Building a new home / Quick Possession

[Jayems]

Originally Posted by Nufy

What about buying an older home in an established community with schools, malls etc at your doorstep.

When me & the wife lookked for our first home we thought about the future and whether or not we wanted our kids to ride the bus to school in kindergarten.

As well having to drive to another community to get a gallon of milk or beer wasn't that attractive.

In the end we bought in an established community and are on our second home in the same area.

My kids go to the school down the street and I have multiple options for shopping, beer stores etc...

I understand the desire for a new home but with it comes all the new home hassles.

Who wants to live in a dusty construction zone for 2 years or have to wait for year to lay sod or put up fencing.

Not me.

I have an older home, 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, double detached garage with an extra parking pad, paved back alley, schools, parks etc at my doorstep.

I'm not slamming new homes but look at all your options...

Just my .02

It all comes down to cost and bang for buck. We'd much rather that too, but so far, you're paying an extra arm, leg and first born for that establishment. We simply can't afford to pay what most homes in established neighbourhoods are asking for. Or, those in our price range are 500 sq-ft shacks built in 1805.

[Shazam]

My friend's son does trim work for a lot of the builders in town.

They all have problems, except for Albi.

[Fobby]

Originally Posted by Jayems

It all comes down to cost and bang for buck. We'd much rather that too, but so far, you're paying an extra arm, leg and first born for that establishment. We simply can't afford to pay what most homes in established neighbourhoods are asking for. Or, those in our price range are 500 sq-ft shacks built in 1805.

What is your price range? There are lots of houses for under 350 in the harvest hills, coventry hills, and country hills area. There are even houses in lakeview now for under 400...

[Jayems]

Originally Posted by Fobby

What is your price range? There are lots of houses for under 350 in the harvest hills, coventry hills, and country hills area. There are even houses in lakeview now for under 400...

$350,000 would probably be tops. That, and for some reason, I can't get my fiancee to budge on going in the North.

But, I'm sure if we found the right place at the right price, we could maybe budge on location... but that seems to be what everyone says. If the location is wrong, you'll never like it. For me, I personally don't care where it is. But she has a big problem with location... and it just so happens that the location she wants, the homes are in the $500,000 range. But, reality will set in soon, I hope.

[Crazy Flamer]

My brother recently bought a townhouse in High River through one of the builders there. The builder gave them $10,000 to put towards their down payment and they also pay a portion of his mortgage.

Are any of the builders in Calgary offering similar plans?

[Fobby]

Originally Posted by Jayems

I can't get my fiancee to budge on going in the North.

I was like that once.. Love the SW.. but eventually moved to the NW... lol.. so never say never.

A coworker of mine just bought a place in somerset. His budget was similar to yours. Yard done, basement done, 10 min to Ctrain.

[DESS]

Originally Posted by Nufy

What about buying an older home in an established community with schools, malls etc at your doorstep.

When me & the wife lookked for our first home we thought about the future and whether or not we wanted our kids to ride the bus to school in kindergarten.

As well having to drive to another community to get a gallon of milk or beer wasn't that attractive.

In the end we bought in an established community and are on our second home in the same area.

My kids go to the school down the street and I have multiple options for shopping, beer stores etc...

I understand the desire for a new home but with it comes all the new home hassles.

Who wants to live in a dusty construction zone for 2 years or have to wait for year to lay sod or put up fencing.

Not me.

I have an older home, 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, double detached garage with an extra parking pad, paved back alley, schools, parks etc at my doorstep.

I'm not slamming new homes but look at all your options...

Just my .02

Yeah I've come around to this way of thinking myself. We built with NuVista when I was in my 20s and had a great experience with them. The house was rock solid and seriously nice. Now we're on our way to a bungalow in an established community and I'm really looking forward to the change. It'll be better for the kids, and I won't have to look at god-awful construction zones every time I leave the house.

As Jay-Z said in the the song 30 Somethin' - "I ain't got the bright watch, I got the right watch". That's kinda how I feel about the move we're doing.

[Nage Waza]

My Cardel home is in Montreux as well. The problem is that the company will not budge and fix something that is clearly bad. If a customer came to me and clearly demonstrated something was wrong, I would fix it. Especially if it was the builder's fault...Cardel refused, so they get a big thumbs down from me. I told them I would do whatever I could to persuade someone not to buy a home from them.

Funny that in just this thread, three of us live in Montreux.

[Nufy]

I'm in Deer Ridge and there's some nice home in here for about 350-400K

The market is still slow in this area so you might get a deal.

[smith12]

In terms of builders - I've heard nothing but good things from friends that have bought a Morrision Home. I think someone said they've won builder of the year for like 5 years running and I think there's a reason why.

[Envitro]

Originally Posted by Jayems

We're up in Montreux right now! I love that neighbourhood, but wish we could afford to get a house there. Maybe in 5 years. Anything under $400,000 yet?

I don't think so, I've been keeping an eye on MLS and such since we moved in, just out of curiousity. Nothing under $425k

Good luck!

