Brightleaf - New Homes in Durham on 70

[coltank]

Originally Posted by Petunia16

I just read the whole thread! phew!

We looked at BL last summer and really liked Drees, more specifically the Nicholas IV model.

I'm a complete newbie when it comes to builders and new construction so upon going to their design center and adding up all the details, I was in shock. I started with all base interiors and exteriors, no bells and whistles... no crown moulding or upgrades... it completely priced us out!

The house started at $307K but after what we wanted to do... it would have been closer to $400K... and I went with a buyer's agent... didn't do anything for us, although we weren't drafting up any final papers, so... maybe we weren't "serious" enough to start negotiating.

The same model starts at $315K now... it started at $311K in March. Is it because of the new phase location or is demand really just that high??

I'm really quite disappointed that we couldn't buy in BL, but I may go check out the SP homes this time... maybe we'll be christinabean's neighbor Otherwise, we'll purchase a resale with more square footage in Cary or Apex... or Durham... not sure yet

Ryan, please let us know how construction is going! I'd love to hear any updates! Oh, and did the pool ever open??

The pool actually opened up last week, and I know that Drees was recently offering some pretty good incentives on their website. I also got an inventory sheet recently that had a Nicholas that you could get for about $330k.

[Petunia16]

Originally Posted by coltank

The pool actually opened up last week, and I know that Drees was recently offering some pretty good incentives on their website. I also got an inventory sheet recently that had a Nicholas that you could get for about $330k.

really?!? I thought I was on their email list? hmmm.... And their website has a Nicholas at $349,900...

I'll have to look into this.... Thanks SO much!

[sneezecake]

Hey Petunia - read the whole thread? That's aggressive!!!

Your experience with Drees is EXACTLY what I experienced with them - the upgrade costs were quite high.

Though it might sound strange, I'd strongly recommend that you take a look at Shea. If your price range is sub 350k, you can ABSOLUTELY get a beautiful Shea home for that price point...even up to 3000 square feet.

Here's why:

NO lot premiums - unlike other builders (In BL and elsewhere) there are no lot premiums on the available lots with only one exception (out of about 25 lots)

Standard features are better than other builders - Solid surface countertops in the kitchen is the one that comes most immediately to mind. While you may not choose to keep these, the upgrade costs are much less if you do want to go to say, a granite or Quartz. Drees granite is like 4000-5000 dollars, Shea is more like 1200.

Upgrades are reasonably priced (in part due to the better standard features, in part due to good pricing, but in comparing upgrade sheets, Shea pricing was excellent)

I believe the current incentive (as of last week) was a gourmet kitchen included free (split cooking, cabinetry, granite, stainless) and you can truly spec out a home with 20k in options with Shea and have it be gorgeous.

The first time we visited Brightleaf, we went to SP only. The second time, our price range had gone up a bit and we checked out Drees and StL. We avoided Shea all along because we thought they were the most expensive. The third time, we visited Shea and loved it but were scared of the price. Once we priced similar homes with similar design options against one another, Shea actually came out as the 2nd most affordable behind SP. We were shocked.

And the rest is history - they've nearly completed the crawlspace on our home and will be starting framing this week!!!

If you want details, send me a DM...but I know for a fact that you have options of 2500-3000 square feet on around a .25+ acre lot with Shea for 330k including a bunch of nice upgrades (granite/stainless, hardwoods downstairs, nice tile, crown throughout, maple cabinets with crown etc etc).