Chester County, PA, is one of the best spots that you could imagine for a luxury home. It’s a quiet and idyllic small-town setting with very little crime and very little noise and pollution. Construction of new homes in this county tends to be limited, as the residents want very much to preserve the unique character of the area. However, older homes are also regularly torn down, and that creates numerous opportunities for the best luxury home builders to create new luxury home communities.
How Do I Choose A Luxury Home Builder in PA?
We have already mentioned the fact that Chester County is not the kind of place where new homes are built every day. Because of this, it is vital to choose a luxury home builder with the experience and the reputation to get the job done right. Those who are not familiar with local processes will have a much harder time attempting to get the work done.
We can save you a lot of time and effort by recommending the best home builder in the area: Southdown Homes. They are a well-established and highly experienced company of custom home builders that specialize in the kinds of homes that people dream about. You won’t see many low-end offerings from this company, but that’s probably not what you want anyway.
Southdown Homes does a great job of meeting schedules and keeping both buyers and lenders happy. They also avoid the manufacture of houses that are too similar. Although a certain range of floor plans are used, every home created by Southdown homes is unique. They may not be cheap, but they are cheaper than most other luxury home builders. Besides, those who want the best will always have to pay a little more anyway.
What Should I Expect When I Meet My Custom Home Builder?
When you meet a representative from Southdown Homes, you can expect that a lot of questions will be asked, and a lot of information will be gathered. This is one of those times when indecisiveness can really hang up the process. You don’t want to irritate your lender with this, as they will be less motivated to help you. Therefore, it’s a good idea to go into the situation with a good idea of what you want from your new custom home.
Without a clear picture of your needs and wants, you might end up sitting in Southdown’s office for a long time, looking at different pictures and lists of options. While the company will probably be willing to indulge your indecisiveness, and are likely to be much more patient than your home lender, it is still important to be prepared.
Without any doubt, you will want to verify the credentials and licensing of any company that you hire. Of course, you don’t need to worry so much about that when choosing a reputable company like this one. Still, it’s a good thing to verify that all of the individuals involved in the process are properly licensed.
At the same time, you don’t want to be too rigid in your planning. You can expect that your home builder will be eager to help and eager to offer many good ideas. After all, it is their business to know these things. With so much knowledge, there is always the possibility that they will offer a great idea that you didn’t think of before. Not only that, but issues of cost might very well force you to change certain aspects of your plan.
What Should I Ask My New Luxury Home Builder?
There are many questions that you might ask your builder. You should start by making a list of the issues that are most important to you. You want to make sure that you walk out of that office with a firm and clear idea of what is going on, and what comes next. Without that, you will likely have to come back for more consultations, which wastes time. The process of having a home built is already long and involved enough, as it is!
Here is a list of questions that you might want to ask your home builder when you meet them for the first time:
- “Can you show me some reviews and testimonials from previous customers?”
- “What sorts of financing is available to me?”
- “Are there any optional features that I might want?”
- “Does the house have an attic and/or a basement?”
- “Are appliances included with the home?”
- “What kinds of fees will be associated with this transaction?”
- “What can you tell me about the local homeowner’s association?”
- “Are you part of a licensed home builder association?”
- “What kind of warranty program does your company offer?”
- “Does this home have any non-standard features about which I should know?”
- “Will local building codes be a problem?”
How to Prepare
As with any meeting, it is best to be prepared before meeting with your home builder. The first thing to figure out is whether or not you want a specific floor plan. If so, draw it up on a piece of paper. Don’t worry if you can’t draw, as it doesn’t have to be a work of art. It just has to be good enough to give your builder a picture of what you want.
When you draw up your first crude floor plan, you should start by making a list of ways in which you would like to improve your home. Don’t worry about the cost too much, as you aren’t planning to make any of these improvements in your current home. The point is to get an idea of what your ideal home would contain. This will give you a list of features to include in your floor plan, along with all the standard features that need not be listed.
