Question About Building New Home with Drees (Hillsborough: cul-de-sac, credit)
Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, CaryThe Triangle Area
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We are soon moving to the Triangle and are in the process of finding a home. We are strongly considering a new home with Drees in Churton Grove in Hillsborough.
Before we put down a deposit, we want to negotiate if possible things like the lot premium and options. I do have an agent who I'm very happy with and she is in the process of contacting other agents who have sold with Drees to get some insights. The problem is that the homes that show up as sold in the MLS system are the spec homes, not the pre-sales, and those are a totally different animal with regard to negotiating the price.
My question is: is there anyone here who built a new home with Drees in Churton Grove (or another community in the Triangle) and would be willing to share information about the negotiating process, what you got as incentives, etc.? Also, would you be willing to share the name of your realtor so my agent could talk to him/her to get some insights on working with Drees? Thank you so much in advance for any help!! Please feel free to PM me if you would be more comfortable.
Thanks again -- this forum has been an amazing wealth of information for us over the last 9 months!! I can't wait to get there!
We tried to negotiate with Drees but they were very inflexible. Their lot premiums are extremely expensive compared to Beazer (over $5000 more for the same type of lot - end of cul-de-sac in this case). That is indefensible since the land is bought from the developer at the same cost, it was just a way of hiding that extra from the list price on the website. Short-sighted since the total price is what is important.
Looking at the materials and contractors used I do not see why Drees is $20-40K more for a comparable specification and size. They do have a little more detailing on the exterior and interior but $20,000 worth I don`t think.
One other thing you should check - they like to cut all the trees down at the front of the lots. Look on Coach House Lane and you will see that Beazer kept some trees in the front of their lots and Drees just cleared everything. Very disappointing for a company that sells itself as a semi-custom home builder.
Now they do have advantages in having more floorplans and elevations but Beazer does seem more popular with many more being built. You may recall the old adage that it is best to be the cheapest house in the neighborhood rather than the most expensive. Come resale people who want to move to Churton Grove (a desirable neighborhood) will look and see comparable homes with a price differential of over $20K, which one do you think they will choose? Especially as on all the key items the houses are directly comparable - lot size and type (ie wooded), house size, amount of wood/granite and tile, age of house. Drees seems to have realised this by offering 2 new floorplans but they are still more expensive for a smaller home. As agents have told me the market has shifted down by around $50,000. In CG they used to sell a lot of $400K homes but now $350K which is why Beazer was better placed.
Just think about this before you commit. Hope it helped.
As a former on site agent with a few national homebuilders (that will remain nameless) I actually have a unique point of view.
Generaly speaking no national homebuilders will negotiate when it comes to a presale. Typically the builders have already purchased the lots from the developer on a set lot take down schedule (meaning they agreed to purchase x# of lots every month, quarter,etc.). Usually lot premiums are determined prior to building and are spread out amongst all of the lots that the builder purchased. The more "desirable" lots will cary a higher premium (cul-de-sacs and lots that back towooded areas.
Where a vast majority of any of the big builders make their money is in the options. I am not extremely familiar with drees, but expect to add about 15-20% for a nicely trimmed out house.
In regards to clear cutting the lots, check with the onsite representative and see if they can speak with the superentient to see if they can only clear to the building envelope.
Many onsite agents are trained to only use current incentives as negotiating tools when it comes to presales. Don't expect them to come off any with option pricing or with the lot premiums because the onsite agents can't make that decision.
If you'relooking for a deal I would suggest looking at any finished inventory in the neighborhood. Most builders are more willing to negotiate on a finished home to get it off their books. Plus you'll be able totake advantage of the tax credit.
We are soon moving to the Triangle and are in the process of finding a home. We are strongly considering a new home with Drees in Churton Grove in Hillsborough.
Before we put down a deposit, we want to negotiate if possible things like the lot premium and options. I do have an agent who I'm very happy with and she is in the process of contacting other agents who have sold with Drees to get some insights. The problem is that the homes that show up as sold in the MLS system are the spec homes, not the pre-sales, and those are a totally different animal with regard to negotiating the price.
My question is: is there anyone here who built a new home with Drees in Churton Grove (or another community in the Triangle) and would be willing to share information about the negotiating process, what you got as incentives, etc.? Also, would you be willing to share the name of your realtor so my agent could talk to him/her to get some insights on working with Drees? Thank you so much in advance for any help!! Please feel free to PM me if you would be more comfortable.
Thanks again -- this forum has been an amazing wealth of information for us over the last 9 months!! I can't wait to get there!
I can't give you much insight into negotiation tactics with Drees....but we did build our home in Churton Grove with them and were very happy with the experience.
We built a few years ago before the bust, so it wasn't even a consideration to get anything marked down.
We found Erin the onsite agent and Heath the builder (both of whom I believe are still there) to be terrific and easy to work with. They delivered everything promised, made deadlines that they set, kept us informed regularly on progress.
3 + years later we still have no complaints with our home.
From what I understand the water bills are 50% higher in that part of Orange county. Check about that. You could be paying close to 100 dollars a month for water.
You are right capt chill. Our agent got us the utilities information on a resale we were looking at in Churton Grove and the water averaged $125/month! However, coming from New England with oil heat, our total utilities will still be less in NC. Thank you for the heads up!
You are right capt chill. Our agent got us the utilities information on a resale we were looking at in Churton Grove and the water averaged $125/month! However, coming from New England with oil heat, our total utilities will still be less in NC. Thank you for the heads up!
Don't be so sure about the utilities. If you are using natural gas to heat a big house its gonna cost plenty. Then electric for the long hot summers. We are from NJ and quite frankly the bills are not much different when you add up the entire year to heat and cool.
I hear Drees does build a nice home though. But kinda like the big box center hall colonial type. there are so many other places with well nicer style homes not the cookie cutter tract home. Keep looking.
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