Feedback on a home builder (Austin, Aurora: buying, contractor, closing)

[austin-steve]

There are 1-2 acre lots available in the Oak Hill / Dripping area that will cost between $100K to $200K depending on the lot and the location. As a general rule of thumb, your finished home should have a market value of at least 3 to 5 times the lot value in order for it to make sense from a market value standpoint. In other words, on a $150K 1 acre lot, you'd want to know that your building in an area where other homes sell for at least $450K and up.

Also, be warned, there are also a lot of "silent" costs involved with building with a "build on your lot" builder (or any custom builder for that matter), such as driveways, septic, utility fees, landscaping, etc. You have to be careful to know and understand exactly what "build a home means" when talking to the builder.

Some builders (like Tilson) quote you just the portion of the home that sits on the slab, and nothing else. Make sure you get a "turnkey" move-in ready finished home bid.

The last home I built 3 years ago, we spend $25K+ after we moved in on stuff outside the home, including gutters, landscaping, stone flower beds, St. Augustine grass, sprinkler systems, stone pathways, etc. that were not included in the builder's bid.

In the Oak Hill/Dripping area, you should be able to build a nice 2800 to 3500 sqft home with custom quality finishouts for about $135 to $175 per square foot, give or take, land included.

I'm building another home right now in Granada Oaks. The 1 acre lot cost $100K, and we're spending about $400K ($120 sqft) on the actual construction. The home appraised for $610K and nothing else in the neighborhood is selling for less than the high $500's, so this one will work out well for us from an instant equity standpoint, but it's a lot of work even with a custom builder taking care of everything.

With Wilshire, they should be able to match or beat a custom builder's price due to their purchase volume of materials. Also, if you build one of their stock plans, the suprise factor is lessened, as they are not building a plan that you had designed or bought off the internet.

[Zzyzx]

Originally Posted by Daisey31

They have such good incentives right now, I went a little nuts. We expanded out two walls as well. I have added and changed so many things, it is mind boggling. The service I have had thus far is second to none. I am immeasurably impressed. I just hope the rest of it goes this well. I just can't get over how much I can customize it. I paid $70 a sq ft for the expansion.

Jeez Gina,

The best subdivision & the best model, why don't you rub it in a little harder

[Phisch]

Ok, so it sounds like it is doable. I'm hoping for something in between 1/2 to 1 acre. Closer to 1/2 because I want to be realistic about maintenance.

Thanks for the info on rule-of-thumb. My nature is to build what I want for my purposes and forget resale value; but that's not practical. I like tiny house on a big lot but the neighbors would probably cringe at the thought of me bringing their home value down. But hey, I'd be a cool house!

Also, if you build on a relatively flat lot where there is easy access to city utilities and use a stock home layout, would 6-9 mos. be a fair amount of time to take to build? Assuming around 3k sqft.

Originally Posted by austin-steve

There are 1-2 acre lots available in the Oak Hill / Dripping area that will cost between $100K to $200K depending on the lot and the location. As a general rule of thumb, your finished home should have a market value of at least 3 to 5 times the lot value in order for it to make sense from a market value standpoint. In other words, on a $150K 1 acre lot, you'd want to know that your building in an area where other homes sell for at least $450K and up.

Also, be warned, there are also a lot of "silent" costs involved with building with a "build on your lot" builder (or any custom builder for that matter), such as driveways, septic, utility fees, landscaping, etc. You have to be careful to know and understand exactly what "build a home means" when talking to the builder.

Some builders (like Tilson) quote you just the portion of the home that sits on the slab, and nothing else. Make sure you get a "turnkey" move-in ready finished home bid.

The last home I built 3 years ago, we spend $25K+ after we moved in on stuff outside the home, including gutters, landscaping, stone flower beds, St. Augustine grass, sprinkler systems, stone pathways, etc. that were not included in the builder's bid.

In the Oak Hill/Dripping area, you should be able to build a nice 2800 to 3500 sqft home with custom quality finishouts for about $135 to $175 per square foot, give or take, land included.

I'm building another home right now in Granada Oaks. The 1 acre lot cost $100K, and we're spending about $400K ($120 sqft) on the actual construction. The home appraised for $610K and nothing else in the neighborhood is selling for less than the high $500's, so this one will work out well for us from an instant equity standpoint, but it's a lot of work even with a custom builder taking care of everything.

With Wilshire, they should be able to match or beat a custom builder's price due to their purchase volume of materials. Also, if you build one of their stock plans, the suprise factor is lessened, as they are not building a plan that you had designed or bought off the internet.

