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!!!