Moving into the Quarry at Iron Mountain (San Antonio, Austin: fit in, purchasing)

[JZ31171]

Percentage wise, there are more houses for sale in banker's neighborhood, but anybody can work the numbers in their favor.

[banker]

I am not sure of the total houses in The Quarry - but you are correct - as a percentage 11 houses on the market in my neighborhood is very high. Iron Mountain Ranch is a much larger community and has quite a few homes on the market but at 14 homes fewer in terms of a percentage of total homes built.

[banker]

As many people know the old San Antonio president for KB was let go late last year. The new president which managed Austin - where KB has a better reputation and better floor plans is now in charge. Big (positive) changes aree in store for The Quarry. The new product that was introduced last spring has been a big failure and didn't fit well with the existing premium product. KB isn't bringing back the Estates - but something good is coming. Stay tuned... I have been quietly campaigning for change and it seems as though the new management decided to listen. The Quarry is moving back to the premium market it abandoned last year!!!

[hildawalter]

Originally Posted by banker

Today my wife and I signed papers to build a home in the Quarry at Iron Mountain. Hopefully we will break ground shortly after the start of the new year. After all the back and forth of trying to negotiate a build to order home as well as the negative and positive feedback concerning KB we decided to make the decision to build.

So - I want to chronicle our adventure in building as well as find out if there are any other readers that live in that neighborhood - or in the related Iron Mountain Ranch subdivision - that post on this site. The community is relatively new and has a lot of out of town residents that have moved to San Antonio from other parts of the country. I am one of the few locals that have decided to build there. I plan to work hard to keep the San Antonio friendliness alive and well in this upscale community!!

If you want to bash KB homes I'm not interested in your comments. Those that have shopped the production builders and have compared the Quarry product with the other builder's offerings know that this is not standard KB homes. If anything - most KB neighborhoods being developed today are nothing like KB communities of even 10 years ago - even the more middle class offerings like Spring Tree and Fox Grove. I would challenge any skeptic to go and see the model homes in the Quarry, walk the job sites and talk to the residents and then see for yourself what KB is capable of building. Also - try finding a community where every lot is at least a quarter acre, where every home is standard four sides massonry, wide 50 and 60 foot floor plans and large inviting floorplans - all standard!!! Nothing comes close in the north central cooridor unless you go custom or spend a half million dollars.

There are those that refuse to believe - and they will come out and question this. If you haven't walked the models, been on the job sites, seen the community then don't hate the houses.

Hopefully I can shed some light on the real side of KB through the eyes of a real home buyer. I welcome the input of other KB home owners. If you post - tell us how long you have owned your home and what community you live in. I am especially interested in those that have or are in the process of building in one of their other high end communities like The Woods of Alon (spring 2008), the Trails at Herff Ranch (Boerne), Saddle Mountain (Stone Oak) and of course the Quarry.

After writing the $10,000 earnest money check this morning...I have no regrets. Now...to sell my house!!

Hi! My husband Danny and I moved into the Quarry in late July 2008. We love it. We are very happy with the area and particularly with our house. We moved here from the DC area and am happy to say did not pay attention to (or at least were not steered by) the negative KB stuff. We are on the corner of Ashbury and Boltmore. Best wishes, I'm sure you will pleased with your home. There was a lot of attention to detail, customer service all around has been excellent. There ended up being a delay in closing due to completion delays but we worked it out. My husband is a civil engineer so we had confidence that anything that might be looking wrong would be brought to their attention as it was being built. Again, they were terrific about everything and actually there was not much to bring to their attention!. Take care, Hilda

[banker]

Originally Posted by hildawalter

Hi! My husband Danny and I moved into the Quarry in late July 2008. We love it. We are very happy with the area and particularly with our house. We moved here from the DC area and am happy to say did not pay attention to (or at least were not steered by) the negative KB stuff. We are on the corner of Ashbury and Boltmore. Best wishes, I'm sure you will pleased with your home. There was a lot of attention to detail, customer service all around has been excellent. There ended up being a delay in closing due to completion delays but we worked it out. My husband is a civil engineer so we had confidence that anything that might be looking wrong would be brought to their attention as it was being built. Again, they were terrific about everything and actually there was not much to bring to their attention!. Take care, Hilda

Welcome neighbor. We moved into the house back in June of 2008. And yes - we love our house!

[datacity]

As someone who was looking very closely to the Quarry at Iron Mountain homes a while back (before and during the change to the poorly selling current collection), I am sure those of you that have Empire or Liberty homes do have nice homes with some mature trees and the like.

