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Old 01-15-2017, 12:23 PM
 
52 posts, read 176,013 times
Reputation: 29

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Hi,

Does anybody have any experience with American West? We went to their "Home Finding Center" yesterday just to check out the homes, and my husband fell in love with a few of them. I love the huge windows, which I rarely see in any homes in Vegas, but with such a low price point, I have to wonder what's wrong with them.

I know I'm not crazy about the location (Silverado Ranch and Decatur/Jones). I know nothing about the safety of the area, but it's just not convenient for the places I like to frequent. However, if these homes are actually a good buy, I may give in.

I've tried reading reviews, but we all know people only write them when they're angry, so every single builder in Vegas has like 2 out of 5 stars. I know one guy who owns one, but he wouldn't want to admit if his "dream home" hadn't lived up to his expectations, so I can't really rely on him either.

I also liked some of the homes at Monterey Ranch by Lennar and Brookshire Heights by William Lyon. Are any of these significantly better than the others?

Thanks for any input.
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Old 01-15-2017, 01:27 PM
 
Location: Lone Mountain Las Vegas NV
18,058 posts, read 10,341,981 times
Reputation: 8828
Quote:
Originally Posted by martian82 View Post
Hi,

Does anybody have any experience with American West? We went to their "Home Finding Center" yesterday just to check out the homes, and my husband fell in love with a few of them. I love the huge windows, which I rarely see in any homes in Vegas, but with such a low price point, I have to wonder what's wrong with them.

I know I'm not crazy about the location (Silverado Ranch and Decatur/Jones). I know nothing about the safety of the area, but it's just not convenient for the places I like to frequent. However, if these homes are actually a good buy, I may give in.

I've tried reading reviews, but we all know people only write them when they're angry, so every single builder in Vegas has like 2 out of 5 stars. I know one guy who owns one, but he wouldn't want to admit if his "dream home" hadn't lived up to his expectations, so I can't really rely on him either.

I also liked some of the homes at Monterey Ranch by Lennar and Brookshire Heights by William Lyon. Are any of these significantly better than the others?

Thanks for any input.
There is lots of American West product you can look at. El Capitan Ranch and a couple of others in the NW. Get a RE agent to show you a few and you can see how they held up after 20 years.

American West was a specialist in large homes on tight lots with a low price per SF. We have sold a half a dozen and the buyers are happy. Standard problems...leaky plumbing marginal baseboards - that sort of thing. Quality was par for LV builders. I am skeptical about much difference from any of the name builders. Pretty much same procedures with the same subs etc. More expensive places get more care on fit and finish but does not look any different inside the walls. None of the builders you are considering are of the more expensive kind.

And if you buy new get an inspection. They all love to screw up things like the insulation.

I will also offer the standard advice. Don't buy new. Take a 10 to 15% hit out the door that takes at least 5 years to get to break even.
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Old 01-15-2017, 04:10 PM
 
Location: Houston
139 posts, read 169,579 times
Reputation: 142
I looked at one American West home when I moved 2 years ago, and it was laughable quality for the price. I ended up building with Pulte and have not had any issues.
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Old 01-15-2017, 04:21 PM
 
Location: Lone Mountain Las Vegas NV
18,058 posts, read 10,341,981 times
Reputation: 8828
Be a question of which tract and when. I believe OP is looking in the pretty expensive class.

I would also note that some of the shabbiest tracts I know are Pulte built condos.
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Old 01-15-2017, 05:31 PM
 
28,803 posts, read 47,689,558 times
Reputation: 37905
If you have a house built visit it every day. Every. Day. Look over everything they did that day. Measure things. Check if the walls are square and plumb. Learn what to look for re bracing, the correct way to construct a corner for walls, etc.

There are so many things a builder can cut corners on, and they will if you let them.
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Old 01-16-2017, 04:12 PM
 
65 posts, read 51,279 times
Reputation: 20
visited and didnt like quality and!!! customer service is terrible.
Went with KB. Great CS.
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Old 01-18-2017, 09:18 PM
 
249 posts, read 402,675 times
Reputation: 235
I'm on my second American West home-- it really matter when it was built as far as quality. The first one I bought during the boom and the second one was built in 2011. The 2011 house is a much better quality than the first house. I like their floor plans for the most part, but find that most are lacking storage. I would buy the new Madison model if it were in a better location. The bedrooms in that one are smaller than my current house, but the Madison has a lot more storage and I like the idea of a three story with a rooftop deck. I toured the model this past weekend and liked it a lot, other than the location. I haven't had problems with their customer service and am pretty happy overall. I just really wish that I had more storage space.
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