Hello I am buying a brand new home (new construction) and i narrowed my search to 2 builders in Katy. One is Gateway Homes and the other one is Castlerock Communities. Has anyone heard anything about these builders and their reputation? According to JD power survey, Castlerock has a 4/5 rating and Gateway has about 2/5..but it seems like Gateway offers a better value and they are telling me I can use my 8k tax credit towards my downpayment...the other builder says that is incorrect.
So one builder with a 2/5 rating is telling you one thing, and the other builder with a 4/5 rating is telling you they're wrong...yet you seem unsure about who is likely telling the truth. I find that interesting, but good luck with the purchase.
Why don't you want JD Power's ratings? They've been fairly accurate in all my experiences... But, just for grins, here you go... according to merchantcircle: nobody has bothered to review gateway homes. meanwhile, last month someone wrote a very positive (5star) review for castlerock communities. I don't think it's a tough choice.
My advice, get all the bottom line figures, b/c the price goes up and up and up and up and up and up and yeah you get the drift.
You're buying a home over the weekend and you're researching builders the day before? DAMN! I can't help you with your choices, but usually the better builders build in better communities (not always true, but...). Also, builders that have a good reputation in some cities are considered crap in other cities. Lastly, "the builder" is some dude that supervises a bunch of people that may or may not give a damn about your house, so one company can build great homes and terrible ones. But.... I haven't heard of either of the builders you mentioned.
OP, don't listen to this guy. But I tell you, I can beat the price of all these firms. Just say the word, and my self-explanatory forms will be FAXed to you immediately where you can lock in my low low construction price. It's a very special end-of-fiscal-year price!
This is an example of what I said earlier... in Dallas, KB Homes get crap ratings... in Houston, they rank very high.
I just sent you an email through the board, my wife is a realtor and can help you out- she works in Katy. You don't actually get the 8K credit until after you close on the house. You either amend your 2008 return or wait and claim it on your 2009 return. But either way you can't use it for your downpayment as you will not get it until after you close on the house.
thanks rockets red glare but I already wrote up a contract over the weekend. I went ahead and gone with Castlerock communities. Although the Gateway home floor plan looked nicer, that community was mixed in with alot of homes that were made of just pure siding and no brick, I felt it would be a hard resale later. Castlerock has the highest rating of the 2 on the JD power survey and their neighborhood is all brick, plus the homes go up to 180k, in the gateway community the highest prices home was about 144k. So I am to have this house built, it will be ready in August sometime. I'm paying 125k for a 1420 sq ft 1 story house on a extra largue cul de sac lot (which i got at no premium), i'm recieving a 10k incentive that i can use towards closing cost, or upgrades, or for the price of the house. Sounds like a pretty good deal right? I had to buy on sunday bc it was the last day of May and the incentives change every month. I'll get an 8k tax credit coupon when I close and i also qualify for $150 tax credit every month which basically reduces my mortgage from 1100 to 950/ month or so.
What is a "tax credit coupon"? You don't need any sort of coupon for your taxes. Assuming this is your first home, you can simply file an amended return this year to get your $8000 from the taxpayers or you can wait until next year when you file your taxes.
be aware that the monthly mortgage payment is going to go up after the lot is appraised with your house on it in a year or two. SO add a few hundred extra to what you think you will be paying. Right now the property taxes are low since that is just an empty lot, next year with your 150k house on it they will go up higher. Lots of people learn this the hard way
Really? I figured they were pretty much crap everwhere. A KB-built house across the street from a good friend of mine had a fun issue. Bricks just started to fall off, one by one. KB eventually fixed the problem, but it was a hassle to get them to admit fault.
