Estates at Princeton Junction by Toll Brothers (mortgage, houses)

[CA2NJguy]

Anyone familiar with that development - The Estates at Princeton Junction by Toll Brothers?

I'm considering making an offer for a 2-yr old house in that development, a 2700 sq ft house with a finished basement and quite a few upgrades inside. Like all houses there though, it doesn't have much land and the space between houses is very tight. Price is fairly high at around 900K. What interests me is the West Windsor-Plainsboro schools.

Any advise, concerns, thoughts?

Anyone who lives in that community, do you like it?

[jerseyj]

Originally Posted by CA2NJguy

Anyone familiar with that development - The Estates at Princeton Junction by Toll Brothers?

I'm considering making an offer for a 2-yr old house in that development, a 2700 sq ft house with a finished basement and quite a few upgrades inside. Like all houses there though, it doesn't have much land and the space between houses is very tight. Price is fairly high at around 900K. What interests me is the West Windsor-Plainsboro schools.

Any advise, concerns, thoughts?

Anyone who lives in that community, do you like it?

I don't live in that development, but in the area. The homes there were quite popular when they first hit the market, selling close to 1M, they have come down some in the past couple of years. The kids are bused to the WW-P schools in Plainsboro. I don't think you would be unhappy with the school district.
There are other developments in the district that have a bit more property for the same or less money, (a bit older) if that is a concern.
OMG, I sound like a realtor! (I'm not!).
If you have more questions, just ask!

[CA2NJguy]

Originally Posted by jerseyj

I don't live in that development, but in the area. The homes there were quite popular when they first hit the market, selling close to 1M, they have come down some in the past couple of years. The kids are bused to the WW-P schools in Plainsboro. I don't think you would be unhappy with the school district.
There are other developments in the district that have a bit more property for the same or less money, (a bit older) if that is a concern.
OMG, I sound like a realtor! (I'm not!).
If you have more questions, just ask!

Thanks for the info. Can you tell me where those other development communities are? I'm new to the area relocating from CA. The WW-P school district is the reason I'm only looking in this area.

[Viralmd]

The LeParc communities...also with Princeton Junction addresses. Same WW-P school district.

[tahiti]

Originally Posted by CA2NJguy

Anyone familiar with that development - The Estates at Princeton Junction by Toll Brothers?

I'm considering making an offer for a 2-yr old house in that development, a 2700 sq ft house with a finished basement and quite a few upgrades inside. Like all houses there though, it doesn't have much land and the space between houses is very tight. Price is fairly high at around 900K. What interests me is the West Windsor-Plainsboro schools.

Any advise, concerns, thoughts?

Anyone who lives in that community, do you like it?

wow. even this lifelong jersey resident didn't realize it was so expensive in that area. that's about the size of my house and my value isn't NEAR that (and my area ain't too shabby ) i think in general toll brothers is overpriced.

seriously, i would look at resales. that price seems WAY out of whack, especially in this market. i'd be VERY concerned about resale if you're not 100% sure you'll be in this area for at least 7-10 years. you could get a much larger house, fairly new, in a place like Montgomery, which is very close to Princeton, with schools that rival WW-P, for less than that. plus you'll get at least 1 acre.

Good luck!

[jerseyj]

Tahiti is right, those Toll homes are really pricey for the amount of land they are on.
Viralmd is also right about the LeParc development, it is very popular because it has a neighbourhood pool and tennis courts. The homes are large (but older) and now in the 700k range. There is also Mill Brook, one of the newer developments, Princeton Oaks, Sun Rise, Stony Brook, there are a number of developments with good sized homes on much larger lots.

[juliann1977]

wow. even this lifelong jersey resident didn't realize it was so expensive in that area. that's about the size of my house and my value isn't NEAR that (and my area ain't too shabby ) i think in general toll brothers is overpriced.

seriously, i would look at resales. that price seems WAY out of whack, especially in this market. i'd be VERY concerned about resale if you're not 100% sure you'll be in this area for at least 7-10 years. you could get a much larger house, fairly new, in a place like Montgomery, which is very close to Princeton, with schools that rival WW-P, for less than that. plus you'll get at least 1 acre.

Good luck!

tahiti is correct.

The comps on resales in that development are that high? Really? Given the lot sizes, I find that shocking. We looked in that development a little over a year ago when we were shopping new construction in places with good schools, and couldn't get past the tiny lots. Some of those houses are close to 4000 sq.ft. on those itty bitty lots. I thought the houses under 3000 sq. ft. were in a different price bracket--nowhere near 900k. IIRC, the smaller houses were running in the 700s and that was over a year ago before everything crashed and burned.

There are many towns in NJ with good schools, and that sounds excessive for one of those homes.

It sounds like a disaster waiting to happen--paying that much for one of those houses could leave you upside down in your mortgage super fast. I don't mean to sound like an alarmist, but this really has me baffled.

[tahiti]

Originally Posted by juliann1977

tahiti is correct.

The comps on resales in that development are that high? Really? Given the lot sizes, I find that shocking. We looked in that development a little over a year ago when we were shopping new construction in places with good schools, and couldn't get past the tiny lots. Some of those houses are close to 4000 sq.ft. on those itty bitty lots. I thought the houses under 3000 sq. ft. were in a different price bracket--nowhere near 900k. IIRC, the smaller houses were running in the 700s and that was over a year ago before everything crashed and burned.

There are many towns in NJ with good schools, and that sounds excessive for one of those homes.

i did a little more digging on that development (because I was so shocked by the price!), and I'm guessing the OP is looking at purchasing the model home (CA2NJ - correct me if I'm wrong). the base price for the house is somewhere between $640 - $700K, based upon the 2700 sq ft size he mentioned. considering toll is asking $900K, it's got to be the model.

CA2NJ - you need to ask yourself if you think the $200-250K they are charging for upgrades are worth it. You'll probably have the most expensive house in the development, which, IMHO, especially now, isn't good.

[juliann1977]

did a little more digging on that development (because I was so shocked by the price!), and I'm guessing the OP is looking at purchasing the model home (CA2NJ - correct me if I'm wrong). the base price for the house is somewhere between $640 - $700K, based upon the 2700 sq ft size he mentioned. considering toll is asking $900K, it's got to be the model.

CA2NJ - you need to ask yourself if you think the $200-250K they are charging for upgrades are worth it. You'll probably have the most expensive house in the development, which, IMHO, especially now, isn't good.

Those models were upgraded out the wazoo, so I believe that they sunk 200k into them. But don't builders generally do reductions on models because they tend to get beat up with the masses traipsing through?

[Troy1]

Check out Hunter's Run development in Princeton Jct. Newer houses, big lots. Make sure you avoid developments near electrical towers and the train line. Will definitely affect resale in thi mkt. Good Luck.