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Just a quick note, but NYer's post is a good example of hashing out the costs and working with reputable and knowledgeable reps. Another thing to consider is that when you look at a home and decide on upgrades, consider installing 'certain' upgrades when you take occupancy. Of course, cabinetry and countertops are something, I believe, you cannot say, "No, don't install them at all" because the home must pass inspection and be ready for occupancy. However, there are some things like paint, appliances, fixtures and other upgrades that can easily be upgraded, and quickly, after you take occupancy.
Just plan for that date, and get the contractors, workers or delivery people ready to go on or near the date of occupancy, and you might, if you're a good savvy shopper, save a whole bunch of money.
Just a quick note, but NYer's post is a good example of hashing out the costs and working with reputable and knowledgeable reps. Another thing to consider is that when you look at a home and decide on upgrades, consider installing 'certain' upgrades when you take occupancy. Of course, cabinetry and countertops are something, I believe, you cannot say, "No, don't install them at all" because the home must pass inspection and be ready for occupancy. However, there are some things like paint, appliances, fixtures and other upgrades that can easily be upgraded, and quickly, after you take occupancy.
Just plan for that date, and get the contractors, workers or delivery people ready to go on or near the date of occupancy, and you might, if you're a good savvy shopper, save a whole bunch of money.
Just a thought and an option.
All good points....
We did many of the above. We got a lot of upgrades, I suppose, but mainly ones that would be difficult to do after, like a tile shower and upgraded cabinets etc
What we bypassed were fixtures, fans, carpets, lights etc....
The markup is huge. I have already purchase a truckload of fans, faucets, lights, towel rods etc....
The week after we close I will be installing all of them myself, something I have done before and anyone can do. Conservatively I think I saved about 5 thousand or more over what Drees would have charged us.
With young kids, we chose not to upgrade the carpets upstairs, let the kids beat them to death then replace later.
I have also hired some of the workers from our house to side deals to do some work after we close, like a tile backsplash in the kitchen for about 1/3 what Drees would have cost us...
There are plenty of ways to save money but it does get overwhelming when making the initial choices. I just couldn't see paying 250 for a faucet that I could get for 80.00 at Lowes.
I have actually built homes and dealt with new construction for a long time, selling and buying. Drees was so disorganized and so inconsistent, we did not feel comfortable with the entire process. We had things in writing and then they wanted to turn around and do the opposite. Being a broker, I know they can't do that, but they were looking for an excuse to get out of it too. They realized they had priced our plan too low and offering "too much." Of course, for a base price of nearly $500k you'd think you'd at least get granite countertops - nope, or crown moulding and trim thruout - no, or upgraded plumbing fixtures - nope, chrome was standard. Chrome is what I have in my cheap condo I purchased. We knew the base price and the finished price but the fact that they make you go out, pick out the stuff you want and make you swallow a 200% mark up - it was difficult. If they said, this house just like this is $600k and you can have it just like this and customize colors, I would have been fine. However, they wanted to charge me $1000 for a sink that is $315 at Home Depot. Ridiculous! Also, the base price changed...we were told one thing during the parade of homes, then another later. It turned out they couldn't tell us what the price of the home would be as is. They decided they weren't making a big enough profit on our home and decided to go back on their word. I wasn't having warm fuzzies and that sealed it - no contract.
By the way, we were at the design center in Raleigh. One lady was extremely helpful (the one I wasn't working with) and the other was not. I had to keep going to the other consultant for assistance in figuring out pricing on certain things. It was a joke! Completely unprofessional.
Wow. I am amazed at how we could have had such different experiences. Perhaps you were buying in a rising market, unlike us, who are buying in leaner times? I don't know how else to account for it.
Not that it is right.
We are also doing our own ceiling fans & such,... at the suggestion of the Design Center rep!!!!
We did level 2 carpet, and in a few years we will rip it out & upgrade, we also have young kids, let them do their thing!!!!!
We did get the oil rubbed bronze for door handles & shower surround in teh master but will redo all of that in secondary baths, you are right, it is sooo much cheaper at Lowes. Plus we will get abetter selection outside the design center.
Wow. I am amazed at how we could have had such different experiences. Perhaps you were buying in a rising market, unlike us, who are buying in leaner times? I don't know how else to account for it.
Not that it is right.
We are also doing our own ceiling fans & such,... at the suggestion of the Design Center rep!!!!
We did level 2 carpet, and in a few years we will rip it out & upgrade, we also have young kids, let them do their thing!!!!!
We did get the oil rubbed bronze for door handles & shower surround in teh master but will redo all of that in secondary baths, you are right, it is sooo much cheaper at Lowes. Plus we will get abetter selection outside the design center.
Yeah we had a good experience as well, and the design center staff also made no qualms about the expense of certain upgrades.
It was our warranty rep who actually made the suggestion of hiring laborers in the neighborhood on their time off, he also told us to help ourselves to adjacent lots scrap OSB for the attic etc...
I wish we'd had a good experience. I really loved that house. Spent a ton of time making all of the selections. Unfortunately, when I buy a home the only thing I'm willing to do is decorative paint. I don't have time to switch out a bunch of fixtures - besides I'd have to leave that to my hubby who barely has time to see the fam. I did love the house though. Just didn't have a good feeling about it as the experience seemed to worsen. To give you an idea, we actually were supposed to work with one design consultant when the other one demanded we work with her. Our sales rep put us with the first one because she knew we'd work well together. The other consultant was not helpful and didn't even give us access to all of the upgrades available. It was very difficult. Oh well...
I was just wondering, some of you have mentioned having an independant inspector come in at the right times. When and how often do you have your home inspected during the building project? Where do I find a home inspectore, how much does it cost?
Interesting thread. Has anyone managed a Drees home build remotely? We're thinking of building in Churton Grove, but would still be living in Boston until close to the close date. Think the onsite builder is up for that?
They give you a call every week- the agent and the builder- it is a conference call. I know at our development they do just as many sales to out-of-staters who rely on the remote contact as the ones like us, that are hanging around all the time! But, I CANNOT imagine doing the design center part remotely using their online site- I would devote a trip to that- go on a Friday, mull it over all weekend, drive around & look at Drees models, take pictures, then go for the main appointment and finalize it.
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