We are relocating to Austin area (Leander: homes, neighborhoods, buyer)

[suzie421]

Does anyone know anything about the Treaty Oaks homes? Looked at home in Caballo Ranch in Leander, but don't know anything about the quality of the homes and would like to know if anyone has experience with them. Will the builder be around to fix any problems a few years down the road?

[10scoachrick]

Originally Posted by suzie421

Does anyone know anything about the Treaty Oaks homes? Looked at home in Caballo Ranch in Leander, but don't know anything about the quality of the homes and would like to know if anyone has experience with them. Will the builder be around to fix any problems a few years down the road?

Interesting...we toured a Scott Felder home and a Jimmy Jacobs home in Caballo; but the name Treaty Oaks never came up. Looks like they are in just two Austin area neighborhoods...WAY south and WAY north...nothing wrong with that, but they don't seem to have much of a presence in the area. It looked like the Caballo homes were quick to charge premiums for many things, so a base price from either builder would be truly basic and the lot would be as well. NOT sure how the pricing goes on the Treaty Oaks builds, but I was pretty impressed with some of the energy efficient practices used by Scott Felder. If I were building new in central Texas, energy efficiency(especially in warmer months) would be near the top of my list of concerns.

[suzie421]

Thanks for the info. More interested in finding out the reputation of the Treaty Oaks homes. They are new at Caballo Ranch. Seems another builder backed out of the subdivision, & Treaty Oaks took their place. We want to know if the corporation is new and trustworthy. Their website says this is a 2nd generation Texas builder, but they are not well known in the area.They aren't listed on BBB website, & I found somewhere on line that the corporation was formed in 2009.

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by suzie421

Does anyone know anything about the Treaty Oaks homes? Looked at home in Caballo Ranch in Leander, but don't know anything about the quality of the homes and would like to know if anyone has experience with them. Will the builder be around to fix any problems a few years down the road?

You should read what the Federal Trade Commission says here about home warranties. Warranties for Newly Built Homes | Consumer Information

There may not be as much to them as you think. In many cases the builder provides only a one year warranty and the items that have extended warranties are not warrantied by the builder, but are provided by the manufacturer of the individual components. You will have to contact them to get the problems corrected. Many individual building components have no warranty.

A builders warranty is often only for one year and Sometimes a home warranty will be purchased by the builder or can be purchased by the buyer with the house. Those warranties are typically covered by a third party, not the builder. So you will have to work with the third party to get the corrections made. We bought one of those when we bought this house, in my experience it was not worth the money. When a leak and crack was found with a toilet, they replaced it with a substandard product, and that was all they were required to do under the warranty. Read the fine print before you purchase it.

[10scoachrick]

Originally Posted by suzie421

Thanks for the info. More interested in finding out the reputation of the Treaty Oaks homes. They are new at Caballo Ranch. Seems another builder backed out of the subdivision, & Treaty Oaks took their place. We want to know if the corporation is new and trustworthy. Their website says this is a 2nd generation Texas builder, but they are not well known in the area.They aren't listed on BBB website, & I found somewhere on line that the corporation was formed in 2009.

If the interest is in Caballo, it might be safer to go with the established builders rather than take a chance on the 'new guy' on the block. Of course, size and longevity have little to do with the actual building process...one couple we know are having all sorts of problems with a nationwide builder who has a long reputation...their delay is about 3 months at this point.