Who Are The Most Reputable Home Builders in the Phoenix Area? (Gilbert: sales, loan) - Arizona (AZ) - City-Data Forum

NE Live · 12-25-2007, 09:13 PM

Does anyone have a list of the best home builders in Phoenix. Sounds like some people in other threads had some nightmare of home purchases out there. Thanks!

aj661 · 12-26-2007, 01:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NE Live

Does anyone have a list of the best home builders in Phoenix. Sounds like some people in other threads had some nightmare of home purchases out there. Thanks!

Good:
Shea Homes has always had a good rep. We're in a K-B home now and overall it was well built and they were good about fixing problems that came to light after our move in. I don't have any personal experience with high-end builders.

[mod cut-- consumer complaints not allowed per TOS]
Thanks for asking

NE Live · 12-26-2007, 08:50 AM

Thanks aj661. My wife and I would not be looking at homes over $275,000 most likely. So TW and some of the others would not be applicable I believe. We just want to find a good builder, who does a high quality job - especially with the insulation. Thanks again!

MotleyCrew · 12-26-2007, 08:59 AM

We bought a Shea home 3 + years ago and have been very happy so far. The issues we had were cosmetic and easy to fix. There are some fantastic buys here in Vistacia right now with the incentives that Shea is offering. Our 2,069 square foot home we purchased in 04' for $207K is down (or was last week) to $200K. Ouch. Ashton Woods builds a decent home here as well and I think they have some great floorplans and prices are very low right now.

altus2006 · 12-26-2007, 10:14 AM

Motley,

Are the new prices just posted at the models for Shea and Ashton Woods? I checked out their websites and did not see any great prices like you described.

Also, what area of Vistancia are you referring to in your post. I would like to check current prices out in that area because I have seen nothing but good things about Vistancia.

altus2006

MotleyCrew · 12-26-2007, 12:24 PM

I think the "great" prices are including the incentives that the builder is giving at the sales office. You might want to call the office to see what they are asking with the incentives off the price. My daughter went with her roommate to see some Shea homes and the prices were different than the web site. I would call the sales office's to see what the story is. Maracay homes start around $199 according to the web site and they may be having some inventory sales as well. Not a bad time to be shopping.

MotleyCrew · 12-26-2007, 12:27 PM

Altus. The other thing you may want to check out would be the resales here in Vistancia. A few over enthusiastic investors have been trying to dump their homes before they make it to the courthouse steps. If you have a realtor, have them run through the MLS for you. There is a Belize model home across the street from us that the owners just lost. The price is silly.

I just called the sales office here in Vistancia and the St. Thomas is listed on the web site for $300K and with incentives it comes down to $170K. The Antiqua is $324,000 on the web site and with incentives it comes down to the $190s. Ouch, ouch, ouch. She also said that the incentives come off the base price, so your loan would be based on the sales price.

MotleyCrew · 12-26-2007, 02:53 PM

[mod cut-- response to deleted post] If you buy a new build here, hire a home inspector to watch the progress.

mortimer · 12-26-2007, 03:00 PM

My experience with a Maracay home was perfect. They delivered a zero-defect house. I am not aware of any major problems in any house in our neighborhood.

The windows are of such high quality that we frequently didn't even know a monsoon was going on without looking out the window (we didn't hear it - and I have insanely good hearing).

That said, the neighborhood was built in 2000-2002. My experience is only *my* experience.

People reporting bad experiences with xyz homes or abc homes, etc are also reporting their own *personal* experience, so this is not statistics.

Still, I think it's nuts for a builder not to make a new home right for the buyer. Word-of-mouth 'advertising' is a lot stronger than a billboard.

I would cruise these forums by doing searches on all the builders you are considering. Somewhere in there will be some links to authoritative, professional surveys. I've seen them.

aj661 · 12-26-2007, 03:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NE Live

Also aj661 did you have that [mod cut-- responding to deleted material] home you purchased inspected, roof specifically, before you purchased it? Is it just tough for inspectors to catch stuff like that or is there anyway to mitigate situations like that?

No we didn't hire any inspectors ourselves. We assumed any major flaws in construction would be caught by the Gilbert's building inspectors during construction. We learned the hard way that there's a big gap between just meeting code and actual quality. Fortunately, there were no other problems with the roof.