Window Shopping II

Checked out a few more new build communities last weekend. It's become a rather interesting hobby. The places we checked out included Astoria townhouses by Centex, The Discovery, Sunrise, American collections by Beazer, and the Carriages and Isla del Lago communities by K. Hovnanian. It was a lot of houses in one day. The Astoria townhouses had great curb appeal but no models. We toured a unit under construction though and didn't like the flow. A 1562 sq foot plan 2 bd/2.5 bath went for $309,990 at $198.46 a square foot. The deal breaker, however, is the $340 HOA fee. The Mello Roos of course was also steep but I forgot how much.

Of the Beazer collections, the only one that made an impression was the Discovery collection, new "pull apart" townhouses connected only by the garages. Their website still show them as single-family homes. It was cheaper at $181.75 per sq foot. My friend and I both loved the 1,568 3bd/2bath plan at $284,990. It had a great open floor 1st floor that wowed us at the door and nice sized rooms. The drawbacks were a tiny postage sized yard and an alley garage. With two dogs, I have to have a nice sized yard. Sure, my pookies are toy poodles but they still need to run. The HOA is $83 and the Mello Roos is $120.

The Carriages had horrible floor plans with the kitchen completely separate from the rest of the house and dinky rooms. Isla del Lago was another story. Though halfplexes, the models had huge backyards and represented a good value. The largest plan, the 3bd/3bath San Miguel, could be had for $345,365 for 2100 sq foot, working out to $164 a sq foot. Out of our price range even though the per sq foot price is lower and too large for a single homeowner. But..but..but...that didn't stop us from lusting for all that space. The HOA is $35 and Mello Roos is $138.

It will be interesting to compare these prices in six months. Every builder we questioned said their properties were selling briskly (Beazer's the Landing community is sold out for example) and implied that price was going to go up and inventory down. If I were in the market right now, I'd be tempted to look seriously at the Beazer Discovery townhouses and the Isla del Lago halfplexes. Good for me that I don't have the down payment now and can't be pushed to jump the gun.