Tuesday, July 15, 2008
The Hawthorne Village community in Milton is currently comprised of Hawthorne Village (HV), Hawthorne Village on the Escarpment (HVE) and Hawthorne Village Vista (HVV). To learn more about the Hawthorne Village community in Milton, Ontario visit http://www.hawthornevillager.com/phpbb/ That's the discussion forum for Hawthorne Villagers and people who are interested in moving here. The below entries were my original blog posts talking about our personal experiences when moving here.
Friday, September 16, 2005
We're less than 3 weeks from closing! Our house is looking good from the front. They still have to paint the columns and other parts in front of the house, but that should be easy.
Our major concerns are the bricks in the back of the house (they used the wrong color bricks in spots somehow) and that our kitchen & bathroom cabinets are still missing. Aya seems to be late with cabinets in many houses, with others reporting some quality problems with cabinet doors. We're really hoping that Mattamy will finish on time. Our building team leader Stelian says not to worry, but it's still stressful with the Oct 5th closing date fast approaching.
Mattamy's also announced new 56' homes being released on Sept 26th, you can read more about this here http://www.hawthornevillager.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=1509
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
As mentioned in the discussion forums Mattamy released more 36' & 46' lots on July 9th along with price increases. I noticed Mattamy stopped updating their website for Hawthorne Village? The 46' lots and townhomes appear as "sold out" online which is not true.
I sometimes receive emails from people asking when I think Mattamy will be releasing new lots in Hawthorne Village. My answer is always to please call their Sales Office at (905) 875-2692. Now that we have our own home being built I don't keep track of future releases. You should also not trust what you see on Mattamy's website for lot availability because as mentioned it's fairly out-of-date.
The sales office is still saying they may release more 56' lots in a couple weeks to those that are interested.
If interested in other Mattamy locations outside of Milton, call the sales office for the location you are interested in. The phone numbers are listed on their main website. One exception being Burlington, for some reason they don't have a phone number or link to that location anymore. But someone emailed me this notice of 36' lots being released there on Saturday July 23rd.
I sometimes receive emails from people asking when I think Mattamy will be releasing new lots in Hawthorne Village. My answer is always to please call their Sales Office at (905) 875-2692. Now that we have our own home being built I don't keep track of future releases. You should also not trust what you see on Mattamy's website for lot availability because as mentioned it's fairly out-of-date.
The sales office is still saying they may release more 56' lots in a couple weeks to those that are interested.
If interested in other Mattamy locations outside of Milton, call the sales office for the location you are interested in. The phone numbers are listed on their main website. One exception being Burlington, for some reason they don't have a phone number or link to that location anymore. But someone emailed me this notice of 36' lots being released there on Saturday July 23rd.
Friday, June 17, 2005
Here are 4 additional Hawthorne Villager blogs that have sprouted up on the internet.
Bonnie Tiju&Sophia GregoryL J&L
There is also a website for the Hawthorne Village Medical Clinic being opened soon in July 2005. Dr. Tim McKee posted information on this in the discussion forums.
Our house is currently being built! The Senior Builder for our phase is Stelian Priescu with our building team being Jeff Rideout & Michael Hawkins. We were happy to meet both Stelian & Jeff earlier this year at "Mattamy University" where they discussed the building process. Hoping to post pictures soon of our Tothburg home under construction. We close in the first week of October, 2005.
Bonnie Tiju&Sophia GregoryL J&L
There is also a website for the Hawthorne Village Medical Clinic being opened soon in July 2005. Dr. Tim McKee posted information on this in the discussion forums.
Our house is currently being built! The Senior Builder for our phase is Stelian Priescu with our building team being Jeff Rideout & Michael Hawkins. We were happy to meet both Stelian & Jeff earlier this year at "Mattamy University" where they discussed the building process. Hoping to post pictures soon of our Tothburg home under construction. We close in the first week of October, 2005.
Monday, February 21, 2005
Geoffrey Peart has a cool personal blog called "Coast of Araska" where he also has some postings & pictures of his home buying experience in Hawthorne Village. His home page is at gcpeart.evermeet.org. I liked this posting of his myself. Geoffrey if you read this are you a user in the forums? You mention them on your blog but don't see any postings from any userids that resemble your name.
