Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Of course the fact that I just invested a whole load of money into redoing my own house in hardieplank has nothing to do with it...absolutely nothing, I say.
When I look at homes in the $600k range I see they sodded and irrigated the front but failed to sod/irrigate the back. WTF. It's a $600k house all the equipment is already out there, it's not that much more expensive to irrigate the backyard, these cheap axx builders are so aggravating. What's funny if they would do the little bit extra by landscaping the house really nice they won't have to discount the house so much down the road. So it's put $5k into the house now or discount it $20k later. The 1 or 2 builders that do this in my neighborhood sell there spec homes, the builders that don't do this have spec's sitting.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Grizzmeister
As the current disastrous economic condition in our country proves, "greed is good" only when it’s tempered with ethics.
That's true, but I don't think the builders are unethical -- just overly greedy in the way tsmith was saying.
For example, we saw a spec house that was listed for 570k and sold for 565k. We inquired about building the same floorplan on a different lot and were quoted a price of 600k and when we compared the spec sheet to the sold house a lot was missing:
- sod only in the front
- downgraded fixtures to crappy Moen
- single crown instead of two piece throughout
- 5 1/4 baseboard instead of 7 1/4
- cultured marble instead of granite in the baths
- no sidelights on entry door
- downgraded roofing
etc, etc, etc
I guess the majority of folks wouldn't notice -- and there you have the explanation of what is happening to home quality.
I've lived in 3 all brick houses and got tired of them. We were looking for arts and cratfs look and you can't do that with all brick. So we have a lovely combination of hardiplank and stone andd since our house is in Chapel Hill we spent alot more for it than an all brick house in some other location. Blanket statements like "all brick are signs of quality or expensive houses" just aren't true anymore. Maybe about 20 years ago but not now.
Speaking of brick: go up to the northeast and into old cities like Pittsburgh, for instance, and you see these little dark all-brick boxes and ranchers. All brick, yes. Some are nice. And some look like dark little hovels.
Some of you guys are funny. Just because people don't share the same preferences, taste, or values that you share in a home, lot, neighborhood, etc., then you assume it must be because they don't know any better. You know better, of course. Could it be that people do know better - know their own preferences, tolerances, definitions of value added, etc. that is - and that they simply differ from your "better"?
But I wonder why vinyl has such a poor reputation. Why does it matter as long as someone is happy with their home?
It's plastic. Plastic is cheap. I don't believe that plastic inspires a sense of place. It's just a cheap building material that will save the homeowner a few percent on his mortgage, save the builder a few bucks on shipping charges and allow the size of the home to be a little larger. But it does nothing to create a real sense of place.
Vinyl is the epitomy of the bastardization of architecture in America. Any and all resentment is well deserved in my opinion.
That's true, but I don't think the builders are unethical -- just overly greedy in the way tsmith was saying.
For example, we saw a spec house that was listed for 570k and sold for 565k. We inquired about building the same floorplan on a different lot and were quoted a price of 600k and when we compared the spec sheet to the sold house a lot was missing:
- sod only in the front
- downgraded fixtures to crappy Moen
- single crown instead of two piece throughout
- 5 1/4 baseboard instead of 7 1/4
- cultured marble instead of granite in the baths
- no sidelights on entry door
- downgraded roofing
etc, etc, etc
I guess the majority of folks wouldn't notice -- and there you have the explanation of what is happening to home quality.
This is what I see too - there may be some amenities but generally luxury homes are built with the same materials as 200k homes - the rooms are just bigger and there are more of them.
I would buy exact the oppsite, top-notch equipped house with a tiny yard as long as it has enough privacy.
Imo, its hard to have privacy when your house is 10 feet from your property line and 20 feet from your neighbor's house.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
