Does Anyone Own A Westin Home? (design, office, deal)

[a_guerrajr]

Originally Posted by d2mini

Well that's too bad if they won't do it any other way.
I went with Trendmaker and ended up with the equivalent of about 14% in upgrades + money off the base price, a brand new build with first lot choice in a new section.
Pretty much every builder we were looking at was offering everyone X amount of dollars in upgrade money, which would basically take care of floors. Then we got an initial offer from TM with specific items and promos, and we countered with more, check in hand. Worked well for us. And with TM's top reputation, I knew it was a good deal. Different situation I guess.

If it was intro, then that's probably why. They don't have a solid idea how the market will take their proposed base prices. They also want to get a few houses built to make the subdivision seem desirable. Same thing when it's finishing building out, they will slash prices to get rid of the last few lots. 14% with TM sounds great.

[d2mini]

Originally Posted by a_guerrajr

If it was intro, then that's probably why. They don't have a solid idea how the market will take their proposed base prices.

They know. It's just another section in a TM-owned/developed master planned neighborhood. But ya, getting the first sold house in there was an incentive for them i'm sure.

[gilagri]

when we searched for our home, every builder (perry, highland, trendmaker, david weekley, coventry, ashton woods, etc) except westin offered specials so prices would be lower than base. so it's not necessarily a bad sign. in fact, when speaking with our realtor and many friends that have purchased homes, it was almost a given (for our price range at least) to get at least $50k off the price of an inventory home immediately from the builder w/o much negotiating, and more if you negotiate. probably not with westin, but mainly b/c they had low prices to begin with (i think of westin as the low haggle builder, and wish most builders were like that)

in the end, it is the final price of the home that matters, not what is listed. some builders have a higher list and offer what appears to be a great discount. others offer a low list, but nothing is really standard and options are priced high. but when you compare final sales price with both builders, they are very comparable. most builders do want to protect their current customers by not lowering prices significantly on future homes.

Originally Posted by a_guerrajr

If a builder lowers the base price, that's a bad sign already.

[a_guerrajr]

Originally Posted by gilagri

when we searched for our home, every builder (perry, highland, trendmaker, david weekley, coventry, ashton woods, etc) except westin offered specials so prices would be lower than base. so it's not necessarily a bad sign. in fact, when speaking with our realtor and many friends that have purchased homes, it was almost a given (for our price range at least) to get at least $50k off the price of an inventory home immediately from the builder w/o much negotiating, and more if you negotiate. probably not with westin, but mainly b/c they had low prices to begin with (i think of westin as the low haggle builder, and wish most builders were like that)

in the end, it is the final price of the home that matters, not what is listed. some builders have a higher list and offer what appears to be a great discount. others offer a low list, but nothing is really standard and options are priced high. but when you compare final sales price with both builders, they are very comparable. most builders do want to protect their current customers by not lowering prices significantly on future homes.

True about that the final price, and some do list higher with more options versus others list lower with less.

The main reason i don't like builders who aren't firm ona base price, is because I can buy the house at price X, and 2 months later, another person buys it' at price Y, so it just drops the value of my home, if that pattern continues. Second if they get low, you start to get a different group of people moving in. Which at least to use that was important.

Actually right now in my subdivision, my floor plan went up 7K ... Woo Hoo

[gilagri]

builders are smart when it comes to pricing their homes. they don't want to build and have the values of their homes go down as much as we do. and i can't imagine most builders giving such dramatic price drops that a different group of people move in. that is one of the main reason we chose our neighborhood and builder.

but that's really awesome your plan has gone up! i think ours went up 4 or 5k and specials have lowered just a bit and we're not even done building our home. here's to price appreciation! but not too much... don't want the tax bill to jump up too fast

Originally Posted by a_guerrajr

True about that the final price, and some do list higher with more options versus others list lower with less.

The main reason i don't like builders who aren't firm ona base price, is because I can buy the house at price X, and 2 months later, another person buys it' at price Y, so it just drops the value of my home, if that pattern continues. Second if they get low, you start to get a different group of people moving in. Which at least to use that was important.

Actually right now in my subdivision, my floor plan went up 7K ... Woo Hoo

[brownie01]

Originally Posted by axvu

Can we make the first design center appointment before we sign any legal binding paperwork or do we have to sign the paperwork first before we get to go to the design center appointment? Thanks for all of your input, we're checking this forum daily and making changes to our spreadsheet to stay in our budget. So far, we're doing a pretty good job and want to stay firm with our salesperson. He's still saying 6% so we're still trying to negotiate that part to at least 8%.

Axvu,
You can go to the design center just to browse and get an idea of the selections you may want BUT, You will not have the help of an assistant until your actual appointment date. They will show you where the westin section is and you can have free reign to browse. It would really help if you have your sales rep print the upgrades price list for you. That way you know what's what and also stay within your budget. My husband and I have been twice already and haven't signed a contract with westin yet. I am certain that our design center appointments will be less stressful because we went before hand.

[axvu]

brownie01,

I have the 50 something page of the entire upgrade list from westin. My boyfriend and I have already picked out everything we want, we just want to go see it in person to see if we really like our selection. Our salesperson has sent us everything a couple days ago. Do you know where the design center is or how I can find its address? Can we just show up and browse (on our own, without someone walking with us) or do we have to call them first? I'm sorry for all the questions, we're just trying to be thorough.

[brownie01]

Originally Posted by axvu

brownie01,

I have the 50 something page of the entire upgrade list from westin. My boyfriend and I have already picked out everything we want, we just want to go see it in person to see if we really like our selection. Our salesperson has sent us everything a couple days ago. Do you know where the design center is or how I can find its address? Can we just show up and browse (on our own, without someone walking with us) or do we have to call them first? I'm sorry for all the questions, we're just trying to be thorough.

I totally understand. We're doing the very same thing.
No, you don't need to call them first. Just let them know at the front desk that you are going to build with Westin and would like to take a look at the selections. They will only walk you to the section where the Westin selections are then they will leave you alone. You can take as much time as you need. We even took some pics of our selections/options just to have the visuals to refer back to.
The design center is on the Sam Houston Tollway, I think the exit is West Road but I can know for sure later. You can't miss it. There's a big sign that you'll see from th feeder road that says Design Center. In the same area are the centers for Perry, Beazer, and another builder (can't remember the name).

[axvu]

When picking the elevation plans, is there an upgrade price for picking an elevation plan other than A?

[a_guerrajr]

Originally Posted by axvu

When picking the elevation plans, is there an upgrade price for picking an elevation plan other than A?

A is typically included. Anything else is an upgrade. Stone is extra for any elevation.