Wildwood at Northpointe by Village Builders vs Laurel Park by Ryland or M/I? (Austin: home)

[austin to Spring Tomball]

We are moving to the Klein/Tomball area from Austin deciding between two subdivisions Laurel Park in Klein ISD and Wildwood at Northpointe in Tomball ISD. The $/sf is much less in Laurel Park but the schools zoned to both subdivisions are good and have family friendly amenities in the community which are important to us. Does anyone have any thoughts or suggestions for or against the neighborhoods or builders themselves? We need to decide this week. I am not familiar with any of the builders and want to buy a home with a reputable and quality builder that will honor it's warranty. TIA

[A Older]

Hi there, we are currently looking in the same area and actually prefer Laurel Park to Wildwood at Northpointe. I think the $ per sq foot is lower due to the location (by Hooks airport), but these are not large commercial grade planes flying day in and day out so it's not really a concern of mine. We looked at M/I and Ryland and are leaning more toward Ryland due to our preference toward their floor plans and standard options (no siding, all brick/stone/stucco). Also building in a neighborhood that is brand new allows you to have a better pick of lots. Unfortunately we won't be buying for a few months, but we really like the Perfetto with the 2nd floor balcony My sister-in-law built with Ryland in Eastlake in Gleannloch last year and their home is gorgeous. They seem happy there (even though it took an additional 2 months on the build) and are glad the building process is over.

The deal Ryland is running right now is $30K in upgrades/$5k toward closing (if you use their lender)/half off lot premiums.

Also, if you don't use all $30K, you can use the remainder toward the cost of the home (not all builders allow this).

They also offer a contingency program if you have a home to sell, which would be great for us because we will need to sell our home for the equity. The require 1.5% down (around $5K) at the beginning of the process and 1.5% down at the end (plus closing costs and extras). If you go over at the design center, you will only have to pay 30% to the overage on that date. Ex: you go up to $40K with a $30K allowance, you pay $10K*30% = $3,000. Not bad, IMHO.

I only give you all the info on Ryland because the salesman (Scott) really gave detailed answers to my questions, where Lennar, Beazer, M/I and Perry did not (we looked into Hayden Lakes as well).

Good Luck with your search!