However, driving by the neighborhood recently, I am dumbstruck as to the actions of clear-cutting and leveling of the remaining lots in an upscale subdivision. I hope that the "new" changes coming to the neighborhood do take it back a bit to its initial potential, as best as possible.

In the meantime, do any of you owners know your neighbors behind KBLies.com | Selling Without Telling or have any comment on the content at their website?

[banker]

Originally Posted by datacity

As someone who was looking very closely to the Quarry at Iron Mountain homes a while back (before and during the change to the poorly selling current collection), I am sure those of you that have Empire or Liberty homes do have nice homes with some mature trees and the like.

However, driving by the neighborhood recently, I am dumbstruck as to the actions of clear-cutting and leveling of the remaining lots in an upscale subdivision. I hope that the "new" changes coming to the neighborhood do take it back a bit to its initial potential, as best as possible.

In the meantime, do any of you owners know your neighbors behind KBLies.com | Selling Without Telling or have any comment on the content at their website?

I have a liberty home and am very satisfied - as are my neighbors. I know several folks that have Estate homes and they too are very satisfied.

That said - not a single one likes the clear cutting that occured several months back - what KB did was horrible to put it mildly. As for the current floor plans - that was a mistake and KB is working to fix this. In fact - a new model home is in the works for the spring selling season. The floor plans will please most of the folks in our neighborhood. I say most - because the actions of the three families behind KBlies.com are over the top. They are very upset and in their attempt to "get back" at KB, they are actually hurting and offending their neighbors. We wish they would stop. I would say that about 3/4ths of what they say on their website is accurate - but as with most "causes" the facts have been presented to support their point of view. For example - all the interior shots of the liberty and estate homes show off the best features those homes have to offer while all of the interior shots of the new plans show off the worst features. Some of those homes are lovely on the inside and have features that are very very nice - nicer than some of the Liberty homes in terms of upgrades. There is a reason they conveniently left those photos out of their presentation. What this group is demanding is that the Estate plans be brought back. They did not go to KB with a plan that made sense in this economic cycle. Saddly, until they realize that like many other people accross the country they bought at the top of the market and will suffer because of it, they will just continue to be upset. Granted - the current floor plans and clear cutting of the trees didn't help - but their approach to addressing this issue isn't helping either. I would argue it is only making it worse. I just hate seeing their signs and posters in the community.

I on the other hand have lobbied for nearly three months for KB to do something that would make sense in light of the current economy. I asked that they return a product that had better curb appeal and featured plans that were not offered anywhere else in San Antonio - since that was one of the features that originally set apart this community. I didn't go to KB management as one that was upset - rather as one politely seeking change. A combination of my "selling the idea" and more importantly - KB San Antonio getting a new president has resulted in the new plans that are coming soon. They are unique (not offered anywhere else in San Antonio) and are comparable to the Liberty homes - with some nearly as nice as the Estate plans. They have features not seen in a KB community in San Antonio ever. KB Austin has a much better reputation than KB San Antonio and the new President has been in charge in Austin for over 10 years. Some of those feature rich plans are headed this way.

One thing that should be pointed out - that the KBLies folks don't mention - is that of the three families - only one actually ordered and built their home from KB. One bought from a realtor and did pay a very high price - but this was using a non KB affiliated realtor not going through the sales office. The other bought an inventory home...and got a great deal due partially to the collapse of the high end market a little over a year ago. The other did build from scratch and has probably suffered the most as he worked with KB from the beginning. But this mission they are on - isn't helping them or anyone else. I just hope that they realize that their neighbors who are happy with their homes don't like the negative publicity. In addition, they have gone so far out of their way to cast some of their neighbors homes in a bad light - that you have to wonder what those folks must think. In their effort to put KB in a bad light - they are tearing down their own neighbors. It isn't those neighbors fault that KB offered these less attractive homes.

And finally...if they hate KB so much...why did they spend between $350,000 and $400,000 on an unproven KB product? They were taking a risk from day one. I knew that going into it - that I was taking a risk - but the house itself out weighed the down side. And KB told me up front that they were changing the plans - so even though I don't really like the current offering - I was told up front. There are only two things I fault KB for - the clear cutting of the trees and the San Antonio corporate office trying to convince the local sales staff that they knew better what product they could sell than was best for our community. Thankfully the new management is going to do their best to fix this mistake while doing their best to accomodate the economic times.

