T.
Hi L.,
When looking for a house, buying or building, stay away from anything built by Howard Homes. Many people in my development (Timberidge, Whitehall) including myself have issues with water and cold air leaking in thought windows, to hot in the summer and very cold in the winter, low grade flooring, steps make more noise when walked on than a 100 year old home, issues with jetted tubs, toilets that are very hard to flush, the water heater that comes standard is too small and does not give enough hot water for 2 adults, one small child in a 2000 sf home, door knobs that come apart, very low grade appliances (that is with an up grade), very low grade lighting, bad drywall, people falling down steps because they are too small and many other issues to many to list. The yards are very small and the usable space is even smaller because of the poor lot planning. Many of the driveways have greenery growing up thought the thin spots in the driveway. We had 2 paving companies come and give us estimates to repair our driveway and it would cost $2,000. That was done only 6 months after we moved in. Now we know this is correct est. since we owned a home in the past with an asphalt driveway. The driveway that Howard Homes put in was just the first 2 steps (base and sub layer) they never completed the finish coat and the over all driveway is too thin. The one year warranty is a joke. Anything they had the service person "fix" we had to redo because the work was so poorly completed. That was because of the quality of supplies the service person was given to use to make the repairs. One sign we missed was when our builder would not meet with us. If a builder will not meet with you and you are told that is their policy not to meet with the buyers...RUN don't walk away from that deal. Long story short, talk to other home owners in the development you are looking to buy or build in and find out how they feel about the builder. If I were you I would look into renting or getting something temporary. Get to know the area then buy or build something. If we had to do it again that is what we would have done.
Also another good school district is Whitehall/Coplay. They are just completing a major renovation on their schools. The schools are all located in one area too. The other ladies are right on the schools they told you about too. I plan to send my child to a privet school. St Stephen’s is a great school for ages 3 to Kindergarten. The Swain school is another great school for K to 8th grade.
Good luck and if you would like to talk more drop me an email any time.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving
T.
