精华 Richcraft Vs. Urbandale and Riverside South Vs. Barrhaven

[carleton_ren]

Any friends can give comments about this?
I want to buy townhome or single family in either Riverside South or Barrhaven, but it seems too hard to decide which location should be better for me. I am working at downtown area.

In addition, there are two builders Richcraft Vs. Urbandale, any one can comment them?

Thanks a lot.

 

[qbonline]

Because Barrhaven is in the middle of Ottawa, it takes about 20 minutes to go to downtown, Kanata, south keys. It is quite accessible without the highway, via Greenbank, Prince of Whales, Woodroofe, Cederview. Some people are worried about airplane noise, but for most parts of the town it is not bad. Beside, once you are inside the house, the noise becomes very small because your lawnmowers, bus traffic are even louder than airplane.

Riverside south is going to be a great location in a few years. When the bridge opens, people can shop at Barrhaven. Transit is starting to improve. This location is probably the only one free of any health hazards: it's not close to power lines, radon gas, landfill, and there's no airplane noise. Development in Riverside South is very slow: it already took the city a couple of years to widen Riverside Rd, and there is still only one grocery store.

Also use this chance to talk about other communities:

Kanata lakes and morgans grants are built on rocky lands, so they have the danger to get Radon gas. Stittsville is too far and has flooding problem. The only advantage of Kanata is good high school.

Orleans is a fast-developing community, it is the biggest of all communities. But similar to Kanata, it depends too much on the highway to get to downtown. Houses are cheap at Orleans. There are no problems with this area. There are quite many university students/professors living in this area, since it's close to U of O.

Just my 2 cents. We currently live in Barrhaven, and just bought again in Barrhaven.

 

[carleton_ren]

Thanks a lot, qbonline.

Any one knows more about Richcraft Vs. Urbandale? As well Minto? Any comments about these "famous" (good or bad) builders in Ottawa area.

 

[BigBang]

二楼的总结得很好：Barrhaven这个区已经比较成熟，所以购物上学入托什么的都比Riverside South方便得多。。。交通方面则因有多条南北向分流干线，因此虽然人口大大超过Riverside South，但和Downtown的交流却相对畅顺。

至于Orlean和Kanata，虽然都有高速公路直达Downtown，但却缺少同向的其它分流干道，因此交通肯定会比Barrhaven堵一些，据说Kanata每逢San's game就被堵得严严实实，Orlean早晨上班高速路也会堵得一塌糊涂。当然很多人就在Kanata上班，或者住在Orlean但不在乎挤公车（早晨很难找到座位），就无需太多考虑交通的负面因素了。

对我们中国人来说，Barrhaven的同胞比例很高，那里也经常有适合华人老人、孩子的社区活动等，因此对中国人来说会相对方便，将来那里的学校质量也会水涨船高。大统华超市11月份开张后，Barrhaven的华人购物方便就远非Kanata和Orlean能比了。

我个人的感觉：现在需要每天按时通勤上班的，选Riverside South风险比较大，因为怕堵车。。。但上班可以自由一些，却特别在乎绿地、噪音等自然环境，希望房子物美价廉并多一点未来突然升值可能的，则不妨选择Riverside South，那里的房价明显比Barrhaven要低。

 

[BigBang]

Minto的房子起价很低，所以猛一看上去很有吸引力，但要想达到样板房的标准需要的upgrade则不少；另外Minto的楼层不够高，你数数首层的台阶数就知道了。

Richcraft的房子起价明显要高，但基本的标准则要高一些，这样即使你在upgrade上一毛不拔，最后也不会比样板房差太多。。。另外首层高都是9"。

我认为如果你自己对选择各种不同的upgrade options很有信心，或者不在乎先便宜买个基本的、以后住进去慢慢再升级，那么你可以选择minto。但如果你一见那么多upgrade的选择就头昏，而且生怕最后实际购房成本不知不觉超出预期，那么你不妨选Richcraft的。

仅就Barrhaven的地段来看，目前Richcraft的那块地Woodroffe Estates要比Minto的Chapman Mills明显要更好一些，所以Richcraft的房子自然就更贵一些。

Thanks a lot, qbonline.

Any one knows more about Richcraft Vs. Urbandale? As well Minto? Any comments about these "famous" (good or bad) builders in Ottawa area.

 

[carleton_ren]

Thanks a lot BigBang and qbonline. Both of you give me a lot information.

I am still waiting for anyone's suggestion about Urbandale. But it seems everyone knows Minto and Richcraft. I don't really like Minto as BigBang mentioned, it needs to spend a lot of dollars to upgrade your home in the future. I thought that should be hidden cost.

 

[BobtheBuilder]

Thanks a lot BigBang and qbonline. Both of you give me a lot information.

