It's been a long time...

Well hello world!!!  I know it has been a ridiculously long time since I have posted anything here, but I wanted to provide an update on how things have been so far.  The master planned community continues to grow at an alarming rate and Riverstone still ranks #4 in the entire country and #1 in the state of Texas for sales. That means increasing prices and MORE equity for me!!!!! While the equity aspect is wonderful, that also means increasing property taxes as well.  Granted, the property tax rate here is 3.2% of the appraised value (which does not translate to the market value of your home), every dollar counts. But I digress.


Before discussing my most recent dealings with Toll Brothers in my next post, I will try to address some things that I have been asked about my home.

Insulation
I cannot recall whether this has been mentioned in  a prior post, but I have cold/hot rooms in my house.  My home faces Southeast and I have absolutely no idea if that has to do with anything - but I figured I'd mention it. I don't follow any sort of feng shui so I don't really care in that sense. It appears that the direction my home faces could come into play simply because the colder rooms are all on the same side of the house. I'm not really sure that there's anything that could be done to prevent these types of things. I did my due diligence and inspected the insulation and still have this issue. I attempted to have my HVAC system balanced so that air flow is directed in such a way that the entire room is comfortable. My husband sabotaged my attempt by accepting the HVAC guy's assessment saying that everything was 'working properly' and not bringing the cold/hot rooms to his attention. Oh well.

Alarm System & Insurance discount
I really wish I had not gone with Westminster Security, the home monitoring company owned by Toll Brothers. The draw, as usual, had to do with having the equipment (window and door contacts, 2 motion sensors and 2 keypads) installed for free if you signed a contract with the Westminster. In my home, 2 keypads just aren't enough and we contacted Westminster to inquire about an additional keypad and I think they quoted us at like $250. :-|   That's just ridiculous. After that quote I looked at my paperwork and would you believe that the contract is for 6 freakin' years? Bottom line - don't do it.  You take away your freedom to choose your security company and upgrade to the other services offered by other alarm companies are decent rates. My homeowner's insurance discount was for 2% ($160) for having an alarm system.

Honestly friends, the longer I stay in this house the more I realize that there are company that do EVERYTHING after the fact. I'm sure it's nothing to have an alarm system added afterwards. I have seen my neighbors customize their homes EXTENSIVELY (or you can interchange that word with EXCESSIVELY depending on the neighbor). The down side of course is that it's a little different paying cash as opposed to financing something for 30 years. But needless to say, don't let trying to save a little lock you into a contract with a lackluster security company with keypads from 1985.

Media room
We had our wiring done through Toll Brothers but please believe that there are lots of people out there that have added everything in their media rooms after completion of their home. The company we used does all sorts of home theater installations.

We also used them to install our security cameras.  I know, I know.  No, we are not celebrities who need to monitor who is on our property. But, we do not have a peephole and our front door is recessed so we cannot look out any window in our home and see who is at the door. And plus, they are just nice to have.

I have zero knowledge about sound dampening insulation but I truly believe that would be money well-spent. We do not use or media room during the week usually but my son would be able to hear every.single.word from those speakers.  So consider asking about options available to provide some sort of sound barrier for the neighboring room. 

Construction Quality
I have no complaints with the overall quality of our home. I have looked at model homes for other builders and immediately see the difference. I have even been in homes of people I know with new homes and see that their standards are less. Like everything else, I am quite sure this will vary by construction manager and how thorough and particular they are and what they demand from the contractors.

My next post will be about my ongoing ordeal, I mean experience, with addressing warranty claims.

Until next time!!!

Estimate for Covered Patio & Warranty claim list

Hello all and thank you for taking a look at my blog!

Last week we met with the designer from Texas Custom Patios to go over the design and see the final figures for the covered patio we would LOVE to add to our home.

The guy was very nice and went over the materials that would be used for our patio cover and what would be included with the price of our patio. So here are the details for what we wanted.  We wanted a covered 340 soft patio with attached composite shingle roof to match current roof. Stucco would be used to match our home as well with arches to match the rest of the exterior of our house. Pre-finished pine is to be used for the patio sealing. The company would install 2 ceiling fan connections, 6 can lights and necessary switches and the floor would be stamped concrete.

