New homes and upgrades (Reno, Sparks: countertops, landscaping, buyers)

[rnoroukies]

Will someone please offer advse on which upgrades are best when purchasing new construction in Sparks? I have created a list of what I want but need to know what should be the priorities versus those that are not worth the price! Thanks! FYI- choosing a lot his weekend!!

[garth]

Wow, that's an hard question to answer. Let me answer your question with my recent experience.

We just bought new construction down in Douglas County. As part of the process, we were sent to "CTI" in Reno to pick out our flooring, countertops, backsplashes, etc. We could go with the standard stuff at no cost or upgrade at extra cost. They're a "Design Center" used by multiple different builders.

Well, we wanted nice stuff in the hosue so we began picking, choosing, and designing. When it was all done, they presented us with a biiiiig price.

I then tried to get the cost per square foot for various items to see how we were being charged. The problem was that they couldn't (or wouldn't) provide it to us. We got totals for things like the tile, the granite counters, the wood, etc. However, they wouldn't provide the $/sq ft price.

What I did was go to the house and do my own measurements. With those numbers, I was able to figure out the comparative prices.

Let me give you an example. Our wood charge turned out to be $24/sq ft, installed. HOLY COW!!! They didn't have the best wood available in their "design center," so it certainly was not worth that price whether or not installation was included. I later found the same wood commonly available, before negotiations, at $13/ sq ft, installed at regular flooring stores.

Their other prices turned out to be waaaaaay beyond reasonable. Their tile was not the best, but it was priced like gold. Their granite was obtained from the same places as every other installer, but it's price was nowhere near comparable in the open market. It went that way with everything.

So, what does all of this mean? To me, it meant I told them to keep their overpriced stuff and just install the basic stuff. I even offered to close on the house without flooring just to make my job easier so I wouldn't have to remove it, but they refused.

Instead, I have hired installers to put in wood, travertine, tile, backsplashes, etc. upon the close of escrow. They will be coming in to remove the builder's stuff and install my selections. By doing this, I have ended up with better quality materials, installed by licensed and bonded tradesmen, and have saved 33% of the cost of going through the builder and that overpriced CTI Design Center. If I had gone with the same exact materials I had selected through the builder and the center, I estimate that my savings would have been closer to 50%.

So, if you have the option of doing the same, I would suggest that you consdier doing so. It might mean the difference between $75000 in flooring/option costs and $50000 in flooring/option costs, or less.

The problem is that the builders and CTI Design Center know they have a captive market. Oftentimes people stretch on a downpayment on the home and have nothing left to do their own upgrades. As a result, the builders and CTI know they can charge whatever they want for upgrades because they know the buyers ahve no other option. That's what's I discovered and it's what I refused to let happen to me. If there's any way for you to refuse to let it happen to you, the option would save you lots of money.

Good luck on your decision . . . btw, I would be curious if your builder is also sending you to "CTI." Again, good luck.

[olecapt]

Yup...when you buy new the best way is "bare". Try to take all spifs in real dollar items. ie pay the homeowners for five year or next years interest or even, heaven forbid, a lower price on the house.

Upgrades are worth between 10 and 20 cents on the dollar with respect to value of the home. So you buy a 400K home with 100K worth of spifs when you go to sell you will find the home is worth maybe $320K. Now would you not feel better if you told them to keep the spifs and sell it to you for $300K?

You can sometimes do a little better on landscaping than other upgrades. Maybe 50 cents on the dollar. Get a local landscaper to quote the job about the same as the builder proposes. Then beat the builder up with the quote.

[rnoroukies]

Thank you for the response however it is a bit disheartening as by husband is not very handy, and if we put all of our cash into the down and closing costs then we won't have the ability to come back in and pay to have the rest done.

[PinkString]

The design centers always charge much more than normal places where you can have things installed. For what I wanted on my home, i would have had to add a minimum of $50,000 more to my home, and I wanted to keep costs low. So i went for the bare minimum, with a few upgrades. But later on, when i decide to sell, i will upgrade a few things, but not till then.