Custom Home Builders?

[riced]

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Mckee still has some decent lots in Hillcrest as well which is where I just finished building. Nice area, great access to everything and doesn't have the Cooper's mark-up.

That's where we are today. I would love to stay in Hillcrest - super convenient, nice and close to 8th and the new 40th ave bridge is wicked. However, the house we want to build won't fit onto any of the lots in Hillcrest. A lot of those lots are longer than they are wide and we need a wide lot for a bigger garage. When I was talking to the builders in Hillcrest a few months ago, they said the widest they could go for a garage is 22' and that's on their biggest and most expensive lot. That's what I have today and I hate it.

[Perfect Dark]

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That's where we are today. I would love to stay in Hillcrest - super convenient, nice and close to 8th and the new 40th ave bridge is wicked. However, the house we want to build won't fit onto any of the lots in Hillcrest. A lot of those lots are longer than they are wide and we need a wide lot for a bigger garage. When I was talking to the builders in Hillcrest a few months ago, they said the widest they could go for a garage is 22' and that's on their biggest and most expensive lot. That's what I have today and I hate it.

We got the biggest lot they had available at the time and I managed to get a 24' wide x 35' deep attached garage...yeah I'd prefer for the dimensions to be reversed but I'm not complaining haha.

Didn't realize you were in the area!

[88CRX]

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Where are you building with Cedarglen? This sounds promising to me...I'm hoping to build in Harvest and it's Cedarglen only, so I'm hoping they're able to modify a lot of things from their standard floor plans. The Cedarglen agents in other areas make it sound like you're basically stuck with the design and the floor plan so all you can do is pay for nicer fixtures and finishings.

Building in Cranston with them. I mean we didn't customize the entire plan but we changed quite a bit. Standard plan on the left and our plan on the right (ours is also mirrored).


» Click image for larger version

Also tweaked the garage a ton (34' wide, custom o/h doors, high lift tracks, floor drains, liftmaster 8500 openers, gas line) and moved a couple walls upstairs. We also had 100% freedom on electrical, we actually drew our own electrical plan similar to the kitchen/mudroom. I'm sure they hate us for the changes we made but we never were charged any 'custom' admin fee's, just straight upgrade costs (which aren't cheap anyways lol).

[88CRX]

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When I was talking to the builders in Hillcrest a few months ago, they said the widest they could go for a garage is 22' and that's on their biggest and most expensive lot.

We actually lucked out and got a reverse pie lot, 40' wide at the rear and over 70' at the front. Keep your eye out for reverse pie lots. True story but the area developer actually made us widen the garage even wider then we wanted due to the width of our lot. I was happy... the fiance not so much haha.

[Perfect Dark]

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We actually lucked out and got a reverse pie lot, 40' wide at the rear and over 70' at the front. Keep your eye out for reverse pie lots. True story but the area developer actually made us widen the garage even wider then we wanted due to the width of our lot. I was happy... the fiance not so much haha.

Yep, that's what we got as well.

[riced]

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We actually lucked out and got a reverse pie lot, 40' wide at the rear and over 70' at the front. Keep your eye out for reverse pie lots. True story but the area developer actually made us widen the garage even wider then we wanted due to the width of our lot. I was happy... the fiance not so much haha.

Floorplan looks awesome!
So does that mean you're on a corner? I hate yardwork and shovelling that comes with corner lots and typically reverse pie lots come with that too, I assume?
That's crazy wide... The one we're looking at is about 34' wide for double door and tandem, but yours is triple car right all the way across, right?

[88CRX]

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Floorplan looks awesome!
So does that mean you're on a corner? I hate yardwork and shovelling that comes with corner lots and typically reverse pie lots come with that too, I assume?
That's crazy wide... The one we're looking at is about 34' wide for double door and tandem, but yours is triple car right all the way across, right?

We have homes butting up 90 degrees to our side yard so no extra yard work... plus sidewalk is on the other side of the street so no shoveling other then the driveway.

And yes its triple wide, but only 22' deep which kinda sucks. But with how wide it already was that was already pretty pricey. We could of actually done a tandem on the triple stall (I got shot down on that idea haha) but figured a lift is way cheaper then that extra square footage.

Are they doing a 34' wide garage? Thats pretty damn wide!

[craigcd]

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I know what you mean. I'm in Hillcrest now and it's pretty good where we are. Good neighbours all around us, good vibes... but the rest of Hillcrest just on the other side of the street is like SE Calgary (Forest Lawn) type. It's weird.
We have walked a bit in Cooper's and while I get what you mean, there's also this sense of "we're the best" type of attitude which is not terrible but it's not something I care for either... If that makes sense.

The area we are looking at in Bayside is close to the water, not far from 8th. So it's more inner to avoid the street noise from Yankee/8th, but still decent. I have yet to really take a look at the surrounding area to see what the vibe is like though... I get what you mean though.