I am still waiting for anyone's suggestion about Urbandale. But it seems everyone knows Minto and Richcraft. I don't really like Minto as BigBang mentioned, it needs to spend a lot of dollars to upgrade your home in the future. I thought that should be hidden cost.

A stone's throw from Barrhaven is the Stonebridge community, where quite a few builders are building good houses with lots of greens, to name a few, the famour Monarch and Mattamy, and the more recent Tamarack. Visit their site office and view their models.

 

[liberate]

09后MINTO变化很大，
与你说的有较大出入。

please tell what is the MINTO变化

 

[qbonline]

please tell what is the MINTO变化

Starting 2009, all minto singles have energy star as standard feature, which is worth 6-7k at Mattamy and Monarch.

But Minto's singles (I mean 4bed+double garage) have increased in price by a lot recently, making them not competitive anymore. The standard however remained the same as before. The only difference between Signature Classics and Signature Series is that Classics has 9ft ceiling as standard feature. Signature Series is still a good deal, but the home feels very small without the 9ft ceiling. Among the Signature Series, Piccadilly is one of the popular models, because it gives you a bigger yard (the house is not very deep). The Signature Classics is a bit on the pricey side.

I can't comment on Minto's quality since I don't own a Minto house. But it seems like the majority of complaints have been about low standard, and slowness to respond to year-1 servicing request.

 

[liberate]

Starting 2009, all minto singles have energy star as standard feature, which is worth 6-7k at Mattamy and Monarch.

But Minto's singles (I mean 4bed+double garage) have increased in price by a lot recently, making them not competitive anymore. The standard however remained the same as before. The only difference between Signature Classics and Signature Series is that Classics has 9ft ceiling as standard feature. Signature Series is still a good deal, but the home feels very small without the 9ft ceiling. Among the Signature Series, Piccadilly is one of the popular models, because it gives you a bigger yard (the house is not very deep). The Signature Classics is a bit on the pricey side.

I can't comment on Minto's quality since I don't own a Minto house. But it seems like the majority of complaints have been about low standard, and slowness to respond to year-1 servicing request.

thanks

 

[Nanfang]

Yes, I agree that that Minto has upgraded its standard feature quite a lot! For example, the ceramic floor in bath room, decorative switch, low-E argon windows, glass insert in Garage door, pot lights in kitchen (for single house) etc. I own a Minto home and did the comparison with other builders. Minto's standard features are pretty good now, you don't need to upgrade much except for hardwood floor if you like. The customer service is satisfactory as well.

Starting 2009, all minto singles have energy star as standard feature, which is worth 6-7k at Mattamy and Monarch.

But Minto's singles (I mean 4bed+double garage) have increased in price by a lot recently, making them not competitive anymore. The standard however remained the same as before. The only difference between Signature Classics and Signature Series is that Classics has 9ft ceiling as standard feature. Signature Series is still a good deal, but the home feels very small without the 9ft ceiling. Among the Signature Series, Piccadilly is one of the popular models, because it gives you a bigger yard (the house is not very deep). The Signature Classics is a bit on the pricey side.

I can't comment on Minto's quality since I don't own a Minto house. But it seems like the majority of complaints have been about low standard, and slowness to respond to year-1 servicing request.

 

[xinjing]

Please advise why you think Riverside South has no airplane noise problem. It is even closer to the airport than Barrhaven is. Does the direction of taking-off and landing paths matter?

Has anybody found noise problem in Stonebridge? Thanks in advance.

Because Barrhaven is in the middle of Ottawa, it takes about 20 minutes to go to downtown, Kanata, south keys. It is quite accessible without the highway, via Greenbank, Prince of Whales, Woodroofe, Cederview. Some people are worried about airplane noise, but for most parts of the town it is not bad. Beside, once you are inside the house, the noise becomes very small because your lawnmowers, bus traffic are even louder than airplane.

Riverside south is going to be a great location in a few years. When the bridge opens, people can shop at Barrhaven. Transit is starting to improve. This location is probably the only one free of any health hazards: it's not close to power lines, radon gas, landfill, and there's no airplane noise. Development in Riverside South is very slow: it already took the city a couple of years to widen Riverside Rd, and there is still only one grocery store.

Also use this chance to talk about other communities:

Kanata lakes and morgans grants are built on rocky lands, so they have the danger to get Radon gas. Stittsville is too far and has flooding problem. The only advantage of Kanata is good high school.

Orleans is a fast-developing community, it is the biggest of all communities. But similar to Kanata, it depends too much on the highway to get to downtown. Houses are cheap at Orleans. There are no problems with this area. There are quite many university students/professors living in this area, since it's close to U of O.

Just my 2 cents. We currently live in Barrhaven, and just bought again in Barrhaven.

