Stonemanor woods (springwater / Barrie)
 

Restarting this thread.

Bought in September 2016. Very excited about moving in this August.

Anyone else purchased and when is your closing?

Hey there!

We stopped into the sales office over the weekend and are very interested in purchasing. Just waiting to tie up a few loose ends.

Which home did you purchase and have they started building yet??

We are also curious about the prices for upgrades as they are advertising $15-20k but not sure how much that will get us.

Thanks!

We bought Churchill...the upgrades are not cheap but are lower than upgrade prices for developments closer to gta
Higher ceilings 10ft on main is 12k including taller doors and arch ways and bigger windows, 15k for basement and 9k for 2nd floor etc

No they break ground in February so they haven't started building yet.

For us the bonus covered the taxes. If you do buy and don't have anyone else you know buying, tell them lot referred you and you will get 500 towards upgrades (and so will I). Not much but better than nothing :)

Okay good to know..thanks!

We are currently deciding between the 42 foot Oak or 52 foot Marigold.

We are considering moving from the GTA to Berrie's area and would like to understand if the buyers in this forum are local or from Toronto.

Prices there are hard to beat under this market

We were in Richmond hill, Markham, Aurora and now moving up to springwater. The 62' homes would easily surpass 2 million in those cities but luckily we don't have to be in downtown Toronto. Even if we did, the allandale go train is 10 minutes from the site.

Both are great! I like marigold.

Thanks for your view.

What is the down-payment structure? and the closing dates?

It may have changed but when we bought in sept it was 60k total.
5k on signing
5k a month later
10k each month until 60k total

Closing dates are likely in 2018 for phase 2. We bought phase 1 and close in fall 2017

Very good information, thanks for sharing. Something I can't see in their web site is what type of hard wood floor and the standard dim of the trim and baseboard.

We will be in the site during the weekend

If anyone know the phase 2 closing date range and would not mind sharing, it would be great. Looking at late 2018 to early 2019 closing ideally.

I have a friend who bought in November for phase 2 and is closing August 2018.

We had to upgrade to hardwood and to increase size of trims and baseboards.

Did you change the high of the ceilings as well? How much was the hardwood upgrade in your model?

Yes we increased ceilings on all 3 floors.

Hardwood was about 12k not including bedrooms (I actually prefer carpet in the bedrooms). This is for a super dark stain called graphite 5" planks in living, dining, great room, upper hall way and media room.

So the hardwood upgrade would vary depending on the size of planks and stain colour you choose. I wanted the 7" but we were trying to control the budget we had already blown after the structural appt lol

The 7" baseboards and 3" casings were around 3500

I just sent you a pm as well.

I was at the sale site a couple of weeks ago and the homes design and lots sizes look really nice!! There are two lots from the Phase 1 remaining and a three on phase 2 (with premiums due to lot size and location). They are releasing new lots periodically from Phase 2. Model prices in the web site are up to date, but lots available are not (call the site). Worth mentioning that home features/standards are quite basic, in my opinion the homes are shells that need to be updated,Tribute is well known for this practice (Ex. Homes without sidewalk cost $5k more)

For those who already bought homes here, have you experience any delay in closing? I remember the development from Tribute in “Gates of Nobleton” suffered mayor delays last year for no obvious reasons.

My friend also purchased in phase 2 and was originally quoted fall 2018 closing but tribute called them and said they were ahead of schedule and if they were okay with moving their closing date up 6 months. They happily agreed.

Our home was scheduled to break ground mid February and we noticed they had already dug up and laid the foundation 2 weeks ago ( a month in advance).

Last year most developers were delayed due to the labor strike. I know for example that all the Sharon and aurora developments maxed out the 7500 closing delay credit. Not 100 percent sure if this is the case for gates of nobleton but assuming it is.

We noticed that too!!! they were digging the hole of your property the day we visited the sales site.

They increased the price of the 62" lots by 20k :(

Hi,

I bought Albany B on lot 537 back in December. My closing is in February 2018.

Not sure if you guys are following the prices of the houses on the Tribute site. They've jumped a total of $60k since our signing. We signed our house for $873k + 110k for the lot. Wondering how much some of the early buyers might've paid for the house and lot. Saw someone mention a friend signed in November. Do you have any idea how much the houses were going for then?

I have my second upgrade appointment next week. Wondering what some of you guys have done or planning to do in the kitchen.

Feel free to ask any questions regarding our process. Happy to share!

Btw lot 273, I will be giving your lot as a referral to get us both the $500. Do you mind giving me your first and last name incase they ask? Pm me if you'd like.

Congrats! I love the Albany!! That was my first choice but The lot beside us didn't buy a coach house so we couldn't either. The lot was the priority for us vs the house model, but we are happy with our Churchill b.

We bought in September and close in August and price has increased 160k since we bought. I have print screened the price lists every time they've gone up, which has been every month but this past January it went up Jan 3, 7 and 27 and then again feb 5. I know that the development started selling in October of 2013 and that it had only gone up 100k total up until sept 2016, so the recent increases have been fast over the last 6 months. Our lot is a ravine and we paid 85k for the lot premium. Lot 537 is huge, that's a great lot!

