Westin Prices Going Up... - Westheimer Lakes North, Pine Mill Ranch, and Cardiff Ranch. (Houston: sales, credit)

[davidrod8]

We got a call yesterday from the salesperson in Cardiff Ranch that Westin is raising their prices next week. He said the house we were looking at might go up $15K-$20K. Not sure if this was sales tactic to get us to sign but heck, it worked! We have been looking at Cardiff Ranch since February and had to make a few adjustments to our credit to be able to get approved.

We are very excited to have signed a contract today and cant wait to move into our new home next year. We'll be building a Patterson in Cardiff Ranch.

From what we were told, prices were going up by $2K to $25K in Westheimer Lakes North, Pine Mill Ranch, and Cardiff Ranch.

If anybody has been looking at homes at any of this subdivisions I suggest you get in touch with the salesperson ASAP.

We went in this afternoon to sign our contract and couldn't believe how busy they were. It was a constant stream of people coming to sign contracts, not just look at houses.... Amazing!

As I said, not sure if this was a sales tactic, or if they are trying to make their numbers better before their fiscal year is up next week...

Anyways, it was the bump we needed to sign!!!

[ethanw]

Bluffing. Not in this climate.

[honycombe]

I have no idea if this was a sales tactic or not. However, base prices were raised $10k a few months after we signed our contract in Cardiff.

[descovy]

A little bit of game play honestly. We were one of the earlier houses built in our neighborhood. We watched as the sales price at the sales office went up and up ( yeah about $15-20k, btw) and (surprise!) they could advertise big discounts!!! In the end the "discounted" newer-high priced homes were the same price as ours.

And let's not forget... The house has to appraise properly for the bank to offer the loan. There is no way on Earth my neighbor's house was going to appraise for $20k more in base price. Is his house worth $20k more than mine because he bought it on a Monday and I bought it the Friday before???

It's a shell game. Sometimes you get a great base price. Sometimes you get a deep discount. Sometimes you get "free upgrades" at the design center. In the end all you can hope for is a fair deal. The price/sq ft... Are you paying what other houses on the neighborhood have sold for? This includes the price of upgrades. For Petes Sake, if they charge extra for ceiling fans, light switches, a refrigerator, is it really an "upgrade" or just another fee to tack to the bottom line.

[chris_ut]

I have been involved in a few new home purchases and the price is always about to go up.

[Houston321]

Why don't we just forget the daily random posts, and just put a Westin advertisement on the front page of the City-Data Houston main page?

[honycombe]

I don't understand Houston321's response. I am not speaking highly of Westin homes because I want to advertise them, but because I have had a fantastic experience with them. I absolutely LOVE my home, it is perfect for me and my family. I also had a fantastic experience with Westin. They did not spoon feed me, I knew what I want and I did plenty of research with other builders as well....but my experience with Westin has been great. I found the house that I will live in until my kids are moved out and not moving back. If I had a bad experience, then I would be writing about that. Am I not allowed to write my positive experience without being classified as "an advertisement"?

[davidrod8]

Yeah, I don't understand the comment about being a "Random Post"

I figure there were several people like us waiting to pull trigger and this certainly got us to do... 2 weeks earlier...

As honeycomb said it, good or bad, you'll hear about it here... I have already met two people that live in the same subdivision where I'm buying, and it is a great resource to get their input and feedback on this decision... After all, we are only planning on staying at this house for the next 20 years

[deckhanddavy]

We went on contract about 5-6 months ago. Since then, our Westin home in Cardiff has gone up by 10k. My sales agent told me they were planning increases to most of the floorplans, and he wasn't lying.

[chris_ut]

Originally Posted by deckhanddavy

We went on contract about 5-6 months ago. Since then, our Westin home in Cardiff has gone up by 10k. My sales agent told me they were planning increases to most of the floorplans, and he wasn't lying.

The question is are resale houses going for the higher prices? In my neighborhood they kept raising base prices every 6 months to a year until area was built out but no one can sell their house for more than what the original prices were when they started out, people who bought in near the end are going to need to wait 6-8 more years to not sell at a loss.