TOPIC: Saxonbury Braemore Sedgefield Southerlyn

I am looking for some advice. I would appreciate this forums's help in figuring this out. We are looking to upgrade from our current home. Our requirements are

5+ Bedrooms,
4+ Bathrooms
Bonus room

So far we found Saxonbury, Braemore, Sedgefield and Southerlyn that fit. They are at the highest end of the price range we are looking at.

1. Are there other communities around cary/morriville that are more reasonable?
2. The lack of a pool and clubhouse is a big negative. Cameron Pond has a pool but has some negatives with the location.
3. Do these builder negotiate the upgrades?
4. Do you recommend having a buyers agents to help with negotiation?
5. Can anyone share their experience with buying at Saxonbury or Braemore? I never heard of these builders before and I am concerned. What floor plans are more popular.
6. That side of Cary seems to be way overpriced and the infrastructure is very poor.
7. I think there is a new Pulte subdivision that is supposed to come this year. Did anyone hear any news on that?

Thanks for your comments and I appreciate your help.

I agree that the named builders are in high 500K to above 600k with upgrades. I would not buy Southerlyn, due to builder. Based on the market I believe that, the home prices will continue upward trend. Especially, in west Cary where the land is very limited and whoever is buying the land is paying premium. So you will see the same in the pricing.
1. You may not find any, if you are looking at above builders, You can check MI Homes, Holand Farm Estate. If your budget is above 500K but below 600k then check out L&L homes in Apex. They are building in Bella Casa, Manors collections. L&L is local custom builder.
2. As the land gets costlier, builders want to make the most out of it. So they will avoid putting club house/pool etc. I don’t think it is big negative. There are community pools available in Cay/Morrisville.
3. All of them negotiate up to some extent depending on builder. From what I heard, one buyer at Saxonbury was able to negotiate a lot more than $100k in upgrades. While in Braemore, they will not do as much as others will do. It all depends on individual cases. The sedgefield is custom builder community so there will be not much of a negotiation in terms of pricing but your realtor can guide you.
4. I would recommend having buyer’s agent. He/She can guide you throughout the home buying process.
5. Saxonbury is build by NV homes. They are notch above Ryan homes. Ryan homes own by NV homes. Braemore is built by Ashton Wood homes. Both are nice builders. But again they are national tract builder. You will not see same craftsmanship as you will see with custom builders. You may have noticed when you have seen NV homes and Ashton wood homes, and compare against the homes in Sedgefield. Custom builder will always have better attention to detail.
6. Everyone wants to move to Cary due to Schools, central location, ease of access to highways, someone said it is best to place to be, etc. West Cary is developing like crazy and not much going on in other parts of Cary so whoever want to move to Cary, there are not much of choices.
7. New Pulte subdivision is coming Green Level Church Rd. You may find detail on new/existing neighborhoods in Cary in below link.

www.townofcary.org/Assets/Planning+Department/Maps/Interactive+Development+Map.pdf

Good luck finding a home for your family..!!

Thanks for the information. I truly appreciate it.

I think the Pulte Subdivision will be great but I believe the prices will continue to shoot up. Any one have some information on the pricing. Is the pricing similar to Harmony?

We will definitely select a buyers agent. Any suggestions?

Any suggestions on how to go about negotiating?

What is your price range? It will help to filter out some builders. Send me your email and I will pass on as much information as I have. I am searching for a home in Cary too.

I have a big range. 500k - 750k.

I appreciate your information. My email is This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Hello Folks, A Google search brought me here. You should go for a custom builder if you wish to totally customize your home. The custom home builders charge a lot of money, upwards of 60k for the custom engineering and workmanship. This is built in but they can do almost anything you need in your house. Most tract builders will not, for e.g., move a bathroom or the laundry anywhere in the layout or move a wall and make a room bigger or smaller.

Attention to detail is not an automatic thing though. Buyer has to monitor and inspect the work every week. I have been to Sedgefield and seen some questionable finishes but most of the homes there look nice. The workers are no different than what you would find at Lennar. The materials used make the most difference. The lots at Sedgefield are very narrow and don't justify the 650k+ price range. Their location is nice but they do not look like estate homes. I have been to Saxonbury and their workmanship very good for a non custom builder. Saxonbury is a luxury subdivision and most homes will be 700k+ and have very good layout and plans. NV has excellent quality but so does Braemore which is much closer to RTP. Braemore does not have a good access to 540 though. NV is negotiating with local landowners to build more next year but they will likely be more expensive homes. Saxonbury is one of the better locations today due to the easy access to 540 but when Morrisville parkway interchange is open, a lot more communities (Holland Farms, Greystone, Weldon Ridge, Hilliard Forest) will be well connected to Apex and RTP. Holland Farm Estates is also a good option but their margins are very high as they pay a huge bonus to the realtors. Southerlyn might be the same.

The entire Green Level Church road towards Apex is going to be higher end homes for most part. The prices are not going to slide much even in a recession because of the lack of land. Cary is going to announce a ban on new construction until the school situation is under control. Most of these new subdivisions are not going to be able to send their kids to the so called assigned schools. One thing most people don't realize is that the new subdivisions will not have mail delivered to their mailbox. USPS is only going to deliver to a community mailbox. Older homes in Cary are not energy efficient so you will save a lot of money buying a new Energy Star home.

You can also look at Toll Brothers' new construction but that is going to be available in late 2015 or 2016. Toll has Woodlands which are really nice and you might find a resale but might be expensive. It is very hard to resell such pricey homes. They also have Manors and a resale there might be a bit cheaper.

ricky1021 wrote: Braemore does not have a good access to 540 though.

I would have to disagree with your above comment. Braemore has easy access to 540 as well. It is within couple of minutes drive.

To Anand.Bakshi,
Please check your email.