[krizzy]

http://www.kb-home-problems.com/

[Dan725]

Although we don't have a KB home, I do think they get a lot of overly bad press which could apply to a lot of national homebuilders. I know a few people who are perfectly happy with theirs.

We looked at a few KB's when searching - the thing that put us off most (rather than blindly jumping on the "KB Sucks" wagon) was the amount of money you had to fork out on internal upgrades if you wanted to live in anything other than a total bare bones box. Once you factored in the upgrades, KB were no cheaper than anyone else, who included substantially better items as standard (or cheap upgrade).

[krizzy]

We looked at KB just to see...my friend worked for them for a few months and then walk off site because of the way the homes were built...

The KB started out cheaper than the house we now have...but everything that came with our house was an upgrade on KB making it about $30k more...
I also know many people happy with them...even after their home's were flooded in the FL storms ...but they were told by KB this was normal...
Windows also blow in because they were not to code...but it seems thats normal too...
I must have a very abnormal home then...

[Yorkieabroad]

[quote=Dan725;5257370]Although we don't have a KB home, I do think they get a lot of overly bad press which could apply to a lot of national homebuilders. I know a few people who are perfectly happy with theirs.

QUOTE]

I know 2 in KB - both are very unhappy. But then we're in a Trendmaker (OK, not topflight, but expected to be reasonable), and I'm not very happy with that either....

[TruBrit]

[quote=Yorkieabroad;5258584
I know 2 in KB - both are very unhappy. But then we're in a Trendmaker (OK, not topflight, but expected to be reasonable), and I'm not very happy with that either....[/QUOTE]

and we were in kickerillo and it was crap with a capital k!

[Yorkieabroad]

We were looking at a later built kickerillo (about 5yo I think) and our realtor had a few choice words about it...reckoned they used to be very very good, but in the mid/late 90's they'd lost their direction a bit and their quality went with it....how old was yours.

[TruBrit]

Originally Posted by Yorkieabroad We were looking at a later built kickerillo (about 5yo I think) and our realtor had a few choice words about it...reckoned they used to be very very good, but in the mid/late 90's they'd lost their direction a bit and their quality went with it....how old was yours.

it was brand new inventory stock when we bought almost 6 yrs ago. subdivision 'lakeforest' off sth fry.

[Giantaxe]

Originally Posted by David Richardson It is a strong buyer's market currently and if you have good credit, verifiable income and a 20% downpayment ( ideal but 10% OK), you could get a terrific buy right now. The current mortgage shakeout will run for another few weeks and lending standards have been tightened and rightly so IMO. Don't think we'll see a shift to a seller's market for at least a year maybe longer.

Weeks? Try years. And as you allude to, the lending "standards" we've seen over the last few years are extremely unlikely to return for the forseeable future, and it was that credit bubble that's driven prices up. The net result is that there are simply fewer qualified buyers out there and inventory is steadily increasing. It may be "Buyer's Market" in that there are less buyers than sellers, but that doesn't equate to it being the "good time to buy" that realtors love to claim. In fact, with prices relative to income and rents still at historic highs in many areas, prices would have to fall considerably from current levels to make buying attractive, imo. My prediction: a "seller's market" won't return for at least half a decade.

[Giantaxe]

Personally I love KB Homes. It's been very profitable shorting their stock (and that of some of their competitors) over the last couple of years

[David Richardson]

It may be "Buyer's Market" in that there are less buyers than sellers, but that doesn't equate to it being the "good time to buy" that realtors love to claim. In fact, with prices relative to income and rents still at historic highs in many areas, prices would have to fall considerably from current levels to make buying attractive, imo. My prediction: a "seller's market" won't return for at least half a decade.[/quote]

I cannot speak for anywhere but GA and really metro Atlanta, but it IS a strong buyer's market if you are qualified to buy here. I have had my best ever July and August all helping buyers. The rule of supply and demand creates opportunities and those in a position to take advantage, ought to. If you have nothing to sell or a sound contract on your current home, decent credit score, reliable income and some cash on hand you can get a good deal right now. Full disclosure for anyone not following the board over the last 2 weeks or so - I'm a Realtor.

[cindyabs]

Originally Posted by David Richardson It may be "Buyer's Market" in that there are less buyers than sellers, but that doesn't equate to it being the "good time to buy" that realtors love to claim. In fact, with prices relative to income and rents still at historic highs in many areas, prices would have to fall considerably from current levels to make buying attractive, imo. My prediction: a "seller's market" won't return for at least half a decade.

