Hello to all,

Am planning on buying a house and have narrowed it to Kimball Hill, they
have a plan I like, the Anton, and in an area I like in Houston Tx.

Any person out there with some good or bad words about this builder??? I am
not planning on buying extras at the design center (other than the stair
case banisters). I will ask for all brick since I don't want three sides
with hardiblank. What I do want is a solid built house that will last many
years. What I don't know is if Kimball Hill will build such a house. How or
where can i get this info???

Any input about this builder is appreciated.

p.s. I did find some unhappy customers in one website, but I am sure all
builders have some unhappy customer.

"ap" wrote in message
...

Hello to all,

Am planning on buying a house and have narrowed it to Kimball Hill, they
have a plan I like, the Anton, and in an area I like in Houston Tx.

Any person out there with some good or bad words about this builder??? I
am
not planning on buying extras at the design center (other than the stair
case banisters). I will ask for all brick since I don't want three sides
with hardiblank. What I do want is a solid built house that will last many
years. What I don't know is if Kimball Hill will build such a house. How
or
where can i get this info???

Any input about this builder is appreciated.

p.s. I did find some unhappy customers in one website, but I am sure all
builders have some unhappy customer.
Don't know a thing about Kimball Hill, but I'd recommend the same thing I do
to everyone considering a cookie cutter, even an upper-end one like this
sounds like- get a competing bid from a local independent. He can't build
the exact same plan, since that is probably copyrighted, but he can build a
similar one. And you get to choose ALL the materials, not just some
(probably overpriced) 'upgrades'. Plus, with an independent, since you
usually buy the lot first and own it, there is no silly nonsense about not
being able to be on site daily and monitoring construction.

Hey, it's worth a few phone calls, at least. Call some independents, and say
you are considering a McBuilder, and invite them to try and change your
mind.

aem sends...

"ap" wrote in message
...

Hello to all,

Am planning on buying a house and have narrowed it to Kimball Hill, they
have a plan I like, the Anton, and in an area I like in Houston Tx.

Any person out there with some good or bad words about this builder??? I
am
not planning on buying extras at the design center (other than the stair
case banisters). I will ask for all brick since I don't want three sides
with hardiblank. What I do want is a solid built house that will last many
years. What I don't know is if Kimball Hill will build such a house. How
or
where can i get this info???

Any input about this builder is appreciated.

p.s. I did find some unhappy customers in one website, but I am sure all
builders have some unhappy customer.

I live in the Houston area and when we were selecting our builder our
mortgage company recommended the following three builders.

DR Horton
David Weekley
Village Builders

This is old information as we had our DR Horton Home built about four years
ago.

Personally I would go into one of the subdivisions that has Kimball Hill
Homes and ask the residents how pleased they were with their builder and
also look at the homes under construction.

Chris in Pearland, TX

"ameijers" wrote in
:


"ap" wrote in message
...

Hello to all,

Am planning on buying a house and have narrowed it to Kimball Hill,
they have a plan I like, the Anton, and in an area I like in Houston
Tx.

Any person out there with some good or bad words about this
builder??? I
am
not planning on buying extras at the design center (other than the
stair case banisters). I will ask for all brick since I don't want
three sides with hardiblank. What I do want is a solid built house
that will last many years. What I don't know is if Kimball Hill will
build such a house. How
or
where can i get this info???

Any input about this builder is appreciated.

p.s. I did find some unhappy customers in one website, but I am sure
all builders have some unhappy customer.
Don't know a thing about Kimball Hill, but I'd recommend the same
thing I do to everyone considering a cookie cutter, even an upper-end
one like this sounds like- get a competing bid from a local
independent. He can't build the exact same plan, since that is
probably copyrighted, but he can build a similar one. And you get to
choose ALL the materials, not just some (probably overpriced)
'upgrades'. Plus, with an independent, since you usually buy the lot
first and own it, there is no silly nonsense about not being able to
be on site daily and monitoring construction.

Hey, it's worth a few phone calls, at least. Call some independents,
and say you are considering a McBuilder, and invite them to try and
change your mind.

aem sends...


You are correct when you say overpriced 'upgrades', every builder has
them. I am not that interested in the ceramic and granite and etc.
upgrades. What I am more concerned is the build and quality of the
material used.

I would prefer to custom build but I would like to move in to a house in
the next six months. Also, if I go with a custom builder I have to find a
lot. this adds time and finding a good neighborhood with an empty lot is
not that easy.

I will ask my realtor to see if she has any experience with this builder.

Are there any custom builders out there that also provide a lot??

thanks

On Sun, 29 Aug 2004 20:07:50 -0500, someone wrote:


What I am more concerned is the build and quality of the
material used.

In general, all construction materials are subject to standard
specifications. The builder doesn't make his own plywood (or is it
OSB) or his own plumbing fixtures, etc. The quality used by the
builder is the quality put out by the mfg. If this is an issue for
you, you need to either understand constructions specs, or hire
someone who does, and get the specs you are happy with in your
contract.

For the typical cookie cutter subdiv, no choices are offered, and the
buyers wouldn't know anyway. Its all pretty generic.

As for build quality, that more depends on the subs used and the
specific crew and foreman on that house. The problem is the usual
builder clause about it being his site until closing and banning the
buyer. Well, it legally is his site, and if you agree to such a
contract, TS to you.

That's one reason why I have never bought a house from a "builder" in
his own subdivision, but I realize that a lot of people do, and get
what they get, so have to grasp at straws over the internet to make
themselves feel better. There's a saying like, "You want it quickly,
reasonably priced and high quality? Pick 2 out of 3". If you want it
fast, too fast to arrange a custom build, and low priced (not buying
any upgrades), then not likely you will get the quality crew!

Hey, if you were buying an existing house, you'd have zero clue as to
what was behind the walls, so don't sweat it.

-v.

On Sun, 29 Aug 2004 16:23:53 -0500, ap wrote:

Hello to all,

Am planning on buying a house and have narrowed it to Kimball Hill, they
have a plan I like, the Anton, and in an area I like in Houston Tx.

Any person out there with some good or bad words about this builder??? I am
not planning on buying extras at the design center (other than the stair
case banisters). I will ask for all brick since I don't want three sides
with hardiblank. What I do want is a solid built house that will last many
years. What I don't know is if Kimball Hill will build such a house. How or
where can i get this info???

Any input about this builder is appreciated.

p.s. I did find some unhappy customers in one website, but I am sure all
builders have some unhappy customer.

My daughter has one of their houses in Fort Myers, Florida. It was
just completed a couple of months ago. A two story. She sat in the
master bedroom closet during 145mph winds of Hurricane Charley last
week! She came out after the wind died down to discover only
superficial cosmetic damage to her house. She calls her house "The
Fortress" now! As I'm sure you know, after Hurricane Andrew caused so
much damage in south Florida in the early 90's, the Insurance
companies almost went bankrupt! So, they forced the state of Florida
to mandate through the local building codes the "beefing up and
reinforcing" of building construction to withstand 150MPH hurricane
winds. My daughter's house is on a slab with cinder blocks around all
four walls of the first floor. The cinder blocks have reinforcing rods
going up through them every two feet or so with the upper level bolted
down to the cinder blocks. I understand even the mobile homes that
were put in after 1992 held up well against the hurricane winds.

Regards,
Bill