Design center selection - what to & what no to (flooring, how much)

[newhomebuyer80]

Hey all,
after so much help from the mortgage & city section, I signed the contract for my new home.

Size is 3993 Sq.ft
5 bedrooms, living room & dining room attached, study room, family room (2story height), breakfast area, game room, media room,kitchen (42"cabinets, island), 65ft lot.

Upgrades I am planning to choose,
1. Full Metal balluster w/oak handrail - $3975
2. Gutters 2 story $550
3. Kitchen cabinets "Avalon Maple" $1600
4. Door : 3/4 light mahogany door
5. Vanity cabinets (comes with Oakland Oak) for all baths - Does it worth to upgrade in all baths to avalon maple ($395)
6. I am planning to get the tiles all the way from entry till family room , and cover kitchen and breakfast area,master bath - all are diagonal joint
Group 3 tile - costs me $3840, Group 4 tile $4850 CAN WE DO IT LATER WITH DIFFERENT CONTRACTOR
I am confused, which of these tiles will come for long time , i will live in this home for atleast 10 years or worth of the price
7. Does it worth to upgrade group 1 tiles in the utility room, powder room??
8. Kitchen countertops - Group 3 or group 4 , which one is worth for the money - $1275 - $1475

all these things coming around $16000, I have $8000 to spend from builder, I need to spend anything above $8000.

I have no kids, just got married, Please advise me, where should I spend money?

[Mjames]

Most of what you put on your list is personal preference for how you want the house to look, so I'll ask you some questions about the items.

#1: Is the metal balluster more stable and secure than the alternative?
#3: What is the standard kitchen cabinet and do you like the standard cabinet?
#4: Is this the front door? What is the cost?
#6: Typically costs more for the tile to be laid diagonally. If you're having tile installed anyway, I would choose the tile you want. Otherwise, go with the standard flooring and have tile installed later.
#7: I would not upgrade tiles in utility room. Powder room depends on cost and if there is a standard tile you like.
#8: What is the standard countertop? What are group 3 and 4 countertops? Can you have a laminate countertop installed? This would be easier to replace later with tile, granite, corian. etc.

Not on your list: What about wiring in the home for internet, TV, home theatre, security system, intercom? My home is similar in size to yours and we spent $12K for this when it was built.

[HEATHER72]

Hmmm I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that $8000 is probably a drop in the bucket to what this house costs?

[newhomebuyer80]

Originally Posted by Mjames

Most of what you put on your list is personal preference for how you want the house to look, so I'll ask you some questions about the items.


#4: Is this the front door? What is the cost?
#6: Typically costs more for the tile to be laid diagonally. If you're having tile installed anyway, I would choose the tile you want. Otherwise, go with the standard flooring and have tile installed later.
#7: I would not upgrade tiles in utility room. Powder room depends on cost and if there is a standard tile you like.
#8: What is the standard countertop? What are group 3 and 4 countertops? Can you have a laminate countertop installed? This would be easier to replace later with tile, granite, corian. etc.

Not on your list: What about wiring in the home for internet, TV, home theatre, security system, intercom? My home is similar in size to yours and we spent $12K for this when it was built.

Yes, front door, It comes with 1/2 light Mahogany door, I am going to check how it looks, If i am happy, I wills stick to that, 3/4 light door is $325
* Thanks, I will not consider the upgrading tiles in utility and powder, it comes with standard 12X12 tiles
* Tiles are 12X12, I didnt like 12X12 look, i prefer 16X16, price for the tiles package - $3800, do you think we can professional installation later for this price for Level 3 tiles.
* It comes with Level 1 Granite - kitchen countertop - But only 3 colors, thats why i would like to upgrade it level,2or3or 4
* It comes with Family room Media wired 5.1 speaker system
* But for the media room, I will do it by contractor, who charge me $30 per speaker channel - $210 for 7.1 speaker system
* RG6 cable connection in all rooms except kitchen,breakfast,dinin-living
* communication package through out home - 4 port in each room - telephone connection,

[newhomebuyer80]

Originally Posted by HEATHER72

Hmmm I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that $8000 is probably a drop in the bucket to what this house costs?

you mean, you are that I am going to waste $8000 or worth $8000? House price is comparably I bought it for good price - $63.50 per Sq.ft in pearland TX, shadow creek ranch community. I should have asked for $3000 more, I missed it.
I really want to give a nicer look to my first home.

[Streamer1212]

Upgrade the tile now instead of later. Your upgrade later will cost you the price of the new tile PLUS the demolition of the existing tile, PLUS the intrusion into your world, PLUS the dust/dirt/debris that's left after the demolition and new installation.

That being said, I'd try to negotiate the price of the upgrade.
Don't forget that there should be a credit for the standard tile that you are not buying. Do some arithmetic and tell them what you want to pay. Then be a little flexible with your number as well. Give a little, get a little.

Regards,
Streamer1212

[desertsun41]

Like some one said....most of your questions were personal in taste. What I can tell you is how builder options work.

Builders make a lot of money on options. A whole lot of money. If you are handy and/or know some contractors then you might be in luck.

Here is how it works:

Lets say you want to upgrade your tile. A very cheap tile comes standard but you want to upgrade it to something nice. You choose an upgraded tile and the builder goes to his tile contractor to see how much they charge to install your choice tile. They tell the builder they want $3000. The builder doubles that price to $6000 and that is the price they quote you. It is doubled.

This is also how Home Depot and Lowes run their installed sales. Joe blow contractor wants $500 to install a door so Lowes charges you $1000. So Lowes made money on the sale of the door and the install.

An ambitious person should buy a new home stripped or almost stripped and do the improvements their self or hire a contractor. You will save tons of money. The only drawback to doing it yourself is you have to lay out the money now rather then putting it into your mortgage which is almost painless.

The few times you should pay the builder for upgrades might be to preplumb for a future laundry sink, prewire for intercoms, upgrade the cabinets...things like that. Because that would cost you big time to do later.

Idealy you would want to buy the home with no floor coverings, especially if the builder will give you some credits back.

One more thing to think about is FHA and some mortgage companies will not mortgage a home with no floor covering. So you might have to let the builder lay the cheap junk and just tear it out later to put your own in. Dont let them put down tile that you will tear back out cause it is tough to tear tile out. Instead make them put down lino as it will be easy to remove.

Good luck in your new home

[newhomebuyer80]

thanks guys...I will take your suggesstions of negotiation of pricebreak of upgraded tile with standard tile.
i am going to try down to earth to get the price I want, If nothing happens, bad luck, i did a mistake of bargaining at the front. I really didnt think about the upgrades when I was bargaining. All my target was bringing it under $65 per sq.ft. because the price was almost $75 per sq.ft last year in the same community. I was just comparing my friends homes and my home finishing price with upgrades. After that, personally I felt like want to look better in the way I want.
As I learned after coming here " YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR", no matter what cheap or better.

Thanks guys...