Homes being built in the Low 300's (Denver, Castlewood: townhome, landscaping)

[Traveler1026]

Originally Posted by davebarnes

Like this one.

Ugh what is up with that Qbert wallpaper?

[Vision67]

We recently visited friends who just moved into a new Richmond America home in Aurora near E-470.

That particular home was larger and cost closer to $500K and I didn't expect much but I looked at it and I thought the workmanship looked fine to me. I was impressed that they had used copper pipes for the water lines. Most volume builders shifted to cheaper plastic Pex pipes years ago. The beams supporting the floors were glue lams and the construction seemed to me to be consistent on a quality level with other houses I've recently seen.

I would have never considered buying a house from them 15 years ago; perhaps they've improved. I'm not in the market for a new house but I think you ought to do the inspections yourself.

The buyer had only one minor issue, i.e. the house was a rancher with a finished basement and she thought it was too cold downstairs. I think that's true of most houses; heat tends to rise.

I'll check back with her a year from now to see what transpires.

[NorthDenverGirl]

Originally Posted by Vision67

We recently visited friends who just moved into a new Richmond America home in Aurora near E-470.

That particular home was larger and cost closer to $500K and I didn't expect much but I looked at it and I thought the workmanship looked fine to me. I was impressed that they had used copper pipes for the water lines. Most volume builders shifted to cheaper plastic Pex pipes years ago. The beams supporting the floors were glue lams and the construction seemed to me to be consistent on a quality level with other houses I've recently seen.

I would have never considered buying a house from them 15 years ago; perhaps they've improved. I'm not in the market for a new house but I think you ought to do the inspections yourself.

The buyer had only one minor issue, i.e. the house was a rancher with a finished basement and she thought it was too cold downstairs. I think that's true of most houses; heat tends to rise.

I'll check back with her a year from now to see what transpires.

I absolutely agree that it is a good idea to get your own inspections done, actually I wouldn't buy any house new or not so new without having a good inspector go through from top to bottom.

I feel like building quality can vary from community to community with any builder so always good to have it all checked out.

I have a friend buying one of these new lower priced home so I will be watching the end results.

[emm74]

Originally Posted by NorthDenverGirl

I feel like building quality can vary from community to community with any builder so always good to have it all checked out.

definitely true. I know that in Stapleton, the MCA mandated some things in builds here that had to be included. Obviously it was factored into the price, but I looked at the models in the other local communities my builder was building and there were some differences with my build.

And of course I also used my own inspector and had a pre-drywall inspection of the foundation and framing, as well as an inspection of the completed home prior to closing. The builder had no issues with that, and the site super was present for the first inspection and happy to discuss all the questions the inspector had (they actually had a 20 minute discussion about radon and radon detectors that was well above my pay grade but the inspector was satisfied with the answers). For the final inspection, they took the report, created a punch list with every finding and took care of every item prior to closing, along with everything they noted as well.

[Pesare]

I think the low 300s that these new home builders advertise are a teaser rate as they are usually limited in number and sold off quickly. Based on my experience, if they advertise in the low 300s or low 400s the homes usually start in the mid-300s or mid-400s. Also, this price usually does not include the lot premium and other features that may jack up the price another 50K to 100K which makes it a even worse value. Not to mention the shoddy construction that other people have mentioned throughout this thread.

[Quietude]

Originally Posted by Traveler1026

Ugh what is up with that Qbert wallpaper?

"I'm blind. I'm blind."

But a good example of a kitchen designed for WOW! on the walk-in that would be a real PITA to live with, much less try to cook seriously in.

[emm74]

Originally Posted by Pesare

I think the low 300s that these new home builders advertise are a teaser rate as they are usually limited in number and sold off quickly. Based on my experience, if they advertise in the low 300s or low 400s the homes usually start in the mid-300s or mid-400s. Also, this price usually does not include the lot premium and other features that may jack up the price another 50K to 100K which makes it a even worse value. Not to mention the shoddy construction that other people have mentioned throughout this thread.

?? That's not at all my experience personally and from observation living in an area that is all new construction. The builders offers several models, and you choose which model you want to build. Yes, there will be a lot premium added on, but all other features are generally in the buyer's control, and they can buy the bare bones builder grade everything with no upgrades at all, or they can put thousands of dollars of builder upgrades in. But the builder has no control over that, and I've never heard of the builder controlling which model you can buy, assuming you are getting in at the very start of construction. Obviously, if they've started on a spec house and assigned a specific model already, you are limited to that model.

[Quietude]

Originally Posted by emm74

Yes, there will be a lot premium added on, but all other features are generally in the buyer's control, and they can buy the bare bones builder grade everything with no upgrades at all, or they can put thousands of dollars of builder upgrades in. But the builder has no control over that...

