To Build or Buy Existing in Buckeye (Phoenix, Sun City: mortgage, hoa)

[OliviasDad]

HELP!!!

Now my wife and I can't agree on whether to build or buy an existing house in Buckeye. If builders are having to cut their inventory of houses they are actual building this year, how can hey still charge $250-$300k in Tartesso, when all other houses barley used or never lived in at all in Buckeye are going for $200K-$250K at most???

Is it the obvious, builders push all the upgrades, which pushes the price up for new construction still in this market? I've found literally hundreds of houses for sale in Buckeye, brand new, but they look very plain both inside and out. Did everyone leave Buckeye all of a sudden? Did builders just overdue it during the construction boom?

Is Tartesso the only place people want to live in Buckeye? Most all of the existing inventory of new/semi-new houses in Buckeye are outside of Tartesso...does that mean Tartesso or nothing? Am I being too snooty?

I'll stop rambling here...someone help me out here so my wife and I can just stop arguing....I will say that she does like the upgrades though...alsobetter for resale value down the line...

[Ponderosa]

Other than Verrado, there are other developments in Buckeye. There is one called Sundance, I think, right near Verrado. I would think the prices there are in the same area as Tartesso. It would be more convenient. But there are choices other than Tartesso, for sure.

[OliviasDad]

I've seen Sundance has many houses listed on REALTOR.com.....

Are they a Master Planned community like Tartesso is going to be, with it's own schools, retail, police/fire station?

When I get there for my "interview" I'll be taking an entire day just to drive around to take pictures/video for my wife back home...

[Ponderosa]

Sundance is a master planned community. Several developers/builders. They have a golf course and there is a good deal of retail already there. It's on Watson Rd just south of I-10.

[CodyW]

A little rundown on Buckeye developments-

So far there are only about 5 major 'master planned communities'

Going in order from closest to Phoenix, to furthest away.

-Verrado (THE most expensive, but also one of the nicest)

-Sundance (The oldest one. I believe construction started in.. 2002?)

-Westpark (There isn't any commercial here or anything, but it has its own school, and its a fairly nice area.)

-Tartesso (In the absolute middle of nowhere, but it is a nice development. Commercial and services are still years away, though)

-Festival Ranch/Sun City Festival (This one is in far north Buckeye, its closer to Surprise than the central area of Buckeye. I haven't made the trek up there, but from what I've seen in pictures, its one of the nicest developments in the northwest valley.)

There are many many MANY more developments, though most of them are small and built on say.. a square mile of land, or so.

Most of Buckeye's new commercial development is happening in the Sundance area, with the area's only Fry's grocery store, walmart and such. There are also a few office parks going in. Along with a Target and similar stores two miles east, in the Verrado area.

[jco]

I say buy existing. Remember that the price the builder gives is just the base price. In most cases, you have to add many appliances, upgraded flooring, window treatments, etc. People who bought a year or more ago paid less and will sell for what they paid and throw in all of the upgrades. I know that building a house is nice because you get to pick everything, but I find that you get a heck of a lot more buying resale. Of course, there are some in the middle of nowhere developments in west Surprise and Waddell that are selling for under 200k starting.

[ejk]

In Sundance (and I assume in other areas as well), many of the houses for sale were bought by investors hoping to turn a quick profit. It's not so much that they picked up and left, but that they never even moved here.

Also, a LOT of new developments have opened up East of here since Sundance opened. So there are other people who saw the chance to be nearer to Phoenix and took it.

While Sundance is master planned, I think it's more relaxed than Tartesso seems to be. Our HOA has not kicked in full strength yet so a few things remain to be seen. While we do have golf, basketball, sand volleyball, parks, etc it is not a big centralized area like in Tartesso. And there is no splash park. There are 2 elementary schools so far (in 2 different districts) with a 3rd one planned for Watson Rd because the classrooms keep overflowing. That is one major issue here-- the school districts were really hit hard by a lot more growth than they were ready to handle. They are doing the best they can but they still need to iron some things out.

oh! and Tartesso came about after the peak, which is why you're finding so many resales outside of there.

[MotleyCrew]

If we were buying right now I think we would buy an existing home. The builders make the bulk of their money from the upgrades. What you pay for granite and tile through the design center can be on the high side. We put in formica and changed to granite a year later. The design center was around $9,000 to $12,000 depending on the granite. We had it installed for $5,500. I should have waited on my floor tile as well. For $50,000 to $100,000 that you quoted the difference being in the price of the homes, you can do a lot of upgrades.

[ejk]

Originally Posted by Jill Warner

If we were buying right now I think we would buy an existing home. The builders make the bulk of their money from the upgrades. What you pay for granite and tile through the design center can be on the high side. We put in formica and changed to granite a year later. The design center was around $9,000 to $12,000 depending on the granite. We had it installed for $5,500. I should have waited on my floor tile as well. For $50,000 to $100,000 that you quoted the difference being in the price of the homes, you can do a lot of upgrades.

Good points. When we built, we took barely any upgrades because we did not want it on our mortgage for 20-30 yrs. We've been doing it all afterwards instead, paying cash, and it costs a lot less; plus, there is more to choose from.

[MotleyCrew]

I think you are the first person I have run into that doesnt want to pay for the appliances and carpet for 30 years. Quite a few of our young neighbors bought into the "just put it on your mortgage" scheme at the design center. Ouch.