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So building a wall is out of the question on the side of Cameron Pond that borders 540? I've had to run some errands in west Cary this past week, and feel very bad when I'm going northbound on 540, and those 3 or 4 houses where I feel like I'm zooming at 75-80 mph right past their screened porches and decks!
Again, this is not Southerlyn related, but thought many people are checking out this thread for west Cary housing and developments.
I called Baker Residential to see if they are doing any more Horton's Creek or Wrenhurst-style neighborhoods in the area, because I like their houses and floor plans. I was determined today and was able to talk to the land acquisition manager based out of NY! (Baker is a NY company). Anyway, he said they are in the process of buying a piece of land in west Cary (in Wake County, not Chatham), but the sale of lots is around 2 years away! He was honest and said the price Baker is paying for this land is much higher than the current land builders bought, such as Ashton Woods and Emerald Homes. Therefore, the prices of houses will be even higher for Baker to make a profit. He also warned that the lot sizes will be smaller than Wrenhurst. Of course, he couldn't tell me where this land was. (I'm guessing south of Panther Creek? Also, what is all that bulldozing they are doing when you are driving 540 toll north, right before McCrimmon Pkwy, when you look to the right?)
So the point of this was that waiting for better neighborhoods and builders to open subdivisions, is only going to cost even more in west Cary. These builders are paying just way too much for the land there, and it will be passed on to us buyers!
Again, this is not Southerlyn related, but thought many people are checking out this thread for west Cary housing and developments.
I called Baker Residential to see if they are doing any more Horton's Creek or Wrenhurst-style neighborhoods in the area, because I like their houses and floor plans. I was determined today and was able to talk to the land acquisition manager based out of NY! (Baker is a NY company). Anyway, he said they are in the process of buying a piece of land in west Cary (in Wake County, not Chatham), but the sale of lots is around 2 years away! He was honest and said the price Baker is paying for this land is much higher than the current land builders bought, such as Ashton Woods and Emerald Homes. Therefore, the prices of houses will be even higher for Baker to make a profit. He also warned that the lot sizes will be smaller than Wrenhurst. Of course, he couldn't tell me where this land was. (I'm guessing south of Panther Creek? Also, what is all that bulldozing they are doing when you are driving 540 toll north, right before McCrimmon Pkwy, when you look to the right?)
So the point of this was that waiting for better neighborhoods and builders to open subdivisions, is only going to cost even more in west Cary. These builders are paying just way too much for the land there, and it will be passed on to us buyers!
This is absolutely correct.
Lots in Copperleaf Glen are around .35 acres. The first few lots Jim Thompson bought (this month) cost him $184,375 EACH.
Another interesting thing I've noticed about West Cary driving through the neighborhoods is that it seems a lot of the subdivisions are predominantly one ethnic group. I'm wondering if Southerlyn will follow suit on this or if we will see a more diverse mix of buyers? Cary is certainly a diverse community and it would be nice to see neighborhoods reflect that rather than each neighborhood being nearly all one race... Anyone else notice this trend?
Go buy house in such neoghbourhoods that will make them diverse. No subdivision is born with one ethnic group concentration. People see an ethnic group that look different from them and they do not buy there and also people get out of the neighbourhood feeling that they do not belong there anymore. These two processes work together to make a subdivision one ethnic group heavy. You will see most asian people living in cary/morrisville area because they work close by in RTP or SAS Inst etc.. I have seen some of them are moving to Apex area also as Cary is becoming impossible for may buyers to buy property.
So I am in the same boat as NomadMia7 was a couple of years ago. We have just moved here from midwest due to my job and are looking for houses. Having had a custom house we have some criteria and granted are picky - Good kitchen with vented hood (we cook a lot) and walk in pantry, at least 5 BR and an office down at lower level, I have lots of power tools and want a 3 car garage to set up my wood shop. My wife has her own quilting and arts stuff . Plus we have family and friends that constantly visit us - so we need the space: at least 4000 sqft. In West Cary we are struggling to find quality house builders apart from Bellewood and Sedgefield. Our initial budget was 600K but we quickly realized that we won't get anything what we want (resale or new) in that price range. We have now bumped our budget to $750K and we can only get Bellewood that too with unfinished attic. If we want to finish the attic it will be another $50k. We have looked in Apex as well but apart from Bella Casa Custom homes sections, not much choices. We have a daughter who will start KG next year so school is a priority.