In addition to the standard covered patio we requested pricing for an outdoor kitchen to include granite counters and backsplash as well as appliances (grill, drawers, double side burner, fridge).

For the concrete area we have now we felt it would be a good idea to have a pergola installed constructed of stained Cedar.

If you have a weak heart, please stop reading now.

The total for the above-listed items came to --- (drum roll please)

$62,500

No covered patio for us. lol

At least not with this company.
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Now that everyone has been given smelling salts and returned to being conscious,  I'll give a little info on how the process is going with warranty claims.

In my previous post I showed how buyers submit warranty claims to Toll Brothers.  Almost 1 month ago I submitted the following claims:

• missing electrical outlet in laundry room
• door trim coming loose on front door
• bubbling of one of the doors to the study
• flashing on roof and 1 shingle lifting
• Exterior trip chipped
• Soffit light hanging

Honestly, the process is not easy despite me not having another process to compare it to. The online submission is easy, but afterward trying to coordinate with the all the trades is very challenging.  First someone from the warranty department contacts you, then the construction manager. Then they want to see the items in person (during the week). Then the trade companies contact you directly to schedule the repair. Toll Brothers should consider paying the companies a little extra to come out on weekends. Every person that we've had do warranty repairs did not work on weekends. This means that you have to take off from work to have a repair done. And if you cannot try to schedule different trades on the same day, that means more time missed from work.

So far only the electrician has contacted us and WE are being asked by Toll Brothers to supply them with the electrical plans so they can verify that there should have been an outlet on the long wall in the laundry room. I'm sorry -- but I thought the builder would have a copy of the electrical plans. 

I'll update as more repairs are made.

Thinking about building with Toll Brothers? Consider a different neighborhood to save $$

I happen to live in a neighborhood, Riverstone, that has a neighboring master planned community by the same developer. My master planned community is in 2 different cities - part of the neighborhood is in Sugar Land and the other is in Missouri City. If you anything about real estate then you know it is all about location, location, location. The neighboring community is in Missouri City just does not sound as sexy as Sugar Land when you say it out loud.

Several months after I moved in I decided to pay a visit to the Toll Brothers model in the next community - just because I felt like it. Well! As soon as I told the sales person that I had just purchased in Riverstone he gave me a list of reasons why I should have come and spoken to him first. So, since this community is in the less-sexy city, the builder throws in some perks to attract people to the community. The community itself is beautiful, but saying you live in Sugar Land has a certain 'je ne sais quoi.' I was informed that in that neighborhood, the model floor plan, the Sandhaven, comes as shown in the model. Say what?! Yes.

As far as my floor plan, the Vallagio, there was a $60k price difference between the communities when I signed my contract and the lots were a lot larger. In addition, the Vallagio in the less-sexy city comes with a pergola. The tax rate is also slightly less at 3.03% vs 3.3976%. Yes the difference is slight but if you consider the final price difference, then you could save yourself $2k/year.  For those of you who do not live in the Houston area, you are likely appalled that $2k could be saved by such a small tax difference. Houston area property taxes are ridiculous, but there aren't any state income taxes. On a house valued by the appraisal district to be $600,000, approximate taxes could be $18,000 without exemptions. That equates to an additional $1,500 per month; more if you escrow because a cushion is required. So take that into consideration.

With all the statements above, I do not regret choosing Riverstone because the location works better for me. If the floor plan is more important to you than the location or your commute to work, then consider finding a neighborhood where there base price is cheaper and more incentives are given. If location is more important, choice the location that you like and be willing to pay more.

Have a great Memorial Day Weekend!

Post-closing Toll Brothers experience

We closed on our home in October and we have truly been enjoying the past 8 months living in our new home and taking advantage of our the amenities in our new neighborhood.  Overall, we have been pleased with the finished product and I do like the method that Toll Brothers uses to submit claims for warranty issues. For now I will simply go over Toll Brothers' warranty claim process.

Claims are submitted at www.tollhomecare.com. The state and community are selected, then the log on information provided at closing are entered.

Once you log in, you select the type of issue (i.e. electrical) and then the area of the house experiencing the issue. After selecting those things you have the opportunity enter free text and elaborate further. You can enter several issues during one warranty request/inspection submission.