You should also think about the exterior of your home. How do you want it to look? How much is that likely to cost? For instance, a natural marble facade would be absolutely gorgeous, but good luck affording such a thing! There will be a need to balance quality and price. That brings us to the yard: Depending on your common activities, you may not need a particularly big yard. Then again, you might be the kind of person who likes to have a great big cookout every weekend and invite the whole family. Wherever you fit on that spectrum, you want to make sure that you have enough yard for all your uses.
If you show up with plans in hand, the builder will likely suggest certain modifications and improvements, and you should be open to those. Although you may have specific desires, it is important to realize that only a professional can turn those ideas into reality. If a few little things need to be modified in order to keep the cost within your accepted range, there is no reason to worry or fret.
If you don’t show up with plans in hand, you should at least bring a notebook so that a quick diagram can be made. This meeting needs to be productive, and that means you need to exercise good time management when presenting your ideas. Time is money, and your builder only has so much of it to spare!
Chances are, you have been looking at pictures of other homes and their features. When a person is trying to design a floor plan from scratch, this is a sensible thing to do. Whenever possible, we suggest that you bring those pictures to that first meeting. It’s best to print them out, but you could also just save them on your phone and send them to your builder via text message. Still, someone who can afford a luxury home shouldn’t worry too much about printing a few pictures.
Southdown Homes Are Built Where You Want To Live
As one of the premier luxury custom home builders in the nation, Southdown understands that a luxury home is all about location. After all, why would you build a great house in a bad location anyway? That’s just a waste!
At the same time, it’s almost as bad to build a luxury home in an area so remote that very few will ever see its beauty. Most people don’t want to live in the back of beyond, and that makes such homes harder to sell. Of course, there is a certain amount of demand for secluded luxury homes, but such a location comes with many inconveniences that the average person just isn’t prepared to handle.
With the mentality in mind, Southdown tends to concentrate its projects in scenic areas that are off the beaten track without being secluded. A lot of people want to enjoy the peace of the countryside without being too far from the benefits of civilization. Unfortunately, these locations tend to be the most expensive since everyone wants to live there.
Westtown Woods: New Luxury Home Community
Located in the scenic countryside township of Westtown, Westtown Woods is one of the newest luxury home communities offered by Southdown. With such recent construction, you can be sure that you will get the most up-to-date homes that are energy-efficient and suited for modern living. Not only that, but every one of these homes is a beautiful show-stopper that anyone would be proud to own.
Everyone hates those communities where every house looks the same. Even if the homes are, in fact, quite nice…a lack of variety is just too boring. That’s why Westtown Woods wasn’t designed that way. Buyers can choose from a variety of homes in a variety of floor plans. Even two homes with the same floor plan will not be exactly alike, as each home has been designed with the unique character that a luxury home should have.
Available floor plans for this community include:
- The Carlyle ($629,995-648-995)
- The Eastwick II (641,995-663,995)
- The Meadowbrook (663,995-691,995)
- The Merion II (663,995-682,995)
- The Bellingham (668,995-702,995)
There are also several variations within each floor plan, including traditional, provincial, manor, classic, and/or farmhouse designs. Obviously, these homes should have the uniqueness that every new home buyer wants and deserves.
Westtown Woods is not located within the borders of a city, and thus, you won’t have to worry about a whole lot of disturbing traffic. At the same time, you are fairly close to several cities, one of which is Philadelphia. If you can’t find what you need in a city that large, something is wrong! Residents of Westtown Woods are also close to West Chester itself, which is a nice little historic town that everyone should visit at least once. As this is the closest town, residents of Westtown Woods tend to visit West Chester quite often.
Conclusion
When it comes to luxury homes, there is no reason to settle for anything but the best. To do otherwise is to defeat the entire purpose of buying a luxury home in the first place! While there are many nice communities all across America, this really is one of the best places to live that we have ever seen. When we look for a downside, we can’t really seem to find anything except the high cost of these homes. Still, if a high property value is the only criticism to be made, then that says a lot about the quality of the homes and the appeal of the location. If you would like to know more about this subject, simply fill out our contact form or give us a call today!
