New Home Purchase Questions - Atlanta area (Alpharetta, Duluth: real estate, condos)

[sam14]

Hi All,

I have just started looking for a new home in Johns Creek, Alphretta and East Cobb area. I have few questions and was wondering if some of you can help ?

Que 1:

Do generally builder come down from advertised price if we don't opt their morgage ? One of the builder (Ashton Woods) told me, they can give me some additional discount if I purchase morgage through their agent but otherwise I have to pay the listed price.

Que 2:

I am currently monitoring Atlanta New Homes, New Homes In Atlanta, Atlanta Builders, Atlanta Condos, Homes In GA, and more! for new home projects. Any other good website to track new home projects ?

Que 3:

Any good website for reviews about new home builders ? I found information about some of the builders on www.jdpower.com but they don't have information on small local builders.

Que 4: Sharp Residential has initiated two new projects in Alpharetta (Vickery Crest & Milton Place) ? Any recent experience of purchasing home from Sharp Residential. I have gone through one of the old thread (2008) about Sharp, which was not very encourging..

Thanks,

Sam..

[George Chong]

I will address your first question: Everything - price, closing costs and upgrades for example are negotiable. I don't see anyone paying full asking price in this market.

[TimelessClassic]

Originally Posted by sam14

One of the builder (Ashton Woods) told me, they can give me some additional discount if I purchase morgage through their agent but otherwise I have to pay the listed price.

No No No! Nobody is paying listing price. EVERYTHING is negotiable. They are just trying to take advantage of uninformed buyers. Negotiate!!!

[mrpanda]

It depends. If you are building something from an empty lot in a desirable area, builders will not negotiate. You will have a tough time unless the home is built and empty and the builders are motived to move it. We looked at all the Johns Creek new developments like Madison Park, Travistock, The Preserve, and even the Gates. We just bought a new construction home in St Marlo CC from Peachtree Residential. They are the builders for Travistock (home prices range from $600s - $700) They were selling 6 lots in Prestwick and 9 lots in Inverness. The lots on Prestwich are between .25 - .35 acres and Inverness are between .5 - 1 acre. Home prices in my street sold for high $700s to low $800s during the 2007 peak and these home owners were very upset that the builder started the asking price in the mid $400s. We thought the price the builder was asking was below the market so we moved on it very quickly. They raised the price $15,000 on our model soon after we signed the contract with Peachtree.

Johns Creek median home prices rose 12.6% year over year since the bottom in January 2010.
Johns Creek Home Prices and Home Values in GA - Zillow Local Info

[mrpanda]

Originally Posted by sam14
One of the builder (Ashton Woods) told me, they can give me some additional discount if I purchase morgage through their agent but otherwise I have to pay the listed price.


I am assuming you are talking about Madison Park by Ashton Woods off of Alabama Road. I think they raised the price about $3000 since opening. Again, if you are trying to get below listing price your best chance is if they have a empty already built home. To get a discount from listing price on a new home that is not built yet is nearly impossible in Johns Creek. Madison Park is one of the lowest new construction entry point that feeds into Johns Creek High School under zip code 30022. Its desirability is due to the close proximity to Country Club of the South.

Negotiating with the builders will be more feasible in the new homes in Gwinnett County Duluth and Suwanee. There are only few new construction developments in Johns Creek and inventory there is much tighter than it is in Alpharetta, hence purchasing a new home in Johns Creek makes it that much more desirable. I wouldn't waste your time with the Gates of Johns Creek. Madison Park is a much better product.

[TimelessClassic]

Originally Posted by mrpanda

Again, if you are trying to get below listing price your best chance is if they have a empty already-built home.

Yes, that's what I meant. If a home is already built, the builder has put money into it and needs to pay their bills, hence the motivation to get it off their books.

[sam14]

Thank you all for your response and valuable time..

[peachstatehomegal]

I know that here in Gwinnett, there's a couple of subdivisions with new building going on, and they've got some deals in regards to 'upgrades' etc on homes that haven't completed construction.

It doesn't hurt to ask for things in homes that aren't completed or not started yet. As TimelessClassic said, it's hard to get them to move on a home that's already completed - unless they're REALLY hungry!

[tamlym]

Unless you are purchasing the last property in the subdivision, the builder will not move on the price....because YOUR purchase price will affect their future selling prices for other unsold properties in the subdivision.

But I think you can negotiate with them so that your selling price is still "high" enough. For example, maybe you can ask for closing costs, landscaping, upgraded interior, appliances, furniture etc. that they can pay for, and you can still close at the builder's "list price"? Well, you can ask... :P Doesn't hurt!
Good luck.

[mrpanda]

Regarding real estate in Johns Creek and Alpharetta, it appears that bottom was set in March 2009 and January 2010. If I were in the market to buy in March 2009, I think builders would have been more willing to negotiate. You can see from the chart that prices had fallen back to April 2001 levels at the bottom. You can see a sharp rebound of 12.8% Year of Year to 2004 levels. New construction are few and inventory is tight in Johns Creek which is why I believe the builders are not throwing in the incentives. For the new construction home I recently purchased in St. Marlo, the builder was not willing to even go down a $1 in his asking price. However, in hindsight... we would of lost that .4 acre lot to another guy had we waited one more day. The builder told us that that the only reason the other buyer did not get our lot was because he wanted a discount or he wouldn't buy. Unfortunately for this guy, the builder had raised prices up $15,000 the following week. I don't have a crystall ball... my opinion is that March 2009 & January 2010 is the ultimate bottom in Johns Creek and surrounding areas. Home Prices in Johns Creek and surrounding areas should start to rise from here. What is interesting is that some of the most desirable areas in Orange County, California (i.e. Irvine, Aliso Viejo, Mission Viejo, etc.) has rose only 3% Year over Year, but we are seeing 12% rise in Johns Creek and 14% rise in Alpharetta within the last twelve months. These are good signs for the people who own real estate in Johns Creek, Alpharetta, Suwanee, and Duluth today.