Building new home in Stonemill Farms (St. Paul, Maple Grove: neighborhoods, buyers, taxes)

[stolafs69]

I am seriously considering builing a new home in Stonemill Farms in Woodbury. There appears to only be a few lots left and I have selected a lot on Harvest Path in the south east portion of the development. The builder would be Mattamy. Looking at a two story with finished basement, with 5 bedrooms and about 3100 sqaure feet total with decent kitchen and flooring updrades for around $310,000 on about .25 acre lot. Good Deal or rip off?

Has anyone built a home with Mattamy? Are they decent quality? Anyone have any comments about living in stonemill farms. In the association run decently? Are developers going to keep developing lots and lowering prices and thus undercuting previous buyers home values? Is the community snobish? Obviously, with a $310,000 I will be one of the poorest folks in the community, at least home value wise.

[mnota]

Don't really know much about Woodbury, apart from the Outlet mall. But seems to be the trend in most areas these days. Builders are developing small areas (10 to 20 lots) and building according to a set of floorplans and then moving on to the next iteration, based on demand. Towards the end they might sell for less, as they would have realized profit on the previous builds and can afford to undercut. Also, they buy huge strips of land and sell parts at higher prices. Mattamy is fairly new to MN, 2007 or so, more Canada based. They are decent builders, we know friends who own homes built in Shakopee and Maple Grove and they are happy with the quality.
Also regardless of the size of the house, most developments will have same size lots. So a person with a 4000 sq ft house will be paying less per square ft, as compared to a person with a 3000 sq ft house, since lot price remains the same.
The more finished sq ft you have, the more taxes you pay, so you just buy what you need and forget about the snobs next door.

[west336]

I'm not an expert by any stretch of the imagination, but even before you asked I thought to myself "Wow -- great deal!". If that means anything to you....

Right now suburban home values absolutely SUCK, but this might be the best time to invest (or one of the best times) and I don't think Woodbury should be considered a typical "fringe suburb", since it's so close to St. Paul and is highly accessible. Same for Maple Grove, for that matter.

Frankly, I'm a BIT surprised they're still building .25 acre lots....seems almost HIGH considering the trend for "walkable" neighborhoods, sustianable living, and cost consciousness (plus, part of me wishes that if the Twin Cities had to sprawl that it do so more sustainably, like out West).

[Globe199]

I find Stonemill Farms appealing, but it's not exactly an easy commute to the city center. The association would concern me though. But it would be nice to get rid of my huge yard in exchange for a smaller, more manageable lot.

[eastside38]

Originally Posted by stolafs69

I am seriously considering builing a new home in Stonemill Farms in Woodbury. There appears to only be a few lots left and I have selected a lot on Harvest Path in the south east portion of the development. The builder would be Mattamy. Looking at a two story with finished basement, with 5 bedrooms and about 3100 sqaure feet total with decent kitchen and flooring updrades for around $310,000 on about .25 acre lot. Good Deal or rip off?

Has anyone built a home with Mattamy? Are they decent quality? Anyone have any comments about living in stonemill farms. In the association run decently? Are developers going to keep developing lots and lowering prices and thus undercuting previous buyers home values? Is the community snobish? Obviously, with a $310,000 I will be one of the poorest folks in the community, at least home value wise.

I don't think you're getting ripped off for the house itself, but why do you want to put it on such a tiny lot?! I'm dying to know why people like Stonemill Farms so much despite the tiny lot sizes.

Also, I do find the community to have the most snobbish residents of Woodbury. For an upper-middle class suburb, the people are quite friendly and open, but Stonemill Farms residents are, on the whole, an exception.

[Mdcastle]

Typical- one person things a .25 acre lot is too big and one person thinks it's too small. Obviously for a lot of people it's just right or they wouldn't have lots that size. It seems like a good compromise between cost and maintence vs being packed like sardines. A lot of people coudn't care less if a neighborhood is "walkable" or not since most people here own a vehicle, I'm less than a mile from shopping but I've never once walked there.