Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Texas > Houston
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 06-04-2009, 01:09 AM
 
5 posts, read 29,412 times
Reputation: 11

Advertisements

We are actively looking to build new / buy inventory homes in either Pine Mill Ranch or King Lakes in South West Katy. We liked the Westin Homes in Pine Mill Ranch and the place also has other builders like Perry Homes and Newmark Homes. On the other hand, Centex is the only builder currently in King Lakes.

Our confusion as to which community to choose if 2 fold.

1) In the next 5-6 years what is the growth prospect for both these communities and which one of them is going to be better from a selling point of view and
2) We know that Centex is a big builder (more so after the merger with Pulte) but their floor plans were not appealing to us. Westin Homes have a great interior look but they build homes only in Houston.

Can anybody suggest which community and builder of these to go for? Any help you can provide will help us a long way in making our home buying decision.

Thanks a bunch,
SA & AK
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 06-04-2009, 07:36 AM
 
Location: Katy, TX
1,288 posts, read 4,915,677 times
Reputation: 631
I personally am not really sure why anyone would look at Kings Lakes. Pine Mill Ranch is selling much faster than KL, no question about it. I don't know anything about Westin, but Centex doesn't have an especially great reputation...they are known around here as a "cheap" builder. The big lake at KL is nice, but there isn't anything else there yet. PMR is already pretty established, has a really nice splash pad and a separate pool. It just looks like a higher quality neighborhood to me.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-04-2009, 10:48 AM
 
5 posts, read 29,412 times
Reputation: 11
Quote:
Originally Posted by sbhubbell View Post
I personally am not really sure why anyone would look at Kings Lakes. Pine Mill Ranch is selling much faster than KL, no question about it. I don't know anything about Westin, but Centex doesn't have an especially great reputation...they are known around here as a "cheap" builder. The big lake at KL is nice, but there isn't anything else there yet. PMR is already pretty established, has a really nice splash pad and a separate pool. It just looks like a higher quality neighborhood to me.
Thank you sbhubbell! Your take is much appreciated.
Is the proximity of King Lakes to Cinco Ranch a plus? PMR is 2 miles away from King Lakes/Cinco Ranch. Should that be a cause for concern since King Lakes might develop at a quicker pace than PMR?

Also, PMR has Trophy homes(poor/lowcost homes - though they no longer construct in PMR) in Section2 and Westin is building on Section2.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-04-2009, 10:58 AM
 
77 posts, read 467,212 times
Reputation: 67
Actually PMR borders a very nice section or Cinco Southwest...Cinco ranch is huge...check the map on their website....i would be worried about building in that section of PMR due to the Trophy homes...drive around back there and you'll find a bunch of homes that are for sale...not good...I believe we are building in section 5 (or 6)...a good bit away from those homes...that was a prerequisite for me building there. I think the Trophy homes will be a thorn in surrounding home owners' sides for years to come
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-04-2009, 03:21 PM
 
Location: Katy
82 posts, read 554,254 times
Reputation: 98
The proximity of King Lakes to the older part of Cinco may be a selling point for you. I definitely don't think it's a bad thing. I do know for a fact that the neighborhood right next to Pine Mill Ranch is also Cinco Ranch and the starting point in there is around 350K. There will be streets running directly out of PMR into this CR neighborhood when everything is finished. Trendmaker and Taylor Morrision are the builders in there right now. For example, here is a Tredmaker I found on HAR selling for 420K. Link

Section 2 was also a big concern for me so I did some research and the Trophy Homes sold for around 125-215k depending on square footage and upgrades. From what I can tell and much to my surprise, it seems like somewhere around half of them sold for 150k or more so that made me feel better. The lowest priced homes being around 1400-1600 square feet. On the other hand, the majority of the Westin Homes in the front of section two have sold for 200k and up. I got a lot of this information just from looking on HAR by the way. Just trust your gut instincts I guess. I've never seen anything shady going on back there and I've checked many times at various times of the day. It might also be good to check and see what the starting point in Kings Lakes was in the beginning as it usually is much lower than what would be right now because they were trying to lure people to the development. Right now I understand that you could get in the King Lakes neighborhood and PMR in the 150-160k range on the smallest new build (1800 square feet) which is about the same.

Last edited by BBall Coach; 06-04-2009 at 03:31 PM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-05-2009, 03:21 PM
 
Location: Katy, TX
1,288 posts, read 4,915,677 times
Reputation: 631
Yeah PMR is not actually 2 miles away from CR, it borders CR. Really PMR and King Lakes are a hop and a skip from one another. One thing that might help King Lakes is what schools it is zoned to...it's right next to OKE but I think it may be zoned to Woodcreek elementary anyway. If it were OKE I think that would be an advantage. Also the fact that it's so close to CR Blvd might be a slight plus, I enjoy being able to walk/run/bike from my house down CR Blvd very easily. But I still thing PMR is prettier, more developed and with a much better reputation.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-05-2009, 03:51 PM
 
Location: Galveston County
40 posts, read 145,199 times
Reputation: 22
I really like PMR. However, I did drive through the trophy homes section and noticed quite few small homes with a brick facade in the front, hardiboard on the sides. Not bad looking, but I would not want to live to near them. However, the rest of the development features much larger homes and lots - I think it will be fine. I noticed a couple of these homes for sale and at least one person moving out - certainly nothing shady.

