Winchester Prescott vs Toll Glen (Richmond: HOA, buying a home, buying)

[hinva]

Hi everyone,

This is a great forum, I have been learning so much the last couple of days. I have been guided great regarding some concerns I had after I posted about some questions I have. I even read couple of books (R Glink - 100 questions you should ask before buying a home) but real experiences and guidance and posts here are helping much than books. I would try to give back after I make a purchase of my home. So this is where I am, I need an advice on chosing between Winchester prescott and Toll Glen Single Family Home models.

Winchester- Prescott Model (Look at the floor plans- matches more closely with what we pickd)
The Prescott | Winchester Homes

Toll Brothers Model (Glen -Richmond MOdel)
Loudoun Valley - The Glen - New Homes in Ashburn, VA by Toll Brothers

We opted for extended family and sunroom in kitchen with options of 10,000 in Toll and around 15000 in winchester.

Winchester is coming around 670k, which is located in brambleton and with no basement finished, while Toll is coming around 650k with basement finished. HOA for winchester is 160$ per month, and is located between miller smith homes (around 500-600k) range. While Toll's HOA is 100$ with location in loudoun valley. We spoke to both project managers, Both are kind of hard on negotation with only 10k of room for negotiation. They also mentioned they wont even consider writing the offer below that. What should we do? I am thinking to ask 620-630k for Toll and 640-650k for winchester. Appreciate if you could let us know how to go about it. Would like to know from people who presently live in these models or closer how there experience has been. Lot of people prior mentioned that Winchester has good quality, but thats from people who bought it 10 years ago, how about from people who bought recently. Please let us know. Appreciate your time. Thank you

[Claire2900]

I've never bought new construction so I'll let the experts comment on your questions.

I did look at the floor of the Winchester home and the one thing that drives me crazy with developers these days are the open staircases. We bought a year ago in Bristow and since the houses are newer, almost every single house we saw had a catwalk or a large open staircase in the front and then another staircase from the kitchen. A friend bought a large Winchester home in South Riding and I could not believe the level of noise that could be heard throughout the house. After spending time in her house, I swore we wouldn't buy a house like this. Well, we ended up compromising on this issue since most houses are currently built this way.

[jack1919]

Hey Hinva,

Just curious to know whether you chose the Prescott or the Glen in Loudon Valley. We are also in the same situation and would appreciate your feedback.

Thanks.

[hinva]

We chose Prescott. The advt is your home your way. So we added all the stuff we want in the home. It cost'd us around 25k. But its worth the effort. Before we selected we did comparison what we are getting in terms of both price and in terms of what we really wanted in a home. Price wise Glen was very good, like we get basement finished. But we wanted more area in our backyard and we wanted a two-level family room that Prescott was giving us.
So we opted for Prescott. My advice is to really think what you want in a home and do not comprise on it. Take all the time you need but do not succumb to pressures of builder/P.M's, and also do not succumb to price differences (10-20k). Go for where you really want to live.

Thanks!! and good luck.