smart choices in design center upgrades - Building home (mortgage, appliances)

[Threestep2]

Originally Posted by emi_oasis

Probably the same place, we will know by May first week.

Did you choose 3 appts of 2 hours each or 2 appts of 3 hours each? (we get 6 hours total)

for newbies, is that enough time to make all choices?

What homework did you guys have to do beforehand? It sucks that they dont have a web presence so people could at least see color choices and such beforehand.

Also, have to think how to handle the 7 month old, the older kids we can definitely leave behind but not too sure about the infant and they say no kids allowed.

Unless you have all your ducks in a row three hours may be overload. Why use paid time to have your personal discussions? Bring color samples of things you will move into the house. Picking up lots of paint strips at Lowes/HD and matching them in day and lamplight works. Do the same with what you are picking out.

Personally I would include the infant in the confirmation email or phone call.

[smuninja]

we are getting the same number of hours and we also have infant,but we already used our incentives for outdoor stone and brick options, few things we kind of thinking are getting noiseless dishwasher ,if its an option,Getting can lights/shells installed,Single Kitchen sink,no split one.

[mSooner]

We were thinking maybe do quartz for kitchen.. dont know what the price difference is but its based on the the internetz say quartz is non-pourous and doesnt stain and doesnt require annual resealing/maintenance?

FWIW, we have granite in our kitchen (St. Cecilia) and it has been pretty much maintenance free. We "should" seal it annualy, but 5 years in I'm just now seeing the need to seal it. It's been pretty heavily used too.

One other thing I'd think about--what level faucets are you getting? If it is American Standard or another lower-level brand, I'd upgrade and get Moen or Delta faucets. The American Standard ones in our home started falling apart after a year. I just put new ones in our master bath during a reno and they are already starting to have issues just 6 months later. You'll end up replacing them if you don't go for quality now.

I'd think along the same lines with toilets as well.

Instant hot water dispenser

These are amazing. Also, think about getting just a hole for a reverse osmosis system and installing one later. They are awesome.

Also, I'd see if you can leave the infant with a sitter. From personal experience, long meetings with a baby that age are a nightmare :/

[Salamandar]

From experience, yes doing the design appt. with an infant is a nightmare.

Do most of your homework up front. When we built our home, we were allowed into the design center to take a look around prior to our appointments. We took color swatches of the colors we eventually used in our house. I would ask if you are allowed to do just that. Prior to our design appointment, we had a very good idea where we were planning on spending our money. This also helps you utilize your design time more efficiently. You will be surprised how quickly those 6 hours will pass.

You have been offered some great advice in this thread, let me talk bout items that I would recommend:

I would have all the floors done to your choosing. You will ensure all your baseboards and door thresholds are at the correct height.

Add any additional switches, outlets or any other electrical work that you feel you would want. Especially if it is a two story house. This also includes can lights. I would recommend that if your floorplan exists elsewhere in the community, walk around the house playing with the switches to see if the scheme works for you. I used this method to add a few more 3 way switches that made sense to me. Also walk around the house identifying where the outlets will be located and see if that works for your furniture.

Figure out what appliances that you will want and if you want to upgrade them. Your countertops will be installed to fit to the appliances you plan on using. The same goes for sinks.

I would also recommend that you get all the plumbing you want to have installed. When we built our house, we also wanted an additional sink in the utility room. This has come in very handy. You can also consider how many hose bibs you want on the exterior of the home and their locations. If you are getting natural gas, you can also consider gas locations. Do you plan to have an outdoor fireplace?

As previously mentioned, make sure to add any bump outs or window changes at this time. Other structural items that you can consider are closet sizes/layouts and door locations.

If you like built-in showers, now is also the time to do that prior to your foundation going in.