To get the 500 referral you need to tell the sales office and they send he paperwork to the decor center. Just call and tell them that you forgot to mention it earlier as you assumed that you had to tell the decor center. I will pm you my first and last name...thank you! :)

What structural upgrades did you do?
In the kitchen we upgraded the cabinets and hardware and added drawers and garbage/recycling drawer. We did a different colour island (white cabinets and dark island). It's so easy to get carried away and we really tried not to go too crazy. Good luck at your next appt!

Since I visited the site 3 weeks ago they have increased the price by 50K. The Nelson was 873k and now is 918k. This is quite an increase for less than a month in the market. Not sure if Barrie's market is strong enough to sustain this, crazy!!

The 52s went up 60k from Jan 30 to feb 5!! I think by the time I move in this fall the 62s will be at a million before lot premiums. When you compare to the 36' lots in the 2000/2500 sqft range sold out in Sharon/east gwillimbury for over a million, it's still such a good deal. I hear Barrie home prices are increasing 4th fastest in Ontario. Oshawa being the first on the list.

Are you still considering purchasing?

I'm not sure, the prices are becoming less and less attractive. At the same time they are not releasing any new lots, I'm on the waiting list, but nothing.

Don't even know what lots are available

Thanks! We wanted to get a ravine lot + walk out basement but none were available when we went. Love the round shape and the stone work on the Churchill B. Is yours a walkout as well?

Wow, 160k since September. Happy that I was able to get my hands on the house earlier looking at prices now.

Alright I'll get that done. Thanks!

The major upgrades we did were

Taller height on all 3 floors
Taller doors and archways upstairs
Open stair case
Added 5th bedroom + washroom
A second staircase to the basement (from the second door on the entrance)
A door to the back of the single garage
Smooth ceiling through out
Swapped the regular tubs for standing showers with full frameless glass doors
A couple coach lights in the front (not sure why this wasn't standard. The coach lights aren't anything special so we'll have to change on our own after closing)
A couple holiday receptacles on the soffit around the north, west, east and south of house (will be hiring an electrician to run exterior spot lights around the house. The spot lights were way too expensive to do with them. This was a cost saving alternative recommended by our consultant)
Spot lights in a couple areas
Coffered ceiling in the living/dining
9 panel waffle in the great room
Built in cook top and wall oven
Rinnai tankless water heater (anyone else make this change? I've never had it but did some research online and seems to be a cost saving item in the long run.)

The rest were mostly minor changes. These are the major upgrades that pulled the most money. Prioritized items that can't be done later to be on the top the list. We’ve decided to do hardwood and granite after closing.

You're right, it's easy to get carried away.

Oh great, we’re doing white cabinets and grey island too! Which line of cabinets did you go with?
How much did you end up spending at your second appointment? Just want an idea of what to expect. What other upgrades did you do? Did you guys look into taller cabinets?

Do you guys know what lots are available at the moment?

Sick with flu so can't put together a thoughtful response but Atheenas24 it sounds like your home will be absolutely beautiful! We spent 125k total on upgrades. Can't base on first vs second appt cause not all decor people go through same elements at each appt.

Askimo I suggest you call the sales office for most up to date lots but I totally hear you about the current prices.

Another 20k increase. I can't believe it!!. They have increased the price almost 80k from the time we were in there.

Askimo, so I checked some of my pictures. They actually jumped 90k. It's crazy. Did you end up purchasing a lot?

No I did not, the lots I like are not released yet. There is a 62" lot available with a high premium (increased to 70k from 54k), but is located in an intersection. There are a couple of new 52" lots released as well that I will be looking at.

I'm close to bail out from this subdivision. We can't find correlation with the recent price increase and Barrie's housing market; considering that these homes are just shells that need to be heavily upgraded these princess look less and less attractive. In my perspective and the perspective of my local realtor, this is pure speculation.

Sorry for delay, was recovering from a bad flu. We wanted a walk out as well but due to grading, we couldn't get it. We were offered walk up but passed.

We spent most of our upgrades on structural, kitchen, ensuite. Here's the big stuff I can remember off the top of my head.

Structural:
- taller ceilings on all 3 floors
- taller archways only on 2, we just upgraded doors to smooth but kept them standard height
- changed sliding door to patio doors with side lights
- added optional door from garage to side of house
- smooth ceilings throughout
- changed ensuite shower to frameless shower to ground (no half wall)
-200 amp
- rough in for cameras/security system
- bigger basement Windows

Kitchen
- We went with upgrade 4a level for the white kitchen cabinets
- added top row of drawers and garbage/recycling drawer
- built in double ovens, range top and wine fridge
- moulding on top and under cabinet valence.
- We did not add the square cabinets above so there will be less than 2ft gap to ceiling. The cabinets are taller standard.
- island to be dark colour

Ensuite
- Taller vanities in ensuite and added top drawers and got makeup counter option.
- upgrades to rainshowet with handheld

Other
- upgraded to 18x18 tile and 5" hardwood dark stain
- upgraded to birds nest iron spindles for stairs
- white risers
- 7" contemporary baseboards and 3" casings
- swivel door handles

That's what I can remember. We drove up yesterday and our basement is done! They are building the Albany next to our house. I talked to Bev and she mentioned lot 537 had broker referral attached to it so if that is the case, you won't be able to get another referral for same lot. Did you get any bonus for the broker referral?

