Iron Mountain Ranch homes (Spur: for sale, house, neighborhoods)

[7cows]

The Pulte homes in Iron Mountain Ranch - any ideas on those homes? are they well built? We went to check some out that are for sale and for one we saw there was a electricity box in the backyard - is that normal - what about resale value if there is an electricity box on your propert

[Bowie]

Utility boxes are normal since new neighborhoods have buried utilities. The builders have to put them somewhere.

I have lived in a Pulte home for 5 years. Pulte is a production builder. They are very attentive to quality issues after the sale. I would use them again.

To take full advantage of Pulte's 1-year warranty, I paid to have a second home inspection done at 11 months. The inspector found a few minor issues that Pulte fixed promptly under what was left of the warranty. The value of the fixes probably didn't exceed the cost of the inspection, but it gave me peace of mind.

[7cows]

Thanks for the reply - what about the easement which has to be 12ft - is that taking up a chunk of the backyard - I am not sure how the rules work for that

[dendox]

well it doens't take up any more of your property than nothing. That may sound silly, but it is what I meant. The easement means you can't put permanent structures there unless you want to have them removed at your cost if needed.

That isn't to say that you can't put a swing set or something there, because you use your easement just like you use the rest of your yard.

The utility box is always present in the newer homes with underground utilities. Some people get lucky and don't have the big box (me), but I get blessed enough to have two telephone and cable housing units in each corner. Whatever. No one will think less of your home when searching for it in resale, because eveything built right now has it.

Pulte, in my mind, is a "better" production builder. Their homes are better quality than the low end guys, but don't quite rise to the highland homes type builders. We have been in a Pulte home the last 5 years, currently in our second.

I know tons of people that work for Pulte and tons that used to. I can say that most people that work for them now - or that have worked them in the past - would buy one of their homes. It isn't like they are selling crap that they wouldn't even buy if they had to. In fact, two of my best friends were laid off from Pulte when things started to slow about ayear ago. What did they do last month? Bought a Pulte. I think that should say something about them as a builder.

I am sure some people on here have had bad experiences or know someone who has. Do your own due diligence on whatever home you decide on and have an inspector come out and give it a thorough inspection. Make sure it checks out. Of course, this advice doesn't apply to Pulte only. I think anyone looking at any house should do this to save themselves a lot of time, money, and headaches in the end.

Good luck hunting.

[Bowie]

Originally Posted by 7cows

Thanks for the reply - what about the easement which has to be 12ft - is that taking up a chunk of the backyard - I am not sure how the rules work for that

You shouldn't put anything in the easement area that can't be easily removed or that you don't want to have removed. In the event that the underground utility cables need to have work done on them, the utility companies must be able to dig up the area within the easement where they are buried.

[MichelleSG]

Planting flowers has been a pain with the easement that I have in my backyard. I went so far as to have all the lines marked (and of course they did them wrong so I nailed the neighbors cable line, during a Spurs game) but really it's no biggie. I've nailed my own sprinkler lines so the fact that there are cable easements in my backyard really doesn't make much of a difference to me. I've planted things in front of the ugly boxes so they aren't such an eyesore but other than that you really aren't going to be able to avoid them in the new housing developments.

[Steel Man]

My boss bought a Pulte home (high $200's) more than 4 years ago. He had a lot of small finish problems, but they fixed them. Of course, it helps if you're "persistent" about getting them repaired in a timely manner. Everyone has utility easements where everything is underground. Some or more luckier than others if they don't have the big green box. My neighbor has one and his yard is small. Ours is very long and we only have a small cable tube. After you move in you can call a number to have someone come out and mark where the utility lines are located; but be careful, as stated below, sometimes they can make a mistake.

[NurseDana]

Great idea to have a second ispection at 10-11 months! I would have never thought of this! Thanks!!!! We also have a Pulte home and have been well pleased with any minor repairs we have had to have done. They even fixed a few boo-boos that we did ourselves when moving in!