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Still interested in this topic. We also have an amazing lot in SJP. Our less than positive experience with a builder has me looking at re-sales. Husband still wants to build.
Note to anyone: check out the builders design center before signing anything. Selections have been underwhelming at best.
There are many different builders in Brunswick county. I think it is safe to say that business is "booming" in the area. This means there are a lot of builders. Some are excellent with great reputations and others are questionable. Some have popped in to to piggyback on the construction boom and their background, quality and reputation are all in question.
There are "big" builders that specialize in custom homes that do an excellent job but unless you are looking to spend millions, they are not interested. There are cookie cutter builders where you check the boxes and and fill in the blanks and you only get what they offer with limited choices. There are also a few smaller, custom builders that build about anything you want with any finish you want, with good references-reputations and years of building experience in the area.
Do your home work. Compare apples to apples. Don't expect steak on a baloney budget. Most every thing is expensive these days, especially on the coast.
So, being my post was deleted, I would guess that the Golf course issue does not effect St. James Plantation ??....it doesn't involve any of their amenities ??....just need to clarify
There are many different builders in Brunswick county. I think it is safe to say that business is "booming" in the area. This means there are a lot of builders. Some are excellent with great reputations and others are questionable. Some have popped in to to piggyback on the construction boom and their background, quality and reputation are all in question.
There are "big" builders that specialize in custom homes that do an excellent job but unless you are looking to spend millions, they are not interested. There are cookie cutter builders where you check the boxes and and fill in the blanks and you only get what they offer with limited choices. There are also a few smaller, custom builders that build about anything you want with any finish you want, with good references-reputations and years of building experience in the area.
Do your home work. Compare apples to apples. Don't expect steak on a baloney budget. Most every thing is expensive these days, especially on the coast.
Good luck
Thanks. We did all you suggested and selected a mid-range builder that marketed themselves as semi-custom. when we asked about their showroom for selecting fixtures and finishes, we were promised the world. No real showroom as we could have anything we wanted. He lied. Home Depot has better choices.
To make things worse, our paperwork was consistently wrong. They changed our tile selections based on something they were told by the tile showroom yet never verified with us. Prices for tile depended on use. That is, subway tile was included if I wanted it as my backsplash but was an upcharge if I wanted it in my shower.
Very disappointing process once they had our deposit.
Thanks. We did all you suggested and selected a mid-range builder that marketed themselves as semi-custom. when we asked about their showroom for selecting fixtures and finishes, we were promised the world. No real showroom as we could have anything we wanted. He lied. Home Depot has better choices.
To make things worse, our paperwork was consistently wrong. They changed our tile selections based on something they were told by the tile showroom yet never verified with us. Prices for tile depended on use. That is, subway tile was included if I wanted it as my backsplash but was an upcharge if I wanted it in my shower.
Very disappointing process once they had our deposit.
I'm going to be "real" here, please don't take it personal.
A "semi-custom", "mid-range" builder is probably not going to be able to afford to a show room that has "the world" in it. More than likely they will have paint swatches from Sherwin Williams, 8-10 brick/stone samples, 4-5 series of light fixtures in brushed nickle, bronze etc and so on. They can not have it all. They may not even have a permanent show room. The samples may just be moved from garage to garage of the current home they are working on that is near completion. There are pros and cons to this.
The pro is, you get a fair sample of finishes that most people like. Its easy to choose and you do not have to run around to several stores picking though "the world" to find what you want. Typically these finishes are included in the price you are quoted. Its quick, its simple, its cost effective for the builder.
The con is, selection is limited. If you are particular about just what it is you want, then perhaps a more traditional approach will work. This is where the builder has no show room but instead gives you a line item budget for lights, tile, counter tops, plumbing fixtures, paint, landscaping and so on. Now you get to go to every store, pick exactly what you want and if you go over the line item budget, you pay the overage. It is more time consuming, its easier to spend more than you intended but you get exactly what you want.
Having errors in paper work is easy to fix. Its just ink and paper. There are thousands of sheets of paper involved in in building a home. There are bound to be errors. What you want, what the builder understands, what the engineer designs, what the inspector wants, what the store pulls from the shelf and what the poor sub contractor on the job actually builds or installs leaves a lot of room for mistakes and misunderstanding. Its part of the process.
