We visited the homes at Dolcetto several times, drawn mainly by the low PPSF relative to other homes in Carlsbad and the “large lots” that they advertise. Our findings:

The houses are indeed on large(er) lots (10 to 11,000 sq feet, average), but the houses are situated in such a way that the liveable use space is quite small. Large slopes on the side yards and back yard, awkward placement of the house on the lot, etc.

KB has sold I believe all of the land they had slated for future phases to other developers. They haven’t yet had buyers for all their current phase, thus the unfinished lots you are seeing. They didn’t say what the other surrounding land that they sold would be developed into, but that raised a huge red flag to us.

The HOA’s were quite high, for no ammenities other than the gate.

There is a water reclamation plant spitting distance from the models. We’ve only visited on fairly windy days… Not sure if it will have any… “odor” on a calm, summer day.

San Marcos school district, and depending on the map, it often renders you in San Marcos rather than Carlsbad. At the very least, you are right on the border.

That’s about all – we really really liked the houses, and were very tempted by I think it was plan 4 in Dolcetto. If you go up the road that Dolcetto is on, you’ll run into some new homes by Pulte as well. They were more solidly built out than the Dolcetto neighborhood, meaning without the unknown of what the rest of your street was going to look like. And because they’re higher on the hill, and down the other side, many of the lots have ocean views rather than views of old areas of San Marcos and a water reclamation facility.

Hope that helps…!

Edited for one more thing: Every time we’ve gone there, they’ve been begging us to make any sort of an offer. In case they didn’t tell you the same, their list price right now is a wish list, and they are EXTREMELY willing to bargain, so I would not hesitate to start with a near-insulting low ball. That’s what we would have done, at least.