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I took my mom out there a couple of weeks ago, just to "look around". My mom currently lives in chapel hill, close to 15-501, within 5 minutes of any and everything she could need,and just as close to all of her friends. She said that she felt like briar chapel was too far away from everything she does (it was 11 miles, but with traffic took us close to 25 minutes.
On the positive side: We liked the amenities (30 some miles of bike trails, which my Mom loved because she bikes about 70 miles a week), the pool, etc. The homes were built very well (at least the ones we walked through), but we were looking at the smaller homes and some townhomes.
My mom really liked it quite a bit, felt like the neighborhood had a good vibe, and it would be a fun place to live. On the flip side, she wanted it about 15 minutes closer to everything she does in chapel hill.
Beautiful neighborhood, lots are small, but all the open areas make up for it depending on what you want to do. Tons of great stuff right there, but don't plan on getting anywhere in a hurry. I think it takes like 15 minutes(or it feels like it), just to get into the neighborhood.
We live down the road on 1 acre and are considering moving into a McNeil Burbank. So far they have been very helpful and easy to work.
I am hopinh they plant more mature trees in the neighborhood.
Seems like they have slowed down greatly from the expected 400 homes a year (4000 in 10 years) to just a trickle. Yes there has been a recession but some neighborhoods are doing well in nearby Morrisville and Hillsborough.
Small lots withou any real landscaping seems to be the problem as well as being expensive for the size of house (looked at Vanguard).
Seems like they have slowed down greatly from the expected 400 homes a year (4000 in 10 years) to just a trickle. Yes there has been a recession but some neighborhoods are doing well in nearby Morrisville and Hillsborough.
Small lots withou any real landscaping seems to be the problem as well as being expensive for the size of house (looked at Vanguard).
Sounds like you haven't been out there in awhile, homes have been selling very well out there. 65 homes have been built since December that I am aware of, most in the last 2-3 months. In fact they just raised the prices due to the increased demand in BC, who knows how long it will last since the rush was probably from the tax rebate but Phase 1 is just being wrapped up and they are now working on what new ammenities to add for Phase 2.
It might have originally been slated for 4,000 but for the last year the number I have heard was 2,400 over 10 years.
I think your right about Vanguard being expensive but McNeil Burbank has good prices (in my opinion). What sold us was that we could get a home that was built to comply with the Green Building Standards of NC, is Energy Star certified (although the Energy Star ceritification is a bit questionable) and extremely energy efficient. The homes uses sustainable wood products, low-e windows, tankless H20 heater (we added this), no VOC paint, no Formaldehyde cabinets and a south facing lot for solar later on all for a price we were very happy with.
I was very very scrupulous about every material they put in the house thinking they would skimp on small things but they didnt. I took pics of every material they put in the house and researched each one and was very impressed at the thought that went into the products. Briar Chapel as a community also have a complete set of standards that all homes there have to comply with and that adds additional features that we thought were nice.
I kind of sound like a commercial but we have been very happy with the whole process and are excited to move in. Closing is in 2 weeks!
Last edited by windmiller; 05-01-2010 at 05:49 PM..
Last i checked, there wasn't much going on there, but maybe that's changed recently. Briar Chapel was always a good idea done wrong to me. Instead of spreading the houses out and making use of the land everything is built on top of itself, which doesn't make sense to me, especially for the prices, but maybe prices have come down.
Windmillar - it had been a while and I was reporting back when I looked last Christmas. However I went this weekend and was positively surprised by the number built. I think the tax credit had some effect so the next 6 months will tell us the real, unstimulated demand.
I agree with comments other people have made that it is about 15 minutes too far out of things. I work in RTP and the commute would be too long. I love the idea and the Vanguard homes look good.
I worked out there last summer. It is kind of out in the boonies - it's great that they're all about green building and solar panels and all that other green stuff, but any benefit to the environment is probably completely cancelled out by the fact that you have to drive pretty far to get to any sort of shopping/school/work/etc.
The ameneties are awesome though from what I've seen. Two saltwater pools with two water slides, diving board, kiddie spray area, gym, clubhouse, etc.
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