Las Ventanas by Taylor Morrison at Portola Springs

lookingnirvine said:
As USCTrojan has been a hot topic lately, I believe its an appropriate time to give give him a big THANK YOU for representing us as our broker when buying our Las Ventanas home back in December 2011.  :D

Looking back I have to admit, the entire home buying process was one interesting roller coaster ride, but USC was always a phone call away and always offered sound advice for us.  Once we finally moved into our new home, we basically used every referral he gave us with no regrets - particularly the window coverings and flooring.  We've been living here for 5 months now and feel really comfortable calling this place home.  The neighborhood is starting to look really nice, with some owners already finishing their yards ( here's to hoping we finally can submit our plans to the HOA soon).  The neighbors are all nice and friendly, with the majority as young families.  There will be plenty of kids playing around here within the next few years - guaranteed.

Thanks again USC!!!
p.s.  And yes USC, I believe the poster 'PS2012' ran into us while doing are usual neighborhood stroll.  ;)

Lookingnirvine,

Thank you for your post so that I can piggyback onto yours and feel less guilty about it, although I have you beat by at least a few months.  :D  I apologize to others for hi-jacking this thread. 

But I'd like to give my long overdue thank you to USCTrojan for helping us find our house too, too long ago to mention.  It wasn't a short sale or REO but it was in bankruptcy (not the kind you have to go to the court steps to bid though; although I did have to go to the court one time) and it required additional steps to purchase it.  It's not something most agents deal with but USC got up to speed very quickly and with his "personality" was able to get useful things out of the listing agent.

Due to it being in bankruptcy, it said in the agent remarks that the agent commissions could be modified (think reduced) by the court.  I told USC that if that made him uncomfortable, we didn't have to look at the house (although my wife might have divorced me as she was very interested in the house).  He told me not to worry about it and promptly showed the house to us.  If this was 99.5% of other realtors (IR2, you are in the 0.5% too), I think the response would have been "It's a bankruptcy, don't waste your time" --- translation --- No way I'm going to show you a house that might jeopardize my commissions".  I think ultimately, those "other" realtors helped me scare away potential bidders...thanks to them for that.

As expected, when dealing with the Guvmint, there were delays (due to them) and gave me more white hairs but USC kept it bearable.  The stressful part of this deal was that since we were already in escrow, this was our house to lose...until the court appointment.  Towards the end, you had to go to court and at that time, someone could show up and at the last moment put in a better offer and take the house away.  We knew of at least two potential bidders that showed interest but they didn't show up at the courthouse. 

One last thing that I would like to add is that USC is very "creative" and "flexible".  If you used his services, you would probably know what I mean.  Don't ask me for particulars but it's a good thing (And yes, he follows all the rules so please don't misunderstand).  :p 

Thank you USCTrojan, for all your help.

Irvinehusky and family
 
lookingnirvine said:
p.s.  And yes USC, I believe the poster 'PS2012' ran into us while doing are usual neighborhood stroll.  ;)

Hi lookingnirvine - now I know your nickname here!  :p

We ran into CONDOTRAP the other day too!  What a small world indeed.  :D
 
USCTrojanCPA said:
PS2012 said:
We ran into them while walking the neighborhood and they asked if we used a broker (which we did) and they asked if it was you.  They referenced this forum - which I've been reading since early this year...so we knew exactly who you were - just didn't know your name.  haha.  :)
What a small world.  Which plan did you guys end up buying?  Let me know if you would like any contractor referrals.

i would like some contractor referrals.. trojan, did you get my PM?  thank you!
 
these 10 feet backyards are looking better when compared to Sage which is comparable in square footage but you're sharing a motorcourt with 6 homes and no driveway. Not to mention even higher mellow roos and HOA!
 
Final Walk Through coming up at LV, can someone who purchased at LV give me some tips and advice on what to look for and what kinds of mistakes you found? Thanks!
 
Portola92618 said:
Final Walk Through coming up at LV, can someone who purchased at LV give me some tips and advice on what to look for and what kinds of mistakes you found? Thanks!

I think we are 1 phase after you...but so far we've caught the following issues throughout the process:

Location of vents not properly centered or installed in random places
Height of some light switches and power outlets were installed much higher than normal
Some additional upgrades we ordered were not installed

You should check all your power sources to make sure they are all there. Use your blueprint as a guide.

Hope the walkthrough goes well!  We'd love any advice you'd like to share.  :)
 
PS2012 said:
Location of vents not properly centered or installed in random places
Height of some light switches and power outlets were installed much higher than normal
Some additional upgrades we ordered were not installed
Those sound like significant issues... how did they address that because the first two sounds like quite a bit of drywall patching.
 
irvinehomeowner said:
PS2012 said:
Location of vents not properly centered or installed in random places
Height of some light switches and power outlets were installed much higher than normal
Some additional upgrades we ordered were not installed
Those sound like significant issues... how did they address that because the first two sounds like quite a bit of drywall patching.

