Reputation of Ashton Woods Builder (Alpharetta: sales, how much, house)

[imirab]

Moving to John's Creek/Alpharetta Georgia area. Looking at homes built by Ashton Woods. Can anyone tell me the reputation of the quality of these homes? How do they compare to other builders, i.e. John Weiland?
Thanks!

[evannole]

From what I've seen, Ashton Woods builds a quality product but will nickel-and-dime you to death on upgrades. The standard level of finishes is generally pretty basic.

A few years ago, in a much weaker market, we were looking at an AW home after we fell in love with one of their models. The sales agent was exceptionally helpful and actually set us up with a design appointment even though we were nowhere near to writing an offer, just so we could have a feel for what the floor plan in question would cost when outfitted the way we'd like. (Typically they will schedule you for a design appointment only once you have a signed contract.) They were very helpful at the design center but we quickly discovered that the included/basic finishes were so basic that we ended up "spending" a theoretical $80k in upgrades, on a house with a base price of around $325k, and we didn't even go very high-end, certainly not to the level that we saw in the model.

I do think the quality of construction that AW offers is good, and I found their representatives a pleasure to deal with. If you're aware of the level of basic finishes and included features and like them, you'll likely be happy; if you know you'll want nicer finishes, you should be prepared to pay considerably more than their "teaser" price shown in their marketing materials.

I have been impressed with what I've seen from John Wieland in recent years as well, at least in terms of construction quality and fit-and-finish. I've never priced one of their homes, though, so I'm not sure how much of what I've seen is a standard vs. upgraded product.

We ended up going with a smaller local builder that isn't currently doing anything in the area you're targeting, and have been very pleased. We spent comparatively little on upgrades with them (less than $10k) as the standard features and fit-and-finish were considerably more comprehensive and higher grade. That made the decision to buy the place much easier as we didn't have to wonder if we'd break the bank by upgrading the house once we were under contract.