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I just discovered that there is a 55+ community being built next to the Del Webb development in Cary. It is an Epcon Community called The Courtyards at O'Kelly Chapel.
I like the floorplans with private courtyards, but they are rather pricey, starting about $320K. Compared to Del Webb, they have a better floorplans, but fewer amenities.
Is that brick or stone facade? I can't tell from the renderings.
I haven't seen this community, but many of their Charlotte area homes have stone facades. (I am not sure if it real stone or asome kind of composite veneer.)
The development is nice and a plus is the smaller sized community as compared to Del Webb. The clubhouse will be modest. The floor plans are decent. Epcon is building another development, slightly larger than the Cary location right by Carolina Arbors in Durham. It will actually connect to CA via Bloomsbury Manor Drive.
I've heard Epcon frequently builds these developments just adjacent to Del Webb communities.
We are thinking about buying a lot in Courtyards At Homestead Road in Chapel Hill and have spent a great deal of time at OKelly. There will be 63 homes in 2 phases, swimming pool, club house with gym and garden spaces. I think the same policies and options are available at both places. They are not cheap.
Each lot has a premium of at least $10,000. Why they don't just include this in the price seems a bit lacking in transparency although they do let you know this when you pick your lot. They call the siding "Like Hardiplank but better" and real stone (I think).
The base price is misleading as there are something like 29 pages of options. They can get really expensive if you want really nice interiors with things like hardwood (really engineered hardwood) throughout, granite countertops, tiled showers, special kitchen backsplashes, skylights or sun tunnels, screened in porches, sun rooms, or covered patios off the master. Extra outlets, quality cabinets, ceiling fans, double ovens, Universal design (handicap access), canned lights, insulation in garage, walk-in showers instead of tub/shower combinations, raised vanities in the baths, more than one paint color, etc all can add up pretty quickly.There is nothing to look at in Chapel Hill as they just started clearing the land a few weeks ago and they are saying homes will be ready in about a year.
one nice thing about it is they will not have the exact same floor plan or color on either side of you or across the street. This gives a little bit of individuality to each home. But the "color palette' is hardly perceptible with a slightly different tint to the siding and different colors for front doors.
We purchased a lot (#4) at the Courtyards at Homestead Road and it looks like they will be breaking ground very soon. We also have spent a great deal of time at O'Kelly Chapel since we have a Portico, and the model at O'Kelly is a Portico. We are hopeful for an April/May closing but everything depends on the weather. We have been told that since we were first to go to contract, we should be first to close. We are very excited about moving into our new home in this new community.
Yes, we moved to the Courtyards at Homestead Road last July, so we're here almost a year. I think Epcon builds a good product. However, if you are looking for any customization, you won't get it with an Epcon home. Our experience at Homestead Road is timing of closings is way off. Part of that is due to Town of Chapel Hill and permitting/inspections, but they live by their own clock. It is imperative that you stay on top of them at every stage along the way because they do make mistakes, and you need to catch them while they can still be fixed. There is a lack of transparency with Epcon and their sales folks that I found very disconcerting and unpleasant. An they are inconsistent in what changes they do allow, from one buyer to another. For instance, we were very early purchasers and made our options selection before they were offering many interesting upgrades (i.e., faucets, bathroom accessories, stuff like that). Before they even broke ground on our home, they started offering additional options/upgrades, and when I asked them if I could upgrade to different sink and bathroom faucets and bathroom accessories (towel bars, toilet paper holder), they said no, that it was too late to change anything. That's ludicrous since they had not even put a shovel in the ground. But add to that the fact that we later learned someone had the same situation, wanting upgrades that weren't available when she made her selections, but she was allowed to upgrade to newer selections.
So we've had lots of minor frustrations along the way, but the bottom line is we love our house and this community and wouldn't want to be anywhere else. I hope that helps.
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