Miramesa - Cypress TX (Houston, Spring: sales, 2013, apartment) - Texas - City-Data Forum

Fernandabr · 02-16-2017, 01:11 PM

Hi,

We have our minds set in a Ashton Woods home (we will be building it) at the Miramesa Community and wanted to know if you have any advice/comments about the community or the builder.

We are not planning on having kids in the near future (maybe in 4 or 5 years) so our main concern right now is about flooding, security and resale value, but any information about the area and builder would be deeply appreciated since we are not from Houston.

Thank you!

Fernandabr · 02-19-2017, 11:18 PM

Can anyone help? I could only find little information on the Community or the builder.. thank you!

Lbjen · 02-20-2017, 05:38 AM

We built an Ashton Woods home in 2013. It wasn't a good experience.

It started with them misquoting us for the cost of our additions, to get us to sign the contract, and then as we're locked in, they come back for an additional $10k. At the time, prices were rising almost daily so we didn't have a lot of choice. This was actually a fairly common practice for them back then, not sure about now.

They lied about the lot we were sold, our realtor got paid on the side to get us to take it. It's one of the worst on the street.

Our home was finished about a month late. They would frequently prioritize the more expensive homes and inventory homes over ours, because we didn't really drop any extra on the house at the design center. They made up a story about the house being broken into right before we were supposed to close, which I knew to be untrue.

The finish quality is very poor. A lot of off-square corners, walls with bumps, some unsealed granite etc.

Very unlikely that I would build another AW home. I would proceed with extreme caution if I did.

Fernandabr · 02-20-2017, 08:09 AM

Oh God! That's really bad!

We chose them because they have the exact floorplan we were looking for, below our desired starting price and they even offered further discounts since that was a new floorplan in the Houston area. Negotiations are going pretty fast so we are trying to gather as much information as we can in order not to make a bad deal.

We went trough the upgrades prices with the sales rep. As well as the price for structural changes. Everything is going well and we really like the guy, but I guess that's what normally happens.

We don't have a lot of extra money if something like what happened to you happens to us, so we were thinking about trying to have that in the contract so we have a document forbidding them to do so. Is it something possible?

Right now we don't have a realtor primarily because we were just starting looking at homes and thought we didn't need one at this point. They are suggesting we get a realtor to get us out of our apartment leasing and said they would recommend someone. We really don't know any good Realtors in the area and it worries me to see that they could bribe yours to get you in a bad deal. Where can I find a good recommendation for a realtor that will work for us?

One more question, did you do the early inspections on your home with an independent inspector? We are definitely doing this, but would like to hear more about your experience.

Thank you!

mcfroggin · 02-20-2017, 09:35 AM

Isn't miramesa zoned to Cypress Springs HS? If so, I'd back out now.

Lbjen · 02-20-2017, 09:47 AM

The realtor they recommended is probably going to give that sales agent a kickback from their commission, and they won't be able to get you out of your lease either. Find your own if you want one. Ask friends at work, or at church. Ours was assigned by our relocation company unfortunately.

We had everything in writing from the sales agent. I still have it all. Corporate said they wouldn't honor it, and claimed he had been fired but I believe he was just reassigned. They were happy to cancel the contract and give us back our earnest money, because they knew they could resell the lot within the week for more.

We did have inspections but they didn't find anything wrong structurally, it's all cosmetic. It's just poor quality, partly because it was rushed. It was a difficult situation because it was the end of the year and we wanted to be in by Jan 1 for homestead exemption, and our rate lock was expiring, plus our lease could not be extended. They had us in a tough spot and they knew it.

If you like everything about the house and the price, then take it but stay on them. Don't put yourself in a position where you have to accept crap from them. Don't be afraid to say something needs to be fixed before closing. If you get a realtor, make sure you get one that knows what they are doing with new construction.

Fernandabr · 02-20-2017, 09:56 AM

So, this is the info on their website regarding the schools

Cy-Fair ISD, Cypress Fairbanks School District | Miramesa

Elementary is Rennel (I read somewhere that they might move some students to Postma), Middle is Anthony and High School is, in fact, Cypress Springs.

