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Hello all. I am looking for home builders in either Louisville or Lexington. I am seeing that Lexington is much more affordable for new construction but you never know. I have found Ball Homes and Beazer Homes and will be visiting both on Sunday, May 27th. If you know of any other companies or have seen the homes the companies I listed have built please let me know. Thanks so much!! I am getting so excited for this trip!!!
Hi Ler! Ball Homes has been a huge name in KY for a while. They are very big in the Lexington and surrounding areas, where they have quite a few large developments and more starting all of the time. Because of their large size, they are able to offer a lot of financing options and have a pretty systematic method of going through the home-building process with each buyer. It is not as individualized as some smaller builders. They tend to have mostly cookie-cutter options - a set list of floor plans with a few elevation/exterior options, typical choices for interior decoration styles, etc, but not many options for really customizing your floorplan or making big changes. You will find that their cost changes a lot based on location - the exact same floorplan in a prime Lexington location can cost $20,000 more than a duplicate home in a Versailles neighborhood, for example. Quality is about average - lots of mass production and using many sub-contractors with varying degrees of quality. Not as good as some of the more upscale and smaller building companies, but they maintain a decent reputation for their price group. I'm sure you will find some very happy homeowners and some very frustrated ones.
Beazer is national, but I think in KY they are only in Lexington. They also offer a lot of financing options and seem to target first-time homebuyers or people that need a little extra support with financing (lots of promotions with no down payments, low monthly payments, etc). They actually try to add a little architectural interest with their homes, even at their low price points, but the neighborhoods still tend to be pretty cookie-cutter-ish. I don't really know about their quality, but I would tend to think it would match Ball.
Dominion is another KY, OH, and IN builder that is in a similar group to Beazer and Ball. I've heard pretty good things about their quality, considering their price point.
From my own personal experience, I've seen a lot more new neighborhoods in Lexington at a low price point than in any other city I've lived. For example, some developments are around $140,000 on average, with smaller homes around 1400 sq ft and a one-car (or no) garage. The only concern is that some of these neighborhoods aren't able to maintain a decent environment, and end up with lower home values, lots of rental homes, etc.
Do you know the names of the smaller builders? Thank youf or your info. Can I ask which neighborhoods it is that you think should not be built on and why? I thought that Versailles was nice? I have heard nice things. Thanks again.
Sorry for the confusion! Yes - Versailles is nice, with some nice neighborhoods. I know Ball Homes has one new one going in there right now. It's just that in Versailles, houses usually tend to be more affordable than some of the most popular Lexington areas, and you can see the difference in cost to build identical homes in different neighborhoods. For example, if you go to Ball Homes's website, there is a way to "search by floorplan" and find all of the neighborhoods where a specific homeplan can be built. There is a big range in starting cost of identical floorplans based on where in Lexington or surrounding areas the house is located.
I was talking more about neighborhoods like the completed Westwood in Lexington, where very small homes were built to get a low-cost entry point. These homes are very small (sometimes 1000-1300 sq ft, 2 bedrooms, no garage) and start in the low 100's. Often, other larger homes are also included in the neighborhood. However, over time the small houses seem to turn into more rentals, vacant houses, etc and the neighborhoods struggle with lowered home values and lower success in resale.
There seem to be several of these in the Lexington area, more than I have experienced in other places I've lived. I don't know if they all have the same issues, but it might be something to consider if you come across any in your searches!
Thank you very much. This is very helpful. I would not have even thought of how you put it NLSCHR but I am glad you put it that way. I don't want to live somehwere where my home will deppriciate over time and I will definately look to seee what types of homes are in the developments. Thank so much for all of you info. I am so excited to go now. One more week!!!!
I just read that TK Construcors are under so many lawsuits...now I am scared to buy a new home. Maybe new construction is a bad idea...anyone have their home built new???
I am also interested if anyone knows anything about custom home builders in the Lexington/Jessamine Co/Woodford Co area? Also, any ballpark numbers for cost per square foot to build new in this area? I have heard some say $100/sq foot and others say as high as $150/sq foot. Clearly it will vary from builder to builder, but I wasn't sure if anyone on this board knows ballpark estimates of what is typical to expect?
One source of a quality built home would be a realty company, or the local home builders association (Louisville: www.hbal.com). The value of home you seek is key. There are several corporate builders in the starter homes markets, however, mid-range homes have fewer corporate buiders, and upper scale homes are nearly all built by skilled independent builders. To condemn or praise any firm is not a simple thing. Lower priced homes often do suffer on quality just like lower priced automobiles. Likewise, I have seen poorly built luxury homes with seven figure price tags. There are many excellent builders in Oldham County.
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another good builder