[Peanut]

I'm pretty much a die-hard for established communities. We found a good deal in North Glenmore Park in February. Before that we basically lived in the 500 sq ft shack built in 1805 as you described, but I learned to love it (really!). We know people in Haysboro, Braeside, Fairview in the South and they are all good communities with deals if you keep an eye out. Also we have some friends in Silver Springs who love it, but it was a little pricey and sub-urby for us.

But I do see the allure of a new house... we have friends in Cranston who built with Discovery (a divison of Morrison, I think?) and they were happy. Then again, their neighbours also built with Discovery and were completely unhappy, so I guess it can be luck of the draw? A completed spec house might be the best bet because you can see exactly what you're buying vs trying to picture the lot, house and all your upgrades in your mind (very different from the showhome usually!). Also they are trying to unload them fast so maybe you can get a better deal on a spec place?

I don't really know much about it honestly. But just thought I'd chime in.

[trubuilt]

I have worked for a ton of the big builders as a sub and and we even work for a few at once. We also do a ton of high end custom and infill's. Most builders have hammered the trades to pick up more money so some of the good trades are not working and the cheapest are.
A ton has to do with the super, construction manager. Look at the show home chances are they will not do any better.
Remember you get what you pay for and you may end up with a lemon. Minimum codes are what they describe minimum if you want more you chances are have to pay for it.
Upgrades are almost always cosmetic not structural such as lvl beams over the garage to it wont sag, extra rebar in the footing and around the windows. high efficient furnace/ hot water tank, in floor heat with Styrofoam under (with out has about a 50% heat loss)
If you look at used be careful of recent renos could be a cover up always ask about drug houses (your realtor should help you with a ton of that stuff) I could go on if you have a direct question just shoot me a PM

[Twigs]

We built with Cardel in Auburn Bay and had a great experience. The we sold it (easily, too) and moved into a quick possession home in Mohagany by Stepper Homes. Stepper has a few quick possessions in the area and of the 4 people I know who have built with them, they are all very happy. You can see their current ones here: http://www.stepperhomes.com/find-you...ssessions.html

I haven't found any issues with selling in the deep south. The new hospital is about to open next year which is bringing people to the area and the new ring road will make it even more accessible to get around the city. Deep south is also the choice for people who want to be in the city, but still close to family out in Okotoks or High River.

[THE SCUD]

Originally Posted by Twigs

We built with Cardel in Auburn Bay and had a great experience. The we sold it (easily, too) and moved into a quick possession home in Mohagany by Stepper Homes. Stepper has a few quick possessions in the area and of the 4 people I know who have built with them, they are all very happy. You can see their current ones here: http://www.stepperhomes.com/find-you...ssessions.html

I haven't found any issues with selling in the deep south. The new hospital is about to open next year which is bringing people to the area and the new ring road will make it even more accessible to get around the city. Deep south is also the choice for people who want to be in the city, but still close to family out in Okotoks or High River.

Thank you, good sir, for bumping a 2 and a half year old thread with the answer to a question nobody had. Nobody wants to live in the dirty south, they chose to due to due to the inexpensive homes.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Twigs

Deep south is also the choice for people who want to be in the city, but still close to family out in Okotoks or High River.

Haha, what a random idea for a positive about the deep south. I'm willing to bet 3 or 4 families out of the tens of thousands that live down here chose to live here so they could be closer to family in Okotoks/High River.

Realtor: ..and now I'm going to show you a couple of houses in Lake Bonavista. By the way guys, Lake Bonavista is a great community for anyone who has family in Parkland. In fact, it's the number fifteen reason people move here.

[TurdFerguson]

I bought a Jayman spec home in Mahogany about 8 months ago. We've been really happy with the experience (aside from the final grading of our lot which took forever). I think your experience really has a lot to do with the construction manager...ours told us to call him anytime for any problem before going through the formal warranty channels. We could always get a hold of him and have had him over a couple time to take a look at things (nothing out of the usual) and he has been great.

Before we bought we did some research and heard great things and horror stories about every builder in our community (Jayman, Stepper, Sabal, Trico). The entire building process seems like a roll of the dice to me and depends so much on the people and trades involved not just the overall builder.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by Twigs

Deep south is also the choice for people who want to be in the city, but still close to family out in Okotoks or High River.

I'm sure both of those people are very happy with their choice.

[Nage Waza]

Originally Posted by Twigs

We built with Cardel in Auburn Bay

Maybe you should read what I already posted about Cardel earlier in this thread. Tell your other Cardel pals about my situation and ask them why a company like Cardel would ignore my house problems? Bad drywall, bad tiles, bad plumbing, frozen pipes, leaking pipes, there is a bunch of issues - and they won't help. In fact, they did come out once, then never returned and do not return calls. They are always free to pm me if they want to fix the problems. I wouldn't hold my breath. The last thing they told me was that since they hired people to do the assorted work during the construction of my house, they shouldn't have to fix it. I wouldn't buy from them.

[Travis Munroe]

Every home builder is going to have their pros and cons. The 3 that stand out as having more likes than dislikes are cedarglen, cardel and morrison.
I agree with whomever mentioned the equity in landscaping. If your currently working with a realtor have him/her negotiate basement development or something like that into the deal and do the landscaping/deck/fence yourself. If your not working with a realtor I would love to help .