Home Buying (Houston, Spring, Converse: for sale, foreclosures, mortgage)

[dbljnnfr]

My husband and I are looking into pruchasing a Beazer home. I see that there is a lot of negative information on them in the past regarding mortgage fraud, which can be avoided by not getting funding through them. Does anyone have or know someone who has experience with Beazer? Any information aside from financing related?

[studiobtm]

Buy a foreclosure. Offer the bank 70% of what they are asking and negotiate up to 80%. Even then, make sure it is a good deal compared to the comps. A good deal to me is buying at a 20% or better discount.

What price range are you looking at? At some price ranges the discounts can be much steeper.

I don't know anything about Beazer but someone who will commit mortgage fraud (if true) would also likely cut corners or worse in other areas.

[l3m]

Here's a post about Beazer from a year ago.

https://www.city-data.com/forum/houst...s-telfair.html

We visited their Park at Arbordate site in Cypress last weekend. Nice gated expensive community located on the busy Spring-Cypress street. Still a lot of unsold lots after more than a year in existence. They were giving $50K discounts on some spec homes till the end of March. All builders are really desperate for sales.

[JustCinco]

Beazer is a good builder, if you don't feel comfortable using their mortgage company, try to still have them pay for the owners title policy, builders usually only pay for it, if you use thier mortgage company, but now days they are willing to negotiate to make the sale, that is just under 1% savings on your closing costs.

If you qualify for the Tax Credit you need to make a decision soon, you need to sign the contract by April 30, and close by June 30. Much depends if you are building from dirt, or buying inventory.

[Houston321]

Originally Posted by l3m

Here's a post about Beazer from a year ago.

https://www.city-data.com/forum/houst...s-telfair.html

We visited their Park at Arbordate site in Cypress last weekend. Nice gated expensive community located on the busy Spring-Cypress street. Still a lot of unsold lots after more than a year in existence. They were giving $50K discounts on some spec homes till the end of March. All builders are really desperate for sales.

That is an untrue statement, and leads to warped thinking when out shopping for homes. If you are looking in a popular area expect a fair price for a quality home. If there is a home sitting for a year with a 50k discount on it, it means either the home is crap or the neighborhood is crap. Or, worst case scenario...the home and the neighborhood are crap.

[astrohip]

Originally Posted by studiobtm

Buy a foreclosure. Offer the bank 70% of what they are asking and negotiate up to 80%. Even then, make sure it is a good deal compared to the comps. A good deal to me is buying at a 20% or better discount.

What price range are you looking at? At some price ranges the discounts can be much steeper.

I don't know anything about Beazer but someone who will commit mortgage fraud (if true) would also likely cut corners or worse in other areas.

While a foreclosure can be a very good deal, there are lots of people who want a new home. They don't want the challenges of dealing with one, or they may not be comfortable buying one.

Beazer is a good builder; they use name-brand products, put a lot into their homes. The mortgage problem was a totally unrelated issue, and had nothing to do with their home-building. Relating that to cutting corners is like saying because you speed (yes, that's illegal!) you also may be a child predator.

Other builders similar to Beazer are Plantation/MHI, Perry & DR Horton, among others.

[diggity101]

Buy a foreclosure. Offer the bank 70% of what they are asking and negotiate up to 80%. Even then, make sure it is a good deal compared to the comps. A good deal to me is buying at a 20% or better discount.

This seems a little simplistic.

First of all, most banks aren't going to respond to your 70% offer. You'll just be wasting your time.

Second, trying to give a specific strategy for every foreclosures is just silly. It all depends on the area.

Thirdly, you say a good deal is a 20% discount or better. Wouldn't that depend on the list price? What good is 20% off if the listing was overpriced by 30%? Conversely, if the property is listed at 20% below market, wouldn't a 100% offer still be a good deal?

[desertsun41]

For those of you improperly guessing that Beezer is a good builder I don't feel it is fair of you to give some one false information just because you feel inclined to respond to a post and feel helpful. No Beezer is not a good builder. They are not horrible. I know the the company intimately. They are a step above the dreaded KB Homes.

Here is what I tell people when they ask me who is a good and bad builder. For the sake of this answer I am speaking of tract builders. Whether it's Pulte, Perry, Trendmaker......etc etc. The owner or stock holders or CEOs or any management did not build that home. They never left the office nor do they know or care who bought any specific home. Sub contractors build them. And without mentioning any names, Joe Electric services all the tract builders, John the framers frames for all the tract builders, Don's roofing roofs for all the tract builders.......get the picture? Jim Pulte did not build your home, a bunch of sub contractors did and they and their habbits are part of every major builder's home who uses them.

The main difference is with the companies customer service. For that, Pulte is and has been #1 for at least 12 years running. This prestigious award is awarded by JD Powers Assoc. The Beezers and the KB Homes always are at the bottom of the list in customer service. I have been involved in defective work claims against Pulte homes that were far beyond the normal HOW (home owner warranty) and Pulte has fixed the problem anyway. Now that is awesome!!

These builders who build inexpensive homes still use all the same structural products as any high end custom builder. In other words, there is no such thing as cheap choice cement, drywall, dimensional lumber....etc. The cheap crap comes in things like a $3 Chinese made light fixture rather then a quality $100 light or the dollar a yard carpeting or the cheap Chinese made formaldehyde and sulfur infested cabinets that are sure to give you asthma or cancer. Tract builders also use very cheap and unskilled south of the border labor. A custom home will use highly skilled tradesmen with many years behind them.

In the end, there is nothing wrong with a Beezer or KB home. You get lots of square footage for your money and you can customize it yourself after you move in with more quality fixtures, carpeting and so on.

It is pretty stupid to buy a new home now, knowing it will continue to lose value in our depression times. Ever play momentum stocks? Knowing what that means should steer one into never buying a new home right now. It's suicide at worst and the next wave of foreclosures at best.

[Txgal33]

Originally Posted by Houston321

[/b]

That is an untrue statement, and leads to warped thinking when out shopping for homes. If you are looking in a popular area expect a fair price for a quality home. If there is a home sitting for a year with a 50k discount on it, it means either the home is crap or the neighborhood is crap. Or, worst case scenario...the home and the neighborhood are crap.

Not necessarily true. The home and the neighborhood could be just fine and the seller could just have the home way over priced and refuse to lower it.

[astrohip]

Originally Posted by desertsun41

It is pretty stupid to buy a new home now, knowing it will continue to lose value in our depression times. Ever play momentum stocks? Knowing what that means should steer one into never buying a new home right now. It's suicide at worst and the next wave of foreclosures at best.

Ridiculous statement. You blast us for making a general statement ("Beazer is good"), then turn around and make one yourself.

Buying a home should be a well thought out decision. It doesn't matter whether it's a booming market or the Dust Bowl, think it thru and make a smart decision.

Is the home priced fairly? Do you intend to live in it for several years, hence able to ride out fluctuations in the market? Or is there a good chance you will need to move within 3-6 years? How secure is your income stream? On and on.

This (and many many other questions) is how you decide to buy a new home, rent, stay put, whatever. Some of the absolute best decisions home buyers have made is to buy when the market is down. But who's to say when the market is at the bottom, or at the peak for that matter. In general, trying to time a market fails. Buy when it makes sense for YOU.