Monday, September 06, 2004
Hawthorne Village Pub Night to meet your neighbours.
Place : Charley Fitzwhiskey's Tap & Eatery
Location : 55 Ontario St N, Milton, Ontario
Date&Time : Saturday, September 11 at 4 PM
Who's invited? People moving (or recently moved) to Hawthorne Village in Phase 11, 12, and 13, plus anyone else who's interested in attending (i.e. fellow Hawthorne Villagers).
Look at the "Pub Night" topic in the Discussion forum for more information!
Place : Charley Fitzwhiskey's Tap & Eatery
Location : 55 Ontario St N, Milton, Ontario
Date&Time : Saturday, September 11 at 4 PM
Who's invited? People moving (or recently moved) to Hawthorne Village in Phase 11, 12, and 13, plus anyone else who's interested in attending (i.e. fellow Hawthorne Villagers).
Look at the "Pub Night" topic in the Discussion forum for more information!
Friday, July 09, 2004
Nick & Trish Dorak have their own personal website where they've been nice to post information on the Phase 11 Mooreside Corner townhouse they purchased at Hawthorne Village. Under "See the progress" there's pictures/descriptions of the progress up to date of their new home being constructed (it's a big page though so will take awhile to load depending on your internet speed).
On the topic of our own Phase 12 purchase, our lawyer has reviewed the purchase agreement and so far has advised us to request changes to cap the closing costs, and also delete the forced early closing clause. We also wanted to change where it says we're forced to accept a mirror image/reverse layout if it's required (they can't tell us if it will be) but so far Mattamy won't budge on that :-( So we're just hoping our house won't be required to be a mirror image, we won't really know until closer to the design centre structural upgrade appointment which by then will be too late to backout of the purchase if we were so inclined. So we're just crossing our fingers on that one. Although other people who live in mirror image houses say you get used to it fairly quickly and the only reason it initially seems wierd to us is because we're so used to looking at the un-mirrored floor plans.
Once again, join the Hawthorne Village forums! There's more information there being posted about Hawthorne Village.
On the topic of our own Phase 12 purchase, our lawyer has reviewed the purchase agreement and so far has advised us to request changes to cap the closing costs, and also delete the forced early closing clause. We also wanted to change where it says we're forced to accept a mirror image/reverse layout if it's required (they can't tell us if it will be) but so far Mattamy won't budge on that :-( So we're just hoping our house won't be required to be a mirror image, we won't really know until closer to the design centre structural upgrade appointment which by then will be too late to backout of the purchase if we were so inclined. So we're just crossing our fingers on that one. Although other people who live in mirror image houses say you get used to it fairly quickly and the only reason it initially seems wierd to us is because we're so used to looking at the un-mirrored floor plans.
Once again, join the Hawthorne Village forums! There's more information there being posted about Hawthorne Village.
Sunday, July 04, 2004
This information has already been posted in the Hawthorne Village forums but will recap it here in the Blog.
(1) Toronto Star News article about the June 21-25 Mattamy Hawthorne Village lineup in the July 3rd Saturday edition. You can view the article online here.
(2) New 85 acre park being built near Hawthorne Village. Here's a PDF version of the Park Map. Here's a Milton Champion newspaper article about the future park.
(3) Map showing future location of the Walmart & Canadian Tire being built by James Snow Pky & Steeles Ave.
(4) More Hawthorne Village line-up pictures from June 21-25 provided by Tim & Sandra.
(5) Today Mattamy started to call people who have "reservations" to come in and get their Purchase Agreements. This pertains to people who did reservations earlier because at the time Mattamy didn't have purchase agreements finalized yet. Dave & Laurie (#1's in line) did theirs today.
Also it's interesting to mention that from August 2003 to July 2004, Mattamy has increased the prices of their homes in Hawthorne Village by about 10%. Here's an example using the Tothburg II Elevation C that we've been tracking.
