Buying a KB Home (appliances, home builder, landscaping)

[martinez4]

Originally Posted by banker

Just checked on that community - and it is a little pricey for me. The homes start at $300K - Saddle Mountain starts in the low $200K range. The Monte Cristo community does look very nice though.

Good luck to you and your search. Hopefully there will be some KB homeowners posting so you can get the scoop on their experiences

[nrlatsha]

Originally Posted by nrlatsha

Here's my .02:

Its not always about the houses themselves, but how they do handle problems if there are any...

I am a former KB owner, but I would prefer not to be associated with ever owning a KB home.

Its all that problem handling thing...

[banker]

Originally Posted by nrlatsha

I am a former KB owner, but I would prefer not to be associated with ever owning a KB home.

Its all that problem handling thing...

How long ago did you buy a KB home? What price range was it in?

[StanStelle]

I bought a Ryland home in Stone Oak a couple of years ago. On my second visit to the sales representative, I casually mentioned that we had narrowed down our choices to their home and a similarly priced one in an adjacent neighborhood. I mentioned that the other home's builder had about $5K in free upgrades. The rep then happily announced that they currently have $8K in free upgrades/incentives. Reps we saw in other communities usually announced their freebies right on the first visit so put a bit of pressure on them.

[mastercone]

Originally Posted by banker

How long ago did you buy a KB home? What price range was it in?

I have followed this thread and it sounds to me like you are waiting for a really good deal. If you are hoping for something extraordinary in the $200K range, then I would recommend that you wait for another 12-24 months to see if the real estate market slows enough for a deal. Even if the entire neighborhood sells out during that time, it's not the only game in town.

The KB Home salesmen have to fend off a lot of anklebiting customers who all want a sweetheart deal. Now that KB Home is a word-of-mouth brand name, just like Centex and Toll Brothers, price protection is paramount in order to maintain quality and sales.

If you absolutely have to have a deal today, your best bet is to go for a $300K+ home and load it with all of the options. At that level, the salesman has a lot more room to work with and can give you the best deal for the margin. You won't get this at the sparse $200K price point. You might also make a later move on their highest priced model. The highest priced spec homes sell the slowest.

For what it's worth, there are a lot of really nice homes for sale in the Stone Oak area that you should look at for your money instead of trying to do this shake and bake with a KB Homes salesman. You might actually be pleasantly surprised.

[SA Greed]

“I’m going to go get the papers, get the papers” lol


Seriously, KB is harder to negotiate with because they don’t build spec homes. They build to order so you get what you want and more importantly, you don’t get what you don’t want. Home builders like Highland have been able to bend because they have to pay the bank for those houses even though no one is living in them so they are pressed to sell. The way to get a deal is if someone builds a KB home that you like and they renege for any reason, KB is forced to sell the house at the value of the house regardless of the upgrades placed in the house.

[mastercone]

KB Homes does have models and those eventually do sell. To me, the locations of the models makes them a better buy versus buying deep into the neighborhood and having to navigate a handful of streets before you get to a main thoroughfare.

Originally Posted by SA Greed

“I’m going to go get the papers, get the papers” lol


Seriously, KB is harder to negotiate with because they don’t build spec homes. They build to order so you get what you want and more importantly, you don’t get what you don’t want. Home builders like Highland have been able to bend because they have to pay the bank for those houses even though no one is living in them so they are pressed to sell. The way to get a deal is if someone builds a KB home that you like and they renege for any reason, KB is forced to sell the house at the value of the house regardless of the upgrades placed in the house.

[banker]

Originally Posted by mastercone

KB Homes does have models and those eventually do sell. To me, the locations of the models makes them a better buy versus buying deep into the neighborhood and having to navigate a handful of streets before you get to a main thoroughfare.

With little kids - I would rather be deeper in the neighborhood so there is less traffic. Also - the models are typically not available for sale for a couple of years...

[mastercone]

Congratulations Banker! It sounds like you're ready to buy. It looks to me like you never needed our advice!

Good for you!

Originally Posted by banker

With little kids - I would rather be deeper in the neighborhood so there is less traffic. Also - the models are typically not available for sale for a couple of years...

[Turtle_Mom]

We are in Fox Grove. Our side of the neighborhood was their "R" series, and they were going to do a "Q" series. The Q series fell through, no one wanted a high end KB. They did build some, but sold the land to Century homes instead. The R series was still very nice, but after they filled in our part of the neighborhood they went back to the Hallmark Series for the rest. That makes our house a nicer home in the neighborhood, but when it comes to resale it will just be assumed its the same as the rest - kind of a bummer.

Anyway - we haven't had problems with our home. KB handles problems just as good as other homes in it's price range. They have had too many issues in the past for them not to. I think they are a good product for the money. As far as negotiating, I don't remember. We were at Highland Homes a while back and he kept offering stuff to us as we hemmed and hawed about pricing. Like, "Last month my deal was free upgrade on carpet, but I"ll give it to you this month too." They seem to throw them out when you seem to be iffy about prices. Another option is to go with a realtor - and have him offer to give you half his commission. Or don't use a realtor and have the sales guy give you 1 or 2% back, since they don't have to pay out a commission to a realtor. There are lots of little things you can do. Use their lending for free title fees etc. Research what other incentives other builders have, and tell them that "so and so" is offering full landscaping etc. See what they will do!