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Houses Open In Area Known As The Billion Dollar Mile

If you want to sell in the fall, make your house so appealing it stands out from those that have gotten a little bedraggled. Embrace the season; don't try to hang onto summer. Put in a bank of deep-colored mums, she says. "Get rid of the scraggly petunias that are barely hanging onto life. Fix up, clean up. Don't stop edging the lawn."

Nead, president of the Western Wayne Oakland Association of Realtors, says it's also smart to remember that it's getting dark earlier.

"You've got to work a little harder to look good in the evenings." That means turning more lights on -- artfully. The earlier it gets dark, she notes, the fewer showings you'll get, "so make each one count."

New luxury cluster

A mile-long strip of new luxury houses in Oakland Township -- dubbed the Billion-Dollar Mile -- officially opened this week at the corner of Adams and Silver Bell roads.

The largest segment, by far, comprises 496 luxury homes in an area called the Oaklands. Their prices will range from the $400,000s for a smaller condo to $3.2 million for the top custom house. The average price will be $800,000-$900,000.

The Oaklands is actually seven neighborhoods, each with its architectural personality, entrance and price range.

"We have something for everyone," says developer and builder Dominic Moceri, "as long as they're over $750,000." Moceri's firm has already completed two similar luxury subdivisions adjacent to these.

Prices in the new subdivisions vary with the size of the house and the lot, but not by the level of luxury, he says. All houses will have granite kitchen counters, for example, and marble foyers. "But instead of having four or five bedrooms, you'll have two. Or instead of having a great room and a living room, you'll just have the great room."

Prices include lavish landscaping. Many houses have the option of a walk-out lower level that adds 1,800 to 4,600 square feet. Five of the seven subdivisions are selling now, although only Kingsridge has a completed model. Sale hours are noon-6 every day. The subdivisions are:

Claremont: 80 two-unit condos from the $400,000s to the high $600,000s. Some have 25-by-17-foot kitchens with a fireplace or an optional elevator. 248-601-3640.

Kingsridge: 71 homes from the high $700,000s to $1.3 million, with four or five bedrooms, a great room, living room and library. Country French and Italian Renaissance architecture. 248-373-6200.

Kirklands: 49 houses from $550,000 to $750,000; four bedrooms with an optional bonus room. Neoclassic architecture in the mood of Georgia or Virginia. 248-373-6200.

Cloisters: 54 detached condos, $580,000-$800,000, with a large kitchen and master suite, a great room but no living room; aimed at a move-down buyer from a large estate. Country French cottage style. 248-601-3640.

Carrollton Hills: 49 houses from 5,200 to 8,000 square feet, $835,000 to $2 million. Grand, classical European architecture, 1 1/2-acre lots. 248-656-0800.

Wellington: 112 houses, $750,000-$900,000 in eastern seaboard style on 3/4-acre lots, near four horse farms. From partners Moceri and Lombardi Companies. Sales start in fall 2001.

The Pinnacle: 81 highly custom houses from $1.7 to $3.2 million, in what Moceri is calling Palm Beach style with homage to Grosse Pointe. Details like Tucson columns with Corinthian caps, all-brick paver driveways. Some homes will have pools, separate guest houses, cabanas. Sales start in fall 2001.

House-shopping tips

Area builders' push to get more sales under their belts before the chill of the holiday season is creating many special deals.

Spec house deals: In fall, many builders start extra spec (or speculative) houses with no pre-sold buyer. This is partly to get extra foundations poured before winter makes it too cold for concrete to cure properly. It's also meant to spur an extra flush of sales heading into winter, from buyers who can't wait to have a house built from scratch. In this drive for late-fall business, builders not only start extra spec houses, they also may sell off existing model homes. As with buying a car, you often get a better deal if you buy a house with an existing package of extras than if you order each option separately.

Mortgage deals: Several builders, with about 15 subdivisions, are offering a special mortgage deal. Sometimes these apply to any house; often they are for specific spec houses or model houses that the builder wants to sell immediately.

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