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Hi, I have a house going up in this community and thought to ask if anyone here also has a house going up. Also if there are any questions on this community, this might be a good place to ask them to have answered.
Hi, we are about to make an offer on a home in this development. Would you mind sharing your experience with the negotiation process during the purchase? Also, now that you are working directly with the project manager, are you getting builder's prices or marked-up prices for add-ons? I greatly appreciate any information you are willing to share!
Hi, sorry for the late reply! It's been a crazy holiday season. Any way, we are all moved in to the new home and loving it.
Here's a brief answer to your questions. Send me a PM for futher details or if you have anything else on your mind. I'll try to help as much as I can.
David is a no nonsense negotiator. Go in well prepared with a document listing out all the things you want, prioritized from must haves to nice to haves. Ask him what he is willing to include in the cost of the home instead of trying to get the base cost of the home decreased. He'll take just moments to go through your list and mark those things he will include in the base costs. Items that are focused on building rather than vendor provided are most likely the items he will include (things like tray ceilings, optional extensions to the house, 9' basement ceilings, etc). PM me if you have not yet had these first talks with him and I'll give you a list of items that *I* would look to have included in the deal, highsight being 20/20.
By the way, avoid any hostile negotiations with him. David doesn't need to sale the homes to you. He has walked away from many offers. Hallmark has owned this property for years and pays nothing but taxes on it. David is looking to first and foremost build a community. People with the right attitude and approach to David will get the best deals.
Regarding builder prices for add-ons, you should get an options list up front to review them. Overall, they are fairly reasonable for most things (a few things completely unreasonable). You also work with the sub-contractos directly (kitchen, floors, electrical, plumbing, tile, HVAC, masons, etc), so you can negotiate with them as well.
My advice is to focus on structural upgrades/add-ons now and wait until after closing to do cosmetic upgrades. Don't skip the 9' ft basement ceilings in favor of upgraded tile work!
Hi, I have a house going up in this community and thought to ask if anyone here also has a house going up. Also if there are any questions on this community, this might be a good place to ask them to have answered.
Hi KL72,
We are looking for a house in Princeton and I saw this Cubberly Meadows Estates. As you already own a house here, would you please share your experiences with us. How is the community and any price negotiation we can do?
I closed on the house late last year, and its definately a tough experience to build a new home. There are a lot of details that you, as the purchaser, need to make sure you are on top of even if you have a builder building the house for you. Especially with Hallmark Homes, who asks you to work directly with sub-contractors on any upgrades you want. Be prepared to stay close to the build as if its a project, and to oversee the construction to ensure everything is going to the way you want it. Regular interaction with the builder is key to ensure you get the house you want.
Community so far is fantastic. It's a really good choice for those people who are looking for a new community of professions with younger kids. It's not to say that all families have younger kids and in fact my immediate neighbors are older families with kids in College or beyond. I would say it's about 70% younger families and 30% older families so far.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, don't bother with negotiating on the price. The answer will be 'no'. The builder maintains a strict adherance to house prices and he will not accept the price to go below what he has already sold a house for. Thus, he will not reduce the base cost of the house. Instead, find out what the incentive package is and negotiate on that. There are some models that have fantastic incentives. Other models, such as the Westminster (smaller model) has very little incentives, while the other models could include 40-50-60k worth of incentives. I am not staying close to the incentive packages so don't take what I say as your expectation; you will need to reach out to the sales office and find out what the incentives are at the current time.
One very important point right now on house pricing is that the phase 1 pricing and the phase 2 pricing are very different (phase 2 being more expensive). There are a couple of lots left in phase 1 and if you ask, you might be able to get phase 1 pricing on these lots.
I closed on the house late last year, and its definately a tough experience to build a new home. There are a lot of details that you, as the purchaser, need to make sure you are on top of even if you have a builder building the house for you. Especially with Hallmark Homes, who asks you to work directly with sub-contractors on any upgrades you want. Be prepared to stay close to the build as if its a project, and to oversee the construction to ensure everything is going to the way you want it. Regular interaction with the builder is key to ensure you get the house you want.
