Moving into the Quarry at Iron Mountain (Canyon, Liberty: renting, income)

[firstclassflyer]

He did more than tooting the horn!!

[banker]

Originally Posted by joe123456

Banker I thought that KB has scaled back on building the more expensive homes...i.e you mentioned that they aren't using lvl on any of the new homes in the Quarry, no more 16" oc for interior walls either, etc.

I noticed in my Hallmark community that KB is no longer using lvls. KB like all builders all going to try to hold their prices, but with inflation they will cut the lvls out etc to keep costs down.

I find it amazing that you tooted KBs horn from the very beggining especially since they told you two AC units and then told you only one unit after you signed the paperwork. I would have demanded my money and went elsewhere.

Although, I do have a KB home and I am very happy with it. At the same time if they tried to jerk me like they did you I would have walked away and fought to get my money back. That goes for any builder that promises you something and then renegs on something as important as two AC units.

KB has scaled back on the high end homes. They no longer build my floor plan. I have the 16" on center framing and LVLs in my house - but the new ones don't have those structural features.

I "tooted their horn" from the perspective that the overall quality of the product they build has improved as has the architectural interest and quality of the community. That is not to say I haven't had problems.

I will say that I am very happy with the A/C system that I have. Given the fact that I still would have probably gotten one large unit for the first floor and a small one for the 440 square foot bedroom bath upstairs...I am probably better off. I don't use the second floor much at all and keep that zone off (it does have an active return air vent which draws the warm air out any time the unit runs). Had I gotten two units I wouldn't have gotten two zones on the first floor whichwe have really enjoyed. We love having a thermostat in our bedroom with the majority of the rest of the first floor on another zone. We wouldn't have had that flexibility if we had had two units.

Ultimately - we didn't walk because there were no other neighborhoods that offered standard 100% brick/rock, minimum 1/4 acre lots, three car garages and had a majority of homes that were one story or one and a half story and still be close to town in the north central corridor. There were lots of communities that offered many of those features, but none that offered all. We did not want to live in a neighborhood full of big two story boxes that all looked the same. We loved the fact that (due to the now discontinued Liberty and Estate lines) the community has mostly large one story homes.

So...for us - the value was still there.

[banker]

Well...it looks like my roof has been fixed! No leaks at all which is an accomplishment considering all the rain we have been having.

An update on our community - we have two more houses closing on our street this month. I am still surprised that the new starts are going as slow as they have been. I can't wait until building starts pick up - hopefully they will this fall as people prepare to move next spring / summer.

[texdav]

Originally Posted by firstclassflyer

He did more than tooting the horn!!

Come on how;the guy was just explaining his impressions of buiding including his excitement. He did mention all kind of headaches he had. In the end his experience was much better than alot of peoples in building a house.Looks like he is getting things fixed alright to me. Hopefully most people are proud of the home they build has it is a big investment. Sounds like he has a very nice home in the end and his concerns are being addressed.I thank him for sharing.

[Big Guy]

We were in Eden. Ray E had already made a fortune, but when he sold out to KB it was a fire sale as the market was down when that occurred in the mid 90's.

RE your Sears unit...the 1" valved version which is what you bot reduces to 3/4" on the interior and the maximum flow rate from it is 15 GPM. Your home is capable of 25 GPM at 1" and 40 GPM at 1 1/4". I know several builders who have stopped selling it under the GE label as it is the same as Lowe's and Home Depot's products, and KB is one of them, as well as Centex, Ryland, and Newmark. Their reason was longevity with the product due to service problems....it broke a lot, as per the former GE rep I know. Apparently the rocks from the aquifer get into the valve and mess it up due to the light construction of the valve...ergo it doesn't last a long time and the builders don't like the complaints.

I have also heard that Ryland is now using a company from Houston to supply their water treatment products and their customers get ambushed with a sales call on the pretense of installing a free water treatment filter. Classic bait and switch. And their high quality product is only $5000 for the whole house. I understand it is a top of the line product, but I have also heard of as good and better stuff in the $2000-$3000 range for softener/ro that have lifetime warranties.

Having gone of from home to home with claims from floodouts and fires and having to replace things in like kind and quality, I have learned by necessity about a lot of this stuff. I have a buddie in commercial water treatment that "enlightened" on the water treatment subject.

When your Sears unit goes south, as it most certainly will ... invest in something better. It is just not much more to get a valve that will last 15-25 years or longer, trouble free, as opposed to the 10 years or less of service you have bot...that will likely not be trouble free. Sears, etc. just should not sell that unit in this area.

On the rest, I have heard the top end product is much better and they have great floor plans. Good to hear they are using the double cap. I keep waiting for some large builder to start using metal framing, but no one wants to train their workers to use it. It would go a long way toward preventing termite damage.

Roofs are always subject to adjustments...but don't forget to get some yearly maintenence to be sure the vents are sealed. I do my own on a one story home, but for my mom's house, we get this guy named Patches Kelly. Good and reasonable. He works a lot of minor roofing repairs.

[cheermomof4girls]

Yes, you get the spill about the water treatment from Ryland when you go in and pick out your stuff at the design center. Then they try again when the guy comes out to your new home to install the free filter. We had no problems cutting him off telling him that we just wanted our filter installed.....after he set up his water presentation.

[banker]

Our Kenmore water softener has been great...as has our GE reverse osmosis purifier which I installed on our ice maker/water line on our fridge. We now have nice cold purified and softened water (and ice) at the fridge.

[banker]

So...not to start a rumor...but here goes...

Is KB selling its undeveloped lots in the Quarry?

The reason I ask is that the empty lots on my street have been surveyed and marked with pink paint. In addition, last week some men were walking around and talking as they pointed and looked at the lots on the North side of the neighborhood and also the ranch behind the Quarry. The men were not KB employees. I know in Iron Mountain Ranch KB bailed after only selling 15-16 houses. Last fall around October KB changed from the Estate floorplans to the Liberty floorplans. They decided the Liberty's were a failure after selling 11 houses in five months. In February KB changed to a cheaper set of plans and have only sold four houses in five months! The economy has really taken its toll on many builders in San Antonio and we all know there is no way KB can keep the doors open selling just one house per month...especially headed into the winter which is usually slow.

So - does anyone know if builders are out shopping lots to buy? With an empty lot next to me - I just cringe at the thought of an unknown builder coming in and building a siding covered box!!!

Anyway - I will keep everyone posted. This real estate environment is very scary.

[firstclassflyer]

Youch. Losing patience with KB?

[banker]

Originally Posted by firstclassflyer

Youch. Losing patience with KB?

No...not losing patience...more curious as to what is up.