First Ever Braxton Model by Stanley Martin Homes in Greene Mill Preserve

The first ever Braxton model by Stanley Martin Homes in their Greene Mill Preserve community is complete! Not only is this the first Braxton model by Stanley Martin Homes in their Greene Mill Preserve community in Leesburg…it is the first Braxton model they’ve built for any customer in the entire area. My clients will be settling on the property this Friday, September 18, 2010 and are excited to live in their new home that they’ve watched being built since February.

This particular Braxton model is Elevation E (reversed). This elevation comes with a wrap-around front porch, a specific style of windows and partial stone with a side-load garage.

This home is loaded with pretty much every structural option you can get including the bonus room with full bathroom above the garage and the 4th level loft with full bathroom. My clients decided to also finish off about 2/3 of the basement which includes a large rec room, bedroom and full bathroom. The unfinished space in the basement is being used as a large storage area, but you can easily finish off part of it into a media room, kids playroom or exercise room with plenty of space left for storage.

Remember how they say, “Looks can be deceiving”? This home has over 7000 finished square feet yet its footprint is not as large as most other homes with similar finished space. This is mainly due to the bonus room being above the garage and the 4th level loft which doesn’t add to the width or depth of the home. And personally…I’d rather have finished space than useless attic space.

Some of the best features of this home (IMHO) are…

- the kitchen area with large center island and room for several stools which opens up into the breakfast room, (future) deck, family room

- great use of square footage. Many larger homes have less usable space with lots of  “dead” space throughout the home

- option for bonus room and loft both with full bathrooms is excellent if you have teenagers who want their “own space” or family/friends that visit often and/or stay for a while

- the 2 car garage is actually a 2.5 car garage. You can easily have a workshop or store motorcycles, bicycles or lawn mowers in the side of the garage while having plenty of room to open your car door without hitting something. Plus, there’s an option for a 3 car garage.

- It’s not about the actual home itself, but it’s worth mentioning… The Greene Mill Preserve community is far away so you feel like you’re away from the hustle and bustle yet, it’s only about a mile from the Brambleton Town Center and a few miles away from major routes, downtown Leesburg, etc.

If you would like more information about the Braxton or any other model Stanley Martin Homes offers or the Greene Mill Preserve community in general, feel free to contact me.

NOTE: If you can not see the slide show in this post, click here to check out the photos on Flickr.

Loudoun Community Spotlight: Pulte Homes, Windermere in Ashburn

This Loudoun County Community Spotlight falls on the Pulte Homes Windermere community in Ashburn, VA. The Windermere community is located near the corner of Claiborne Parkway and Croson Lane immediately next to the Broadlands community.

Windermere is a mix of large town homes and medium sized single family homes. A total of 91 town homes and 83 single family homes will make up the community. Pulte has built or sold about 35 percent of the total homes so far and they’re expecting to sell the remainder of the community within the next 18 months. That puts completion of the entire community at about 24 months.

In speaking with the Pulte sales staff, I found out that they’ve already sold 9 homes this month (that’s a lot for new construction especially in a community of only 174 homes). I’m sometimes skeptical at how busy they say they are, but I’m going to believe them on this one – there at the same time as I was today were three Buyer’s Agents with their clients, two other sets of buyers without an agent and one set of buyers about to write a contract. And that was at 3:30pm on a Wednesday.

Base Prices/Models

Prices on the town homes start at $380K for the Westley II interior model (2296 – 2735 sq ft) and $390K for the Tyler exterior model (2411 – 2857 sq ft).

Prices on the single family homes start at $524K for the Kenley model (2696 sq ft on upper two levels); $533K for the Wynnewood model (2770 sq ft on upper two levels); and $542K for the Jamestown model (2974 sq ft on upper two levels).

Delivery Dates

Delivery dates vary, but count on about 4 to 6 months on the town homes and about 6 months on the single family homes. There are some “spec” homes available for earlier delivery including a Tyler model in the low $400K’s with a September delivery date.

Incentives

Pulte is offering some incentives as far as closing costs if you use their preferred lender. As for wiggle room in the base prices and/or options, there may or may not be any – that’s a secret I’ll only share with my clients (it’s only fair).

Amenities/HOA fees

Two things that popped out at me were the lack of amenities and not-much-return HOA fees. There are no amenities in the community yet, the HOA fee is $86 for single family homes and $100 for town homes. Considering what other communities within Ashburn and Loudoun County charge for HOA fees and the amenities they offer, Windermere has high HOA fees with little offered to home owners in return. In case you’re wondering…neither I (nor the sale rep from Pulte) could figure out why the town home fees are higher than the single family home fees.

Photos/Video Tour

There should be a slideshow of community photos I took at the top of this post (click here if you don’t see it). And don’t forget to check out my two-part video tour of the Windermere Pulte Homes Westley II and Tyler model town homes – part one and part two.

Visiting the new homes sales center in person

Make sure you have your Buyer’s Agent with you when you visit a new home/builder sales center. Click here to find out why.