Tips for First Time Home Buyers at Pearland (Alvin, Kirby: 2013, HOA)

[rowan.milton]

Hello all!

I would much appreciate advise on how the advantages/disadvantages of buying inventory homes at Shadow Creek Ranch for first time home owners.

Should we get a realtor? (pros and cons)
How should we go about negotiating?
What sort of discounts do Perry Homes offer on inventory homes? And approximately how much can we expect off an inventory home?
What other builders are there at Shadow Creek that offer nice affordable homes?
How to go about conducting a market analysis?
What are some things we should consider or want in our first home?
How to handle taxes and get them lowered?

Much thanks!

[nana053]

Do you have kids? Are you concerned about the schools?

If so, stay in the Alvin ISD part of Shadow Creek and not the Fort Bend ISD part. Note that none of Shadow Creek Ranch goes to Pearland ISD - Pearland ISD is good, Alvin ISD is pretty good, but Fort Bend ISD over in that area is not good.

[Failed Engineer]

It is my understanding that some sort of petition or waiver is in motion requesting the FBISD portion of Shadow Creek be allowed to leave FBISD to AISD. I'm not sure where in the process this is or how likely it is to happen, however.

[nana053]

Originally Posted by Failed Engineer

It is my understanding that some sort of petition or waiver is in motion requesting the FBISD portion of Shadow Creek be allowed to leave FBISD to AISD. I'm not sure where in the process this is or how likely it is to happen, however.

If I were buying, I would not depend on a waiver which may or may not happen.

[Timnwendy]

Be advised that SCR (and the other nearby subdivisions) have an on-going problem with strong odors coming from the west. It's still debatable whether the stink comes from the landfill (located just over that ridge on the west side of Almeda Rd) or the chemical plant just to the north. This is an intermittent issue and should not stop you from buying in SCR or the surrounding areas, but here is my advice: don't buy a house west of Kingsley Dr. If you stick to homes east of that, the impact of the odors will be much less. My house is located in the area of Kirby and Broadway (further east) and in the 8 years I've lived here I can honestly say I've only smelled it at my house once or twice. My neighbors who live further west have definitely smelled it more.


I encourage you to search this forum for "Shadow Creek Ranch landfill" and you will find some interesting discussions we've had on this topic.


Other than that, SCR is a great community but I do agree with the others who told you to beware of the far west side of SCR, which is not zoned to Alvin ISD but rather Fort Bend ISD (with less-desirable schools).

[rowan.milton]

Thank you all for your information! We certainly did not know about this landfill or that some parts of SCR have an odor problem.

Also, we do not have kids and so schools do not matter to us as much for the near future.

[rowan.milton]

Does anyone have experience buying from Perry's inventory? We would really appreciate some pointers on how to negotiate.

[333onthemove]

School districts matter when you sell. Even if you don't have kids, the people who want to buy your house in the future just might.

[dallascbst]

Originally Posted by rowan.milton

Does anyone have experience buying from Perry's inventory? We would really appreciate some pointers on how to negotiate.

I bought a Perry Home. I negotiated a higher warranty, upgraded the window treatments, and put ceiling fans everywhere on top of the stainless steel appliance package. However, they really don't give much more room for lowering the price, but they have incentives each month to try and get rid of inventory. Kamela something is the main agent in that area that I remember when I bought. I just remember people were flocking in 2013 ish over there and I regretted it...I moved since though. I will say Perry homes have some really good quality builds. NEVER buy KB Homes or DR Horton they are by far the cheapest houses I have seen.

[dallascbst]

Originally Posted by rowan.milton

Hello all!

I would much appreciate advise on how the advantages/disadvantages of buying inventory homes at Shadow Creek Ranch for first time home owners.

Should we get a realtor? (pros and cons)
How should we go about negotiating?
What sort of discounts do Perry Homes offer on inventory homes? And approximately how much can we expect off an inventory home?
What other builders are there at Shadow Creek that offer nice affordable homes?
How to go about conducting a market analysis?
What are some things we should consider or want in our first home?
How to handle taxes and get them lowered?

Much thanks!

Advantages of buying an inventory home is that it's built and sometimes they run specials to get you into the house faster and they can stop paying for the house. Additionally the builders can open more lots.

Disadvantage of buying inventory is that you may not get the customs that you really want.

See my response to the other person on Perry Homes. They really don't negotiate much, but they will throw in upgrades and catch them on their specials. If you are a cash buyer which I'm not sure if you are, they gave me $25K off on top of other incentives. If an inventory home has been sitting on the market for more than 45 days they start taking $5K off each month till they sell it or are at the cost of the home build (break even point).

Shadow Creek had Lennar, Meritage, Highlands, and there was one other builder in there.

Market Analysis use zillow

What are things to consider - which schools, floor layout if it suits you, see how the house is facing (this can effect your electricity bill of how the sun hits it), if you buy a new home vs. used get a fidelity new home warranty it's cheap and extends the warranty one more year from the manufacture warranty, factor in insurance costs/hoa/MUD/taxes/repair costs (the unexpected), traffic to and from where you live to work/schools, area vibes and amenities near you, and if the neighbors are ones you want to be near

Taxes - you get to fight with the tax office each year when they try to increase your value and ask for a tax assessor to come out and you can show the house is still the same as last year with no improvements.


Now those where your questions....
Shadow Creek Ranch is horrible for traffic! I mean HORRIBLE! It smelled like crap well that was cause of the landfill and you can't get rid of if. If you live in Brazoria County you are required to get windshear insurance vs. Ft. Bend County it's optional. Ft. Bend County schools are not as great as Brazoria County. I hate discouraging people from that area, but I really rather have folks know about what they are getting into before they make a mistake like I did while living there. I got out faster than I got in luckily there were enough people that wanted to get into the area. The HOA is way to high and it flooded in my area all the time despite the lakes being "managed"

The positives of Shadow Creek are if you are in Brazoria and Alvin ISD schools are good, the healthcare nearby is convenient and top notch, there are many pools and parks in the area, there are many young families, and it's a master planned community so a lot of stuff is controlled.

I hope this helps