57 replies to this topic

[Skye]

Why would that be the "only sensible thing"? There are many neighborhoods in EDH other than Serrano, so if the HOA dues are offputting to you, check out some of the other parts of town. Folsom is nice, too, but it would be a mistake to dismiss EDH out of hand. We have friends who lived at the opposite end of EDH, near Green Valley Road and El Dorado Hills Blvd. Nice, quiet neighborhood with big trees and no HOA. Very close to the lake, a few minutes drive from Folsom shopping, etc..

Indeed, I misspoke. I only had financial sense in mind. We have certainly not discounted EDH. Here's what I see so far (and certainly set me straight if I'm wrong, I want to make the right choice for us in the end)...

Folsom Positives:
Pretty town, lots of nice new shopping restaurants, etc.
Lots of community parks
More stable housing market?
Lower utilities
Less "affluenza"
Good schools
Less risk of fire damage

EDH Positives:
Gorgeous neighborhoods
More rural feel
More house for the money? (even when not counting Serrano)
Good schools
Less risk of flood damage

Other input?

[Orangetj]

I think you're generally on the right track, although I'd take the perceived "affluenza" of EDH off the list. Not that there aren't snobs here, but there are also snobs in Folsom so it's a bit of a wash. The majority of the people I've met in both places are just normal, hardworking, decent folks who want a good life for their families. Personally, I think flood damage and fire damage are both pretty low on the probability scale as well.

Depending on where you live in EDH or Folsom, the distance to Folsom's shopping/restaraunts of can be very comparable. Of course, if you live in one of the Folsom neighborhoods near the shopping centers, that convenience can be hard to beat. We've actually found that we spend less retail/restaurant money living in EDH simply because it isn't quite as easy to just go out and recreationally shop.

One of my favorite aspects of EDH is the relative lack of traffic congestion compared with many parts of Folsom and the generally less hectic atmosphere (not that Folsom is crazy busy, but the difference is palpable).

Don't take all of this to mean that I don't like Folsom. I grew up there and find it to be a great town. At this point in my life, I'm happy to trade a bit of in-town convenience for a somewhat more peaceful place to live, so EDH has been a great move for us.

[wompom1]

I am new to this forum and would like to ad something to this thread.

I live in EDH (NW of Greenvalley) and I really enjoy the overall region-from Folsom up to Lake Tahoe. Lots of nice peeps.
Yes, there are snobs and selfish wanna-bees like everywhere else but that is the exception not the rule.

issue of:

water:
1st off there is only one line that comes into our house and they calculate the waste water based on December and January usaage and 'tax' that amount and carry it for the entire year. Needless to say, you better use as little water as possible during those months or you will be assess every month for a year as waste water usage.
our water bill has ranged from 300.00 to 600.00 per month. We live on over a .5 acre with much wasted water on green lawns and old sprinkler systems.
PGE:
from 150-600 per month depending on the carelessness of myself and my 2 young kids leaving on too many accessories. AC sucks much on that on an inefficient 18 year old house.

main neg issues I have are the 'new breed of latch key kids' (and their spoiled parents) that lack the respect of others (fellow humans) that drive too fast and always in a hurry to show off.

Message to all,
slow down and enjoy the beautiful region God is letting us enjoy.

[palango]

PGE bill of up to $600 a month??? wow... I would explore the solar panel route quick because of the tax credits and saving will pay for itself.

[Orangetj]

Seriously, those bills are brutal. $300 for water? $600 for PG&E? I am very glad that mine are nowhere near that high. I would be seriously looking into doing some landscaping that requires a lot less water and seeing what can be done about the PG&E usage. Window film? Whole house fan? Blackout curtains?

[EDH Jen]

I am new to this forum and would like to ad something to this thread.

I live in EDH (NW of Greenvalley) and I really enjoy the overall region-from Folsom up to Lake Tahoe. Lots of nice peeps.
Yes, there are snobs and selfish wanna-bees like everywhere else but that is the exception not the rule.

issue of:

water:
1st off there is only one line that comes into our house and they calculate the waste water based on December and January usaage and 'tax' that amount and carry it for the entire year. Needless to say, you better use as little water as possible during those months or you will be assess every month for a year as waste water usage.
our water bill has ranged from 300.00 to 600.00 per month. We live on over a .5 acre with much wasted water on green lawns and old sprinkler systems.
PGE:
from 150-600 per month depending on the carelessness of myself and my 2 young kids leaving on too many accessories. AC sucks much on that on an inefficient 18 year old house.

main neg issues I have are the 'new breed of latch key kids' (and their spoiled parents) that lack the respect of others (fellow humans) that drive too fast and always in a hurry to show off.

