HawthorneVillager.com

I have just been looking at the Heathwood Homes website for homes in Milton.

I was just wondering why their homes are much more expensive than Mattamy?

I thought Mattamy were the best builders around and therefore figured they would be the most expensive?

Thanks!

There are better builders in different price brackets.
Heathwood, Cachet, Monarch these builder more expensive and you can see the difference in the quality of there work. They offer extra's like granite counter tops and hardwood included in there home. They are very nice homes, but they are more expensive. Bottom line you get what you pay for. If your price range is at the higher end of Mattamy homes, you might want to consider them. I would purchase a Mattamy home then move here, if you like the higher end homes you can do more research once your here, then make dession on what company you like more.

With that said Mattamy is the best builder in it's price bracket.

When I was house shopping a year ago I looked at Heathwood and they were $100K or more then Mattamy.....I felt that was ridiculous so asked them, they suggested the difference should be more in the 30-40K range which would account for their 'standards' like granite and hardwood etc.....however, the prices were indeed $100k+ so that didn't make any sense, and if you added in the lot premiums (which they played funny games with to hide the price), you could pay 200-300k more - no joke. Bottom line, they were crazy, and last I checked they still had a majority of lots (backing onto the forest) still up for sale. In my opinion they were price gouging.

Also, I heard from others that their 'standards' were nice but if you bought a home and wanted to change those standards (hard wood stain colours, granite patterns etc) they would charge you practically the whole price of what it would cost to add those as upgrades with any other builder.

Mattamy's overall price (especially lot premium) is pretty reasonable compared to Greenpark and Great Gulf

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Archana & Ravi

Wow that is a crazy price!! Best to just stick with Mattamy then and add the upgrades at a lower cost!

But from what I know, Heathwood is a different category of homes.

Like Cachet, Monarch, Tiffany Park..

I think Mattamy caters to the mainstream while these developers have a higher end offering.

Well, I think that's their intended marketing positioning, but when I was shopping I just didn't get the sense that it was reality. Mattamy does position themselves to be more mainstream from a marketing perspective, but you can upgrade the heck out of the home you buy from them and easily meet and surpass the 'higher-end' that Heathwood positions themselves as.

You'd have to ask their buyers/owners to find out how good the standard quality etc etc is and compare that to Mattamy, and of course take away the bias that each home owner would impart .....but again, if they had stuck with the 30-50k premium over Mattamy that they said they should be at, I would not have complained (assuming they delivered on the 'upgraded' quality and features etc)....but when it was 100-200K+ more, I think they were just taking advantage of people caught up in the height of the real estate boom.

I'm in a HW home at the Traditions site, we moved in early August. I love our house. I'm comparing it with our Mattamy 36' model that we were in phase 2....so I realize some things have changed...but I am also aware of what has changed and the finished product of later phases as well.

I like my HW home better. The finishings are all higher quality, (there are several upgrades not listed that are included....larger trims, decora switches, just to name 2 small ones that are "finishing touches")

The home is so well built and air-tight, we didn't turn our heat on until the end of November, comfortably. There is a lot more stone work on the outsides....hmmm.....front door is stained, all wood, and 9', it's just little things.

I really like the area, I don't think it's that much different from the Mattamy homes to be honest, neighborhood wise, but it is definately a nice location, and I like it better at main/escarpment than derry/escarpment, for convenience and for views, walks, etc. I can walk into town for an ice-cream at Jays, just like I did my entire life in Streetsville before we moved to Milton 7 years ago.....

If you have any questions about the HW homes, I'd be happy to share....just let me know.

Act, if you are on facebook, we have a Heathwood Traditions group dedicated to our site, which is similar to this site to an extent, where we discuss owner issues, upgrades, etc. etc.

I'm not saying the HW homes are "better" than Mattamy...just different product for different price...apples and oranges. We didn't have any poor experiences with Mattamy product at our former home either.

I think you will find that if you put a "same" upgraded product into a mattamy home, with a lot premium they will charge for a lot like that, the prices would be somewhat comperable, if not more for the Mattamy home once you upgraded it. There will I'm sure be a "bit" of a premium for the "prestige" of owning a HW home as opposed to the Mattamy, not a huge amount, but some bit of a difference, as they are trying to get the image of an "exclusive" community somewhat, similar to what was said in previous posts....

To each their own to be honest....I've seen some Mattamy homes that are beautiful, and I've seen some HW homes that leave much to be desired...I think it all comes down to your personal tastes and what you do with the home to make it your own, and what the finished product looks like.

For specific advice, Act, I wouldn't worry about the quality differences between the builders they are somewhat comparable, I'd say HW is better quality-wise, but not a hugely differing amount...I'd go with location, lot and floor plan...those are the 3 factors that are "deciding points" that would steer you to the builder...from that point, you can really upgrade and design your home to your own preference.

Good Luck!

Jessica

I also live in Heathwood Traditions and we love it here. The house is great and has lots of extras that we did not see with other builders. A big item for us was the lot location and also the layout as there were some specific features/layouts that we had in mind. I have no idea how much the Mattamy homes are but we didn't feel our house was that overpriced.

We went to HW sales office at opening day few years ago. Spend five minutes and went away. We came later on few times. Never understood their prices. Lots premiums prices compare to actual premium were so high I still couldn’t believe it.
Same houses pricing was in Oakville near by the Lake Shore with same luxury list of included options.
If someone is looking for luxury home in Milton - HW is good choice.
Not sure if it is going to be easy to sell those homes after.

Well said.
I really like Heathwoods homes, but they are just a little out of my price range. So I have Mattamy, I can do all the expensive upgrades in 5 to 10 years after I pay down my mortgage a little.

Does anyone know if Heathwood Homes have a forum like this one?

Thanks!

You get what you pay for

I have noticed that with Mattamy they have different elevations but inside the floorplans are the same.

I am coming from the UK so tbh that wouldn't bother me. I am simply just trying to find out about other builders as I will not have a clus otherwise and we don't want any problems as moving from the UK is going to be stressfull enough

What makes a house a cookie cutter house?