After you are done entering your requests, you submit it and a message is shown stating that you will be contacted shortly.

Voila!!!!  Your warranty request has been submitted. No speaking to someone on the phone. No visiting a sales office. No fuss.

I will post soon about our experience with Toll after submitting previous requests and will also share what he have had issues with.

Thanks for looking!

I'm baaaaaacccccckkkkk!!!!

Hello everyone,

I took quite a long hiatus from blogging after moving into my home.  We are certainly enjoying our home and even more so, our neighborhood. The neighborhood is beautiful, the homes are gorgeous and the neighbors are friendly.

Since moving in I've been making mental notes about all the little things I SHOULD have done or even COULD have done, but did not think about before signing the contract.  I will be making posts about these things and also discussing my plans for decorating - including the costs of such projects.

Here's to more posts!!!

MINE, ALL MINE!!!! (Insert heart here)

Today we visited the house as it's HOMEOWNERS!!!!!  We are excited beyond words and I am in awe that God would bless me with this home.

I am not the type of person who can now sit still and relax. There are things to do!!!!  Some people may be asking what the in the World there could be tackle at this point right smack dab in the middle of my celebrating. Well, there's plenty.  Today the family and I tackled the following tasks:

• sealed the travertine in the entire master bath
• sealed grout in secondary bathrooms with ceramic tile (still need to finish)
• wiped all counters (bathroom and kitchen)
• filled jetted tub with water and disinfectant and ran jets (suggested to be performed monthly if you use it infrequently)
• dusted the ENTIRE house (all corners, lighting fixtures, shelves (storage closets, pantry, bedroom closets), above cabinets, ledges)
• sprayed more bug spray (never too much)
• programmed garage door openers
• created code for keypad for garage
• cleaned bathroom toilets
• hung temporary blinds (yes, the cheap Redishades) in Master bedroom
• cleaned some of the hardwood floors with Bona Hardwood cleaning system
• waaaaay too much flooring to clean it all - have no clue how I will do this long term

But wait!!!  There is still a lot left to do. We will not be moving into our new home for several weeks so we have the following lined up prior to bringing our belongings from our current home:

• meeting with a designer for ideas on how to tie in the great room and kitchen/breakfast area and also how to dress up my current sectional to match the style of the new house
• getting an estimate from painter for painting kitchen/breakfast area, kids bedrooms and possibly master bedroom and part of great room
• taking things from current home to new home once or twice during the week
• serves 2 purposes - de-clutters current home which is better for showings AND decreases the amount of things needing to be moved by movers
• finalizing plantation shutters and meeting the shutter person to hang temporary shades
• researching how to clean marble flooring and then actually do it
• researching best way to protect hardwood and marble flooring during moving
• continue to keep our current home in 'showing condition' at all times - we want it to sell!

A LOT  going on, but at least it does not involve submitting documents and/or getting quotes from too many companies. :-)

Monday visit

I was out of town this past weekend so I did not have my usual weekend visit. I really needed to go anyway because I will not be able to attend the first walk-through tomorrow because I do not want to take a valuable day off. The goal of my visit today is to take a thorough look around and make note of anything I feel needs to be addressed.

My gorgeous hardwood floors were uncovered so I FINALLY got to see them in all their glory. After seeing them all uncovered I am very happy with my flooring choice. It breaks up some of the beige and I think it will look really nice once I add more color. With the floors being uncovered, the house is 99% complete. The only thing left to do is correct things mentioned in the inspection report.

Drum roll please....

Study

Picture taken from front porch

Dining Room 

Great room!

Breakfast area

Kitchen - obviously

Catwalk above great room

View from breakfast area to downstairs guest bedroom

Taken from catwalk

I honestly only found a handful of things, which were minor, that I would like addressed.

• I am still not happy with the touch up paint job done on the cabinet. Some contractor must have scratched the side near the double ovens while putting up tile.
• The floor transition from the foyer to the dining room (marble to hardwood) is a tad uneven.
• More info: Per Toll Brothers, they are the only builders who make sure that different types of flooring are even and therefore require no transitions (sample pictured below). If you look at my pictures above you will not see a perpendicular piece of wood demarcating the transition:



• My picture: 

  

  The wood is raised above the level of the marble a little - all other areas a fine