There is one foreclosure in the new section already, and one or two homes up for sale - but Perry and Newmark seem to be doing well. I've been inside both and while I prefer Perry, the Newmarks are very attractive homes also.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-07-2009, 03:18 PM
 
5 posts, read 29,412 times
Reputation: 11
Quote:
Originally Posted by spm6110 View Post
Actually PMR borders a very nice section or Cinco Southwest...Cinco ranch is huge...check the map on their website....i would be worried about building in that section of PMR due to the Trophy homes...drive around back there and you'll find a bunch of homes that are for sale...not good...I believe we are building in section 5 (or 6)...a good bit away from those homes...that was a prerequisite for me building there. I think the Trophy homes will be a thorn in surrounding home owners' sides for years to come
Thanks spm6110! We decided against section 2 because of the Trophy homes. We are looking at section 5 as an option.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-07-2009, 03:22 PM
 
5 posts, read 29,412 times
Reputation: 11
Quote:
Originally Posted by BBall Coach View Post
The proximity of King Lakes to the older part of Cinco may be a selling point for you. I definitely don't think it's a bad thing. I do know for a fact that the neighborhood right next to Pine Mill Ranch is also Cinco Ranch and the starting point in there is around 350K. There will be streets running directly out of PMR into this CR neighborhood when everything is finished. Trendmaker and Taylor Morrision are the builders in there right now. For example, here is a Tredmaker I found on HAR selling for 420K. Link

Section 2 was also a big concern for me so I did some research and the Trophy Homes sold for around 125-215k depending on square footage and upgrades. From what I can tell and much to my surprise, it seems like somewhere around half of them sold for 150k or more so that made me feel better. The lowest priced homes being around 1400-1600 square feet. On the other hand, the majority of the Westin Homes in the front of section two have sold for 200k and up. I got a lot of this information just from looking on HAR by the way. Just trust your gut instincts I guess. I've never seen anything shady going on back there and I've checked many times at various times of the day. It might also be good to check and see what the starting point in Kings Lakes was in the beginning as it usually is much lower than what would be right now because they were trying to lure people to the development. Right now I understand that you could get in the King Lakes neighborhood and PMR in the 150-160k range on the smallest new build (1800 square feet) which is about the same.
Thanks for the detailed reply. We decided that PMR is better suited for us than King Lakes. What do you think of Westin homes as a builder? They are not Energy star certified. Will it affect the resale value if we choose to build with them?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-08-2009, 01:51 AM
 
Location: Katy
82 posts, read 554,254 times
Reputation: 98
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2buyr!2buy View Post
Thanks for the detailed reply. We decided that PMR is better suited for us than King Lakes. What do you think of Westin homes as a builder? They are not Energy star certified. Will it affect the resale value if we choose to build with them?
I considered King Lakes too. I even drove by there again recently to look at it more closely. I really like the location of it because I have a little one and the daycare I'm considering is right there at the exit. Then she would transition from there to the elementary school right across the street. Very convenient, but out of those two communities, I like PMR better. It will have an elementary school on site in a few years as well so no big deal. After starting out with more than half a dozen options, I've pretty much decided at this point that it's going to either be Cinco or Pine Mill for me for what it's worth. I drove through a few sections of Cinco just yesterday trying to finalize my decision. I was more or less trying to convince myself that the name is worth the extra HOA fees and price per square foot to live in the exact same area.

I don't know a tremendous amount about Westin Homes, but my wife is a big fan of their floorplans. We thought long and hard about building with them. In fact, we've looked at what seems like a hundred plans with like ten different builders and one of my favorites is still a Westin. We've been in several of there newly constructed homes and she hasn't been disappointed yet. Well actually that isn't true, she thought one of them was too small, but that was only once after being inside roughly eight different houses.

As far as their energy efficiency, I think part of the problem is the way they vent the attic because they do seem to do a lot of the same things that most of the other builders are doing in areas such as insulation for example. They use power attic vents, which kick on after the temperature in the attic reaches a high level and they run off of electricity. The fans suck the hot air out of the attic. Most other builders are using ridge vents these days and ridge vents provide a more natural and efficient way to ventilate the attic because they don't use electricity nor do they rely on a system that allows the temperature in the attic to reach these undesirable levels in the first place before activating. To be fair, there was a guy on here recently who bought a Westin and he says that the builder told him that ridge vents were not an option on their homes because of the way the roof is sloped and that their engineers believe the method that they utilize is the best option for the way their homes are built. This is just my opinion, but I don't think the lack of the Energy Star rating will affect your resale of the house much if at all. When I was looking for a house on HAR and having MLS listings sent to me by a realtor before deciding to build new, I don't ever recall seeing a home advertised with Energy Star. I see it as a plus, but I don't think most people would pass over a home in the neighborhood they want, with the right square footage, and at the right price because of that. To me it's just an additional selling point much like granite countertops, 42' cabinets, tile/wood floors, a pool, etc. instead of a deal breaker type of thing.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Texas > Houston

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top