Trails of Katy or Young Ranch? Beazer or Westin? (Spring: sales, HOA fees)

[Menal]

Hi All,

We have been shopping move-in ready homes and have come down to two homes that we really like: one is Beazer in Young Ranch, which is just what we want (one more bedroom would be better); other is Westin in Trails of Katy, which is more house than we were looking for initially. Westin is on the higher end of our budget ($370k) while Beazer is on the lower end of our budget ($320k). We are first-time home buyers, and would love to hear any opinion on the builders and these two communities. We also liked another house which is Highland in Cross creek ranch, but it will be 30 minutes more of commute to work everyday.

Would appreciate to hear from current home owners in both communities.

Thanks.

[eok45]

I would saying Westin as they are building our house now! They have a 3% deal going on right now which can help lower the price of the house to get to the same as Beazer. I'm not a big fan of Beazer, as I feel like their quality is not the same as Westin, but I have seen Beazer give out more stuff like washer and dryer and etc as standard in their homes, so it all depends on your preference to be honest.

[96tahoe]

I would choose Trails of Katy because of the builders, Westin, Pulte and Devon (don't really care much for). Plus it seems like a nice quiet community. Lastly because they are zone to Katy ISD and they get a new elementary school close by. I believe Young Ranch is zoned to Lamar, which is good but prefer Katy isd.


Westin Homes are beautiful and I'm sure you can get a Westin Home for less than 370K in Trails of Katy, Barcelona or Bellagio. Try and get it knocked down to 350K-360K or lower.

[spider07]

I looked at both builders during my search. We went with Westin. Westin is just a beautiful home and built very well. I liked Beazer as well but their floor plans didn't meet our needs and it lacked the "wow" factor you get with a Westin Home, imo.

[Sollaces]

Right now the Westpark Tollway is expanding from 1093 / SH99 to Spring Green. This means a faster commute to Fulshear (Cross Creek Ranch area).


Traffic has picked up. More stores are coming in. Lowe's just opened up in the last few months on Spring Green and 1093. More construction is going on south of 1093 in Richmond. The growth is amazing.


Even though it is a new home and comes with a builders warranty, do get it inspected.

[spider07]

Originally Posted by 96tahoe

I would choose Trails of Katy because of the builders, Westin, Pulte and Devon (don't really care much for). Plus it seems like a nice quiet community. Lastly because they are zone to Katy ISD and they get a new elementary school close by. I believe Young Ranch is zoned to Lamar, which is good but prefer Katy isd.


Westin Homes are beautiful and I'm sure you can get a Westin Home for less than 370K in Trails of Katy, Barcelona or Bellagio. Try and get it knocked down to 350K-360K or lower.

They have a Bellagio for 365K as an inventory home now.. I would bet that could easily be knocked down to 355 or 350K. The Bellagio is my favorite (it's also the one I am building so I am biased) Not to mention that generally when Westin builds an inventory home, they have the best finishes in them.

[Sollaces]

Do check flood planes and various communities pay more in HOA fees / taxes / homeowners insurance / MUD. Yes water districts are very high in this area so do your homework. Fort Bend is costly to insure homes.


Do get your home inspected even if it comes with a builder's warranty.


Check the area after a heavy rain. See how the streets drain. You should also do a test drive of your commute and see how well you like the drive. Keep in mind the Westpark Tollway costs. Thankfully there are Metro busses if you wish to carpool. There's a few pick up areas like in front of PetCo on 1093 and one in front of Target in Cinco.

[Menal]

Originally Posted by 96tahoe

I would choose Trails of Katy because of the builders, Westin, Pulte and Devon (don't really care much for). Plus it seems like a nice quiet community. Lastly because they are zone to Katy ISD and they get a new elementary school close by. I believe Young Ranch is zoned to Lamar, which is good but prefer Katy isd.


Westin Homes are beautiful and I'm sure you can get a Westin Home for less than 370K in Trails of Katy, Barcelona or Bellagio. Try and get it knocked down to 350K-360K or lower.

Young Ranch is divided between KISD and LCISD. We only looked at houses in KISD. Regarding the builders, I thought Beazer, M/I and CalAtlantic had better reputation than Pulte. Westin's homes definitely show quality, but then they only have 2 story. Not to forget the carpet in the family and dining, that would need replacement every few years I am thinking. We were initially looking only at 1 story, since we have a infant and parents visiting (who don't like climbing stairs ); but the Westin floor plans with 2 bedrooms downstairs lured us!

[Menal]

Hi All- Thank you so much for your comments. Wanted to update you guys. The Westin home we liked got three offers, all higher than what we wanted to pay for the house. The Beazer experience with the sales agent was not the best, and Young ranch seems still in the early stages of development, so there would be more construction and fewer neighbours to start with. Also, we started looking north of I10 in the Ventana Lakes/ Elyson area. Buying a house in these neighbourhoods would give more bang for our buck, but then it is north of I10. Elyson is in the 100-yr flood zone also. My husband is more interested in a nicer house, while I am willing to compromise on the house to stick to a better location. What should we do?

[spider07]

Originally Posted by Menal

Hi All- Thank you so much for your comments. Wanted to update you guys. The Westin home we liked got three offers, all higher than what we wanted to pay for the house. The Beazer experience with the sales agent was not the best, and Young ranch seems still in the early stages of development, so there would be more construction and fewer neighbours to start with. Also, we started looking north of I10 in the Ventana Lakes/ Elyson area. Buying a house in these neighbourhoods would give more bang for our buck, but then it is north of I10. Elyson is in the 100-yr flood zone also. My husband is more interested in a nicer house, while I am willing to compromise on the house to stick to a better location. What should we do?

My personal belief is that when you are looking for a house, the house is the most important thing. Not to say location isn't important, but things can change about the location, schools can be re-zoned, roads added for traffic, more retail can pop up etc. But once you sign on the house, that won't change unless you sale it. It's where you come to everyday and if you or your spouse isn't happy with the house itself, that won't go away. I would drive a few more minutes on my commute to come home to a place I loved to be, rather than save a few minutes and come to a place I regret. Just my 2cents.