Author Topic: Ridiculous e-mail from new home community  (Read 10993 times)

Hunny156

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Ridiculous e-mail from new home community
« on: August 12, 2013, 11:30:53 AM »
OK, so here's the background.  Our local real estate market is booming, so our plan is to downsize into a smaller home we'll actually fully use, and we should be able to buy the new home in cash.  the new home is slightly north of where we live, but won't impact our commuting time very much, plus we'll be able to retire about 2-3 years after we make the move.

The community we like doesn't have any available lots we like, so we are waiting for the next phase to be released.  I send them a monthly e-mail to see if they know when the next phase will open.  This was the latest response, which made me seriously roll my eyes:

Nothing new.   From what they have said so far, you are probably looking at the end of 2014 or so.    By then rates will probably be much higher, and a floor plan you like today will probably be at least 20 to 30k higher.   I don’t know if having the perfect lot is worth an extra $500 a month.  I would seriously consider coming in, picking our best lot and building now while prices and rates are low.   I would ultimately say, come in and purchase a home we have available right now, that way you are living in a new home 45 days from now, and can start earning equity now, rather than a year and half from now.

New homes are appreciating 4x faster than resale homes.   Today is the day to get into a new home.   Every day you standby patiently, you are costing yourself a ton of money.   Patience is good….sometimes.  Unfortunately, not now, in this housing market !

let me know


AlmostIndependent

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Re: Ridiculous e-mail from new home community
« Reply #1 on: August 12, 2013, 11:35:09 AM »
New homes are kind of like new cars. You might be better off buying something that's already built.

Another Reader

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Re: Ridiculous e-mail from new home community
« Reply #2 on: August 12, 2013, 12:21:01 PM »
If they have a lot of inventory and not a lot of buyers right now, you can ask if they will release a lot you like in the next phase, especially if you make it clear you are not interested in the current lots.  With interest rates going up and a lot of buyer resistance to higher prices and mortgage rates, markets are slowing down.  Builders are much more flexible in a slow market.  Even if they say no today, they may say yes next week.

MsSindy

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Re: Ridiculous e-mail from new home community
« Reply #3 on: August 12, 2013, 12:21:25 PM »
Wow, that is quite the sales pitch!  My favorite line is this:

Every day you standby patiently, you are costing yourself a ton of money


Even in one dollar bills, how much do you think a "ton of money" is?  :)

huadpe

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Re: Ridiculous e-mail from new home community
« Reply #4 on: August 12, 2013, 12:28:54 PM »
Wow, that is quite the sales pitch!  My favorite line is this:

Every day you standby patiently, you are costing yourself a ton of money


Even in one dollar bills, how much do you think a "ton of money" is?  :)

Even in pennies it's absurd.  A ton of pennies is worth $3630.00 http://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/tonofmoney.asp

mpbaker22

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Re: Ridiculous e-mail from new home community
« Reply #5 on: August 12, 2013, 12:29:28 PM »
This is where it pays to have backup plans.

If I got an email like that, it would be the end of that transaction.  My response would look something like this:

"After reading your email I've decided to buy elsewhere.  While I wanted to live in such-and-such neighborhood, I do not appreciate the aggressive sales technique that culminated in multiple outright lies."

AlmostIndependent

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Re: Ridiculous e-mail from new home community
« Reply #6 on: August 12, 2013, 12:38:07 PM »
Wow, that is quite the sales pitch!  My favorite line is this:

Every day you standby patiently, you are costing yourself a ton of money


Even in one dollar bills, how much do you think a "ton of money" is?  :)

Even in pennies it's absurd.  A ton of pennies is worth $3630.00 http://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/tonofmoney.asp

$500k in quarters is roughly 4 tons.

http://gawker.com/man-repays-500-000-in-insurance-money-with-4-tons-of-995380125

Hunny156

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Re: Ridiculous e-mail from new home community
« Reply #7 on: August 12, 2013, 12:44:05 PM »
LOL, thanks for the laughs and the great responses!  We actually are continuing to look at other communities, and I'll add a little wrinkle that this sales rep doesn't know about.  We are not buying a home from his company.  The builder he works for owns the community, so they decide when the next phase will open.  We are building our home w/the other builder in the community (far better value!), but trying to get some idea of when that new phase will open.

