[quote author="Zulu" date=1253191062]No, I'm committed to finishing our home under construction.
Foreclosure, no foreclosure...price is part of the equation but not the end-all. Some builders put more into their homes than others. What is sad is that they don't often get a higher price than a poorly built, flashier home. I think the best deal is to find a really well built home where the builder has put a lot of time and thought into every part of the home and if you can buy it at or less than replacement cost then you are getting a better deal than just buying a foreclosure property because it is cheap. You'll only be upset about buying a nice home the day you write the check, but you'll be upset with a dog every day that you own it no matter what you pay.
Some houses that are available, or sold, that I like:
72 Golden Eagle. Wow.
http://smsold304.smsold.com/clients/04001/docs/100_72GoldenEagle.pdfI saw a basketball hoop by the garage so assume that either it sold, or the sellers gave up and move in to it. Not 100% my taste, but I'd love to live there if only for the view, the beautiful floors, windows, kitchen island....etc.
93 & 95 Canyon Creek - I heard both of these were built for owners, in any case neither is on the same level as a spec home. 93 is still available as far as I know. 95 sold a few months ago.
"Casa California" - don't know the address but it's on Canyon Creek and is this years' Philharmonic house. I think it opens in October and you can see it for $30 a pop. They spent a ton on their flooring and fireplaces - beautiful products from www.pstone.com and www.xsurfaces.com Not my style of home but except for the kitchen I like it.
57 Boulder View - when I see a builder using copper on the roof, copper vents, french limestone flooring samples lying around the house, miles of audio prewire and Fleetwood Joiner as the architect, I know it's going to be a quality product. The owner is planning to move in if it doesn't sell before completion, but for now it is still on the market. I think it is supposed to be completed by Feb 2010.
53 Boulder View - was on the market but didn't sell as far as I know. I think the owners moved in. Beautiful, quality materials throughout.
Home at top of Needlegrass being built by RDM. Right out of Provence. I love that home. My gosh it's beautiful. The owner/designer/builders have done their homework and it shows. I don't think its on the market but if it were and I could afford it....And by the way it does have an ocean view, sort of....
Any home built by Glass Construction IF you like the style. They are all quality in my opinion.
Foreclosure properties, for the most part, really aren't on my radar UNLESS they meet a lot of more important criteria. Flipping homes isn't really an option anymore - if you buy a home you'd better like it because your chances of reselling it are slim unless you sell it at a loss.
PS bargain of the week - 67 Canyon Creek - at $3.795m. If you could buy it at $3.2-3.5 that is basically foreclosure pricing without having to deal with an auction or the banks. I'm not sure what the problem is as to why the owners didn't bother to put the last bit of rock on the side of the house, or finish the landscaping, but I'm sure it probably has to do with MONEY. So some lucky buyer is going to get a nice custom home at less than the price of a tract home in Turtle Ridge.</blockquote>
Thank you for your reply. Can you snap some pictures of your home when it completed and post them up for us to see? If money was no object I would love to buy a custom home and make it exactly the way I want it. Was it difficult in getting your plans approved with the HOA/CC&R requirements or are you free to pretty much build whatever you want? What would you say are the most frustrating aspects of building your home? One of my good clients during my commercial real estate lender days was a custom homebuilder/commercial real estate developer in Las Vegas. He built many gorgeous custom homes in Lake Las Vegas, Anthem, and Summerlin. I used to love going to his office to see the pictures of some of those masterpieces.