After several days of driving around and looking at spec homes I have come to the there is alot poorly constructed, poorly designed homes out there. I mostly looked in the McKinney area, but some in Frisco as well. These aren't cheap homes, they have been in the 300-350 range. Most builders are slashing prices $30,000-$50,000 on the spec homes. Based on what I have seen there are neighborhoods such as The Lakes of La Cima, which has spec homes sprouting up like mushrooms, and preexisting homes for sale in abundance, and in lots of cases the spec homes are cheaper (and a better home)then the pre-owneds. In La Cima you can find a $400,000 house next to a $200,000 house because the builders of the higher end homes are bailing out and selling lots to no- name builders. The only builder that seems to not be slashing prices is Darling Homes, and rightly so, they offer a superior product. I know that the current real estate market is a mess, but until I started running around looking at houses did it sink in. On the other hand, I think this makes for some really good opportunities if you are looking for a new home, as long as you get a really good deal, and you are in a neighborhood that is primarily built out, so you can judge what a "good deal" is based on existing homes sales in the same neighborhood. This is a cycle of course, but with the amount of ARMS that will be changing soon and the pending further flood of foreclosures and homes thrown on the market due to the ARM changes will only make things worse.