What Is Loudoun Valley Estates Like? (house, looking for)

[IndiaLimaDelta]

Originally Posted by newnewsmama

Toll Brothers' quality is not that good in Virginia. The construction boom caused a lot of rush plus shortage of skilled labor. It does not matter which division or what size of the house or lot. Toll Brothers may have nice floor plans and design features, but the workmanship and house quality is no better (and no worse) than most of the production builders such as Lennar. I have several friends who bought Toll Brothers homes and they are not thrilled by the quality.

Toll Brothers also builds big houses in Western Loudoun (Leesburg across Route 7 from Beacon Hill, Waterford, etc.). Those are on 3+ acre lots. The quality of those houses are no better than the ones they build on the 1/2 acre lots. Compared to the custom built houses in Beacon Hill across the road from their Shenstone community in Leesburg, the difference is very obvious.

Two good semi -production builders are Gulick and Basheer & Edgemore. Two good production builders are NV and Craftmark.

Thanks for the tip. It is consistent with what I heard. So would you buy a Gulick home over Toll Brothers, most other variables being similiar?

[newnewsmama]

Originally Posted by IndiaLimaDelta

Thanks for the tip. It is consistent with what I heard. So would you buy a Gulick home over Toll Brothers, most other variables being similiar?

Absolutely. The thing is Gulick only builds in a few communities. So there will not be as many communities to choose from, especially if you want 1+ acres.

[JD984]

I know you're looking in Loudoun, but there's a Gulick community in Vienna called Full Cry Farm, where there are currently several houses that were built in the 1990s on sale. If you go on line and check the listings, you might get a sense as to the quality of the construction and how they've held up over the years. My general impression regarding some of the Toll Brothers projects in NoVa is similar to other posters.

[cdmurphy]

Originally Posted by IndiaLimaDelta

Thanks for the tip. It is consistent with what I heard. So would you buy a Gulick home over Toll Brothers, most other variables being similiar?

The Gulicks in Brambleton have an excellent reputation (and price tag to match). Some things that are upgrades in other homes are standard in the Gulicks (like four sides brick), and they offer quite a few structural options to their floorplans. If I were looking at Gulick vs. Toll in a comparable price range, I would absolutely take the Gulick.

[IndiaLimaDelta]

Originally Posted by JEB77

I know you're looking in Loudoun, but there's a Gulick community in Vienna called Full Cry Farm, where there are currently several houses that were built in the 1990s on sale. If you go on line and check the listings, you might get a sense as to the quality of the construction and how they've held up over the years. My general impression regarding some of the Toll Brothers projects in NoVa is similar to other posters.

Thank you for the suggestion.

I really do not like to live close to the Beltway.

Originally Posted by cdmurphy

The Gulicks in Brambleton have an excellent reputation (and price tag to match). Some things that are upgrades in other homes are standard in the Gulicks (like four sides brick), and they offer quite a few structural options to their floorplans. If I were looking at Gulick vs. Toll in a comparable price range, I would absolutely take the Gulick.

Unfortunately for me, the Gulick house in Brambleton has two strikes against it. The yards are smaller (.6 acre. vs. 1 acre), neighboring homes closer and the location is less convenient (takes longer to get out of the neighborhood to the highways). I like the four sides of brick and the higher quality, certainly, but the rooms look a bit more crowded compared to the Toll Bros. home I am considering.

Thank you for the ideas and the advice.

[JD984]

Originally Posted by IndiaLimaDelta

Thank you for the suggestion.

I really do not like to live close to the Beltway.

I understood that, and wasn't suggesting you look in Vienna instead of Loudoun County. The only point was that the Full Cry Farms houses might give you an idea of how some Gulick homes built around 10-15 years ago had aged.

I personally am not a big fan of Toll Brothers, but I'm sure some of their homes/developments are nicer than others.

[IndiaLimaDelta]

Originally Posted by JEB77

I understood that, and wasn't suggesting you look in Vienna instead of Loudoun County. The only point was that the Full Cry Farms houses might give you an idea of how some Gulick homes built around 10-15 years ago had aged.

I personally am not a big fan of Toll Brothers, but I'm sure some of their homes/developments are nicer than others.

Got it. Thanks again.

[denielemartinez]

HI-

We just sold our house and live in the apartments in Loudoun Valley Estates area and we are waiting for our house to be built by Toll Brothers - they are good quality - we checked all the others in the area next to Loudoun Valley but we liked Toll Brothers the best. They have a club house with lots of classes including ZUMBA. Moderator Cut

[mshan242709]

You may want to check Toll Brothers website and see if they just dropped list price for home you are interested in.

I just check Regency at Dominion Valley and I see $10, $25K, possibly more off previous list price (there was previously $40K in incentives, so maybe they are juggling things around, but personally would rather start with lower list price and add upgrades etc I want, either by toll or aftermarket).

Double Dip Recession in housing nationally is now official (News Headlines) and I think builders may already see writing on wall.

[April Whritenour]

Toll Brothers puts out an excellent end product....however, my experience is that you have to stay on top of the building process to ensure everything is as you would like (which should be perfection!) Moderator Cut