More Home Builder Questions ??? (Dallas, Allen: buying, price, vs)

[AZtoTX]

Originally Posted by GoPadge

Not to pour salt in anyone's open wounds or anything....

But how ignorant or desperate do you have to be, to buy an ADJUSTABLE rate mortgage, when rates are at their lowest in decades? Where did they think the rates were going to go?

I blame the educational system and our parents for not teaching a whole generation how to handle money, and the credit industry for questionable marketing practices. Think about this. Before WWII almost no one borrowed money. Before Vietnam people borrowed mostly for their homes. Before the Gulf War people borrowed mostly for their homes and cars. Now we borrow money just to buy lunch at McDonalds.

It's not getting better. This weekend I saw a credit card reader on vending machine.

How TRUE !!! I'm in AZ and we rank 2nd in the nation (per capitia) for the ownership of personal watercraft (and were in the middle of the ******* desert). We pioneerd the 0% down, 125% loans. Nothing says Arizona like "re-fi" ing the house to buy a boat or jet ski. In addition to the educational system & parents, we can blame all the drugs from the 60's & 70's, because taking an arm out on the house to buy a boat, hummer, chopper, (insert expensive toy here) and NOT having the money to pay it off, has got to smack of brain damage (and I'm not talkin' Pink Floyd).

On a different note, Thanks for the wonderful information from this and other threads. My 1st choice might be Mckinney (Brookstone - Ashton Woods or Stonebridge - Highland), but if I could get a good enough deal on a forclosure at Dominion in Panther Creek, it might be worthwhile. I plan to keep it 10+ years.

Thanks

[socketz]

I never looked at Grand because the 3 Realtors I spoke with told me they would not represent me if I purchased a Grand home. 100% rejection.

That was enough for me. Realtors are part of your marketing when you sell, so if they are sour on Grand, it doesn't much matter what the people that already own Grand think. Never heard anyone refer to Darling as compartmentalized. The only Darling homes I can think of that may fall into this classification are the ones out in Wren Creek that hover around or under the 2k sq/ft limit. Smaller homes don't have as much open space, so this is expected.

As for adjustables, if you know your only going to live in a home for x number of years, they make complete sense. I lived in a home in San Diego for 36 months with a 3/1 ARM at well under 4% and was paying 1000 per month off my principal (36k). With a regular 30 year ammortized loan, that amount would have been much lower because the way these types of loans ammortize, very little principal is paid in the first 5-7 years of the loan (note that stats show very few people stay in a home more than 5-7 years).

I can also show you how in an upward trending market how IO loans make sense to leverage your way into greater appreciation/gains (i.e. 5% on 500k is alot more than 5% on 200k). They also make sense on income property. IO loans have been tools for investors for many years, but it was just recently that they got a bad name associated with the sub-prime market and undocumented loans.

As for rates now, I think everyone generally agrees that the prime has to head south soon. Rates will follow. If you took 'hedge-market' manipulated fuel costs and deregulated energy cost out of the inflation market basket, the economy has actually deflated. What we are in now is a bit of stagflation.

Starting in Winter 07, watch the rate come down as the Fed tries to kick start the Nationally depressed RE market.

I guess my point is that different types of loans are financial tools. It's unfortunate that these tools have been abused, but I put alot of that responsibility back on the lenders. No, not the way we are blaming Phillip Morris for people smoking and getting lung cancer, but the fact that the way we are trained from birth, we 'trust' the financial industry to know what we can and cannot afford - so they let everyone down in my opinion.

My friend is an underwriter for a huge financial company and she said some of the things they turned a blind eye to over the past 5 years was close to criminal....(i.e. teacher applies for 700k no-doc loan and states on application they make 150k)

[onrway2clt]

Originally Posted by socketz

I never looked at Grand because the 3 Realtors I spoke with told me they would not represent me if I purchased a Grand home. 100% rejection.

That was enough for me. Realtors are part of your marketing when you sell, so if they are sour on Grand, it doesn't much matter what the people that already own Grand think. Never heard anyone refer to Darling as compartmentalized. The only Darling homes I can think of that may fall into this classification are the ones out in Wren Creek that hover around or under the 2k sq/ft limit. Smaller homes don't have as much open space, so this is expected.

Just quoting this to stay on topic. I would also not buy grand home along with some others because I too was told to stay away and I have read some things as well. I have already had a terrible experience with a new home build and swore I would never deal with that again. So with that I have to stay away from builders with bad reps regardless of how nice they look and how big they are.

I am not judging the person who is going to buy a grand home, it is their choice to do so.

[5stones]

socketz is right there is a certin market for an ARM loan.

We currently have a 3/1 ARM. The reason why is that we got a super low intrest rate with the ARM and we are on a government job that is slated at 24months 30 months being max. The low 4.25% was worth the ARM since we knew we would only be in the house 2 years. Plus our can only go up 1/4pt per year so even if we stayed longer than 3 years it would take awhile to catch up to the current 30 or 15 year trad. mortgage rate... (at the time of purchase it was 5.5%) Since we are actually going to be out of here before the 24months it was a smart move.