They still need to patch up the hole where the vent was moved from, in addition to some other holes in the wall they busted open for we don't know what, but the 2nd item was caught before the dry wall went up.
 
so i take it that it's worth hiring an inspector? i didn't think i would need to for a new home, but sounds like there are issues. can anyone recommend a good one? we're signing contracts this weekend
 
Jenita143 said:
so i take it that it's worth hiring an inspector? i didn't think i would need to for a new home, but sounds like there are issues. can anyone recommend a good one? we're signing contracts this weekend

we had steve from biltrite do ours and he did an amazing job.  spent 8.5 hours for about $500 and helped us understand the ins and outs.  for new construction, he does inspections throughout from the concrete pour to the final walk through
http://www.biltriteinspect.com/
 
rkp said:
Jenita143 said:
so i take it that it's worth hiring an inspector? i didn't think i would need to for a new home, but sounds like there are issues. can anyone recommend a good one? we're signing contracts this weekend

we had steve from biltrite do ours and he did an amazing job.  spent 8.5 hours for about $500 and helped us understand the ins and outs.  for new construction, he does inspections throughout from the concrete pour to the final walk through
http://www.biltriteinspect.com/
A handful of my buyers also used Steve and were happy with his service....definitely a good inspector.
 
rkp said:
we had steve from biltrite do ours and he did an amazing job.  spent 8.5 hours for about $500 and helped us understand the ins and outs.  for new construction, he does inspections throughout from the concrete pour to the final walk through
http://www.biltriteinspect.com/

Were those 8.5 hours spread throughout each build phase or 8.5 hours all in one day time?
 
I wonder how many TI folks bought at LV.  Seems like there's a good number of you guys out there.  I was going to be a buyer there too if not for the sweat heart deal I got on my short sale.
 
PS2012 said:
rkp said:
we had steve from biltrite do ours and he did an amazing job.  spent 8.5 hours for about $500 and helped us understand the ins and outs.  for new construction, he does inspections throughout from the concrete pour to the final walk through
http://www.biltriteinspect.com/

Were those 8.5 hours spread throughout each build phase or 8.5 hours all in one day time?


this was for a resale house
 
Any good contractor referrals? Im debating in whether u should upgrade the cabinets and floors or
Just hire someone to do it after we close so I don't end up paying property tax on my upgrades. Any advice for a first time home owner? :)
 
Jenita143 said:
Any good contractor referrals? Im debating in whether u should upgrade the cabinets and floors or
Just hire someone to do it after we close so I don't end up paying property tax on my upgrades. Any advice for a first time home owner? :)
Upgrade the cabinets through the builder but do the flooring after you close.
 
Jenita143 said:
Any good contractor referrals? Im debating in whether u should upgrade the cabinets and floors or
Just hire someone to do it after we close so I don't end up paying property tax on my upgrades. Any advice for a first time home owner? :)
It's usually cheaper to upgrade kitchen cabinets with the builder.  The only exception is if you don't like the way the kitchen is designed and want to change locations of appliances & choose appliances not offered by builder, put in custom cabinets, change the sink and hardware, change the countertop and splash, etc...basically do a whole kitchen remodel, which the builder won't allow and most ppl won't want to do on a new build.  Even just ripping out standard cabinets to replace them with custom cabinets is pretty labor intensive and will most likely cost you more than just upgrading thru the builder.  Flooring is almost always cheaper doing after COE, but some ppl don't have the extra cash after purchasing the house and want to roll it into the mortgage.  Or they don't wanna go thru the trouble of ripping out the standard flooring and replacing it after COE.  Convenience costs money, some ppl don't mind going thru the builder to move in ASAP.  Occasionally, the builder's flooring might be in the ballpark vs going aftermarket, the only way to compare apples to apples is to get an exact installed quote from an outside flooring company with the exact same hardwood/tile/carpet you woulda chosen through the design center.
 
Trojan, I am closing on a new construction in investment property. I am given $12k towards upgrades and planning to use my 3% commissions towards the entire closing cost. If there is about $2000 left after closing costs can I take this amount out as commission? Do I need all of this on the stipulation in the contract?

 
Baby Irvine said:
Trojan, I am closing on a new construction in investment property. I am given $12k towards upgrades and planning to use my 3% commissions towards the entire closing cost. If there is about $2000 left after closing costs can I take this amount out as commission? Do I need all of this on the stipulation in the contract?
Most lenders will not allow you to credit any part of your own commission towards closing costs (but you might be able to use them towards your upgrades).  The builder's credit would be the only one that you can use for closing costs.  If you are buying all cash then you can apply everything towards the net amount of funds needed to close.
 
Thanks Trojan, the lender is suntrust and they are requiring me to carry an escrow as it is an investment property. That is interesting as the lender is willing to roll my entire 3% towards closing. Perhaps the rules are different in ca and ga.

Thanks for responding.
 
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