We are now considering NV Homes who are building a new subdivision called Jordan Pointe in New Hill - which I believe was annexed by Apex. At least there the price / sq feet is still at $130-$140 for a good quality house There is another new subdivision Stillwater that is coming up in Apex (I found that out from Apex Govt. website) but that too will have custom homes in the same range as Sedgefield and Bellewood but lots like Bellewood (0.26 acres as opposed to 0.15 acres in Sedgefield). We are open for resale homes but not > 5 years because then you are looking at replacing appliances and HVAC and water heaters pretty soon.
I find it so difficult to understand this price of $180 / sq feet in Sedgefield / Bellewood and in West Cary. At least in Bellewood the lots are 0.26 acres.. but now in the second phase they have a premium of $26K on all lots.
I liked Southerlyn but they do not have 3 car garages and their upgrades cost a lot. Toll at Enclave was even bad... a house started at 540K but everything was an upgrade.. wait time = 1 year!
What are your thoughts? Any suggestions. Appreciate your help!
Thank you
TrekNomad
So I am in the same boat as NomadMia7 was a couple of years ago. We have just moved here from midwest due to my job and are looking for houses. Having had a custom house we have some criteria and granted are picky - Good kitchen with vented hood (we cook a lot) and walk in pantry, at least 5 BR and an office down at lower level, I have lots of power tools and want a 3 car garage to set up my wood shop. My wife has her own quilting and arts stuff . Plus we have family and friends that constantly visit us - so we need the space: at least 4000 sqft. In West Cary we are struggling to find quality house builders apart from Bellewood and Sedgefield. Our initial budget was 600K but we quickly realized that we won't get anything what we want (resale or new) in that price range. We have now bumped our budget to $750K and we can only get Bellewood that too with unfinished attic. If we want to finish the attic it will be another $50k. We have looked in Apex as well but apart from Bella Casa Custom homes sections, not much choices. We have a daughter who will start KG next year so school is a priority.
We are now considering NV Homes who are building a new subdivision called Jordan Pointe in New Hill - which I believe was annexed by Apex. At least there the price / sq feet is still at $130-$140 for a good quality house There is another new subdivision Stillwater that is coming up in Apex (I found that out from Apex Govt. website) but that too will have custom homes in the same range as Sedgefield and Bellewood but lots like Bellewood (0.26 acres as opposed to 0.15 acres in Sedgefield). We are open for resale homes but not > 5 years because then you are looking at replacing appliances and HVAC and water heaters pretty soon.
I find it so difficult to understand this price of $180 / sq feet in Sedgefield / Bellewood and in West Cary. At least in Bellewood the lots are 0.26 acres.. but now in the second phase they have a premium of $26K on all lots.
I liked Southerlyn but they do not have 3 car garages and their upgrades cost a lot. Toll at Enclave was even bad... a house started at 540K but everything was an upgrade.. wait time = 1 year!
What are your thoughts? Any suggestions. Appreciate your help!
Thank you
TrekNomad
Bellewood added a 26k lot premium to all their new lots? LOL. I'm sorry. That's hilarious since they're selling so slowly in Phase 1.
Bellewood does have larger lots than Sedgefield, but the lots in Sedgefield have ranged from the .15 you cited to over 1/3 of an acre. The average seems to be around the .19-.21 range. So, yes, smaller than Bellewood, but clearly the neighborhood sells better.
It's a tough call. There's a house out in Sedgefield right now (per the web site) that's selling for 735k that's got all the stuff you need, but has a smallish lot. I'd say it's an accurate representation of what the differences in lot size can get you for a house that's around 4000k sq ft when a house that size in Bellewood will run you around to 750k+ for the same amount of sq ft.
Resales are more likely to get you what you want at the price you wanted to spend, but why do you think you need a house that's less than 5 years old to avoid having to do a major overhaul "pretty soon?"
We bought a house that was built in 2006 and it has yet to need a new major system, though we replaced a couple of things (dishwasher, refrigerator, and hot water heater [went to tankless with recirc]) by choice, not because the ones we had were not damaged. We replaced our gutters last year, but again, mainly because we wanted bigger gutters and not because ours just didn't work.
None of those replacement costs would come even close to bridging the cost gap between buying a "Not new" house and new construction in Cary right now, even by the exact same builder.