[tcualum]

Before you go with upgraded counters, blinds, doors, chandeliers or ceiling fans, wall colors, faucets, flooring that doesn't need to match, toilets, appliances and anything else that can be easily changed out price them out independently yourself. You can sometimes get a better choice for less taking care of it yourself and having the builder install the cheapest option. You can then sell on Craigslist the builder grade ceiling fan, dishwasher or granite to defray the cost of what you really want. The smartest things to have the builder install are things that will be difficult to do later such as: upgraded insulation, more power outlets, improved lighting, more energy efficient windows, power and gas line to a patio, floor outlets, roughed in bonus space, etc. Don't forget that if you're building in a single builder neighborhood then everyone else in the neighborhood will be using the same design center. Skipping the upgraded chandelier and buying one yourself is a good way to make your home unique.

The best place to go for advice regarding this are the message boards on the website Houzz. The Houzz message boards are also a great place for free design advice.

As for granite, not all granite is as indestructible as people claim granite is. Some granites chip and stain more easily than others and some need to be sealed more often than others. If you Google the type of granite you like or ask on Houzz you can find out.

[turf3]

Extra hose bibs outside. One in the front and one in the back may not be enough.

If gas is piped, and you are going to have an electric stove, consider having gas piped to that location now and capped off.

Extra exterior lights can be wired up now for little additional money and it's a neater installation.

If you have room in the utility room, a big plastic laundry sink is extremely useful.

Striped wallpaper is really tough to install on non-perfect walls and look good.

Even though they have assigned a person to be with you for a set number of hours, there is no reason you can't go there either before or after, to consider choices by yourselves.

Just because they say they will have "a designer" there with you, don't expect that person to be a red-hot interior designer with a great sense of color. They will much more likely be quite a bit less than that. Bring your own taste and judgement.

Make sure you have a copy of the floor plans with all changes including locations of additional outlets, hose bibbs, different floor treatments, etc. clearly marked and initialled by you and the sales person, before you leave.

Make sure you do not sign the final contract until you have the complete pricing for the house plus every single upgrade you have ordered. They will try to pressure you. No matter how much they pressure you, it is still your money. When you know exactly how much the base house plus upgrades will cost, that is when you make the final contract, not before. This is not a subject to argue with them. This is a subject to tell them. (We had some neighbors who had a $40,000 surprise at closing, on a $200,000 house.)

[jdallas]

Originally Posted by turf3

Make sure you have a copy of the floor plans with all changes including locations of additional outlets, hose bibbs, different floor treatments, etc. clearly marked and initialled by you and the sales person, before you leave.

^ best advice so far.

[MurphyPl1]

We went in pretty much every home under construction before went. We were able to narrow down what we liked. And in many cases say "we like the brick on these 4 homes" and find out what they were that way.

Upgrade the carpet pad even if you don't upgrade the carpet. You'll notice the difference.

Extra faucets outside.

If you've got a 3 car split garage expand the single. Especially if you're in an HOA that doesn't allow or requires them to match the house.

Wire for ceiling fans in all the bedrooms even if you don't add them now

Improved counter in your powder bath

[BongoBungo]

Originally Posted by panacea1982

are you going to the design center by 121 in the Colony, close to nebraska furniture mart? I heard they handled quite a few builders' design selection.

We thought about doing quartz for the kitchen because of the low maintainence like you mentioned but they didn't carry the quartz we wanted so we used granite. We did use quartz for master bath and marble for the secondary bath.

If you're going to that design center, beware. I've been there five times now, and every time I got someone completely incompetent and was ridiculously rushed throughout the process. Literally given less than five minutes to choose things like countertops and floors. Bring a real designer with you and figure out what your builder offers before you go.

And for some reason there is no data connection in there. I guess they don't want you using your phone to look how expensive it would be to install some of the options yourself.

I pretty much just do basic everything because builders charge so much and I'd rather pick what I really want rather than the crappy builder's selections. I go so far as to rip out everything when I'm done. The only things I leave in the house are the sinks, cabinets, toilets, sometimes mirrors, doors, paint, carpet in bedrooms, and appliances. I tear out light fixtures, countertops, non carpet floors, backsplashes, baseboards, and so on. $15k paid to contractors goes a lot farther than what's paid to the builder.

[HP48G]

Go to Houzz .com and look at hundreds or thousands of pictures of kitchens, bathrooms etc. you will know what you like very quickly. Then find similar items at the design center.