What upgrades did you guys do when you purchased a built from the ground up home? Just wondering if I missed any important upgrades one should make. I tried to do upgrades that would cost more if I did it after the home was finished. For comparison, I did; granite tops for the kitchen/baths w/bull nose edge under mount sinks 20x20 floor tiles from entry way to kitchen and living room mahogany wood front door sprinkler system/full gutters/full sod - packaged deal large covered patio in the back - 11x11 i think? 10" inch ss sink, came with 8" rain glass in master bath full brick all the way around - eff the fiber fused cement siding cable/lan in every room plumbing/drain for water softener in garage 42" cabinets came standard, as did the granite for the kitchen/master bath r15/r38 insulation - standard radiant roof barrier - standard
Then the choice to do the landscaping puzzles me as the price on that unchanged no matter when you do it. Also WTF is this thread, I got sold on a bunch of extras for my tract home? congrats I guess.
Dont forget a Helipad and most importantly a miniature giraffe. <img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XdP6Lp2ceqY/TFAwfCi9KlI/AAAAAAAAXQ0/jAKdPWCZuTI/s1600/g2.PNG"> I kid, but sounds like you have a nice house. Congrats.
I built a house 2 years ago and here were the things we wish would of added and a few items to not forget: 1. Extra LAN in the main areas 2. 7.1 surround sound in any room u might have a tv in 3. Dual video(hdmi) and sound from living room to back patio for outside tv and speakers 4. Extra power jacks in master bath for the wife 5. Largest junction box u can get we're all the LAN, cable and phone lines are connected 6. Pre-wall mount hdmi and power were any mounted tv might go 7. Mini blinds 8. A big light in the attac 9. Pre run gas line and power in the back yard if you think u might ever buy a pool(this will save u Alot of money) 10. Extra insulation in your media room 11. Floor in your attac so that you walk and store things easier 12. Make sure they put your sprinkler system on its own water meter other wise you are paying for sewage when you water your yard. (save you a lot of money in long run)
This. In fact, we bought a house this year from someone who was building the house for himself (sold mine blood sweat and tears rebuild) and we had now where to go so we made him an offer he couldn't refuse. He put in a 4 zone system wired with multiple cat 5 (not sure why he didn't use cat 6), hdmi (where appropriate) cables, subwoofer wiring and of course speaker wiring (with volume controls for the non-main zones). Bad thing was all the speaker wiring was buried in the walls. I bought a good wire tracker and I was amazed that it found the wire ends within an inch. So now my tv is mounted above the fire place with absolutely no wires (even have the power surge behind the led. The surround sound is completely buried and near invisible. Zones include the kitchen (though I doubt I ever put anything there because it's an open concept, master, master bath and outside. The master bath also has a swivel wall mount tv that I can watch from the shower, bath tub or toilet (critical area ). The playroom has its own tv/surround wiring. These kind of touches don't cost that much and the turn your new home into a "crib" that will put it above the rest when it comes resale time. The granite, kitchen (we have the no slam drawers which is cool), etc get the ladies on board, but the tv and the sound wiring get the men to say - ok let's make an offer. We also have a central vac with a little kick plate in the kitchen that you kick and you can sweep any crumbs into the system. Also have the extra water facet over the stove. Cool items for the ladies, but not used all that much. (You still have to carry the pot of full of water off the stove so that only 1/2 helps IMO). Also beware of where your hot water heater(s) are in relation to the facets. You may want to put in instant ons or put a circulation system in if it's a ways away (owner put in the circulation for us but the stupid plumbers didn't put it in correctly so its near useless).
It is a good thread for folks to put in things they upgraded or wish they had upgraded so that other that are buying homes might see something they haven't thought of. Also, your question could be asked about 90+% of the threads that get created.
Some of the upgrades may cost less after closing, but if you're like me, you will never get around to actually doing them. May as well just roll them all into the mortgage and be done with it. You'd be surprised how little a 2K upgrade affects your monthly payment on a 30-year mortgage. We built a home in March of this year and we don't regret any of the upgrades we did, but there are definitely a few we regret NOT doing (granite in the bathrooms, sprinkler system, surround sound).
Add to that the fact that the price the typical builder charges you is aprox. double what the upgrade costs if you went out and got the contractor to do it yourself that $1K upgrade costs you $3k...what a deal. This makes lots of upgrades a total rip-off (not talking about a 3rd car garage or other structural changes, etc.).
I agree with ima. You'll end up with a bunch of stuff you want to do but never get around to doing if you don't do it now. Things like upgraded kitchen cabinets are going to be very intrusive later on when you have to take out all your dishes and not be able to cook for a few weeks while they do the upgrades.
Depends on how you look at it. That's paying $100 a year which is less than $9 a month which is less than $0.30 a day which is less than what I spend on a diet coke to go with my lunch every day. It's kind of like the people who drive across town to fill up just so they can save $0.10/gallon. With a 15 gallon gas tank, you're saving exactly $1.50. I'd rather pay the extra $1.50 and fill up at the station closest to my house. To each his own, though. Some people get off on saving money and I can totally respect that. Some people (like me) will pay a little more for the convenience of having it all done before you move in.