The house I am speaking of is a Wardson house and we bought it in early 2013. Same house (except ours has a finished attic) out in Bellewood new right now would run us, by my estimate, about 775k out in Bellewood Manor right now, minus the finished attic AND minus the 4-sides brick exterior. Same size lot. I know it's pretty much the same house with lesser finish level because they sold it recently and we walked through it when they first finished that spec home out in Bellewood, so it really is an apples/apples even if it's more Granny Smith to Red Delicious.
Sooo... maybe take a good, hard look at those resales by the same builders you're checking out now, just to be 100% sure.
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Bellewood added a 26k lot premium to all their new lots? LOL. I'm sorry. That's hilarious since they're selling so slowly in Phase 1.
Bellewood does have larger lots than Sedgefield, but the lots in Sedgefield have ranged from the .15 you cited to over 1/3 of an acre. The average seems to be around the .19-.21 range. So, yes, smaller than Bellewood, but clearly the neighborhood sells better.
It's a tough call. There's a house out in Sedgefield right now (per the web site) that's selling for 735k that's got all the stuff you need, but has a smallish lot. I'd say it's an accurate representation of what the differences in lot size can get you for a house that's around 4000k sq ft when a house that size in Bellewood will run you around to 750k+ for the same amount of sq ft.
Resales are more likely to get you what you want at the price you wanted to spend, but why do you think you need a house that's less than 5 years old to avoid having to do a major overhaul "pretty soon?"
We bought a house that was built in 2006 and it has yet to need a new major system, though we replaced a couple of things (dishwasher, refrigerator, and hot water heater [went to tankless with recirc]) by choice, not because the ones we had were not damaged. We replaced our gutters last year, but again, mainly because we wanted bigger gutters and not because ours just didn't work.
None of those replacement costs would come even close to bridging the cost gap between buying a "Not new" house and new construction in Cary right now, even by the exact same builder.
The house I am speaking of is a Wardson house and we bought it in early 2013. Same house (except ours has a finished attic) out in Bellewood new right now would run us, by my estimate, about 775k out in Bellewood Manor right now, minus the finished attic AND minus the 4-sides brick exterior. Same size lot. I know it's pretty much the same house with lesser finish level because they sold it recently and we walked through it when they first finished that spec home out in Bellewood, so it really is an apples/apples even if it's more Granny Smith to Red Delicious.
Sooo... maybe take a good, hard look at those resales by the same builders you're checking out now, just to be 100% sure.
Completely agree on the resale bit. Especially if you are buying a resale that is mostly brick (so painting the whole house isnt an issue). The price cut you will pay compared to buying new is tremendous, leaving you plenty of money and the ability to choose the equipment and person you want to install it when it fails as opposed to being beholden to the builder's choices. It is not likely that all major systems will fail at the same time. Also, a hot water heater replacement is a fairly minor job (I replaced mine myself a few years ago).
I would take resale with mature landscaping, larger lot, most initial foundation settlement issues and the ability to negotiate a lower price over new, any day.
@Redzin - thank you for the input. Yes we looked at Sedgefield but they are refusing to do contingent contracts -- unfortunately I will have to wait until our house sells in the midwest because the resales are refusing contingent contracts. Any recommendation on realtor? Right now I am working with one but I am doing more work than the realtor. Yeah, I don't know why Bellewood increased their lot prices considering that they have more than 4 spec / inventory homes and some lots remaining. They are charging $700 HOA annual fees without any amenities which left me totally perplexed. I asked why -- the agent on duty said to upkeep the common areas
As far as < 5 years on age of house -- some concerns on build quality (if it is Toll or some tract builder). Custom builders not too worried , willing to look at up to 10 year old homes as long as they have good energy efficient building components.
Completely agree on the resale bit. Especially if you are buying a resale that is mostly brick (so painting the whole house isnt an issue). The price cut you will pay compared to buying new is tremendous, leaving you plenty of money and the ability to choose the equipment and person you want to install it when it fails as opposed to being beholden to the builder's choices. It is not likely that all major systems will fail at the same time. Also, a hot water heater replacement is a fairly minor job (I replaced mine myself a few years ago).
I would take resale with mature landscaping, larger lot, most initial foundation settlement issues and the ability to negotiate a lower price over new, any day.
I love resale homes. I actually dislike new home communities, for the most part. I have lived in 2 that were nothing but brand new and lots of building and I've lived in one that was pretty much done, but not quite, and one that was recently done... along with some that had been done for a few years or longer.
I prefer those that are either pretty much done or done for awhile. Just nicer and not all the construction noise and upheaval.
And trees. Yes. The trees.
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