Message to all,
slow down and enjoy the beautiful region God is letting us enjoy.

Yow!
We have a 3000 sq ft house, 4 humans, 5 dogs, and a VERY large back yard (by Serrano standards) and our water is about $110 for 2 months (which is how EID bills us), PG&E is always just over $100 each month (last month was $104).
As far as new-breed latch-key kids and spoiled parents, I'm thankful I don't know any of these.

[tsukiji]

We have a new-ish house (built w/in last 10 years) of about 3000 square feet with supposedly newer insulation techniques. But honestly, I think that's just the developer hyping the house and there is no supporting data for the insulation.

A friend of mine built a well insulated, custom house and his house basically never changes temperature; it remains at a fairly liveable temperatures year long. Of course, he does use heater/AC to keep the temperatures within a more ideal range. But it's certainly liveable without it.

Our house not only gets extremely hot or cold (ie - basically matches the outside temp), but it does so very quickly. It's complete crap that our house has modern, efficient insulation. I would guess it's the bare minimum required by law, and I'm not even sure it really meets that.

We minimize on the use of the heater (66 degrees) /AC (82 degrees) and we still have bills of $300-$400 per month. I would have gladly paid another $20k or whatever to get the better insulation than pay my monthly utility for the LIFE of the house. Stupid developers. Pass on the cost of the insulation. Build a better house. Last time I get burned by developer marketing crap.

I like my house and location. If I can't figure out how to cheaply add to the insulation, it may force me to move someday. I'd like to see a class action suit on this kind of misrepresentation.

[palango]

I spoke with a homeowner from the new lennar communities of Blackstone EDH. His house is 3491 sq ft and is Solar home with extreme insulation to compliment the solar panels(all included feature by the builder). Now talking with the sales rep from lennar where they promised 50-65% savings from your electric bills sounded like a sales pitch, but this homeowner who has actually LIVED in this house for the past 3 monts is actually getting CREDIT from PGE. He has a wife + 2 kids at home and he travels a lot. I didnt get the details as far as what other energy conservation efforts he has to compliment the solar panels and the insulation, but a CREDIT on his PGE bill is amazing.

The Solar + the upgraded insulation is the wave of the future.

[Lisa in Folsom]

Did you see this?

http://www.sacbee.co...ry/1007491.html

[Orangetj]

Wait a minute??? You mean my bill might go up $1.30/month! The horror!

Seriously, I'd rather see it go the other direction but I can't say it's surprising given what's happening with the prices of just about everything else (except houses and gas guzzlers!).

[Lisa in Folsom]

Wait a minute??? You mean my bill might go up $1.30/month! The horror!

Seriously, I'd rather see it go the other direction but I can't say it's surprising given what's happening with the prices of just about everything else (except houses and gas guzzlers!).

No, your rates will go up 6.5%. Most of PG&E's customers are in the Bay Area with itty bitty apartments which is why the average is $1.30. And that is on top of the other rate increase requested. Plus rate increases are weighted toward the higher tiers, for those who have more than absolutely minimal usage. That is the problem for areas outside SF which does not experience the blazing summers that we have. Areas like Antioch, Walnut Creek etc also experience similar climates to ours and are hit harder. It would be interesting, and more helpful for Sacramento area people to see what the different tiers will price at because the $1.30 is misleading from our perspective.

What is the threshold that you notice a difference in cost? Does $20/month do it? $40? $100? There are some who probably need to know what they are really looking at for budgeting and it would be nice to see site that would allow someone to plug in their current usage and see what it would mean to them.

[Orangetj]

Oh, I hear you. I'd rather the rates not go up. At 6.5%, it will cost me about $6.00 more per month than it does now. Every little bit makes a difference. It's just that this is a very small part of how much everything has gone up over the past year. Putting gas in my motorcycle to go to work each day has gone up almost $30/month from what it cost me a year ago. I'd rather not know how much more it's costing us to keep the car gassed up. Frankly, I'm a but surprised that utility prices aren't going up more than they are, but I suspect we haven't seen (nor will we ever see) the end of it.

[Lisa in Folsom]

BTW, I thought about you when we moved to our new (and much bigger) house in Folsom. It is 9 years newer than our old one, custom, and built by someone who really knew what his was doing. Our power consumption (and the new house has a pool) is right about in line with the old one.