This high pressure builder is having trouble selling his existing inventory, which is why he's trying to pressure us and why the next phase is being delayed.  I guess he thinks we are stupid.

Btw, we did try to put down a contract on a lot in the next phase - We are willing to put down a significant deposit in order to "stop the clock" on price increases now, but none of the builders in any community are willing to do that.  Too bad.  We'll continue our search, and if something else catches our eye and is the right price, then they all lose.  One of the benefits of holding all the cards and the leverage, I guess. ;)

Mr.Macinstache

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Re: Ridiculous e-mail from new home community
« Reply #8 on: August 12, 2013, 01:04:29 PM »
Well, the email is right, materials and labor is not going down! It will rise and be more expensive to buy, while your dollar will be worth less.

New homes are kind of like new cars. You might be better off buying something that's already built.

This. We bought new, which is nice but should've bought used. Factor in all the costs for a new home and it adds up quick.

Hunny156

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Re: Ridiculous e-mail from new home community
« Reply #9 on: August 12, 2013, 02:34:28 PM »
Well, the email is right, materials and labor is not going down! It will rise and be more expensive to buy, while your dollar will be worth less.

New homes are kind of like new cars. You might be better off buying something that's already built.

This. We bought new, which is nice but should've bought used. Factor in all the costs for a new home and it adds up quick.

Possibly, and we aren't ruling anything out at this point.  I've purchased both new and used homes in the past, so I know the pluses and minuses to both.  Out here, it's cheaper to buy new when the subdivision is being built out, due to competition from other builders. 

I'm also partial for this particular builder b/c of the energy efficiency features.  The home I will be selling is 4 years old, and there are already a lot of differences in energy efficiency.  Not including all the additional energy efficient upgrades we made to our current home after we moved in.

Jamesqf

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Re: Ridiculous e-mail from new home community
« Reply #10 on: August 12, 2013, 04:57:09 PM »
I don't really see anything ridiculous about it.  A bit hyperbolic in places, but that's part of a sales pitch.

My advice, though, would be to NEVER buy into any sort of developers' "community".  From what I've seen, you just get to watch the competition between the developers and the HOA to see which can do the best job of screwing you over.

desk_jockey

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Re: Ridiculous e-mail from new home community
« Reply #11 on: August 12, 2013, 05:20:16 PM »
New homes are appreciating 4x faster than resale homes.   Today is the day to get into a new home.   

Little understood fact:  New homes become used (resale) homes right about the time one is done unpacking.   
So a faster appreciation in new home prices just means the bigger hit in resale value you take the minute you move into that new house.

plantingourpennies

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Re: Ridiculous e-mail from new home community
« Reply #12 on: August 12, 2013, 05:35:50 PM »
My advice, though, would be to NEVER buy into any sort of developers' "community".  From what I've seen, you just get to watch the competition between the developers and the HOA to see which can do the best job of screwing you over.

No joke-the HOA fees and rules are burdensome. OP-have you done your homework and do you understand how much this "community" will cost you on an ongoing basis?

Best,
Mr. PoP

Hunny156

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Re: Ridiculous e-mail from new home community
« Reply #13 on: August 12, 2013, 08:17:10 PM »
My advice, though, would be to NEVER buy into any sort of developers' "community".  From what I've seen, you just get to watch the competition between the developers and the HOA to see which can do the best job of screwing you over.

No joke-the HOA fees and rules are burdensome. OP-have you done your homework and do you understand how much this "community" will cost you on an ongoing basis?

Best,
Mr. PoP

Well aware of the pitfalls of HOA's, and have lived within them for years.  Hate them personally, but I happen to live in an area that is 95% HOA, especially if you are within the metro area.  Once you get rural, HOA's disappear. 

At least here, the HOA's are very inexpensive.  My townhouse in NY charged $300/mo and didn't do a damn thing.  Out here we do have amenities, and the cost is nominal, under $200/year.

The only positive I can see is that the CCR's around here seriously limit what can be done w/o the vast majority of approval.  Most residents could care less, and so, the HOA becomes relatively useless, which I consider to be a blessing.  The drama that goes on at the meetings though, that can be pure comedic gold! 