I can 100% agree with the "we're the best attitude" - I see it all the time. I ignore it for the most part and not everyone is like that, by no means are we in that group of people but I prefer that over the alternative.

Essentially we are middle ground for the houses in the community so at best we are dragging their house values down and they are bringing ours up haha. Suckers! The school in Coopers is phenomenal if you have kids or will have school age kids, the difference from Calgary is astonishing. With that being said we were in the Bayside Elementary School yesterday for my sons basketball and the school looked awesome also.

[riced]

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We have homes butting up 90 degrees to our side yard so no extra yard work... plus sidewalk is on the other side of the street so no shoveling other then the driveway.

And yes its triple wide, but only 22' deep which kinda sucks. But with how wide it already was that was already pretty pricey. We could of actually done a tandem on the triple stall (I got shot down on that idea haha) but figured a lift is way cheaper then that extra square footage.

Are they doing a 34' wide garage? Thats pretty damn wide!

Ohh that's still not bad! A lift in all three means it's a 6 car garage

You're making me question my numbers now... I'm going back tomorrow to talk more. I'll report back... I do know it's on a 43' wide lot though.

[88CRX]

Find out what the minimum side yard dimensions are. Usually they're 4'. Plus the nook for the front door (minimum 4' probably more like 6') means your gonna get a sick garage! Could do a tight triple garage maybe.

Don't forgot to upgrade to a 18' wide x 8' tell o/h door. It actually saved us money as the larger garage door was cheaper then the savings on the brick/stone around the garage. Win-win.

[riced]

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Find out what the minimum side yard dimensions are. Usually they're 4'. Plus the nook for the front door (minimum 4' probably more like 6') means your gonna get a sick garage! Could do a tight triple garage maybe.

Don't forgot to upgrade to a 18' wide x 8' tell o/h door. It actually saved us money as the larger garage door was cheaper then the savings on the brick/stone around the garage. Win-win.

That's on the list to talk about this evening. It won't be triple - the lots/builders don't have that in the plans and that's one thing we can't change. It is a tandem though, so I'm equally OK with it.

Good info. We're looking at double doors, so hopefully that's an option. So many things to take into consideration... You'd think after building our first one, we'd know...

[blownz]

If you really want a custom home, I would recommend Oakmont Custom Builders:

http://www.oakmontcustombuilders.com/

They usually build one spec home a year as a show home plus 2-5 other homes. Typically $2M plus. Highly recommend them.

[88CRX]

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Typically $2M plus. Highly recommend them.

Nice! I'll take 2.

[colinxx235]

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If you really want a custom home, I would recommend Oakmont Custom Builders:

http://www.oakmontcustombuilders.com/

They usually build one spec home a year as a show home plus 2-5 other homes. Typically $2M plus. Highly recommend them.

OP lists 500-800k budget, looks like you pegged that one well

[riced]

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OP lists 500-800k budget, looks like you pegged that one well

I'm not a beyond baller. I guess it's just naturally assumed around here huh? hahahaha

[blownz]

Sorry, I didn't notice a price in your first post. And I should have clarified, that is the typical home they do, but they do some under $1M as well. I doubt $500K, but $800K they have done before (although now that I am typing it, I think that is just the price of the home since they typically don't deal with lots. Either way might be worth calling. I was mostly putting that amount in there to show that they specialize in high end so their attention to detail is great.

[oilerfan4lyfe]

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Building in Cranston with them. I mean we didn't customize the entire plan but we changed quite a bit. Standard plan on the left and our plan on the right (ours is also mirrored).


» Click image for larger version

Also tweaked the garage a ton (34' wide, custom o/h doors, high lift tracks, floor drains, liftmaster 8500 openers, gas line) and moved a couple walls upstairs. We also had 100% freedom on electrical, we actually drew our own electrical plan similar to the kitchen/mudroom. I'm sure they hate us for the changes we made but we never were charged any 'custom' admin fee's, just straight upgrade costs (which aren't cheap anyways lol).

That's awesome - thanks for sharing! I'll be stealing some of your ideas for sure

[macman64]

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Where are you building with Cedarglen? This sounds promising to me...I'm hoping to build in Harvest and it's Cedarglen only, so I'm hoping they're able to modify a lot of things from their standard floor plans. The Cedarglen agents in other areas make it sound like you're basically stuck with the design and the floor plan so all you can do is pay for nicer fixtures and finishings.

We also built with Cedarglen. Similar model the Huxley 3. We did a sizeable amount of changes including some architectural changes to the upper floor. I believe we did almost $70k in changes but didn't feel any items were out of the ordinary for price. They never once complained. The electrical walk through half way through built allows you to make changes while seeing the framing which is nice. The way they operate that is the point in time you finalize electrical.

[Rocket1k78]

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OP lists 500-800k budget, looks like you pegged that one well

Im actually quite surprised it took that long for someone to floss lol