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I might have bought a townhouse from them had Centex not put the HVAC unit and water heater in the attic. Pure idiocy
Actually, putting the HVAC and water heater in the attic is a very intelligent thing to do in many cases. You want to keep the water heater as close to the bathrooms as possible. This reduces the amount of material needed and reduces the water consumption while trying to get hot water. This is a very Earth friendly deseign, as well as great for the wallet.
There is no extra expense for repairs done in an attic vs a garage. Water heaters last 15 to 20 years, so no worries about going in and out of the attic with one on a regular basis. Both the HVAC and water heaters are housed in a drain pan, should there ever be a leak, so no worries there either.
If one has bedrooms on the second floor, then attic installation is the only way to go.
Actually, putting the HVAC and water heater in the attic is a very intelligent thing to do in many cases. You want to keep the water heater as close to the bathrooms as possible. This reduces the amount of material needed and reduces the water consumption while trying to get hot water. This is a very Earth friendly deseign, as well as great for the wallet.
There is no extra expense for repairs done in an attic vs a garage. Water heaters last 15 to 20 years, so no worries about going in and out of the attic with one on a regular basis. Both the HVAC and water heaters are housed in a drain pan, should there ever be a leak, so no worries there either.
If one has bedrooms on the second floor, then attic installation is the only way to go.
The crap builders install lasts 5 years or a bit more if you are lucky.
When the heater fails, more water keeps flowing in the top since the heater doesn't know the water's leaking out instead of being used.
If the pan's connected to a drain pipe, you won't know if the pipe's clear until a failure fills it with water.
Since the heater's out of sight, it won't be inspected often to detect small seepage before it gets to be a big leak.
Saves money for the builder. Sets owner up for a big damage failure.
The crap builders install lasts 5 years or a bit more if you are lucky.
When the heater fails, more water keeps flowing in the top since the heater doesn't know the water's leaking out instead of being used.
If the pan's connected to a drain pipe, you won't know if the pipe's clear until a failure fills it with water.
Since the heater's out of sight, it won't be inspected often to detect small seepage before it gets to be a big leak.
Saves money for the builder. Sets owner up for a big damage failure.
Sorry, but I cannot disagree with you more. With all due respect, I do not think you have a clear understanding of how the design works and it's benefits. I guess we can just agree to disagree.
We bought a Centex home about 5 years ago and we have been quite pleased. After about one year we kept having an issue with our driveway. Evidently the concrete was contaminated with iron or lead and no amount of power washing would rectify the rust that kept coming through. It took a bit of persistence but Centex did come through and replace the entire driveway. It has been a well built house.
BTW - we bought a spec house. This is our 3rd spec house and we found rather than cut the price a lot Centex was much more willing to add lots of upgrades. It keeps the sale price on the books higher but yet we received lots of built ins, hardwoods, lighting upgrades, crown molding and even window blinds throughout the whole house.
My wife and I are looking to possibly purchase a new Centex Home in the Mebane / Orange County area, and are curious as to experiences working with the pricing with Centex. Everything I've read says to have a buyer agent, which we plan to do, but I'm just curious as to people's experiences on getting them to come down on their price. We're looking at homes for them that are listing in the $180s. I know that other neighborhoods in the area are coming way down on their pricing, just curious as to Centex in particular. This would be in one of their tract neighborhoods, if that helps. Thanks!
You will stand a better chance of a price reduction without using a buyers agent, as Centex will not have to pay the agent. The fee for the agent will come out of your pocket in the end, even though Centex technically pays them. I did not use a buyers agent, as I never do on a new home, and it saved me big bucks. This is not advice, just how it has worked out for me.
BTW - we bought a spec house. This is our 3rd spec house and we found rather than cut the price a lot Centex was much more willing to add lots of upgrades. It keeps the sale price on the books higher but yet we received lots of built ins, hardwoods, lighting upgrades, crown molding and even window blinds throughout the whole house.
I agree with you on this. Centex builds their homes with high end items, such as moldings, cabinets, HVAC & HW systems, flooring, etc, rather than builder grade items. You can save tens of thousands of dollars on the inventoried homes, as they may not charge anything for the upgrades. Total savings on my Centex home with no buyer agent discount, free upgrades and closing cost inclusion was $50,000. That felt good.
You will stand a better chance of a price reduction without using a buyers agent, as Centex will not have to pay the agent. The fee for the agent will come out of your pocket in the end, even though Centex technically pays them. I did not use a buyers agent, as I never do on a new home, and it saved me big bucks. This is not advice, just how it has worked out for me.
I'm going to totally disagree with you on this one.
I had clients buying KB Homes recently. They had gone to the website and to the model home and had spent many hours trying to work out a contract. They finally gave up, called me, told me what KB had offered them.
After showing them homes for a couple of days, we decided to go back to KB homes. I spoke with the onsite agent that I knew from a previous sale. The offer they made to them was then about $11,000 LESS than the original offer.
Now I just have to get them through the maze of inspections to closing.
Sometimes buyers THINK they are saving. In the long run, they just don't know what they could have had.
I completely agree with Vicki. Our agent has been indispensable through our work with Centex (and that's WITH the people at Centex being incredible!!). She's provided fantastic advice about negotiating with them and we were able to get them to drop the price about $12K on new construction (including an awesome lot!) Additionally, she's also been there to help coordinate the appraisal and inspection process and has hooked us up with a ton of good advice. You can't beat experience! I wouldn't even think about going it alone!!
Vicki, do you work with Centex as well by chance, and in the Orange County / Mebane area? In about a month we will probably be putting our house on the market and plan to start working with Centex.
I might have bought a townhouse from them had Centex not put the HVAC unit and water heater in the attic. Pure idiocy that I confirmed on some HVAC tech websites.
My apt super shudders to think what a plumber would charge to change the water heater even if no major water damage occurred when the old one failed.
I agree that putting the water heater in the attic may not be the wisest move. Drip pans fail, especially when dealing with the amount of water coming out of a broken water heater. I've dealt with having all 40 gallons spill into the garage and would hate to think of what would happen to the ceilings, the carpet and the hardwood floors if it were in the attic instead of the garage.
Still, from what I understand, Centex builds a good product and has great customer satisfaction.
I wouldn't go in without a buyer's agent and would not waive the home inspection either. A buyer's agent will know how to get the best deal and is most often paid out of a separate marketing budget instead, so it wouldn't affect the price to the end-customer.
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