It's now July 5th, and the Tothburg 2, along with other 56' lots are sold out. I wonder if Mattamy will increase the prices again this month when they say more 56's will be released? Supply and demand. We're happy that we reserved our lot when we did. But it's still surprising how fast the prices have changed. The others (semis, towns, 36s, 46s, etc..) have had similar price increases around the same range.
(1) Toronto Star News article about the June 21-25 Mattamy Hawthorne Village lineup in the July 3rd Saturday edition. You can view the article online here.
(2) New 85 acre park being built near Hawthorne Village. Here's a PDF version of the Park Map. Here's a Milton Champion newspaper article about the future park.
(3) Map showing future location of the Walmart & Canadian Tire being built by James Snow Pky & Steeles Ave.
(4) More Hawthorne Village line-up pictures from June 21-25 provided by Tim & Sandra.
(5) Today Mattamy started to call people who have "reservations" to come in and get their Purchase Agreements. This pertains to people who did reservations earlier because at the time Mattamy didn't have purchase agreements finalized yet. Dave & Laurie (#1's in line) did theirs today.
Also it's interesting to mention that from August 2003 to July 2004, Mattamy has increased the prices of their homes in Hawthorne Village by about 10%. Here's an example using the Tothburg II Elevation C that we've been tracking.
| August, 2003 | January 19, 2004 | June 22-25, 2004 | June 26, 2004 | June 27, 2004 |
| $376,990 | $382,990 | $394,990 | $404,990 | $414,990 |
It's now July 5th, and the Tothburg 2, along with other 56' lots are sold out. I wonder if Mattamy will increase the prices again this month when they say more 56's will be released? Supply and demand. We're happy that we reserved our lot when we did. But it's still surprising how fast the prices have changed. The others (semis, towns, 36s, 46s, etc..) have had similar price increases around the same range.
Thursday, July 01, 2004
The "post comments" section has been changed into a Discussion Forum. It makes it easier to have interaction and multiple messages than the old comment post method did. So please join and post your experiences or questions! I'm using the free open-source software called "phpBB" to do this. Most postings here will now be related to Design Centre/upgrades, information about Hawthorne Village, progress on our house construction, etc. Less about actually "buying" the home since that parts over now for us! But this "Blog" may eventually take a second place to the new "Discussion Forum" as time goes by.
Sunday, June 27, 2004
Post your Comments here! Say Hello to the new friends you made & your future neighbors. Join the discussion forum!
Saturday, June 26, 2004
It's been one crazy week. Although the Phase 12 homes weren't officially to be released until June 26, a line-up started on Monday, June 21st. People literally camped outside the sales office using folding chairs, tents, sleeping bags and other gear. We found out about the line-up on Monday afternoon, when I received an email from Frank, who's family was the second group in line. I quickly enlisted help from friends and family to stand in line 24/7 for us in shifts/rotations. I spent the nights, my wife the days, and our Mom, Dad and an uncle gave us additional time during the week so we could take breaks. The line grew fairly quickly, and by Friday it was over a 100 strong.
We had a fantastic time. We spent time meeting and getting to know our future neighbors. People spent the time talking, getting to know each other, giving home-buying advice and sharing past experiences. We even met many past Mattamy buyers looking to move-up from their first Mattamy home into a new one.
First, I can't go further without mentioning Frank, the first "line captain", and JR, the second "line captain" for the amazing job they did. As people entered the line, they'd have their info added to the list showing where they were in line, their names, lot size of interest, and an emergency contact phone number. Fair rules were created so a relative or friend could stand-in for you in line, as long as someone was always in line for you. There was lee-way for calls-of-nature and other such things in that when random line roll-calls occured you had about 15 minutes to make yourself known before losing your place in the line. Some people did lose their place in line and were crossed off the list, but this was rare. After spending 1 night or more in line most people didn't want to wander too far away and risk having their name crossed off.
The first night was the most difficult, but by the second night Mattamy provided some outside portapotties and was also sending a coffee truck each morning to provide the brave (or crazy depending how you look at it) people in line free coffee & donuts. Most people's diets suffered in the 5 days in line as you ate mostly fast food when you could. It started to feel like a "mini-survivor" but it really brought everyone closer together and some lasting friendships were made while in line.
