales office wanted to, but their main office said no since they had already gotten the original plan and elevation approved by the developer and submitted everything based on the original plans.

I guess it is that they've already started on it, especially if they've ordered materials. It would be time consuming to determine what is different between the plans, and they probably don't want to go through cancelling everything.

Good luck on it!

descovy · 08-10-2014, 07:59 PM

It depends. We built in Cinco Ranch. When we signed, it was all Dirt Lots. However, when we picked a floor plan, they'd show a map of lots where they were already planning to build that floor plan. So you might have 5 lots to choose from. They'd start building on one end of the neighborhood (let's say South) and move north. So a house on one street might be scheduled to finish in March, the next street North in April, and so on.

We picked our floor plan. Then we picked our lot. We had maybe 5 choices of lots that built our floor plan in the time frame we wanted.

I guess every neighborhood is different... But the end result was your street finished together, and you did not end up with too many houses of the same floor plan.

sugarlandresident11 · 08-10-2014, 08:12 PM

Thank you trbstang & descovy. We'll just have to switch lots in order to get a different floor plan. I was mainly feeling guilty because changing will cause the old lot to be "set" and future buyers will be "stuck". However, I don't want to end up getting a new home in 5-10 years because of this decision.

texas7 · 08-10-2014, 08:25 PM

They may have already pulled permits etc. If standard tract homes, could be the house you now want is already built or scheduled to build too close to your current lot and they cannot build two of the same so close.

sugarlandresident11 · 08-10-2014, 08:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by texas7

They may have already pulled permits etc. If standard tract homes, could be the house you now want is already built or scheduled to build too close to your current lot and they cannot build two of the same so close.

Permits probably. No houses have started construction yet in our section and none of the other sold lots have the floor plan that we want.

trbstang · 08-10-2014, 08:53 PM

Switching lots is not that big of deal if it is a regular lot. Ours is an oversized pie shaped lot on a curve on a cul-de-sac street. It was one of the two last lots I could get the garage I wanted to fit on. No way we were changing lots!

sugarlandresident11 · 08-10-2014, 08:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trbstang

Switching lots is not that big of deal if it is a regular lot. Ours is an oversized pie shaped lot on a curve on a cul-de-sac street. It was one of the two last lots I could get the garage I wanted to fit on. No way we were changing lots!

Our original lot was 10,100 sqft corner then we switched to a 8,000 sqft middle of the street. Oversized lots are the best!