Stonebridge-Toll Brothers

[sunny88]

[quote=familyguy]I just got the feeling that the homes were “squished” in. Especially the two story; the driveway for example, it looks nice but if you think about actually putting a car in either garage it would have to be a Cooper mini as there simply isn’t enough room to negotiate the turns.

Further, there is little or no space between the pillars and the front door. IMO there needs to be at least 6′ or so between the pillars and front door, the current configuration has about 2.5′ (roughly.) Then, once you get inside the double stair case is beautiful, but again it’s SO close to the front door that you have to stand outside to appreciate it. Great concept, but far to little space for the design. Once inside, there are no bathroom doors installed but if you can imagine the bathrooms with doors in the bedrooms, you’ll find there will be barely enough room to close the door without hitting the toilet. I think someone who hasn’t purchased a brand new home after seeing models might overlook this so it’s something to concider.

I thought the backyards at both places were done nicely, and the finishes were nice as well. When you actuially price out a home with a view and outfit it anywhere close to the models you would easily be in the million+ range which again IMHO, is overpriced.

Just my .02[/quote]

I completely agree. Especially the 2nd model’s stairway is overdone. This just doesn’t belong into that size of house. Other than that, the homes are clearly overpriced given the fact that a lot of options are necessary to make the house nice.

[Anonymous]

I’m a first time home buyer and I fell in love with the model homes. Am I in over my head is it a bad idea to spend a million on ones of these homes. Has any buyer negotiated a lower deal I’m just not a fan of looking at short sales that I need to put 200 k into work. A lot of homes in this area sold for 1 mil in 06 and now are 700 k. And I just don’t want to be apart of that group on a 2012 buyers Market
Any advance

[localguy]

Update on Toll Brothers & Standard Pacific.
I did an informal count the other weekend and see that 21 of the Toll Brothers properties are sold or under contract. I see quite a few of the single story homes in the mix. Standard Pacific has sold a handful of homes as well. More traffic in the neighborhood as people scope out other homes for sell and/or distressed properties. I have some squatters next to me and quite a few drive bys stop and point. It reminds me of my strategy before I moved in.
Localguy

[ocrenter]

[quote=localguy]Update on Toll Brothers & Standard Pacific.
I did an informal count the other weekend and see that 21 of the Toll Brothers properties are sold or under contract. I see quite a few of the single story homes in the mix. Standard Pacific has sold a handful of homes as well. More traffic in the neighborhood as people scope out other homes for sell and/or distressed properties. I have some squatters next to me and quite a few drive bys stop and point. It reminds me of my strategy before I moved in.
Localguy[/quote]

from the look of things, people certainly much prefer the new homes compared to the resales. I see a whole bunch of Tolls already closed essentially all at $1 million while plenty of resales with upgrades go for the same if not less. one thing is for sure, anyone in stonebridge that need to sell should wait until the builders are done.

[Dcsteele7]

Hello
Does anyone have information about the Poway Vulcan Materials mine and the permit that was open for questions in 2013? See link below. It looks like Beeler creek residents put up a fight in 2004. I’m wondering if Stonebridge residents are able to put up a tougher fight to stop future mining since there are more homes in Stonebridge. Do you think we are likely to see the mining company win or do you think there is a good chance the people will be able to stop mining for good?

Does anyone know what kind of impact mining operations may have on homes in Stonebridge, and specifically the homes that back up to Beeler creek. Noise, eyesore, dust, pollution, etc.? Are the homes at an elevation such that noise would have minimal impact on the homes above the mine? How did the Mira Mesa Vulcan mine affect homes on the rim of the mine? Does anyone have experience with Mira Mesa homes near the mine or Beeler creek homes and the poway mine?

http://www.usace.army.mil/Portals/17/docs/publicnotices/2013_0102_Public%20Notice%20with%20Attachments_Poway%20Mine%20Vulcan%20Materials_100%20%20%20.pdf

[Anonymous]

Thanks DCSteele7. Interesting post. I live in SBD and was not aware of this. I think the potential impact would mostly depend upon where they mine and where a home might be. I would not expect they can move many heavy trucks down Beeler Canyon road so perhaps if they did move forward it would get trucked out the backside near Costco and over to Scripps Poway Pkwy. I will bring this up to our HOA although I don’t imagine we would have any grounds to argue unless at some point we have adjacent property lines. The elevation is a few hundred feet over the bottom of the canyon. For sure noise would be a factor reverberating up the canyon.

[Dcsteele7]

Hi SDSEEKER,
The mining permit is good until 2031 and was issued in the 90’s. They could mine right now. I spoke to a Vulcan rep today. He thinks they may start mining next year. It is really depends on the economic conditions. The permit that was up for review this year was only to cover some work to protect the creek. They already have completed all the other permit processes.
My wife went to the city of Poway yesterday and reviewed the Environmental report they had on file for the Poway Mine. They don’t plan to do any blasting. Only digging / scrapping. They plan to have 2 rock crushers on-site. They have to abide by the noise level requirements defined in Poway’s zoning rules. They have already built an access road from the Costco business park so trucks don’t have to use Beeler Creek Road.
Based on research, etc., I don’t think the noise is too big of a concern. The dust is the larger concern.
Here are links to a few older articles on the topic.
http://www.pomeradonews.com/2004/11/17/council-tightens-cement-plant-rules/

http://www.aggregateresearch.com/articles/5318/Poway-adds-conditions-to-Vulcans-permit.aspx

http://www.utsandiego.com/uniontrib/20041113/news_1mi13vulcan.html

We also reviewed one of the 5yr reports (these are required for the operation) at the city of Poway and they had anticipated starting to mine in 2011 but that did not happen.