Community so far is fantastic. It's a really good choice for those people who are looking for a new community of professions with younger kids. It's not to say that all families have younger kids and in fact my immediate neighbors are older families with kids in College or beyond. I would say it's about 70% younger families and 30% older families so far.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, don't bother with negotiating on the price. The answer will be 'no'. The builder maintains a strict adherance to house prices and he will not accept the price to go below what he has already sold a house for. Thus, he will not reduce the base cost of the house. Instead, find out what the incentive package is and negotiate on that. There are some models that have fantastic incentives. Other models, such as the Westminster (smaller model) has very little incentives, while the other models could include 40-50-60k worth of incentives. I am not staying close to the incentive packages so don't take what I say as your expectation; you will need to reach out to the sales office and find out what the incentives are at the current time.
One very important point right now on house pricing is that the phase 1 pricing and the phase 2 pricing are very different (phase 2 being more expensive). There are a couple of lots left in phase 1 and if you ask, you might be able to get phase 1 pricing on these lots.
Good luck!
KL72
Thank you very much for the information KL72. I really appreciate that. When I initially saw the prices like couple of months before, it says ranging from 625K to 875K, but now in internet it says 650K to 875K, may be they are not constructing the smaller model, not sure. But recently one of our neighbours went to the sales office and they got the brochure - price ranging from 625K to 875K. Do you have any idea?
According to Hallmark Homes web site, the prices for the community are listed at $625k to $880k and this is the price that I am aware of. I am not aware of any price increases or intent to not build the smallest model.
Go in well prepared with a document listing out all the things you want, prioritized from must haves to nice to haves. Ask him what he is willing to include in the cost of the home instead of trying to get the base cost of the home decreased. He'll take just moments to go through your list and mark those things he will include in the base costs. Items that are focused on building rather than vendor provided are most likely the items he will include (things like tray ceilings, optional extensions to the house, 9' basement ceilings, etc). PM me if you have not yet had these first talks with him and I'll give you a list of items that *I* would look to have included in the deal, highsight being 20/20.
As this is our first house purchase and have not seen many, would you mind helping us what items we can ask to include in the base price.
According to Hallmark Homes web site, the prices for the community are listed at $625k to $880k and this is the price that I am aware of. I am not aware of any price increases or intent to not build the smallest model.
[SIZE=3]Hi KL72,[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]I read your feedback on Cubberley Meadows and thank you for posting your thoughts. I am a potential buyer in phase 2; regarding incentives; was there a fixed incentive amount or it is based on negotiation? Thank you. [/SIZE]
Quote:
Originally Posted by KL72
Hi, sorry for the late reply! It's been a crazy holiday season. Any way, we are all moved in to the new home and loving it.
Here's a brief answer to your questions. Send me a PM for futher details or if you have anything else on your mind. I'll try to help as much as I can.
David is a no nonsense negotiator. Go in well prepared with a document listing out all the things you want, prioritized from must haves to nice to haves. Ask him what he is willing to include in the cost of the home instead of trying to get the base cost of the home decreased. He'll take just moments to go through your list and mark those things he will include in the base costs. Items that are focused on building rather than vendor provided are most likely the items he will include (things like tray ceilings, optional extensions to the house, 9' basement ceilings, etc). PM me if you have not yet had these first talks with him and I'll give you a list of items that *I* would look to have included in the deal, highsight being 20/20.
By the way, avoid any hostile negotiations with him. David doesn't need to sale the homes to you. He has walked away from many offers. Hallmark has owned this property for years and pays nothing but taxes on it. David is looking to first and foremost build a community. People with the right attitude and approach to David will get the best deals.
Regarding builder prices for add-ons, you should get an options list up front to review them. Overall, they are fairly reasonable for most things (a few things completely unreasonable). You also work with the sub-contractos directly (kitchen, floors, electrical, plumbing, tile, HVAC, masons, etc), so you can negotiate with them as well.
My advice is to focus on structural upgrades/add-ons now and wait until after closing to do cosmetic upgrades. Don't skip the 9' ft basement ceilings in favor of upgraded tile work!
Good luck and let me know how it goes!
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Cubberly Meadows
