Experience with Drees Custom homes? (Avon: foreclosures, mortgage, loan)

[webuser]

Can some one post some experiences with Drees Custom home builders. I heard they are good at customization and most of the standards are good enough with out upgrades. Are they any better than any other similar builders... Any close competitors? Pros and Cons Please !!!!!!!

[MikiJayne]

Funny you should mention Drees, they left info in my mailbox today about offering bonuses to Realtors. They are offering higher commissions on some of their spec homes and they also offer a cruise to any Realtor who sells 2 Dress homes in a year. So, what I'm getting at is that Realtors love Drees, and I would love to sell a Drees home, but it would be best for you to find a homeowner to talk to about their home.

Now, in addition to the bonuses that your Realtor would get, YOU can get a free finished basement on a new build if you are one of their next 25 buyers. I don't know how you would have any proof of how many people are buying their homes though.

The Drees neighborhood in Avon, Woodcreek Crossing, is very nice. I do like driving through there and the neighborhood seems very quiet but still close enough to everything.

It all depends on what you are looking for, and what is most important to you!

Michelle Morris
Carpenter Realtors
_Website in profile_

[homless]

Our family had been ripped apart because Drees built us a $900,000 home we can't live in, the jury found them guilty of negligience,construction fraud. They nbuilt a home not even to code,as a result the house leaked for over 18mths and made my entire family very ill,they lied about their own experts reports and told us it was all our fault.
www.donttrustdrees.com

[Zoo Animals On Wheels]

Originally Posted by webuser

Can some one post some experiences with Drees Custom home builders. I heard they are good at customization and most of the standards are good enough with out upgrades. Are they any better than any other similar builders... Any close competitors? Pros and Cons Please !!!!!!!

Now is not a good time to buy a spec home in an unfinished subdivision.

Why do I say that? Well, for example...C.P. Morgan sold some of the homes in their Heartland Crossing subdivision in Camby. Now they've gone out of business and people who bought there are stuck in an unfinished neighborhood, the promised pool and some other amenities are never going in, and as a result their house is worth significantly less than what they paid for it.

It's not a terrific time to buy a home period, but if you're dead-set on buying anyway, I'd certainly suggest that a much better bet would be a previously-owned home in a well-established neighborhood in a desirable school district (whether or not you have kids, a good school district makes your house an easier sell when you're ready to move on).

Good luck!

[coastalrap]

Originally Posted by homless

Our family had been ripped apart because Drees built us a $900,000 home we can't live in, the jury found them guilty of negligience,construction fraud. They nbuilt a home not even to code,as a result the house leaked for over 18mths and made my entire family very ill,they lied about their own experts reports and told us it was all our fault.
www.donttrustdrees.com

Wow, I guess your first mistake was to buy a $900,000 home from Drees. You could have a killer home from a great custome builder for that (in Indiana).

[casualsurfer]

I would recommend Shoopman Homes if you're looking to customize. My wife and I have been looking at their designs and it seems to be very competitive to Drees.

[MikiJayne]

This thread is over a year old!!

The buyer who told of their trouble with Drees is not in Indiana.

Now IS a very good time to buy, prices are down, inventory is up, interest rates are down... plus you can get $8000 from the government if you're a first time buyer. I don't see how anyone can say it is a bad time to buy.

[coastalrap]

Originally Posted by MikiJayne

This thread is over a year old!!

The buyer who told of their trouble with Drees is not in Indiana.

Now IS a very good time to buy, prices are down, inventory is up, interest rates are down... plus you can get $8000 from the government if you're a first time buyer. I don't see how anyone can say it is a bad time to buy.

I agree.

[Zoo Animals On Wheels]

Originally Posted by MikiJayne

This thread is over a year old!!

The buyer who told of their trouble with Drees is not in Indiana.

Now IS a very good time to buy, prices are down, inventory is up, interest rates are down... plus you can get $8000 from the government if you're a first time buyer. I don't see how anyone can say it is a bad time to buy.

I said it is a bad time to buy a spec home in an unfinished subdivision. Because it is.

It is not a great time to purchase a home period, but if you really want to buy, it should be a pre-owned home in an established neighborhood in a good school district. And be prepared to own the house for several years.

Why do I say that? Well, we are currently in a recession that some economists are increasingly worried will turn into a depression. Unemployment is at 25-year highs. The stock market is at 1997 levels; many people have seen their retirement accounts lose more than half their value. Banks have turned off the money spigot that flowed so freely from 2000 to 2006, which resulted in the bubble. It is much harder to qualify for a loan, and people qualify for much lower amounts. That puts a downward pressure on prices.

Meanwhile, there are still two years of mortgage resets to come. That means more foreclosures, higher inventory, and even more downward pressure on prices, resulting in lower values. In the meantime, many builders (Davis, C.P. Morgan, Levitt, etc.) are going belly-up. When they do, their unfinished subdivisions remain unfinished, and you are stuck with a house in a ghost neighborhood, with streets leading nowhere, empty lots with weeds, and promised amenities that don't ever materialize.

That's why I say it is NOT a good time to buy...and it's especially not a good time to buy a spec home in a "planned" but unfinished subdivision.

[MikiJayne]

I'm referring to the part where you say it's not a great time to buy, period...

I believe that we can't live in fear. Yes, the economy is harsh right now, but that is why there are such great deals out there. It is the perfect time to buy, but of course you have to factor in whether you can actually afford to do so. The lenders are tightening up their standards (it used to seem like if you had a pulse and a job you could get a loan, and if you didn't have a job they would work something out!) and now with those tighter standards, they are doing a much better job of ensuring that people buying homes will actually be able to keep them.

If you are able, I still assert that it is a great time to buy. But buy carefully, which one should always do regardless.