 

[BigBang]

www.buildinghome.ca 上有一位西人专门贴出了渥太华国际机场的目前和未来年份预计噪声分布图，是他买房时专门向有关部门索取的。

根据那份图，大部分Barrhaven都会受到机场起飞飞机噪音的影响，而且越靠东影响越大（因为飞机刚开始爬高高度低一些），而Riverside South则肯定在噪声影响范围之外。

其实要理解这一点很简单：除了很接近机场的地方外，机场噪音只能影响飞机起降线下的那些地区，而渥太华机场就两条跑道走向：一条东西向，西边延长线刚好穿过Barrhaven，而目前飞机都是向西起飞的，起飞噪音比降落大得多，因为需要全油门加速爬高；另一条则基本是西北-东南走向，也不经过Riverside South。

不过Barrhaven虽然肯定受机场噪音影响，但实际的噪声却远非那么可怕----我去过Woodroffe Estates那里几次：大白天时不时能听见有大飞机从头上过，但声音却并不很大，有点像远方隆隆的雷声，在屋里应该是可以忽略的，绝对要比我目前住处几十米外街道上的汽车噪声小得多。

根据网上的那份未来年份噪音预计图，Barrhaven的噪音水平会随着渥太华国际机场的日益繁忙而略为上升，但除了偏东靠河的一些地区（没实地考察过，但噪音图上高了一个级别）外，其他地区噪音水平仍属于“有噪音但影响不大”那个范围的。

就我所知，渥太华房屋市场上对附近垃圾场什么的担心和争论很多，但对机场噪声的讨论却很少，从Barrhaven的房市火热看，一般买主对这个似乎都不甚在意。

Please advise why you think Riverside South has no airplane noise problem. It is even closer to the airport than Barrhaven is. Does the direction of taking-off and landing paths matter?

Has anybody found noise problem in Stonebridge? Thanks in advance.

 

[cube1234]

Woodroffe Estates 的位置的确不错. 但是, 那里有很大一块City的地. 前段时间报道说, City有plan在那里开发中低层的公寓. 总之,将来那个小区的环境有一些不定性.

Minto的房子起价很低，所以猛一看上去很有吸引力，但要想达到样板房的标准需要的upgrade则不少；另外Minto的楼层不够高，你数数首层的台阶数就知道了。

Richcraft的房子起价明显要高，但基本的标准则要高一些，这样即使你在upgrade上一毛不拔，最后也不会比样板房差太多。。。另外首层高都是9"。

我认为如果你自己对选择各种不同的upgrade options很有信心，或者不在乎先便宜买个基本的、以后住进去慢慢再升级，那么你可以选择minto。但如果你一见那么多upgrade的选择就头昏，而且生怕最后实际购房成本不知不觉超出预期，那么你不妨选Richcraft的。

仅就Barrhaven的地段来看，目前Richcraft的那块地Woodroffe Estates要比Minto的Chapman Mills明显要更好一些，所以Richcraft的房子自然就更贵一些。

 

[cube1234]

在Barrhaven住了很多年, 的确有飞机噪音的问题.在旧Barrhaven区 Fallowfield 以南, Claridge以北的区域尤其严重一些, 有时在后院BBQ,飞机一过, 讲话都听不见. 但不影响室内休息.

Barrhaven的新区, 特别是Strandherd以南, 飞机噪音几乎没有.已经离东西航道有些距离了.

www.buildinghome.ca 上有一位西人专门贴出了渥太华国际机场的目前和未来年份预计噪声分布图，是他买房时专门向有关部门索取的。

根据那份图，大部分Barrhaven都会受到机场起飞飞机噪音的影响，而且越靠东影响越大（因为飞机刚开始爬高高度低一些），而Riverside South则肯定在噪声影响范围之外。

其实要理解这一点很简单：除了很接近机场的地方外，机场噪音只能影响飞机起降线下的那些地区，而渥太华机场就两条跑道走向：一条东西向，西边延长线刚好穿过Barrhaven，而目前飞机都是向西起飞的，起飞噪音比降落大得多，因为需要全油门加速爬高；另一条则基本是西北-东南走向，也不经过Riverside South。

不过Barrhaven虽然肯定受机场噪音影响，但实际的噪声却远非那么可怕----我去过Woodroffe Estates那里几次：大白天时不时能听见有大飞机从头上过，但声音却并不很大，有点像远方隆隆的雷声，在屋里应该是可以忽略的，绝对要比我目前住处几十米外街道上的汽车噪声小得多。

根据网上的那份未来年份噪音预计图，Barrhaven的噪音水平会随着渥太华国际机场的日益繁忙而略为上升，但除了偏东靠河的一些地区（没实地考察过，但噪音图上高了一个级别）外，其他地区噪音水平仍属于“有噪音但影响不大”那个范围的。

就我所知，渥太华房屋市场上对附近垃圾场什么的担心和争论很多，但对机场噪声的讨论却很少，从Barrhaven的房市火热看，一般买主对这个似乎都不甚在意。