[Derek ATX]

Originally Posted by austin-steve

There are 1-2 acre lots available in the Oak Hill / Dripping area that will cost between $100K to $200K depending on the lot and the location. As a general rule of thumb, your finished home should have a market value of at least 3 to 5 times the lot value in order for it to make sense from a market value standpoint. In other words, on a $150K 1 acre lot, you'd want to know that your building in an area where other homes sell for at least $450K and up.

Also, be warned, there are also a lot of "silent" costs involved with building with a "build on your lot" builder (or any custom builder for that matter), such as driveways, septic, utility fees, landscaping, etc. You have to be careful to know and understand exactly what "build a home means" when talking to the builder.

Some builders (like Tilson) quote you just the portion of the home that sits on the slab, and nothing else. Make sure you get a "turnkey" move-in ready finished home bid.

The last home I built 3 years ago, we spend $25K+ after we moved in on stuff outside the home, including gutters, landscaping, stone flower beds, St. Augustine grass, sprinkler systems, stone pathways, etc. that were not included in the builder's bid.

In the Oak Hill/Dripping area, you should be able to build a nice 2800 to 3500 sqft home with custom quality finishouts for about $135 to $175 per square foot, give or take, land included.

I'm building another home right now in Granada Oaks. The 1 acre lot cost $100K, and we're spending about $400K ($120 sqft) on the actual construction. The home appraised for $610K and nothing else in the neighborhood is selling for less than the high $500's, so this one will work out well for us from an instant equity standpoint, but it's a lot of work even with a custom builder taking care of everything.

With Wilshire, they should be able to match or beat a custom builder's price due to their purchase volume of materials. Also, if you build one of their stock plans, the suprise factor is lessened, as they are not building a plan that you had designed or bought off the internet.

I agree with Steve, factor in the hidden costs. I just had Wilshire build a home for me in Meridian. The spec homes will have less hidden costs since many extras are included, however blinds and other "small" items add up. I would also agree at looking at the SW side of Austin around Dripping springs. (Belterra) Property values are very much on the increase here and the commute to downtown is not that bad considering the same distance in other directions.

[Daisey31]

Originally Posted by Zzyzx

Jeez Gina,

The best subdivision & the best model, why don't you rub it in a little harder

Now, Now....I have to wait 7 MONTHS to move in. That is, of course, if I sell my house HERE. <sigh>
I am pretty happy about it though. My head is spinning from all of the choices.

[tom-tom]

Granada Oak vs The Over Look at Lewis Mountain ( or Lewis Mountain ) ?

Which one is better ? ( school, easy to access, neighborhood, value ... )

[changeofpace]

We custom build our present home 11 yrs ago and paid $78 per sq ft (that included a 1/2 acre lot on a creek. We were planning to build another custom home for retirement on 1/2 acre and the cost was going to be $140 per sq ft. We found a 5 yr old home on a 1/2 acre lot, all landscaped, gutters, all appliances (including refirg, washer and dryer) all custom window treatments, complete sound and surround sound system (speakers in not just wired) in an upscale neighborhood on a cul-de-sac with fenced yard, which came out to $122 per sq ft. The seller threw in a 1 yr home warranty and is paying all closing costs. The seller is building a new home (not started yet) so it was not a forced or distress sale. Having gone thru 2 custom build homes (both not completed on time requiring a 1 month hotel stay and all our furniture in storage at a cost of $500), and now this 5 year old home, you might want to check out existing homes that are up to 6 or 7 years old.

[jp5]

This is repeat of a prior post. I can recommend NOT to go with Wilshire. Horrific service through the entire process. We were actually aware of the poor reputation before we bought, but because their houses aren't selling, we got an outstanding deal.

We are pretty easy-going folks. We kept a list of build problems through the house, which we regularly conveyed to the builder and were summarily ignored through the building process. At closing, we still had a long list which we asked them to put in writing that they would be fixed after closing (horrible idea right? Getting pushed out of our rental because build time was 6 months longer than promised, so we had to move). Builder starts screaming at us at the top of his lungs like a maniac that his word is good and we are calling him a liar by asking him to put anything in writing and we should should just walk away and let them keep the deposit. Crazy! Anyway, just one short example of a horrible building process.

[Daisey31]

WOW! I am amazed at this! Do you know, this is the first negative thing I have seen about Wilshire? My experience thus far has been stellar. I am so sorry for your terrible time with them. Sounds very stressful.

[Daisey31]

Originally Posted by jp5

We were actually aware of the poor reputation before we bought, but because their houses aren't selling, we got an outstanding deal.

Where is this evidenced? I have been looking for negative stuff and I can't find it.