Andrea Campbell couldn't sleep at all Thursday night, anticipating the new Corey Barton house in Meridian she planned to buy, thanks to a big sale Barton's company, CBH Homes, is holding this weekend.
Campbell arrived at the Meridian sales office at 8 a.m. Friday.
Her purchase was one of six sales there in the first hour. Campbell and her husband had been looking for a home in less-expensive Nampa to raise their two young boys. Campbell works in Boise, and her husband works in Eagle.
"We couldn't afford a home in Meridian," Campbell said. "This sale came and saved the day."
The sale, which lasts through Sunday afternoon, is aimed at pushing potential homebuyers off the fence by reducing prices on 200 Treasure Valley homes. The biggest discount in Meridian: $70,000 off a $377,895 home on White Birch Drive, lowering it to $307,895.
But while Barton's ads prominently advertised "up to $70,000 off," that was the only home in Meridian with so big a discount. A price sheet listing 78 Meridian homes in eight subdivisions featured discounts mostly between $20,000 and $30,000.
The four-bedroom, 2,000-square-foot house Campbell looked at — and signed a purchase agreement for — was discounted $30,000 to $179,900.
Valerie Reyes was hoping to save her daughter $25,000 on another Meridian home. Reyes' daughter lives in Salt Lake City and is hoping to transfer her job with Delta Airlines here to be closer to her mother and sisters.
On Friday, Reyes walked a line of new homes on Beaham Drive in the Ventana subdivision, consulting with her daughter on her cell phone. "We've been looking at these homes for awhile," she said.
Barton's sale could inject energy — at least briefly — into a Treasure Valley housing market crowded with nearly 8,000 unsold homes in August.
The CBH Homes Meridian office was well-staffed with people to help potential buyers through all purchasing steps, from obtaining pre-approval for financing to signing purchase agreements that guarantee the discounted prices.
Michelle Jacobi, the office manager, worked past midnight the night before preparing for the event.
A couple of buyers in line when the doors opened at 9 a.m. were hoping for the same house.
The one who arrived three minutes earlier snagged it. The other buyer went searching for another deal.
"The phones have been ringing off the hook," Jacobi said.
