Excessively expensive builder options! (countertops, credit, house)

[zach5150]

Ok, first don't flame me for 'not knowing that's how builders make their money, etc...' Of course, I realize that (some, not all) builders add some MAJOR markup to their options. I'd like some feedback and thoughts about an idea I'm having. We would like to upgrade:
-garage door from metal white to fiberglass craftsman wood look (not an option with our builder)
-Entry Door (we are not in love with any of the entry doors and will probably have one made to our specifications)
-bathroom faucets. Upgrading from Chrome to SS or ORB is about 1000 to 1500 dollars and that's if we dont upgrade to the next 'family' of faucets. The ridiculous thing is that we can do the same 'upgrade' at Lowes for a couple hundred bucks (if you factor in a credit for what we can hopefully sell the original stuff for).

So, what we are thinking is we sell everything (front door, garage door, bathroom hardware) on craigslist. We may even post the stuff a few days before we close so that we can hopefully have it sold as 'near new' and get the most cash for it. Has anybody done that? Are there buyers out there who would give us enough money to make it worthwhile?

I'm not here to bash the builder. We love most everything about the house, except these few nit picky things, so I'm not going to mention who the builder is.

[llkltk]

The faucets sound like a rip off. I don't know how wood garage doors fair in Texas. You don't see too many of them around. Don't forget if you have an HOA, you'll have to get garage door and front door approved before installing. I don't know what kind of luck you will have on craigslist selling things like that, I would think that it would be a tough sell.

[intmd8r]

I understand where you're coming from, completely. What you're paying for is the convenience of not having to do it yourself. Another thing is you have to pay out of pocket to upgrade yourself, whereas if you upgrade with the builder, it's rolled into your mortgage. That may be a consideration for some, as well, and another reason they can overprice their upgrades.

One thing I found really overpriced in Phoenix was the price to upgrade from the standard Corian countertops to Granite. It was easily twice as expensive as you could have them done yourself from Lowe's or Home Depot, etc.

To some, the hassle of having that done themselves is just not worth it, but we would much rather make some upgrades ourselves and save the money.

Good luck!

[Runemaster]

Another thing you are paying for is the warranty. If the builder installed garage door opener breaks, the builder fixes it. If the one you installed breaks, you get to take it back down, pack it back up, take it back to wherever you bought it and exchange it...

Whenever you buy something expensive like that from a manufacturer, the warranty is put right into the price.

Granted, I can't see needing a warranty repair on a granite counter top, but a garage door opener, faucet, dishwasher, etc, yes.

And, keep in mind hanging doors is an art form all to itself. The average Harvey Homeowner (not saying that is you) won't do it well on the first try.

[FueledByBlueBell]

Having been through this process- spend money on architectural features (extra room/closet/bath/rounded corners/arches/ larger garage-- whatever) and go basic on everything else. Commit to buying it and installing it yourself (or pay installation- still cheaper) once you move in. You'll like the results better anyway because you will be living in the house and will have more time to think about what it is you want and how it will look. I can't stress this enough. We didn't and regretted it.