The Quarry remains a great place to live and the new plans coming in the next couple of months will only add to our community.

[banker]

More info on the new series coming this spring - they are 50' wide plans (before adding a third car garage) just like the Liberty's. The ones with a front entry garage will expand to 60 feet with the optional third bay (again, just like the Liberty series). The rear detached garage and side entry front garage will remain 50 feet wide. By comparison the current series are much narrower - the Trails are 40 feet wide (before adding a third garage) and the Empire are 45 feet wide (and no side garage addition is available on these). Both of these series look too narrow for the wide 80 foot lots. The new line will fit the lots and the neighborhoods much better.

The model they will be building is a very unique one story plan that in my opinion will sell well. Still not sure what they are going to name this series. I will update more as soon as I know.

[joe123456]

Originally Posted by banker

But this mission they are on - isn't helping them or anyone else. I just hope that they realize that their neighbors who are happy with their homes don't like the negative publicity. In addition, they have gone so far out of their way to cast some of their neighbors homes in a bad light - that you have to wonder what those folks must think. In their effort to put KB in a bad light - they are tearing down their own neighbors. It isn't those neighbors fault that KB offered these less attractive homes.

Nothing wrong with people expressing their 1st amendment right, even though most builders try to take that away via the HOA covenants. Yes maybe the nieghbors that are trying to sell their homes are upset at the negative publicity, but that is just part of life. People should and can express their views.

People will decide for themselves what to believe or not to believe. I believe having people express their likes and dislikes about a community is a great thing for those looking to purchase a home. It makes for a better educated buyer and sometimes not so happy neighbors who only cares about the perception to keep their home value up.

KB has made a business decision to build cheaper homes and it is very evident especially in San Antonio. They are no longer in the the mid range market and are building homes with vinyl siding in some of their neighborhoods. In fact I believe there are only two subdivisions where they are currently building where the home series hasn't changed - Stage Run and Springtree. Both of these subdivisions I believe are in the last phase of development.

I personally wouldn't buy a mid-range home from KB San Antonio. They are going back to building entry level homes - their bread and butter. Why would you buy a mid-range home from a entry level home builder?

[banker]

Originally Posted by joe123456

Nothing wrong with people expressing their 1st amendment right, even though most builders try to take that away via the HOA covenants. Yes maybe the nieghbors that are trying to sell their homes are upset at the negative publicity, but that is just part of life. People should and can express their views.

People will decide for themselves what to believe or not to believe. I believe having people express their likes and dislikes about a community is a great thing for those looking to purchase a home. It makes for a better educated buyer and sometimes not so happy neighbors who only cares about the perception to keep their home value up.

KB has made a business decision to build cheaper homes and it is very evident especially in San Antonio. They are no longer in the the mid range market and are building homes with vinyl siding in some of their neighborhoods. In fact I believe there are only two subdivisions where they are currently building where the home series hasn't changed - Stage Run and Springtree. Both of these subdivisions I believe are in the last phase of development.

I personally wouldn't buy a mid-range home from KB San Antonio. They are going back to building entry level homes - their bread and butter. Why would you buy a mid-range home from a entry level home builder?

I agree - that there is nothing wrong with expressing their thoughts...but there are ways to communicate and methods that are more productive than others. The current method is only upseting people that have to live around them - and doing nothing to change KB's plans. The current change that has yet to be officially announced from the sales office began long before their KBLies.com website went up.

As to your thought about buying from them - that was the point I was trying to make. The families that are upset took a risk buying a $350 - 400K home from a builder not proven in that segment...now they are trying to take it out on the builder. That is the nature of risk...sometimes it bites you in the rear. It isn't KB or the home owner's who have selected the new plans fault that their risk didn't pan out.

But - to your point about KB - they have much better reputations at the mid point market in other markets other than San Antonio. Austin is a prime example. They have numerous mid and high end communities that have been successful. Also in other areas of the country. True - they are returning their focus to the low end of the range - but that doesn't mean that as a company - they have not been nor are currently successful in the mid to high end homes. As even the upset home owners would be quick to say (two of them have told me to my face) they love their houses - both in design and in quality. KB can build a very nice $400K home. Unfortunately the brand reputation doesn't quite hold up to support the demand at that level.

Thankfully - KB now has management from a market that has been more successful than in San Antonio. One of the things that KB San Antonio needs to do - even at the low and mid range - is to introduce more interesting floor plans that are less "boxy" and have more lasting style and quality. The plans they are bringing to the Quarry should do just that.