Just trying to make up my mind to buy a house in Daybreak but get many conflicting opinions on the subject.

Here are the rumors:

Homes are losing value, approx. 20-50K

Who wants to buy an existing home when new homes are being built next door for a reasonably similar price?

The smell of the dump regulary passes over.

Non-resident masses congregate on the lake that the residents pay for.

It is always windy.

Here are the positives I see:

Cool houses, good community, most things talked about in an awesome blog http://www.daybreaktoday.blogspot.com/ such as urbanism, etc.
Location (for some) like me who would be working in that part of town.

Thanks for the opinions.

that is a good blog, some good articles...

notes on the rumors...

values coming down - mostly effecting eastlake village homeowners considering most founders vilagehomeowners bought at cheaper prices than the eastlake homeowners, although I think it is safe that all houses in the state of utah are seeing minor hits.

the smell is the compost site next to the dump and it is being relocated in August/September this year..

Best place we have ever lived! And we have lived all over the East Coast, Phoenix and Albuquerque. It is windy and the smell can be horrific some times but I wouldn't live anywhere else. Great neighbors and a great sense of community, but certainly not perfect.

Here are my opinions.

Homes are losing value, approx. 20-50K

Statistically prices in Daybreak have "adjusted" at a rate equal to most of the rest of the valley, in other words, there is no economic disadvantage to purchasing a home in Daybreak compared with purchasing a home outside of Daybreak.

Who wants to buy an existing home when new homes are being built next door for a reasonably similar price?

Existing homes in Daybreak always have been cheaper per square foot than new homes in Eastlake. For example, there are no new homes in Eastlake that sit entirely on their own lot with a yard in the 250-260k range. Yet, there are homes like this in Founder's Park Village. This is just one example. On the other hand, you may be comparing "oranges to apples", there are many other preferences. I believe that homes close to the LDS Temple should rightfully be priced a little higher. Most of us agree that improvements made in Eastlake are nicer than improvements in Founder's Park Village. So, are you willing to pay 30-40k more to be in Eastlake? On the other hand, many people prefer to be closer to the community center. It is a subjective decision.

The smell of the dump regularly passes over.

Sure it does. The smell also passes over Sunstone, Country Crossing, Riverton, Herriman, and the list goes on. Hopefully the relocation of the dump will fix this problem.

Non-resident masses congregate on the lake that the residents pay for.

We had some issues last year with that. Generally speaking you could find a dozen to two dozen people on any given Saturday, fishing. Is that masses? I have heard that Kennecott Land will no longer be stocking the lake and the lake will be returned to Kennecott's complete control. Obviously, this will be done to get rid of the "rif-raf".

It is always windy.

Welcome to the South side of the valley. Parts of Draper and Sandy are just as windy.

My husband is a realtor specializing in Daybreak. He would be more than happy to help you out. He will always give you an honest answer to your questions.

I know that when we have a skif of snow here, my sis on the east side is shoveling a foot or more. I'd take the wind over the snow shoveling any day. If your worried about the house prices, buy an existing house instead of a new one. It seems they are usually a little less for the same floor plan. Also, was just checking out the base price of my house on daybreakutah.com. The base price is still quite a bit higher than it was when we built our house last year. It is true that you will deal the the market "equalization" no matter where you go but it is my opinion that the value will hold a little better here because we are the only neighborhood like this, while the brown cookie-cutter neighborhoods are a dime a dozen. Plus you can't put a price on the great sense of community out here!!

In all honesty, sure there are some issues with Daybreak. Name me a neighborhood that doesn't have some negatives. But I will tell you this. Being non-LDS we were a bit apprehensive about moving to Utah. But we couldn't have picked a better place to move than Daybreak. The very design of the neighborhood encourages social interaction and the kind of people who are drawn to that. We have made more good friends (LDS and non alike) in the 18 months we have lived here than in 10 years in Colorado. If you choose to live in Daybreak bring your best neighborly attitude and prepare to make lots of friends.