which home builders should I NOT look at?? (San Antonio, Austin: renting, neighborhood) - Texas (TX) - City-Data Forum

CravenClan · 08-29-2007, 04:24 PM

We are checking into new tract houses in the Austin area, and wanted to know if anyone had any experiences GOOD or BAD that they would like to share about home builders there......I will just throw this one out there..Wilshire Homes?? I see they have some big houses under $500k in Cedar Park & Dripping Springs, any thoughts??

Thanks
Christina

llkltk · 08-29-2007, 06:05 PM

Wilshire is not a tract builder. Most builders in Austin over the 250K range will be semi custom. For 500K you can get custom. Tract is KB Home, Centex, etc.

CravenClan · 08-29-2007, 06:24 PM

Thanks, It is a little different here. I looked at the plans, online, and assumed it was a tract.

Thanks

abcdef32 · 09-19-2007, 08:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CravenClan

We are checking into new tract houses in the Austin area, and wanted to know if anyone had any experiences GOOD or BAD that they would like to share about home builders there......I will just throw this one out there..Wilshire Homes?? I see they have some big houses under $500k in Cedar Park & Dripping Springs, any thoughts??

Thanks
Christina

I will suggest to stay away from NewMark homes, especially if you are building. I had a terrible experience. If you build a new home, all home builders make mistakes (after all they are human). So your aim should be to find a builder that makes less number of screw ups and willing to fix their screw ups. New mark makes a lot of mistakes. And the worst part is that they find a reason to blame you after that, so that they don't have to fix it. That is where it has been a nightmare for me. I have so many items pending to be fixed (wrong carpet installation, broken tiles, broken countertop, broken walls, sinking foundation etc.). The funny thing is that they will agree to fix all of it in writing. Then they do nothing and buy time. After a while they say it is too long ago and we apologize for any inconvenience and we have done all we could. At that point you will feel, you are fool to believe them in the first place. Then your only option is a lawyer. So, at least this buyer would say, don't even touch them with a 9' pole. That way you will avoid a lot of worries

lindseyrepp143 · 09-19-2007, 08:27 AM

I have a lot of neighbors who's had issues with David Weekley homes - a couple of them had lists of around 30--40 items to be fixed after moving in. One of my neighbors has 8 items left to fix ONE YEAR later. Apparently they are really slow, put things off for a long time and just do a shoddy job of fixing things (one neighbor had to have them come out four times for the same a/c issue).

Our home was built by Mercedes Homes and nothing has ever been an issue. Our a/c kept tripping the breaker for some reason, so they came out in one day and replaced it. My toilet paper holder broke (and I think it was the kids actually!) and someone came out the same day to fix it. They've been great.

jwb123 · 09-19-2007, 08:35 AM

Because I have seen the construction process from start to finished home, and lived in a brand new Bowen - as a rental... I would stay away from Bowen Family Homes.

They have a very nice LOOKING finished product - but the construction is concerning, and they do offer that first year warrenty for a reason... it will get used, a lot. I am also concerned about long term with these homes, because like I said, I watched them going up.... and it's not quite shoddy, but questionable, at best.

I think Drees homes look very nice.

neddy · 09-19-2007, 10:04 AM

I had a David Weekly when we lived in San Antonio and it was very well built and we had no issues with it. Right now we are renting a Centex in Austin and nothing really wrong with it but as I understand it the investor does not live in the states so he really could care less about it so its pretty basic!

tashina · 09-19-2007, 05:13 PM

Hello, fellow Temeculean,

I never heard the term semi-custom until I came here. It's just a fancier tract builder. Typically they will do some extra stuff that a normal KB-type tract builder wouldn't. A semi-custom builder will move walls for you, add an extra room, build on your own lot (sometimes). If you love a particular mosaic medallion, you can tell them and they will contract to get it and install it (for big $$). But in most respects, it's still tract housing and the process is very similar.

Wilshire is pretty nice. They build in our community and our price point is $350k+. Not sure if all their developments are great, but I've heard no complaints about them around here.

El Jeffe · 09-20-2007, 12:39 PM

Christina......you should probably decide which area of town in or around Austin you want to live first. You can look at several builders, but if they do not build in the area you want, then where will you be. You were interested in Dripping Springs and we have lots of custom builders out here and very few communities with tract or semi-custom builders.

Remember though that when you look at builders you have to consider more than just how the model home looks. If it is a neighborhood where they have homes under construction you should look at the homes they have under various stages of construction and observe the materials and workmanship. You will also want to check into the warranty and what is included in the base price of the house. Make sure you know exactly what are standard items in the home and what are upgrades. You can quickly blow your budget on a home when you start upgrading from the basic home.

You can get more information on Texas builders at the Texas Residential Construction Commission website. What's New. You might also want to check out the Austin Homebuilders Association website. HBA Greater Austin

achtungpv · 09-20-2007, 01:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tashina

Hello, fellow Temeculean,

I never heard the term semi-custom until I came here. It's just a fancier tract builder. Typically they will do some extra stuff that a normal KB-type tract builder wouldn't. A semi-custom builder will move walls for you, add an extra room, build on your own lot (sometimes). If you love a particular mosaic medallion, you can tell them and they will contract to get it and install it (for big $$). But in most respects, it's still tract housing and the process is very similar.

Correct. It's just a fancy term to make you feel better about dropping over $200K for a tract house.