Soft Landing

Home savings can be gauged a few ways. There's the purchase price, expenses such as the power bill and remodeling to fix what you don’t like.

According to builder KB Home, buyers can save in all three of these categories in its offerings at Waterside Landing in Summerville. The national company is constructing at least 36 homes in the neighborhood, off Dorchester Road.

“The community has a lot of character; light hills, elevation changes, nature trail to the Ashley River,” sales manager Brian Cartwright says.

The neighborhood is KB Home's first in the Charleston area in which all of its dwellings are part of its Open Series. These houses are “built-to-order” with buyers having more say-so upfront in selecting and zeroing in on the best designs, square footage and extras for their purposes, the builder says.

“We started a process to personalize the home,” says Dave Berman, regional vice president of operations for KB Home. The concept included drawing up popular saleable designs and giving them enough flexibility that customers could make changes without wholesale spending.

KB Home is promoting nine floor plans at Waterside Landing. They are the 1210, 1496, Caldwell, 1814, Surry, Halifax, Columbus, Haywood and Montgomery. The sales model is the one-story 1496 plan, so named because that’s the square footage.

Available with three to five bedrooms, the homes are priced from $120,990 to $173,990. “It’s really a great opportunity,” Berman says.

The houses have a generous range of sizes from 1,210 to 2,726 square feet. Each comes with three elevations, or “looks.” Styles vary. “We found a mix between ranch and two-story,” Berman says.

Buyers can tailor their homes at the KB Home Design Studio on Rivers Avenue just north of Ashley Phosphate Road.

Another plus of the Waterside Landing houses from KB Home is they are constructed to meet national Energy Star standards for low power use. Features include low-flow toilets, heavy-duty insulation and windows that keep out ultraviolet rays.

According to KB Home, the power bills for an energy-certified house are 45 percent lower than for a typical similar-sized dwelling 10 years ago.

“A lot of builders have gone away from Energy Star,” Berman says. “We really put that on the front burner.”

Potential buyers, says Cartwright, “are really first-time homebuyers to experienced buyers.” KB Home has a number of homes built so that purchasers are still eligible for the $8,000 federal first-time homebuyer credit and $6,500 existing homebuyer credit. The deadline to sign a contract is April 30, and the deadline to close is June 30.

Homes include a host of “included” features such as smooth ceilings, chrome door hardware, two-car garages and sodded front yards. Kitchens have ranges with hoods, dishwashers and 30-inch oak cabinets.

Lofts, dens, breakfast nooks, and walk-in closets and pantries are among the features available depending on the plan. Screened-in porches, fireplaces, garden tubs and stainless appliances including refrigerators are options.

Waterside Landing is a comparatively small community. Eastwood Homes and KB Home share construction in the neighborhood.

There’s a boardwalk and trails but no swimming pool or amenities center. Cartwright says this keeps costs down because the homeowners association dues are low. Attractions are close by: the Summerville Family YMCA’s new facility is a few miles away at The Ponds.

Meanwhile, home purchasers can craft houses to their liking. “The process allows buyers to determine what they want,” he says.

To reach the KB Home sites at Waterside Landing from downtown Charleston, take Interstate 26 west to exit 199A, which is Main Street toward Summerville. Travel 7.9 miles through downtown and turn left on Dorchester Road. Go nearly one-half mile; the community is on the right.

Reach Jim Parker at 937-5542 or jparker@postandcourier.com

Neighborhood: Waterside Landing

Location: Dorchester County

Phone: (843) 771-1203

Hours: 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday-Thursday; noon-7 p.m. Friday

Web site: www.kbhome.com