Mashburn Homes is busy building in both northwest and southwest Oklahoma City. Cascata Lakes and The Villas at Cascata Lakes — two separate neighborhoods — lie down just down SW 134 from The Legacy. Glenhurst and The Villas at Glenhurst are both near NW 122 and MacArthur Boulevard while Riverbend is near NW 58 and Council Road.

Each neighborhood has its own personality and draws its own mix of buyers. The Gates, for example, is pulling in a mix of empty-nesters and young couples with and without children, Jesse Mashburn said, “whereas as the one up north is almost exclusively empty-nesters. We can't sell a three-car garage up there. But we haven't sold a two-car here yet.”

Mashburn developments may offer a lesson in rolling with the times and keeping up with what buyers want — possibly even figuring that out even before they do. Security and low maintenance are high on buyer wish lists these days, and The Gates offers both.

They're in the planning stages for Cascata Estates, which will go in near Cascata Lakes and will take the security angle an extra step by installing a single entry-exit gate.

But they all have their selling points. Riverbend's homes are scattered along five lakes, a green belt winds through The Legacy and the Villas at Cascata Lakes is just across May Avenue from Moore's Wayland Bonds Elementary School.

The school, J.W. Mashburn said, has proved to be a huge draw.

“I had a builder come in yesterday and buy a lot in Cascata simply to get his daughter into the Wayland Bonds school,” he said. “A lot of people have done that.”