Shockwave

Apologies for not making my introductions here earlier, folks. I moved to Austin about 8 months ago and am now in the market to buy my first home somewhere in the North Austin area (price range is around 130 -- 135 absolute tops and that would have me eating ramen for a while).

I was curious if any of you could give your input on good and bad local home-builders. I missed a great opportunity to buy an existing Ryland home that was beautiful (if I had just started 2 damn days earlier). I've been told that KB and Milburn are ok, and that Legacy, Kimball, and Ryland are good.

I've been told to stay away from Main Street Homes. I haven't gotten a solid opinion on Pulte either way yet.

Any and all input would be greatly appreciated!


Craig

Slo-ride

KB is all about "bigger home for less money" but you get less than what you pay for with them IMO. Pulte is good. I'm not that familiar with all the ones you listed but Highland Homes isn't bad either. Once you've settled on a home and you have a GFE(Good Faith Estimate) from a lender, e-mail me and I'll beat whatever they've offered you. I'm in San Antonio but I love undercutting the mortgage companies in Austin. Are you building or buying an existing home? I'm serious about getting you into a home for less than anyone else. I've been doing this for a long time and have a tendency to "hook a brotha up" every now and then.

Pony Punisher II

Any chance you could hook a brutha' up here in the Dallas area?

95GRNZ

I'm a bit further north of Austin though , but I'll throw in my couple fo cents.

We bought a Pulte home 2.5 years ago and have been very satisfied with it. The few minor things we have had have been taken care of fast and professionally.

The thing is that lots of the stuff has to do with the contractors they use to build and service you. Pulte as a company seem very good. I'd buy another Pulte house any time.

KB builds houses here in DFW, too, but, like Slo-ride said, they are more into the more-sq.ft.-for-less-money type of business. We looked into their houses when we were looking to buy one and noticed that pretty much everything we wanted in a house and which Pulte had as standard, was just an option @ KB.

Kimball, Highland and Ryland are building here, too, and don't look too bad at all. If you have David Weekley building in your area and price range, I'd definetely check into them, too.

Good luck!

TS

Slo-ride

Shockwave, you have mail.

Pony Punisher, I would gladly hook you up. I gave Shockwave all of my phone numbers so you can reach me if you have any questions, need a rate quote, etc. You can e-mail me as well.

As was stated above, Pulte, Highland, and homes of similar caliber are a good value. You get what you pay for and not a penny less. My wife and I bought a Highland home in March '02 for $178,000 and refinanced it two months ago and it appraised for $196,500. The area we live in is why the increase was so steep but these homes have character and are desirable, nonetheless. Austin is more expensive than San Antonio but there are still some good values up that way.

I hope everything works out and I'll help if I can.

GN

My buddy runs a crew for highland homes. they do excellent work but are a bit pricey. IMO. Slo Ride who do you work for? I just purchased a home in nov. could have used you then if i had known, however i think we got an ok deal. i am at 6% int. which is not bad i don't think?
lupe

Slo-ride

You are in good shape with that rate. They've risen a bit since then and are, IMO, going to rise slowly from here on out. I work for Broad Street Mortgage here in San Antonio. My wife and I work as a team now. I was the Branch Manager for a couple of retail branches of Aames Funding Corporation for the last several years(Grand Rapids, MI and San Antonio, TX). I'll have a website up soon and will post a link to it here once everything is up and running smoothly. I can be reached at 210/736-9990 X211 if anyone has any questions(assuming I'm not playing golf ).

SStupid

I don't know who you have been talking to, but stay away from KB homes. The became KB after Koffman and Brough went out of business to avoid multiple lawsuits from owners for foundation problems. They were spacing the rebar underneath the concrete in the driveways and garage foundations too far apart. The concrete would then shift, crack, and even fall in with some cases. I have two guys I work with here at AMD that just had KB homes built. Both have had issues with the rear door of their house and have had a really hard time getting KB to fix them. KB also seems to run through area reps pretty quick. If you call about a problem and have somebody come out, he may not be there the next time you call. There are other issues with KB, but I don't want this to get long (too late). I heard Centex builds good homes.

Slo-ride

I believe you are speaking of Kaufman and Broad. Yes, they changed their name to start "anew." I don't think anyone here has bragged about them at all. They've certainly had more than their share of problems but believe it or not, not ALL KB homes are defective.

jwade95Z

New Camaro owner here, but not new to Austin, and I was a member of the Corvette Forum for a few years when I had a 1991 Corvette. Regarding builders in Austin:

My wife and I bought a Milburn home 2 years ago in Round Rock, off of FM1431, and have been pleased. There are a number of Milburn neighborhoods in that price range. DR Horton is the parent company for Milburn. Our particular part of the neighborhood (Stone Oak) is 4-side brick, one-story homes from 1500 to about 2200 sq.ft. Very nice higher dollar neighborhoods are going in around us, so I think this neighborhood will probably hold its value fairly well.

If you need assistance with a real estate transaction, I do closings on the side for a real estate company that can handle all aspects of the transaction, from the real estate work, to the mortgage, insurance, and closing. This allows us to reduce a number of fees that are inevitably injected into each part of a real estate transaction.

If you would like to speak with an agent, and I would be glad to refer you. The owner of the company and I are good friends from law school. Just IM me and I'll be glad to give you a call and discuss your specific needs and circumstances.

Good luck! A home is always a good investment.

fast 93 z

I just bought a Milburn home about 5 months ago and I love it! It is very nice and good quality in every aspect! I have also heard of the KB home problems so I stayed away from them. My home is off of 1431 (3406) in Round Rock also.

Tony