[LOK222]

I'm not knocking the Darling homes at all.. I know some people here that own them and love them as well. I said Compartamentalized.. I just mean that the Grand and also the Sotherby tend to feel more Open to me the Darlings I looked at felt a little more closed in or sectioned off.

I'm just going with the house that my wife and I love.. I even spoke to a a guy I know that works for Grand and he said how earlier on Grand had a bad rep as they grew very fast and their customer service fell behind but that they have made a lot of changes, others I have spoke to said the same. But.. like I said, if I was considering moving in a couple years maybe that would play into it more. This is the last house I ever plan to buy. I'm done moving so I'm buying what I want to live in, not sell

everyone has their choices though and that's the way it should be, I came asking for some of the locals opinions here and got flamed for claiming to know it all.. that's not the case at all.. I'm learning and we found what works for us I think

[onrway2clt]

Originally Posted by LOK222

I'm not knocking the Darling homes at all.. I know some people here that own them and love them as well. I said Compartamentalized.. I just mean that the Grand and also the Sotherby tend to feel more Open to me the Darlings I looked at felt a little more closed in or sectioned off.

I'm just going with the house that my wife and I love.. I even spoke to a a guy I know that works for Grand and he said how earlier on Grand had a bad rep as they grew very fast and their customer service fell behind but that they have made a lot of changes, others I have spoke to said the same. But.. like I said, if I was considering moving in a couple years maybe that would play into it more. This is the last house I ever plan to buy. I'm done moving so I'm buying what I want to live in, not sell

everyone has their choices though and that's the way it should be, I came asking for some of the locals opinions here and got flamed for claiming to know it all.. that's not the case at all.. I'm learning and we found what works for us I think

When are you moving in?

[LOK222]

Originally Posted by NY - Dallas

When are you moving in?

not sure..I still have to take care of some things.. we'll see how it all plays out

[jcl_cls01]

If you're unsure about builders to choose, check out the Better Business Bureau's website and lookup the complaints against the builders complaint records. Also checkout the JD Powers website site for the 2006 Builders ratings in the DFW area. Maybe these services can help you decide, plus the word of mouth from others on this board.

[socketz]

I like Sotherby but thought they nickeled and dimed a little too much which pushed the cost per sq/ft up alot. I also think that the Turrets they use may look dated 5-7 years down the road. Grand homes always look nice (remind me of Sotherby, but much cheaper), but the bad rap they have locally scared me away from them. I think if you plan to stay in the home for some time to come, that bad rap wont hurt you when you that bad when you sell. A David Weekley, Highland, Sotherby or Darling home will still sell a little quicker based on those companies steller reputations in the area. Don't underestimate the Dallas home buyer.....people are pros here. I'm blown away daily by just how much the average buyer here knows about home construction and layout.

[carnut]

Believe me, when a builder syas they are giving away a pool for free it isn't "free".

I have seen the "free" pools that are being given away and you would not put one of those in a trailer park.

The concept is "bait" The idea is to get you into the community and and look at their homes. Then they causually say they are offering free pools for a limited time.

That is the hook. The sinker comes when you learn what type of pool and the amount of added equipment that will be needed to make the thing work properly without having troubles with it for the duration of your living in the home.

What I mean is they will put in the most basic of basic equipment. The equipment will be undersized for the pool or something you might expect to see on a pool you would get out of a box at Home Depot.

They then sell you the upgrades for the pool at such stupid high markups that you could have just pruchased the pool from a reputable pool contractor for less money.

What does the builder get out of it? They sell a homes.... Bottom line.

As for what builder to choose. have you looked at any of the custom builders in the area. In twenty two years in the business, I can tell you that you will get a better built home for the moeny buy finding a good custom builder. They are less likely to cut corners as volume builders do.

Remember it cost nothing to talk to other builders. It only cost when you make the wrong decision. Then it will continue to cost. Remember also that you should not hastily make a decision of your builder. You should carefully consider who will be building your home. With volume buildes you never now if "your builder" is new to the business or if he has built two homes or two hundred. Volume builders will cut corners to save nickles. They do this because if they save a few dollars on each home then multiply that time many thousands of homes they save millions of dollars.

I would recommend you look into a smaller custom builder. I do not know any that build in that area, and could not recoomend one anyway per forum rules. But they are not hard to find. Call a lumber company and ask to speak to a salesman, then ask them. Call the city and ask to speak to someone in the building inspection department ask them how "your builder" is performing.

Some cities have area sof thier websites where they post builders report cards. This is basically an area that tells you havemany red tags that builder has recieved in a given time frame.

You can also call or go to a local lighting center, (light fixtures) and ask themwho they would recommend. They will tell you who buys the good fixtures or the cheap ones. I have seen homes that cost ove $800K not have any light fixtures in them at all, NONE!

Take the time and do your research BEFORE you run out of time and are forced to buy because of timeframe. If you do then lease a home in he area you think you want to live and then continue your search.