Looking for a lot to build in Munster (Crown Point, St. John: for sale, new home)

[ScreaminEagle]

I have begun to do my research and have been driving around looking at the vacant lots on the south side of Munster as well as Hill & Vale. Has anyone priced these lots? Pro's and con's? Who builds the most unique homes? How do you feel about the Estate of White Oak? Does anyone live near the railroad tracks and care to share their experience? Anyone care to share their research? All opinions welcome...Thanks!!!

[Northwest Indiana]

Originally Posted by ScreaminEagle

I have begun to do my research and have been driving around looking at the vacant lots on the south side of Munster as well as Hill & Vale. Has anyone priced these lots? Pro's and con's? Who builds the most unique homes? How do you feel about the Estate of White Oak? Does anyone live near the railroad tracks and care to share their experience? Anyone care to share their research? All opinions welcome...Thanks!!!

In Munster, the areas with the most available lots (and also the least expensive) are West Lakes of Munster as well as Community Estates (south of Hartsfield Village). in West Lakes, it seems as though most of the lots are in between $75,000 for about 0.3 acres and $100,000 for closer to 0.5 acres (also depending on lot features) . In Community Estates, most of the lots appears to be priced in between $115,000 and $150,000 for anywhere from 0.3 acres to over 0.5 acres. You may be able to negotiate down prices a bit (especially in Community Estates).

Estates of White Oak is a nice subdivision and recently has had more homes built and is getting closer to being built out. Since the train is in a quiet zone, I don't believe that the noise is too bad (I have been in one of the homes there as well as in White Oak that borders the tracks and you barely notice).

As far as Hill & Vale, I don't have a price for the few lots there, but I could imagine they are well over $100,000. The homes in Hill & Vale were largely built in the 1970s but are very upscale homes and have been maintained extremely well over the years.

As far as builders in the area, the most popular appears to be Katona Builders. They build very high quality homes; the only complaint that I have heard (which is mostly seen in West Lakes) is that a lot of the homes on Margo Ln looked the same as one another with few variations...none the less, the homes are very nice. Katona has also been buying up lots in more established subdivisions such as Twin Creeks (they developed homes there in the 1970s and 80s and there were a few lots left undeveloped until just a year ago). Most of their homes that are built seem to be priced anywhere from $450,000 to $750,000 and they have built homes well over $1M.

Another builder is Armani Developers and 1st Metropolitan Builders. 1st Met developed Estates of White Oak as well as Park West (which is a gated community with lots mostly in the $250,000-$300,000 range. These builders build extremely upscale homes mostly ranging from $700,000 to $1.5M+. The quality of these homes are outstanding.

Just so you know, many of the top builders (Precision Construction, Katona Builders, Armani Developers, and 1st Met Builders) live in the subdivision White Oak Estates, mostly developed in the mid 1990s. There are a few lots left there. The subdivision is very nice and upscale and the homes have aged very well while the newer builds blend in well.

There are many other builders in NWI that build very nice homes (Cook Builders, Newcastle Homes, Homes by Dutch Mill), but they mostly focus their efforts on much more rapidly growing south county areas such as St. John and Crown Point and build at more broad price points in general. But they would definitely build in Munster! Keep in mind though, that the same home in St. John and Crown Point would most likely cost significantly more in Munster due to higher land costs in Munster. Also, while in south Lake County, they are building more "modest/entry level" new homes in addition to executive style homes, Munster new-builds are pretty much limited to executive new build homes. While community estates allows styles such as Bi-Levels and Quad-levels, I doubt that anyone will build any as they would be building a $400,000 quad level home.

What is your budget on a new home including the lot? Will be glad to help! I am not an expert, but a resident who is very familiar with Munster! There is a poster, Rich B, who may have more technical information!

Also, depending on your budget, you may want to consider tearing down an old home and building a new one. This has happened in areas of Munster such as Wicker Park Estates.

Good luck!

[tvida42]

I live in one of the post-08 flood rebuilt homes on River Dr in Munster. Cook did a beautiful job: the house is as tight as a drum and we love out. I think they did a lot of the rebuilds around here.

You might look over in Independence Park for some old tear-downs, too, if land prices in the newer developments scare you away. RE West Lakes, there's only one way in and out of that development and it gets super backed up on Sundays when the mega-church on the corner lets out after service.

[Northwest Indiana]

There is a home for sale being developed on Bakker Ct and the price is listed is $849,000. I don't know what your budget is, but based on the other homes in that subdivision (and the few newer ones), a new home in Hill & Vale could be anywhere from $500,000 to over $1,000,000.

[richb]

Looks like most of the subdivisions have been covered pretty much already. I wouldn't do a teardown, there are plenty of open lots around town and the overall value of the land isn't to the point of making it worthwhile to remove an existing house. Teardowns only add another level of complexity to the home building process.

I would say to tour homes built by the various builders and talk with them. That really is the best way to find your builder. You will know when you have found that builder, it will feel right. We are lucky here in NWI to have a great group of builders, but it does make it a bit hard to pick one.

Good luck

[ScreaminEagle]

Thank you for the great responses. I think we we feel at home in the estates of white oak. Now deciding on which lot and builder. I sat and waited for a train to hear the level of noise. Do you think the train would severely effect resale down the road?

[tvida42]

You know, there is another subdivision in Munster that, for some reason, no one knows about. It's called Community Estates and it runs along Columbia, from Harold Hagburg and Main (in that area behind Fitness Pointe, Hartsfield Village, etc). It actually looks pretty nice. I only mention this because, like I said, no one knows about it: we lived here for three years before we ever saw it. Looked pretty nice:

Community Estates - Home

[km83]

We live close to the tracks and have never been bothered by the trains. The increased traffic, however, has occasionally blocked White Oak Ave. There have been enough complaints, I guess, because our recent water bill instructed residents to call the police when a train stops in order to "start the timer." They are only allowed to block the road for so long before they are fined.