John Wieland @ Southbridge (Raleigh, Durham, Cary: sales, real estate, custom home)

[yoda_jives]

What do folks think about this community in particular and john wieland homes in general ?

have you had any good/bad experiences with this builder ?

[Funky Chicken]

John Wieland builds a quality home. Their warranty is strong, and their after-sale service is top notch (according to several friends who live in JW homes).
Southbridge is in a great location, too. The only issue I have with that neighborhood is the ratio of the homes' footprints to the lot sizes. The homes are packed in a little tight for my tastes especially in that price range. I also don't love the way certain homes are positioned on the lots-some strange angle decisions there. I'm sure it was because of the setbacks on those smaller odd shaped lots. Other than that (and it's just my opinion), Southbridge is a good pick.
I might look in Weycroft as well as Southbridge if you haven't done so already.

[RDSLOTS]

Once the yards and trees mature, I think it will be a lovely area. The homes are too large for me, especially that I have no children left at home, and don't anticipate them moving back in, or having to move elderly parents in -- what do they say? Never say 'never.'

JW has a good reputation for building a quality home, and you can check-out other JW homes/neighborhoods around the country. Friends of ours say the JW neighborhood they bought into in the general Augusta area has aged well, increased in value, matured nicely. They couldn't be happier with their home.

We looked in Southbridge, too, but the only home I found I could conceivably see just my husband and I maintaining, ended-up taking forever, it seemed, to sell. Maybe, because it was one of the smaller ones? or sat right next to the greenway? We never have been able to figure out why it sat there, but it has since sold, and evidently to a family.

Southbridge seems to be in a great, albeit fast, fast growing area. Road access will eventually be easier, as major arteries through Cary and Apex and the backside of Durham and the RTP will eventually connect. I think your investment would be a good one if you want a home as large as what JW is currently building. They don't seem to be 'hurting' in that area.

I cannot attest to the schools, or travel time right now, and only to the amenities currently close to Southbridge, like the Harris Teeter and bank opening soon, just down the road. I do think some of the main roads will eventually make travel time quicker to areas surrounding the general Cary Park neighborhoods. A lot improves, or changes, in just two years time -- we saw it where we are in Carpenter Village.

[RadiatorSprings]

I think John Wieland builds a great quality home. Their customer service is excellent. They come right out if anything is wrong after your purchase.

[cncsmomndad]

We live in a Wieland home and are overall very, very happy with the floorplan, quality, materials used. We are the second owners of this house which is now nearly 5 years old yet there were no questions asked when we needed a warranty repair made.

[Beermat]

Originally Posted by Funky Chicken

John Wieland builds a quality home. Their warranty is strong, and their after-sale service is top notch (according to several friends who live in JW homes).
Southbridge is in a great location, too. The only issue I have with that neighborhood is the ratio of the homes' footprints to the lot sizes. The homes are packed in a little tight for my tastes especially in that price range. I also don't love the way certain homes are positioned on the lots-some strange angle decisions there. I'm sure it was because of the setbacks on those smaller odd shaped lots. Other than that (and it's just my opinion), Southbridge is a good pick.
I might look in Weycroft as well as Southbridge if you haven't done so already.

I think Funky chicken is spot on with comments. The homes look really great at Southbridge and it is so much superior to Weycroft but let down by some of the homes having driveways as steep as Mt Everest - the same applies with the JW development at River Run in North Raleigh. We were at Southbridge a few weeks ago and some of the houses being built have the craziest driveways that North Raleigh Guy could take some great pics - certain give a bit of humour to the current real estate issues

[Beermat]

Here is an example of a John Wieland home under construction in Level Ridge at Southbridge - shame the pic doesn't quite capture the steepness of the drive but wait until it is concreted It's typical of many of the drives on the Southbridge development but I didn't think it appropriate to take pics of peoples houses when they are occupied.

Overall I would say that Southbridge is a beautiful sub division and will prove a great success for John Weiland; just a shame about the steepness and weird slope of the drives on some of the lots.

[bta]

Originally Posted by Beermat

The homes look really great at Southbridge and it is so much superior to Weycroft...

I wouldn't go so far as to say that. Perhaps different strokes for different folks.

When my wife and I looked at the Wieland homes at Southbridge, we were turned off by a few things. First we felt the neighborhood didn't feel as varied because it seemed like every home was brick. Brick is great - but throw some other materials in for interest.

Second, Wieland is not a custom builder and will not accommodate some requests. We were not impressed with the cabinets Wieland uses in the kitchen. When we asked the sales rep about upgrading, she remarked that the cabinets could not be changed. Apparently Wieland also owns a cabinet company and uses those cabinets in all his houses.

Third, some "unique" features turned out not to be all that unique. We thought the curved wall that is featured in many of his homes was an interesting detail. Turns out lots of the homes in the neighbor have this same "unique" feature. Being in a one builder community can lead to this sort of issue.

In the end we chose Weycroft where we could get a truly custom home from a local builder. But again, it's all where your priorities are. I can certainly see reasons to buy a Wieland home as well.