5 year old house in Riverstone or new construction in Avalon at Sienna (Taylor: HOA fees, new house)

[matrix1781]

We liked a 5 year old 4 BR house in Riverstone (coventry build) which will cost us close to $470K for a 4200 sq.ft. A new construction from Taylor Morrison in Avalon at Sienna is likely to cost $480K+somemore for a 3500 sq.ft property (ideal size for us) . While the new house is tempting, I cant convince my self that Sienna is better than RS for my kid. So quite a few questions going through our minds

Old house might need some flooring change in a few years time ...condition is excellent but aesthetics need changing a little.

1) Will RS still be zoned to good schools in 5 years time?
2)Are the amenities in RS good enough (fitness center seems to be just a room) and are there more amenities coming up?
3)Camp Sienna, stables, bucket pools etc are they great for socializing and making friends?
4) Will schools in Sienna improve
5) The house we are looking at in RS sat on the market for a long time so not sure if RS still has the same resale appeal. Sienna houses seem to go away much quicker.
6)IS it easy to find reliable and quality labor to replace tiling with wood/porcelain tiles etc?...any ideas on rough costs to do this? (might be a silly question as each location is different)

We have only been in the country for 8 months so any advice is greatly appreciated.

PS: I work on 290 and BW8

[ipuck]

1)Think the schools in RS will be just fine and probably get better when they rezone the HS.
2) and 3)I think the amenities at Sienna is 10x better than Riverstone.
4)I am under the impression they are building a new MS for Sienna. More than likely they will rezone the Sienna school zone also.
5)I think the market has soften quite a bit. I think both Sienna/RS attract the mid level O&G executives and with all the layoff, nobody is shopping for new houses right now.

RS is the more desirable area with a little better location. The new house premium will be gone after you move in so if you are looking at value wise, RS will be better.

Now regarding your kids, both of them are packed with families. I think Sienna probably offer more for your kid, especially if you are not a minority. The youth sports league in Sienna are packed with kids. The ones in First Colony/RS are declining with less and less kids every year.

[swopoe]

I live in Riverstone. Mind me asking what section of Riverstone the new house is in?

I have young kids (ages 6-12). The schools here are great, and our new elementary school will be too. I am very involved in the schools. Our amenities are good as well. There are lots of activities. We get a monthly newsletter in the mail and there are tons of them- paint with wine night, crawfish boil coming up, egg hunt next weekend, Astros trip, etc. We have a lot of friends in the community too.

We love living here in Riverstone. Let me know if you have other questions.

[matrix1781]

Thanks ipuck, swopoe. It is in the Senova section. Just off LJ parkway. Our kid is few months old. Sienna has Camp sienna with batting cages, soccer fields and sports league etc. Does Riverstone have anything similar?

[swopoe]

I have a bunch of friends living in Senova. We are in Shadow Glen...right up LJ from Senova.

We do not have our own Riverstone sports leagues. My kids are not into sports, so that does not bother me. But I know people have joined sports leagues through first colony and also commonwealth.

[ipuck]

Originally Posted by matrix1781

Thanks ipuck, swopoe. It is in the Senova section. Just off LJ parkway. Our kid is few months old. Sienna has Camp sienna with batting cages, soccer fields and sports league etc. Does Riverstone have anything similar?

One of the complaints from friends in RS is the facilities are really lacking compared to Sienna. The baseball fields in Sienna is artificial turf and is top notch. RS have none of that and they are all located at adjacent First Colony.

The HOA fees is significantly higher also and there is none of those in RS so makes you wonder what they doing with the HOA fees.

I am involved with a few of the youth sport leagues in First Colony/RS. There are 2-3x more kids playing in Sienna than First Colony/RS. I think a big part of that are because minorities are not as involved with sports and at least 1/3 if not more of the residents in RS are probably minorities.

[hbcu]

If it's baseball definitely not

[matrix1781]

If not sports, how about other activities for kids. Like play groups etc. We went and had look today and Sienna fitness centre, pools, soccer fields etc are miles ahead of stuff in RS. Couldn't believe how inadequate RS looked. Having said that, looks like it will take decade to complete construction in Sienna and that might mean value of home being very low for a long time.

[Imgnutopia]

Originally Posted by matrix1781

If not sports, how about other activities for kids. Like play groups etc. We went and had look today and Sienna fitness centre, pools, soccer fields etc are miles ahead of stuff in RS. Couldn't believe how inadequate RS looked. Having said that, looks like it will take decade to complete construction in Sienna and that might mean value of home being very low for a long time.

Are you saying home values are lower right now due to construction?

[Failed Engineer]

From a home value standpoint, Riverstone easily (combination of existing home and overall more desirable community). From a QOL standpoint from what you've stated you are looking for, Sienna would probably be a better fit.