Both elementary schools received good grades, middle is allright and it seems that the mais problem is with the high school. But my question is, do you think Cypress Springs HS could get better rating in a 10 year period of time so when we think about moving it wont affect the resale value that much. In fact, does the HS has the same effect on resale as the elementary?

I don't know if it makes any difference, but we ae not buying one of the larger homes available, in fact, we are on the opposite end, it's a 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath and study, so it might not be the best house for a larger family or a family with older kids. But again, those are just my thoughts and I really know nothing about the house market in Houston (or the US).

Fernandabr · 02-20-2017, 10:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lbjen

The realtor they recommended is probably going to give that sales agent a kickback from their commission, and they won't be able to get you out of your lease either. Find your own if you want one. Ask friends at work, or at church. Ours was assigned by our relocation company unfortunately.

We had everything in writing from the sales agent. I still have it all. Corporate said they wouldn't honor it, and claimed he had been fired but I believe he was just reassigned. They were happy to cancel the contract and give us back our earnest money, because they knew they could resell the lot within the week for more.

We did have inspections but they didn't find anything wrong structurally, it's all cosmetic. It's just poor quality, partly because it was rushed. It was a difficult situation because it was the end of the year and we wanted to be in by Jan 1 for homestead exemption, and our rate lock was expiring, plus our lease could not be extended. They had us in a tough spot and they knew it.

If you like everything about the house and the price, then take it but stay on them. Don't put yourself in a position where you have to accept crap from them. Don't be afraid to say something needs to be fixed before closing. If you get a realtor, make sure you get one that knows what they are doing with new construction.

We are saving all the e-mails and making sure everything offered is written, but we wanna go further and have them put everything on their contract so we sign and their lawyer also signs. Were you able to do something like this or they won't do it if we ask?

We are not in a hurry, in fact we are trying to slow things down so we can move after the summer. We are doing a LOT of negotiaton and trying to consider everything before signing anything. We are really planning on having the inspector on early stages, my dad, who is an engineer in Brazil (we have really high standards on contructions back there) will come before we receive the keys and we plan on being at the construction site at least 2 times a month, but that's just how we are with things in our life (kind of neurotic).

I'll try to find a realtor with good recomendations but the hard part is that we are not from here and we don't know people from cypress to give us a name. But I'll just go ahead and do my homework and I'm sure I'll find someone.

mcfroggin · 02-20-2017, 11:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fernandabr

So, this is the info on their website regarding the schools

Cy-Fair ISD, Cypress Fairbanks School District | Miramesa

Elementary is Rennel (I read somewhere that they might move some students to Postma), Middle is Anthony and High School is, in fact, Cypress Springs.

Both elementary schools received good grades, middle is allright and it seems that the mais problem is with the high school. But my question is, do you think Cypress Springs HS could get better rating in a 10 year period of time so when we think about moving it wont affect the resale value that much. In fact, does the HS has the same effect on resale as the elementary?

I don't know if it makes any difference, but we ae not buying one of the larger homes available, in fact, we are on the opposite end, it's a 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath and study, so it might not be the best house for a larger family or a family with older kids. But again, those are just my thoughts and I really know nothing about the house market in Houston (or the US).

Without rezoning to a better high school, I think resell will be tough. My opinion is to avoid high unnecessary risk, and that area is not desirable right now. There are already 2 other high schools being built in the district, and neither is likely to pick up Miramesa. The trend in Houston suburb resale is strongly related to high school quality.

haudi · 02-21-2017, 06:28 AM

I think what's likely to happen is that Cy-Springs gets balanced out better with the upscale neighborhoods once one of the new High Schools opens. Some of the lower income areas over there will get shuffled to the newer school on 529 making more room for the Canyon Lakes/Miramesa areas. While it's not necessarily great right now I think we'd all be guessing what that school would be like in 10 years. I suspect it will be much better than it is now, but that's purely based on speculation.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcfroggin

Without rezoning to a better high school, I think resell will be tough. My opinion is to avoid high unnecessary risk, and that area is not desirable right now. There are already 2 other high schools being built in the district, and neither is likely to pick up Miramesa. The trend in Houston suburb resale is strongly related to high school quality.