After checking out every single development in the triangle, and I mean every one, we went back to Kittscreek and wrote a contract this past weekend. I checked the Bulilders 100 list
http://www.builderonline.com/content...=228&year=2005 and went through all of them checking if they did the Southern States and hitting their websites for Cary and Morrisville, NC. I visited so many places that I should get an honorary brokers license. I am relo'ing down to RPT in August for my job. Family size is...Wife, 2 kids (twins 13yrs old) and a dog.
I originally said no to Kittscreek because the homesites appeared to be very close to each other. The house quality, standard features, and amenities cannot be beat by any other builder. The Neo Traditional styling was a bit new to us, but, in the end, we picked a beautiful Georgian Colonial. It was the lots that concerned us.
We looked everywhere, and in our price range, ~450K, all the builders lots were in the 8500-10000sqft range (1 acre is about 43,000 sqft, and not atainable if you want to be close to RTP). Walk through Providence Place, Weldon Ridge, Estates at Olde Carpenter, Harmony, Blackstone, etc... all are .25 - .3 acres. Same as Kittscreek.
Then there are the planes...and I mean PLANES OVERHEAD. We were going to do a contract with Toll Brothers for the Olde Carpenter Estates homes. We visited the models in Raliegh, and loved it. Dream home for my wife. Then we went to the site in Cary. They may as well have named the development "RDU Final Approach Blvd"! Then there is Providence Place. Had a lot reserverd and plan all picked out. Nice homes, but again, planes overhead close enough and loud enough to make us think about spending all that money to hear and see planes all day. The houses were more expensive, but, that wasnt really the deciding factor. The 'makeup' of the community was also a concern. (when i cancelled the meeting with the sales guy telling him i went with Kittscreek, he was definetly annoyed). Then there is Weldon Ridge...A few less plane, but still loud..and further away from RTP than Kittscreek. Prices were higher, homes are nice, but, further away. My wife will be driving one of my sons to pvt school in Raliegh, and the added distance from Weldon Ridge was another negative.
Twin Lakes was the worst for airplanes. You could see the gear going up/down. Immediately took it off the list.
After it was all said and done, we went back to Kittscreek, a bit reluctantly becuase we wanted the Toll Brothers, Providence Place, or Weldon Ridge to really work for us. They didn't so we ruled them out in our minds. Once I sat down with the builders, not just the sales team (who are very professional and not pushy), and went through everything, i was more comfortable with the neo-traditional designs.. I also googled neo traditional on the web, and found lots of stuff that made me comfy as well. It was a resale concern I had. I was wrong. Resales are higher in these types of communities. Check it out for yourself. Go figure!
Kittscreek lot sizes are a drop smaller, but they just opened up a new section that I went to contract on. If you work with their sales team, they will bust their butts to get you a lot that will meet your needs. I am coming from .75 acres in NY, so nothing will ever replace that, but, we are happy with the lot (pick a corner lot, or a lot that backs up to a smaller home on a std lot, etc.. you can work it out).
If you usit down and work with the builders, you can get some customizations (albeit you may have to pay for them, but the house prices are less expensive to start) that will make the home a 'home'. We started our journey back in September '06. On Jan 21 '07 we wrote a contract. In the end, it was the smartest move..in all aspects...financial, quality, location, and networking (i am in technolgoy and there are more cisco, ibm, netapp, and other IT execs buying in kittscreek as well as many other professionals...just think if you want to make a job change..sit by the pool and start chatting with the person next to you..odds are they are your peers and you cant beat that with a stick!)
It worked for me, and I was the hardest sell. Typical synical NY'er. Just go into their sales office and ask them who was there hardest person to satisfy. They will tell you.
If it worked for me, trust me, it can work for you. We did the plan 8+. Keep an open mind and look at the financial aspects of the transaction. Keep it a business transaction. Take the emotion out of it. Once you do that, you will have a great house, on a nice lot, in a terrific neighborhood, with MONEY LEFT TO SPARE!
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Kitts Creek
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