Feedback on a home builder (Austin: water heater, neighborhood, taxes)

[Phisch]

We would have had them build us an Aurora II (I think thats what it was) in Belterra if the home we are buying fell through. They were more than happy to answer any questions out there and were really helpful. They let us walk through a finished one that was due to be handed over any day. I'm no contractor, but the house looked very nicely built to me.

[Biscuits]

Originally Posted by austin-steve

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.

Does this rule of thumb apply to all areas? For example, would a $750k .5 acre lot in Tarrytown be receptive to a 2.25m - 3.75m structure?

[FromCalitoSteinerRanch]

Originally Posted by Biscuits

Does this rule of thumb apply to all areas? For example, would a $750k .5 acre lot in Tarrytown be receptive to a 2.25m - 3.75m structure?

Can you subdivide the lot? Say, .125 acre each? I am curious to the answer as well.

[austin-steve]

Originally Posted by Biscuits

Does this rule of thumb apply to all areas? For example, would a $750k .5 acre lot in Tarrytown be receptive to a 2.25m - 3.75m structure?

It's a general rule of thumb. A place to start when considering whether it makes sense to buy a lot and build. There are many other factors to consider.

Steve

[Biscuits]

Originally Posted by FromCalitoSteinerRanch

Can you subdivide the lot? Say, .125 acre each? I am curious to the answer as well.

Yes, in theory the existing lot could be divided into two .25 acre lots.

[Daisey31]

We are building an Oxford II that we have customized within an inch of its life.

[austin_or_sd]

Anyone has experience dealing with Highlander Homes?

[LongTimeAustinite]

Originally Posted by 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.

I too am amazed at this. We bought a Wilshire home (Oxford II). They made all the changes we requested and delivered the home right on time. I would buy a Wilshire again without hesitation.

LTA

[Daisey31]

Originally Posted by LongTimeAustinite

I too am amazed at this. We bought a Wilshire home (Oxford II). They made all the changes we requested and delivered the home right on time. I would buy a Wilshire again without hesitation.

LTA

How do you like your Oxford II? What would you have done differently, in retrospect? I am about to turn in my plans for redline, so I am a little frantic.
So far we have made the front bedroom bigger, pushed out the breakfast room 3 feet and moved the door to the end making it two french doors, squared off the game room, added two feet to the laundry room, pushed out the master bath and study 3 feet, redesigned the master bath, added a cabinet to the long run in the kitchen and cornered the fireplace, deleting one of the living room windows.
What did y'all do?

[LongTimeAustinite]

Originally Posted by Daisey31

How do you like your Oxford II? What would you have done differently, in retrospect? I am about to turn in my plans for redline, so I am a little frantic.
So far we have made the front bedroom bigger, pushed out the breakfast room 3 feet and moved the door to the end making it two french doors, squared off the game room, added two feet to the laundry room, pushed out the master bath and study 3 feet, redesigned the master bath, added a cabinet to the long run in the kitchen and cornered the fireplace, deleting one of the living room windows.
What did y'all do?

WOW! You don't mess around. We just moved some walls around within the confines of the building foot print. I had extensive electrical wiring done in the garage which we added four feet to the width. We also went with the covered patio option.

What we forgot to add was a back door from the garage. That still bothers me. We should have added about two more feet to the roof of the covered patio. Lastly, I think I should have taken a large portion of the upstairs and added a huge closet. There is not enough storage space in the Oxford II.

We really like the house. The open plan makes the main portion of the house feel really big.

LTA