And, of course, there's no such thing as marketing pressure, playing on fears and desires (especially of the Keeping Up with the Joneses variety) or tendency of buyers to fall for the "just pennies a day!"/"just a few dollars more per month!" trap.

Or flat-out car-dealer lying, "Well, we can't put that feature in without these other two..."

Nor does "features" cross with "quality" except at the buyer's maximum due diligence.

[headingtoDenver]

Originally Posted by emm74

?? That's not at all my experience personally and from observation living in an area that is all new construction. The builders offers several models, and you choose which model you want to build. Yes, there will be a lot premium added on, but all other features are generally in the buyer's control, and they can buy the bare bones builder grade everything with no upgrades at all, or they can put thousands of dollars of builder upgrades in. But the builder has no control over that, and I've never heard of the builder controlling which model you can buy, assuming you are getting in at the very start of construction. Obviously, if they've started on a spec house and assigned a specific model already, you are limited to that model.

Originally Posted by Quietude

And, of course, there's no such thing as marketing pressure, playing on fears and desires (especially of the Keeping Up with the Joneses variety) or tendency of buyers to fall for the "just pennies a day!"/"just a few dollars more per month!" trap.

Or flat-out car-dealer lying, "Well, we can't put that feature in without these other two..."

Nor does "features" cross with "quality" except at the buyer's maximum due diligence.

Roughly 5 years ago, my wife and I were considering a new build in Castle Rock. It was so comical the games the builder tried to play and this was just with us walking in talking to the sales staff. First off, the lot premium I get because some lots are better than others. But where things went a bit crazy were with the house itself. One particular floor plan we were looking, we were told that these could only be built on certain lots and we could not choose the exterior color. Once we found the combination we wanted with a specific lot in mind, we were told that this one was going to have a breakfast nook which caused a bump out off the kitchen (extra cost). We said we wouldn't want that. They explained that "it was already in the plan and we had no choice but to have that option". Keep in mind that the lot this house was going on hadn't even been cleared yet. I'm sure we could have pushed this if we bothered to, but we were already put off by all these limitations. As for the cost of interior options, these were also crazy priced and extremely limited. Cabinet choices were between 3 colors, but the style stayed the same. Countertops were the same quality granite, just two different color options. It would have been really easy to take a 300K home and make it cost close to 400K. The term 'custom built home', no longer truly means custom built home.


So, we walked out of there and bought a 8 year old home with no 'upgrades' which was bigger in all ways and saved 150K. Now, we are slowly upgrading the home and picking out exactly what we want.

[illinoisphotographer]

Originally Posted by headingtoDenver

Roughly 5 years ago, my wife and I were considering a new build in Castle Rock. It was so comical the games the builder tried to play and this was just with us walking in talking to the sales staff. First off, the lot premium I get because some lots are better than others. But where things went a bit crazy were with the house itself. One particular floor plan we were looking, we were told that these could only be built on certain lots and we could not choose the exterior color. Once we found the combination we wanted with a specific lot in mind, we were told that this one was going to have a breakfast nook which caused a bump out off the kitchen (extra cost). We said we wouldn't want that. They explained that "it was already in the plan and we had no choice but to have that option". Keep in mind that the lot this house was going on hadn't even been cleared yet. I'm sure we could have pushed this if we bothered to, but we were already put off by all these limitations. As for the cost of interior options, these were also crazy priced and extremely limited. Cabinet choices were between 3 colors, but the style stayed the same. Countertops were the same quality granite, just two different color options. It would have been really easy to take a 300K home and make it cost close to 400K. The term 'custom built home', no longer truly means custom built home.


So, we walked out of there and bought a 8 year old home with no 'upgrades' which was bigger in all ways and saved 150K. Now, we are slowly upgrading the home and picking out exactly what we want.

That's what my parents are finding. They're looking in Castle Rock and Monument. The new builds had limited options, and what options they had, the upgrades were wayyyy too expensive. Things like taking laminate flooring and upgrading to engineered hardwood was $10,000 for the 1,200 sq ft main floor. Laminate runs you $1-3/sq foot, engineered hardwood runs you $2-5/sq foot. That's at most a a $3600 difference, yet they were charging 3x as much for that "upgrade". I could see $5000 instead of 3600 to have some profit. But a 3x increase?

Originally Posted by Vision67

I was impressed that they had used copper pipes for the water lines. Most volume builders shifted to cheaper plastic Pex pipes years ago.

PEX is actually superior to copper. It doesn't burst if the line gets frozen (as it can expand), it's flexible (meaning you can bend it slightly, lessening the number of joints needed), and it doesn't conduct heat/cold as much as copper does. Not to mention, it's significantly easier to install and repair, if needed. I was able to replumb our shower with Pex in less than an hour with two valves for a rain shower and a normal shower head. That would have taken significantly longer with copper.