I cannot speak for anywhere but GA and really metro Atlanta, but it IS a strong buyer's market if you are qualified to buy here. I have had my best ever July and August all helping buyers. The rule of supply and demand creates opportunities and those in a position to take advantage, ought to. If you have nothing to sell or a sound contract on your current home, decent credit score, reliable income and some cash on hand you can get a good deal right now. Full disclosure for anyone not following the board over the last 2 weeks or so - I'm a Realtor.[/quote]

Are they overbuilding at all in your neck of the woods? They have done so here in my town, IMHO, which is a bedroom community for Savannah. They built what COULD have been an attractive condo community on the banks of the Ogeechee. Instead of a nice circle of brick buildings (like The Enclave on top of "Pill Hill" in ATL), they jammed it full chock a block (literally) of what to me looks like overpriced unattractive flats.
It's not just that, they've gone wild building little blocks of store fronts with even a few "office condos" thrown in. Well guess what? 2/3 of 'em are still vacant, months after they were finished.
"If you build it they will come?" Me thinketh not.

[David Richardson]

[
Are they overbuilding at all in your neck of the woods? They have done so here in my town, IMHO, which is a bedroom community for Savannah. They built what COULD have been an attractive condo community on the banks of the Ogeechee. Instead of a nice circle of brick buildings (like The Enclave on top of "Pill Hill" in ATL), they jammed it full chock a block (literally) of what to me looks like overpriced unattractive flats.

They have in the past but since we have 3 new cities in Fulton County - Sandy Springs, Johns Creek and Milton - the zoning has been toughened up. The problem was that developers and their money people would always get seats on the planning commissions - often a majority - and run wild. About 6 years ago more comunity activists began to run for those seats on 'slow growth or controlled growth' platforms and got elected. So improved zoning and restrictions have improved things. Good zoning/master planning is actually the developers friend in the long run. They build better projects that sell and enhance the neighbohood ( there are still mistakes made and code enforcement/inspections cannot slip).

[Kaffy Mintcake]

Originally Posted by cindyabs Are they overbuilding at all in your neck of the woods? They have done so here in my town, IMHO, which is a bedroom community for Savannah. They built what COULD have been an attractive condo community on the banks of the Ogeechee. Instead of a nice circle of brick buildings (like The Enclave on top of "Pill Hill" in ATL), they jammed it full chock a block (literally) of what to me looks like overpriced unattractive flats. It's not just that, they've gone wild building little blocks of store fronts with even a few "office condos" thrown in. Well guess what? 2/3 of 'em are still vacant, months after they were finished. "If you build it they will come?" Me thinketh not.

Interesting that you mentioned overbuilding. I'm amazed at how many homes are still being built - further and further out from the cities. In my area, the population is not increasing, it's decreasing - but the homes are still being built. Kind of a shame really, as that essentially means that empty houses are left behind.

Ours was built in the 30's and a workman once commented that "you can't get construction like this nowadays". I wonder if that's true. Problems with builders seem the norm.

[Yorkieabroad]

We've still got massive building programmes going on, but the houses are selling, more often than not, before they've even levelled grade or the slab. So the prices keep edging up. Like a couple have mentioned, we've also got the strip malls going up all over the place. Amongst the newbuild houses, the units are leasing quickly (always a need for nail salons, dry cleaners and donuts....) but the ones in the older areas are standing empty for months if not years (Is there some sort of tax dodge on developing these sites? Or is it just laundering drug money....)

the thing that concerns me is that some of the basic infrastructure is failing to keep up - some roads/junctions are creaking at the seams under the weight of the increased volume of traffic, and despite a massive newbuilding program, the local school district is struggling to keep up with the influx...that could be a concern for property prices round our way - its a "sought after" school district, which has inflated the houseprices vs say the enxt school district across, but if it fails to keep up with the rapid expansion required, and standards slip as a result, what will people do....? Also, I dont see a massive biulding program on things like Fire Stations....just hope there is sufficient slack in the system to handle the new potential "workload"...........

[dunroving]

Originally Posted by Yorkieabroad We've still got massive building programmes going on, but the houses are selling, more often than not, before they've even levelled grade or the slab. So the prices keep edging up. Like a couple have mentioned, we've also got the strip malls going up all over the place. Amongst the newbuild houses, the units are leasing quickly (always a need for nail salons, dry cleaners and donuts....) but the ones in the older areas are standing empty for months if not years (Is there some sort of tax dodge on developing these sites? Or is it just laundering drug money....) the thing that concerns me is that some of the basic infrastructure is failing to keep up - some roads/junctions are creaking at the seams under the weight of the increased volume of traffic, and despite a massive newbuilding program, the local school district is struggling to keep up with the influx...that could be a concern for property prices round our way - its a "sought after" school district, which has inflated the houseprices vs say the enxt school district across, but if it fails to keep up with the rapid expansion required, and standards slip as a result, what will people do....? Also, I dont see a massive biulding program on things like Fire Stations....just hope there is sufficient slack in the system to handle the new potential "workload"...........

In the town I lived in (pop. 80,000), the majority of the City Council and Zoning and Planning Committee were developers. They were buying up all the tobacco land and building subdivisions and massive apartment complexes with one exit leading out onto a busy road, no infrastructure, etc. Massive problems with stormwater run-off, etc.

It amazes me that council members and planning board members are not required to recuse themselves from voting on any proposal that involves their own company or affiliates.