You have a choice, you can see the rose bush and complain because it has thorns or you can see the thorn bush and be amazed it has roses.
Be helpful. Make people in the process aware of mistakes and work through them. Some times the mistakes are in your favor. Sometimes the mistakes are trivial and you move one. Other times contractors may really need to come back, tear stuff out and redo it. That's when it gets hard for everyone. Again, a mistake on the paper work is easy to fix. Choose your battles. I have found if you can be forgiving of some things, you will probably fine pleasant surprises in other areas.
When building a home, always plan on 5-10% budget over runs. Not so much because of the builder because they are usually tied by contract but simply because you inevitably will want to upgrade something. Weather its a sun room, landscaping or adding plantation shutters when its finished.
When every one works together, hopefully you end up with a home you are happy in and proud of.
I used a high volume builder that had a showroom to select fixtures and finishes. They were grouped by grade and price, so the choice was simplified. Since we were building from out of state, we did not have the luxury to go to local stores to select finishes. We found the process streamlined, easy, and luckily the choices met our needs. What I liked is that "everything" down to the model number was spelled out on a builders addendum. The final price is the price we paid. It was not off by $0.01. We used BB&T for the construction loan and that worked great. The interest charges were minimal and the bank and builder worked together well. Our builder also customized the floor plan an clearly identified the charges for those changes. In fact the model home (in another community) had a pull down staircase for the attic on the second floor. During our framing inspection we noticed it was not on the plans. We brought it up to the builder and even though it was not on the plans we "signed off" on, he added it anyway at no charge.
I guess it all depends what you are looking for. I have modest tastes, and the builder's choices were fine. We are happy with the final result.
New question - we just started our hunt for the right coastal community to move when we retire in a few years. Looking from Wilmington to Charleston. We visited Grande Dunes a couple of weekends ago and now want to visit SJP, maybe this weekend. Should we sign up for the SJ preview package or look for a local real estate agent and have them show us around? Thanks!
Assume you meant SJP.
Other then the real estate sales pitch the preview package only provides a nice apartment on the grounds and coupon for golf or use of club for meal. There was no detailed tour of the community or structured programmed. I felt staying on property gave you better feel for the community but your not compelled or pressured to buy. l would give you warning that the real estate pitch has a random mix of sales staff and some are very good and some are not. We originally had a bad experience with an agent that kept us (waiting more then an hour and spent 1/2 hour on the community) but after voicing a complaint had a very informative and friendly salesman that showed us a dream lot that we purchased. There are 100's of lots available for resale on MLS as well as unlisted lots for sale by the developer. The developer lots come with social club membership which you can upgrade to full golf. Resales ( with homes) tend to priced significantly lower then buy or build so the toss up is do you spend a more ( a little more or a lot) to build what you want or get into the community with a recently built home available for resale. .I also can recommend a very personable local Southport broker that can give you a good feel for the market and other alternatives. Just private message me. n
New question - we just started our hunt for the right coastal community to move when we retire in a few years. Looking from Wilmington to Charleston. We visited Grande Dunes a couple of weekends ago and now want to visit SJP, maybe this weekend. Should we sign up for the SJ preview package or look for a local real estate agent and have them show us around? Thanks!
My thought on this is if you are looking for a resale go with an outside broker if you are looking to build go with the SJP package. We went with the SJP package and were fortunate to get a great agent (Tom Rechichar who left and started his own agency) and bought a lot.
The outside agents will show you re-sales and the SJP agents will show you their re-sales and lots where people are going through SJP agents rather than none SJP agents (at least how I understand it).
If you don't go with the SJP package you can always stay in site by going through VRBO and renting a condo, the VRBO condos with typically be in Marsh Winds or Club Villas and the SJP package will be in the nicer Marina (note this is my opinion).
Either way I really can't say enough great things about SJP, good luck in your search.
Best of luck @ SJP, please post your comments & thoughts regarding the tour, I am sure it would be very helpful for those of us considering the same but are too far away to visit at this time.
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