My wife would spend the days in line, while I spent the nights. This was because she was able to get days off work on short notice while I couldn't. We rented a second car for this so we could get around easily on our own during the week. She had a great time and met and talked to a great number of people during the days.
Some important information for people who weren't in line prior to Saturday.
Because by Friday the line was already over a 100 people, Mattamy started letting people in to reserve their lots on Friday afternoon instead of waiting until Saturday. This is because it would have been impossible otherwise for anyone coming on Saturday to get in the building. The line was just that big. Because we entered the line on Tuesday, 9 AM and never left, we had position 19 in line. We got in I think just before 3 PM on Friday and reserved lot #329 for our future Tothburg Elevation C home.
Another important fact is that people who stayed in line over-night saved themselves big bucks. Mattamy raised the prices of the homes TWICE these past 5 days. The people who waited in line before Saturday got one price, and the people who didn't show up until Saturday got a different price. There were different prices given out on Saturday than the price sheets people were getting during the previous days. For example, the 56' wide lot prices on June 22nd to June 25th were $12,000 more than the previous Jan 19, 2004 prices. But the 56' wide lot prices on June 26th were $22,000 more than the Jan 19, 2004 prices. So people who joined the line early on in the week saved themselves $10,000 !!!
One other change everyone noticed is that they raised the deposit requirements. For 56's they added on an additional $5,000 deposit needed at the 90 day after-offer point which didn't exist before.
I'm changing the website to allow people to post comments. If you just reserved a lot in Hawthorne Village Phase 12 please post your first name(s), line #, and lot number you picked along with any other comments or hello's to friends you made while in line. You can also post your email address in the message as well. Anything you post will be public on the website. So if you aren't comfortable with giving out your lot number you don't have too.
I'm also adding some pictures taken in the line-up. If you took pictures while in line, and I know many people did have digital cameras that they used, email them to me if you don't mind having them online. Don't email me too many, as I only have about 6 to 8 megs of room on my email account.
We also took a picture of our lot 329!! Basically it's a picture of dirt. But it's "our" dirt. There's no road yet, and it's just dirt with a wooden stick in the ground that shows the lot 329/330 border.
We had a fantastic time. We spent time meeting and getting to know our future neighbors. People spent the time talking, getting to know each other, giving home-buying advice and sharing past experiences. We even met many past Mattamy buyers looking to move-up from their first Mattamy home into a new one.
First, I can't go further without mentioning Frank, the first "line captain", and JR, the second "line captain" for the amazing job they did. As people entered the line, they'd have their info added to the list showing where they were in line, their names, lot size of interest, and an emergency contact phone number. Fair rules were created so a relative or friend could stand-in for you in line, as long as someone was always in line for you. There was lee-way for calls-of-nature and other such things in that when random line roll-calls occured you had about 15 minutes to make yourself known before losing your place in the line. Some people did lose their place in line and were crossed off the list, but this was rare. After spending 1 night or more in line most people didn't want to wander too far away and risk having their name crossed off.
The first night was the most difficult, but by the second night Mattamy provided some outside portapotties and was also sending a coffee truck each morning to provide the brave (or crazy depending how you look at it) people in line free coffee & donuts. Most people's diets suffered in the 5 days in line as you ate mostly fast food when you could. It started to feel like a "mini-survivor" but it really brought everyone closer together and some lasting friendships were made while in line.
My wife would spend the days in line, while I spent the nights. This was because she was able to get days off work on short notice while I couldn't. We rented a second car for this so we could get around easily on our own during the week. She had a great time and met and talked to a great number of people during the days.
Some important information for people who weren't in line prior to Saturday.
Because by Friday the line was already over a 100 people, Mattamy started letting people in to reserve their lots on Friday afternoon instead of waiting until Saturday. This is because it would have been impossible otherwise for anyone coming on Saturday to get in the building. The line was just that big. Because we entered the line on Tuesday, 9 AM and never left, we had position 19 in line. We got in I think just before 3 PM on Friday and reserved lot #329 for our future Tothburg Elevation C home.