Thanks

[Dcsteele7]

Hi SDSEEKER,
The mining permit is good until 2031 and was issued in the 90’s. They could mine right now. I spoke to a Vulcan rep today. He thinks they may start mining next year. It is really depends on the economic conditions. The permit that was up for review this year was only to cover some work to protect the creek. They already have completed all the other permit processes.
My wife went to the city of Poway yesterday and reviewed the Environmental report they had on file for the Poway Mine. They don’t plan to do any blasting. Only digging / scrapping. They plan to have 2 rock crushers on-site. They have to abide by the noise level requirements defined in Poway’s zoning rules. They have already built an access road from the Costco business park so trucks don’t have to use Beeler Creek Road.
Based on research, etc., I don’t think the noise is too big of a concern. The dust is the larger concern.
Here are links to a few older articles on the topic.
http://www.pomeradonews.com/2004/11/17/council-tightens-cement-plant-rules/

http://www.aggregateresearch.com/articles/5318/Poway-adds-conditions-to-Vulcans-permit.aspx

http://www.utsandiego.com/uniontrib/20041113/news_1mi13vulcan.html

We also reviewed one of the 5yr reports (these are required for the operation) at the city of Poway and they had anticipated starting to mine in 2011 but that did not happen.

Thanks

[Anonymous]

i bought a new home in toll brothers
i hired PEC construction (Nicholas Escobar) to do my landscape.
Please save your money
BAIT and Switch
un-professonal
breach on contract
Un-preformance
Had to Pay $$ k to other contractors to fix his work.
Very cheap company
Warning !! Do NOT HIRE

[localguy]

Sorry to hear what happened and thank you for providing the warning. As a 4+ year resident out here I am still amazed by the scammers who prey on the naive. I have heard so many horror stories it borders on the ridiclous. The homeowners bear the responsibility as well. pm me if you have any questions.
Localguy

[Navydoc]

I’m sorry too, as I’m currently embroiled in the horrors of landscaping as well. I’m astonished how much variation there is among different contractor’s prices. We’re basically doing everything owner-builder and hiring the subcontractors ourselves. Royal pain in the ass to do it this way, as you have to literally oversee everything, but the money we save is incredible, and in many cases the same subcontractors do the work. The same guys shot our pool as the neighbors. I’m lucky since my sister in law is my designer, and she can work out of my house most days. Still get plenty of calls from my wife during the day when things aren’t going quite right. One other benefit, since everyone is using Ruffino except us, our landscpaping looks totally different.

Can’t wait until we’re done, I’m getting weary.

[UCGal]

[quote=craig kolk]i bought a new home in toll brothers
i hired PEC construction (Nicholas Escobar) to do my landscape.
Please save your money
BAIT and Switch
un-professonal
breach on contract
Un-preformance
Had to Pay $$ k to other contractors to fix his work.
Very cheap company
Warning !! Do NOT HIRE[/quote]

Please do other consumers a favor and file a complaint with the contractors license board.

If you want to recoup some money – you should look at his bond company. If he truly had a breach of contract and you can prove it – you can collect against his bond.

I’m a big believer that you need to go after the bad contractors to drive them out of business… otherwise they can financially harm the next consumer. It’s a hassle, full of stress, and you don’t get back all your money or time… but it’s worth it to protect the next guy.

If you want to know more about the process of filing a complaint…
http://www.cslb.ca.gov/Consumers/FilingAComplaint/

It’s not a fast process… In our case it took almost 2 years before the complaint showed on the website. But it’s the right thing to do.

Also – I’ve said it before – I’ll say it again. Due your due diligence! This specific contractor raised red flags for me because of a 10 day gap in his bonding history. That suggests (but is not absolute) that it’s possible a bond was paid out – and he needed to come up with money to restore his bond. (There are other explanations – but I know that is one possibility).
You can see it here on the license info:
https://www2.cslb.ca.gov/OnlineServices/CheckLicenseII/LicenseDetail.aspx?LicNum=964971
(click on the contractors bond history link)

To recap my diligence steps:
– Check the license: look for complaints, look at bonding history (looking for gaps), look at workers comp (if they don’t have it – yet you know they have direct employees… ask them about it. It opens you up to lawsuits from the workers if they should have it and don’t.) https://www2.cslb.ca.gov/OnlineServices/CheckLicenseII/checklicense.aspx
– check their civil court records for both the individual and corporate name. http://www.sdcourt.ca.gov/portal/page?_pageid=55,1&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL
– check to see it the individual or company files a lot of mechanics liens, or has a lot of judgements against them. http://arcc.co.san-diego.ca.us/services/grantorgrantee/search.aspx
– and if they still look ok – check their corporate status at the Sec. of State website: http://kepler.sos.ca.gov/
If they are signing a contract as a corporation – and don’t have active status – the contract is invalid.

[upwardspiral]

I hope things start going better for you soon!

[Author]

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