Oh nicee. Those are smart and great choices.

And oh yes. Our broker did get $1000. We won't be getting anything from that. Sorry about that.

Is there anything you might've done differently or something you wish you knew earlier? We had our second appointment but we couldn't get everything done so we're having a third one this week.

Im sorry about the late reply. Been really busy.

Thanks and no worries!

Yes, So much more I wanted to do but we were really trying to keep the budget in control. Lol the only real thing I wanted but wasn't allowed was the walkout basement. I do wish we increased the height of the doors on 2 but hubby kept saying we only sleep there sigh lol love open to basement too but with two babies we thought having a door would be better for us. Wanted 24x24 tiles but settled for 18x18. Wanted 7" hardwood but settled for 5" etc etc I have champagne taste but a beer budget haha

They are great at the decor center and as long as it doesn't affect the schedule for the house they will accommodate. I had a third appt as well as I wanted to change a few original decisions and add a few more upgrades. All in all, I'm happy with what we went with and the other stuff we will do after (i.e. backsplash, countertops, fixtures, crown moulding/wainscoting, waffle/coffered ceilings, pot lights internal and external)...we also upgraded to lever handles and to rain shower and handheld in ensuite.

Hubby does contracting too and he kept saying we could do everything after but I didn't want to have to live through full renovations so we compromised on most things.

I can't believe the house has gone up 200k since September. They are working on the framing for our main floor now. I hear the deposit has gone up to 90k now. We had 60k deposit and apparently it was only 40k before. Crazy!

What appliances have you guys decided on? We went with a thermador package....again, wanted subzero/wolf but....yup, budget hahah

Yeah a walk out basement would've been worth the extra money. They didn't give you guys an option to add a second set of stairs to the basement eh? The second floors doors were not cheap. and it’s extra per door to change it from wood grain to smooth doors. It was standard in my current home. Yeah smart move, adding a baby banister gate would’ve been extra + pickets + railing + staining. Oh great, you guys are in contracting. We are too! You will save a lot of money doing everything you mentioned after. We have a lot planned for the basement and landscaping so we need to have some money for that and wanted to avoid the mess of renovation inside the house. We deleted all the carpet in the house and raised the baseboard to accommodate the new hardwood we’ll have to install after closing.

Yeah lucky you, congratulations. We live in Pickering and we started in the summer to look for a home but couldn’t find anything nearby that we liked. It wasn’t till around November that we were open to the idea of relocating to another city. Could’ve saved 100k if we had decided earlier. Still grateful to have found what we have. Oh wow, our deposit was 75k. It was 100k for the 85’ lot when we signed.

Appliances….I need to decide on them soon. What did you guys do with yours? Did you guys buy them right now or get the dimensions for the built in to buy later? I’m a little nervous about waiting till closing to buy the appliances because we have to give the dimensions right now. So yeah what did you guys do?

They did offer a walk up basement but we decided to pass. If you mean another staircase indoors, not really sure it's necessary for our home size/model. But it definitely makes sense with the Albany model especially with the second door entrance.

Re appliances, we picked it out back in November and paid a deposit but told them we didn't need delivery until August. They gave us builder spec sheets and I gave the decor center copies. Pretty straight forward. We bought from Corbeil in Vaughan and if you are looking for high end they have most brands but not sub zero/wolf. if you go, let me know and I can give my contact a heads up and he should be able to hook you up.

Oh, just took a look at Churchill's floor plan. Yeah makes sense. Having a walk up basement in Barrie would've required a lot of snow shovelling too.

Yeah, I haven't decided on a place yet. I'll check them out. I'll be going on Friday. So please do. Do you have a name I should ask for?

Absolutely re snow! We have a snowblower but I'm thinking we are going to need something even bigger lol

Pm me your email and I will send you his name and what he should be able to do for you. Don't want to put it on a public forum and potentially get him into any trouble lol

Hello everyone.
I had started a thread here before on stonemanor but the site lost some content a couple months a ago so good to see this back up for discussion.
I got in last October as did two of my family members.
I can't believe the prices these days and ether will continue to got up.
I got the Churchill B. Lot 562. Closing march 2018.
Just did my first structural upgrade today and boy it wasn't cheap.
It's a great community. A little far but the space and size of the home are worth it.

Hey tabz08!
I had sent you my upgrades pricing package previously! Had to re register my account with the website crash. What structural did you end up doing?

i did the higher ceilings on all floors,
taller doors on the second floor
i relocated the laundry to the second floor where the media room was
some electrical upgrades
smooth ceilings,
frameless shower
it all cost me an arm and a leg. lol

Just booked our structural appointment for Mar 23rd. Any idea what kind of upgrades will be discussed and sample pricing?