Any of my Out of State Gals work with a builder/planner????? UPDATED

DH brought home one of those *freebie* pocono home magazines from the grocery store last week. I looked through it & many houses were HUGE & all for under $400,000...for 3000 + square foot of living space.

My question is this....has anyone dealt with a builder/planner? Ya know, having someone find a lot, or a community, then finding a design? The reason why I am asking is b/c a lot of the homes are modular, but there are a bunch of independent builders that will make the same type/style home in *2x6* construction

The prices just seem too good to be true, and I don't want to end up like Tom Hanks in the 'Money Pit!!!!'

I don't even know what questions to ask or what to look out for.

Just like with buying a resale. You have to like the area that you are moving into. FH and I were originally going this route; but decided against it when we learned that the neighboring county had too high of a racial related crime rate and that the two counties would share the same school.

Good luck.

Thanks!

I do like the area, that is not a problem. Some of the areas in Connecticut were a bit scary, but the PA & NJ ones are OK.

We are probably going to go the private school route, and there are a few in that neigborhood to choose from. We asked if we could see the school reports & stuff & they told us where to find all that info. BTW...how did you learn about the racial relate crimes? That is good info to know!

The area is convenient to a bunch of shops & outlets, so that is good. I am just worried that the builder will know that I am not as educated as I should be & take advantage

I think I will ask my friend who i a roofer to come & listen to the pitch to see if this guy is just trying to confuse me with builders lingo.

I'm glad you posted this. I was too wondering if it's 'too good to be true.'

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Posted by Nav023

I'm glad you posted this. I was too wondering if it's 'too good to be true.'

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Thanks.... I guess I just keep waiting for the *other shoe to drop*

Our friends dealt with either Ryan or Deluca...both are huge builders in our area...the Lehigh Valley. I'm not sure if they build in the Poconos though.

There is a website you may find helpful...

poconocommuter.com

It's just like LIW...it's got lots of different boards to visit and I bet you'll be able to find some valuable information.

Hope this helps...and maybe one day we'll be 'neighbors' and then we can start our PA GTGs!!!!!!!!!

Thanks franksbride!!! I was hoping you'd answer this one
We are meeting with our first builder this weekend. We are taking our friend with us who is a contractor, so that we can make sure we *know* what the guy is talking about....I'll post the update later!

Hey Gals, just a little update....

OK so DH & I & our friends who is a contractor went to visit with a few builders. Here's our progress so far.

We have determined that we can afford a 5 BR, 4000 sq ft home in the poconos. Depending on which builder we go with will determine the lot size, which varies from .98ac to 3.68ac.

The first builder is an independent, and has lean that he already purchased. The upsides to this are that the plots are not in communities, so we have more freedom as to what we can build (like the all-season pool & gym). Also, his land/home. facilities cost was about 15% lower that all the others. He also does not build modular, but builds 'panelized' homes, so it is not a *kit* house. The downside is that he can give us a 1 yr build guarrantee, which is not bad, but he is an LLC, which means if heaven forbid something does not go right, he can only be sued for ths value of his business, which is quite small b/c he is an independent.

The second two were larger companies. The first one has great designs and will even furnish the house, but will not change any floor plans to our specifications (ie, we wanted a full bath off of the downstairs study so that it can double as a guest BR for the grandmas). Also it is in a community, so any 'imporvements or enhancements' that are made to the house and are visible to the other inhabitants need to be approved by the community board - even something as small as putting up a fence for our dog. DH & I are not too thrilled with that. There are also additional annual fees that are paid to the community. The good thing about the community is that it is gated & had tennis courts and a full gym.

The last designer had the most amazing floor plans, but was the most expensive, only does modular homes, and only works with communities. The community that he works theough is very strict. If we wanted to get light dove grey stucco, we cold not build next to someone who has the same thing. It seemed a bit 'Stepford' to me & creeped me out.

OK, so there's the update... I will post more when we do more

The first guy sounds good to me.

As for modular homes, they're not bad at all, except for the fact that most of them have set floorplans. But you *can* add on to most of them.

Either way sounds like things are progressing nicely!

thanks Mary. I think we are going witht he first guy. since the winter is coming no one will guarantee the build for less than 12 months


Now we just have to have the architect finalize our modifications & see how much Will's 4 season pool room is gonna cost

Melani it sounds like number 1 is the way to go. My SIL lives in a gated community here and it is beautiful but it is really like driving through Stepford there are 5 models and all of the houses are one of those 5 EXACTLY. Cannot change it, paint colors were one of a certain number blah blah blah, don't know if I could deal with that.

All season pool? I am jealous!!!