Another important fact is that people who stayed in line over-night saved themselves big bucks. Mattamy raised the prices of the homes TWICE these past 5 days. The people who waited in line before Saturday got one price, and the people who didn't show up until Saturday got a different price. There were different prices given out on Saturday than the price sheets people were getting during the previous days. For example, the 56' wide lot prices on June 22nd to June 25th were $12,000 more than the previous Jan 19, 2004 prices. But the 56' wide lot prices on June 26th were $22,000 more than the Jan 19, 2004 prices. So people who joined the line early on in the week saved themselves $10,000 !!!
One other change everyone noticed is that they raised the deposit requirements. For 56's they added on an additional $5,000 deposit needed at the 90 day after-offer point which didn't exist before.
I'm changing the website to allow people to post comments. If you just reserved a lot in Hawthorne Village Phase 12 please post your first name(s), line #, and lot number you picked along with any other comments or hello's to friends you made while in line. You can also post your email address in the message as well. Anything you post will be public on the website. So if you aren't comfortable with giving out your lot number you don't have too.
I'm also adding some pictures taken in the line-up. If you took pictures while in line, and I know many people did have digital cameras that they used, email them to me if you don't mind having them online. Don't email me too many, as I only have about 6 to 8 megs of room on my email account.
We also took a picture of our lot 329!! Basically it's a picture of dirt. But it's "our" dirt. There's no road yet, and it's just dirt with a wooden stick in the ground that shows the lot 329/330 border.
Tuesday, June 22, 2004
Caveat Emptor
This website may not be updated until after Saturday. Please call the Mattamy, Milton sales office for what the current situation is as I no longer have time to update this site until after Saturday.
Good luck to everyone! Thanks to all who have given me great advice and emails!
This website may not be updated until after Saturday. Please call the Mattamy, Milton sales office for what the current situation is as I no longer have time to update this site until after Saturday.
Good luck to everyone! Thanks to all who have given me great advice and emails!
Thursday, June 17, 2004
It's Official !! This is the link to Mattamy's announcement on the new release for June 26th.
FYI, the Milton Sales office stopped handing out the black-n-white lot plan photocopies for Phase 12 because they've been informed by headoffice that there are some potential changes being made. So if you already picked up a copy of these last week, realize that the lot locations may now be changed. They suggest calling back next tuesday or wednesday to see if they have new lot maps. They also suggest they may know the new prices a couple days before the 26th.
FYI, the Milton Sales office stopped handing out the black-n-white lot plan photocopies for Phase 12 because they've been informed by headoffice that there are some potential changes being made. So if you already picked up a copy of these last week, realize that the lot locations may now be changed. They suggest calling back next tuesday or wednesday to see if they have new lot maps. They also suggest they may know the new prices a couple days before the 26th.
Sunday, June 13, 2004
Good News!
A date has been announced for new releases. On Saturday, June 26th, Mattamy in Milton will be releasing new semis, towns, 36', 46' and 56' widelot homes as part of their Hawthorne Village, Phase 12. They haven't said what the new prices will be yet, they may not announce the prices until the actual release date. The 50' widelot homes will not be released on this day. They hope to have the 50's released near mid/end July. They also do not yet show what the floor plans for the 50s, or the exterior elevation changes for the 36's will be.
P.S. Frank Michlick has a great weblog which includes a section about his Mattamy (Oakville) home buying experience. I just realized that I haven't yet posted a link to his site yet, so here it is now.
A date has been announced for new releases. On Saturday, June 26th, Mattamy in Milton will be releasing new semis, towns, 36', 46' and 56' widelot homes as part of their Hawthorne Village, Phase 12. They haven't said what the new prices will be yet, they may not announce the prices until the actual release date. The 50' widelot homes will not be released on this day. They hope to have the 50's released near mid/end July. They also do not yet show what the floor plans for the 50s, or the exterior elevation changes for the 36's will be.
P.S. Frank Michlick has a great weblog which includes a section about his Mattamy (Oakville) home buying experience. I just realized that I haven't yet posted a link to his site yet, so here it is now.