Toontje

Surely not in Alaska.....

David Richardson

[We bought new 18 months ago. About 8 months after us, friends signed for an identical house, on a smaller lot (approx 4000' smaller), we've got waterfront, they havent. They paid approx 15% more than us....

Full disclosure - attention board - I'm a Realtor. With new construction, the first 10 - 15% of buyers will get a better deal and their equity will grow faster. Builders/developers want to get a few homes sold early ( hence pre-construction prices etc) to attract others into the S/D. Then the last 3-5% of buyers will get a good deal on the remaining homes as they want to get finished and be gone. So new construction - be early or be late ( tho' best locations likely gone already) for best investment.

Yorkieabroad

The development we're on was in 4 phases - we got in early on the release of the final phase, and got what I reckon is the best lot in the development. Our friends were towards the back end of the phase, though not close enough to get the closeout deals. Pretty much bears out what you say.

Tarkak9

The early days are more tied in with their construction loans. Builders notoriously raise their prices to encourage motivation from an unsuspecting buyer... None the less, one shouldn't forget the Golden Rule - negotiate - "If you don't ask, you don't get" is my credo. Couple of samples; got 40k worth of upgrades and options incl 3 car garage, full basement, greenbelt lot with views and still came under Base price (ssshhh don't tell the other residents but its the cheapest sale in the s/d). Another time had an agreed sale price 100k below the builder's asking price (Former model home too).

YB, glad that you were able to close in the end... recently I've heard some horror stories over the whole "mortgage meltdown" with the banks not funding leaving people high & dry and people loosing their earnest money etc... the unseen aspect of it all.... similar to the dot.gone internet lenders which pulled a houdini a few years ago. Even today I heard that banks are really really tightening things for us foreign nationals....even the likes of BofA and BofArizona; some of them are not doing them anymore. Interesting times.

Yorkieabroad

Quite right too - bl**dy foreigners keep em all out I say. Ooops, sorry wrong thread.....

Yorkieabroad

[QUOTE=Tarkak9;5242282]None the less, one shouldn't forget the Golden Rule - negotiate - "If you don't ask, you don't get" is my credo. QUOTE]

Yeah, wish I'd asked for more.
Did Ok on the price, but forgot to ask them to build it properly.....naively thought that was included in the price....

krizzy

[QUOTE=Yorkieabroad;5242341] Not KB by any chance....

Yorkieabroad

[QUOTE=krizzy;5242416] No, I wouldn't have been upset if it had been them - at least everyone knows they build crap, so you go in with your eyes open...

Yorkieabroad

[QUOTE=Yorkieabroad;5242421]
Oh bollocks...now I've done it. If theres someone out there in a KB home and they're really happy with it, its their dream palace, the place they want to raise a family in and ultimately be carted out of to the resthome.......please don't shout at me....I didn't mean YOUR KB home was crap, just all your neighbours......

lisag8070

[QUOTE=Yorkieabroad;5242423] Don't worry, they can't be as bad as Portrait homes and I'll ditto Yorkieabroad's apology if you live in one

David Richardson

Another time had an agreed sale price 100k below the builder's asking price (Former model home too).

Former model home - often among the last to get listed and usually close to the front, for obvious reasons. Always top construction though........and well decorated, top trim, custom paint colors, yada, yada.....
Following my earlier post about the early buyers getting the best deals, it really only applies to the larger S/D's - 100 homes and up, I'd say - at lower price points. Less likely if you're buying in an enclave of 17 -25 million dollar plus custom built homes. There you will often be asked for a premium for the best lots. You will still fare better in investment terms if you buy early and prices grow because the S/D is a success. If the S/D turns out to be a dog.....you might have to stay there a long time to get a decent return

Yorkieabroad

So that'll be the "KB Homes Deluxe" models then.....

Tarkak9

To each to their own and every transaction is unique to its own... builder doing a limited number of each model in the s/d (so yes they didn't "need" it) asking price was 370k - contract for 270k and they threw in complete fencing too. It appraised for way higher. S/D slated build out time is another 2 years. Custom builders - tell you another time settled 275k off 1.49M asking. Its mostly about margin and timing. Offset credo is "if they don't ask, they don't get" but my stance is why pay more than you have to?


KB homes - what ever happened to kbhomessuck.com?!?! Its no longer active. Still, this site is fairly interesting: http://www.hadd.com/websites.php

krizzy

[QUOTE=Yorkieabroad;5242423]
I'm always putting my foot in it with people who have a KB...I remember going into their show home and seeing light switches off the wall..the shower door would not stay closed because the room was not level..my friend just touched a tile on a work top and they all fell off....the base board was coming off the wall...show homes should be tip top...we tried 4 other builders that day and could not find a problem in their show homes...

krizzy

KB were trying to buy everyone out who started a web site about how bad they were...that must of cost them a lot there were a load at one time..