Mr.Macinstache

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Re: Ridiculous e-mail from new home community
« Reply #14 on: August 13, 2013, 11:18:44 AM »
I don't really see anything ridiculous about it.  A bit hyperbolic in places, but that's part of a sales pitch.

My advice, though, would be to NEVER buy into any sort of developers' "community".  From what I've seen, you just get to watch the competition between the developers and the HOA to see which can do the best job of screwing you over.

Agreed.

Gin

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Re: Ridiculous e-mail from new home community
« Reply #15 on: August 14, 2013, 01:15:30 AM »
That is a cheap HOA.  It is a sellers market right now in my area of central TX.

Zamboni

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Re: Ridiculous e-mail from new home community
« Reply #16 on: August 14, 2013, 06:05:26 AM »
That's a pretty obnoxious email considering they didn't really even answer your question.  Part of me thinks you should just ignore it, but another part thinks you should send a follow up email thanking the person and gushing about how helpful they are and how you look forward to working with him/her in the future.  But, my experience building a home in a new community indicates that if that person doesn't get phase one sold out (and quick!) then you will probably be dealing with a different sales person soon.  ;-)

tomsang

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Re: Ridiculous e-mail from new home community
« Reply #17 on: August 14, 2013, 07:41:57 AM »
Ask the guy if he has seen Glengarry Glen Ross recently. If not tell him it is a great movie.

You could also throw out that you are considering buying 10 lots to build a bigger house and whether that would be a problem. Get them all excited.

Jack

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Re: Ridiculous e-mail from new home community
« Reply #18 on: September 06, 2013, 12:06:54 AM »
Well aware of the pitfalls of HOA's, and have lived within them for years.  Hate them personally, but I happen to live in an area that is 95% HOA, especially if you are within the metro area.  Once you get rural, HOA's disappear.

I can't help but point out that, chances are, the HOAs disappear if you look farther towards town too (in the older, possibly "urban" neighborhoods).

Abe

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Re: Ridiculous e-mail from new home community
« Reply #19 on: September 08, 2013, 10:50:31 PM »
We have HOA fees in Chicago that border on usury (200-300/month). What about other cities?

sherr

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Re: Ridiculous e-mail from new home community
« Reply #20 on: September 09, 2013, 06:34:00 AM »
We have HOA fees in Chicago that border on usury (200-300/month). What about other cities?

The HOA on my townhouse in Raleigh, NC is $140 / month, but they own the exterior of the building so do things like siding / deck / roof maintenance and pay a landscaping company to keep the neighborhood looking nice. I still don't like the HOA fees, but the price of the townhouse was actually quite reasonable given what I can rent it for so I suppose it's not too bad.

Argyle

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Re: Ridiculous e-mail from new home community
« Reply #21 on: September 09, 2013, 06:46:07 AM »
It doesn't look like such a bad e-mail to me either.  He's obviously putting on the pressure, but it's also true that if you were renting, you'd be losing the chance to start building equity earlier.  It sounds to me as if he's desperate enough to be willing to negotiate.  However, if you have your eye on a different builder, I can see why you'd wait.

Hunny156

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Re: Ridiculous e-mail from new home community
« Reply #22 on: September 10, 2013, 04:21:51 PM »
It doesn't look like such a bad e-mail to me either.  He's obviously putting on the pressure, but it's also true that if you were renting, you'd be losing the chance to start building equity earlier.  It sounds to me as if he's desperate enough to be willing to negotiate.  However, if you have your eye on a different builder, I can see why you'd wait.

I guess it all comes down to the whole story, which I haven't totally disclosed (I know, I'm very wordy, so I try to be mindful of it).

We've communicated over e-mail for several months, and we've also gone in to visit him in person.  He knows (or should know, b/c we told him), that we are cash buyers, that the lot is more important than anything else, and that we currently reside in a "new" (4 year old) home in a city that he knows is appreciating far faster than his subdivision.  Hell, he even gave us his realtor's referral for the "move-up" program they offer.

Given all that information, this e-mail seems more like a canned response from a desperate salesperson hoping to appeal to a naiive buyer.  It's been a month or so since this e-mail, maybe I should e-mail him again and see what the update is now?  Maybe the next phase is 18 months out if he hasn't made any more sales.  ;)