After years of saving, hoping, wishing, praying, and wishing some more, DH and I thought we would never be able to buy a home in this area, let alone build! Well, one of the new communities we have been looking at is having a great promotion with closing costs and $25K design studio money for upgrades. DH and I have been living in apts since college, so this is all new to us. I really want the stainless steel package for the kitchen, and I want hardwoods in the walk out basement and main level. What upgrades did you find worth the splurge, and what did/would you skip?!? The options seem limitless, and I don't want to get crazy!
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It kind of depends on what the base package includes. I would get nice appliances, wood floors throughout (except maybe bedrooms and upstairs bathrooms) and granite/stone/solid surface counters. Granite has become so common that there's no way you should get laminate for counters.
I built a townhouse a few years ago and upgraded the counters and got crown molding. My parents built a house several years ago and upgraded several things. As you pointed out, the possibilities are pretty much endless for what you can upgrade. I don't think they regret any of the upgrades they got. The only thing I think they kind of regretted was the cabinet color they chose. They are real wood and were supposed to be a cream color, but instead came out kind of pink, which is a possibility with that wood. So anything that has variation in color, I'd choose with caution.
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I would try to do research on the costs of each package and materials, so that you aren’t getting hosed even with 25k in upgrades.
I would do hardwood throughout, except maybe bathrooms, which I would do in real tile. And definitely granite and SS appliances in the kitchen, but again, I’d look at what they are charging you for appliances vs. what it would cost to buy them on your own. I’d look at getting those soft-close cabinets and drawers – I love those.
Less “sexy” upgrades I would definitely ask about would be taller ceilings and crown moulding, upgraded windows (especially if you live in a cold climate), upgraded insulation, upgraded roof and furnace, etc.
I’d also look into energy-efficient options – can you get solar panels through them? If you won’t have central air, could you get mini splits installed? What type of heating will it be – if something like propane/oil, can you upgrade to something better like natural gas, geothermal, etc.?
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I'm all for stainless in kitchen, granite or quartz countertops (prefer quartz but granite seems more common), and hard woods for dining/living/foyer. I personally prefer carpet for bedrooms and family room, and tile for kitchen. Be careful about hard woods in the basement as that can be problematic...definitely do some research if you are thinking to put hard wood floor in there.
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We live in the south, so when we were thinking of doing this (we ultimately bought an older home instead), we figured that the fireplace might actually not be worth the money/hassle.
I agree with real tile in the bathrooms!
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For the basement, I'd consider tile with a hardwood look in case the property ever flooded. I agree with others, check into how much the upgrades would cost vs. purchasing/installing things yourself, especially with the appliances.
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I would concentrate on anything that is not easy for you to do yourselves later if you really wanted to. Flooring, cabinets, counter tops. I'd leave things like fixtures, cabinet hardware, and tiled backsplash as it and do those myself later.
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I would say flooring should be your focus. Appliances you can always buy on the cheap side or at a garage sale and upgrade later. And appliances don't last as long as they use to. I agree with the question about flooding with the hardwoods in the basement. So check out that area.
We have a large covered patio. Our home faces the West so we get a shaded back patio in the evening which I love! I sit on the patio and watch LO play. So that's a thought to consider. -
Yes to taller ceilings and crown moulding.
I'd also look into high efficiency furnace, tankless water heater, flooring (wood/heated tile), cabinets, single slab countertops.
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In this order, I'd focus on:
Flooring- hardwood, real stone in the bathroom.
42" cabinets, taller baseboards, crown molding (if you like the look)
Ceiling lights and floor outlets
Then, energy efficient windows/ large appliances.
I'd skip any other kitchen upgrades since newer kitchens aren't doing the granite/SS model as much. Black appliances look nice IMO, but I'm also seeing a lot of wood covered appliances.
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My top priority would be structural stuff that would be difficult to change later - top quality insulation throughout, extra windows, high efficiency windows/doors, tons of electrical outlets, rough in for a basement bathroom (if you don't have one down there), kitchen island, hardwood floors (though I agree that I'd be careful in a basement that might flood), sliding doors if you think you'll want to add on a porch, etc.
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I agree that structural and hard-to-change things (ceiling height, flooring, outlets, etc) should be first priority. If you ever decide to sell, these will be what sets your house apart from the others in the development. The easier something is to DIY, the lower I'd put it on the priority list.
Personally, I would not get stainless steel appliances unless they had the special fingerprint-free surface. Our dishwasher is SS and shows every mark, it's a pain to keep clean and I hate it. I wish the previous owner matched it to the other appliances (white) instead.
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No experience here, but my brother paid extra for a bigger lot of land. After having to help him put grass seed down and all the other steps (grade, water, straw), I think he might have regretted getting such a large piece of land. Maybe it was just a lot of work in the beginning. Also, I don't know how attractive it will be when he sells it.
He did add windows or upgraded them and bumped out the eat-in kitchen area. He made the garage a bit bigger so he could fit 2 cars and some header space for the kids toys or a work bench in the future. He didn't upgrade to granite in the kitchen because my sister is in the granite business and could do it for way less than what the builders would do it for. He did upgrade to stainless steel appliances but I wonder if it's better to buy them separately and not lump it into the mortgage.
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Such good suggestions!!!! We are not handy in the least, so I know realistically we won't do a darn thing later. As far as structural (which my realtor also told me to focus on):
-You either get fireplace or wet bar in basement. Our parents never use fireplace since it doesn't get that cold, so we are getting wet bar.
-Half bath in basement we are getting as concession
-I'll have to ask about flooding, for hardwoods. It's $5K a level. I was thinking hardwood because we have dogs.
-Upgraded ceilings and wiring for fans only a couple of hundred extra, so we are definitely doing that.-I did ask for extra installation.
She gave us the price booklet with prices for everything, so we can see it adding up!
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@dc yoga bee: Oh, there is tile that looks just like hardwood floors. My sister got it in her house. It's dog friendly and probably flood friendly, too. I don't know the cost though.
You should look into it. With hardwood floors, dogs can still damage it and over time it can warp. The tile in my sister's house looks amazing. I don't think I believed her when she told me it was tile and not hardwood floors.
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@dc yoga bee: will you actually use the wet bar? If not, I'd go for the fireplace since I think they're a lot more attractive to look at even if you don't light fires in it. I seem to recall reading an article recently that said wet bars are one of the worst "upgrades" to get unless you really will use it. I'll see if I can find it.
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We built about 4 years ago and we didn't have a lot of money to splurge on extras so our upgrades were mainly structural. We went with higher ceilings, better moulding, an extra bedroom and media room, things we couldn't possibly change later. We opted to get builder grade flooring because the upgraded stuff they offered wasn't that good and we didn't like it. We put hardwood in a year later and are getting ready to redo the carpets in some rooms now. The only regret I have is not getting a better countertop, we went with laminate as we figured we would upgrade later and we still haven't.
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@bluestriped bee: Thanks, I will ask about it!!
@PurplePeony: I won't use it, but DH is Italian-American. He's really excited about it
@MrsTal: My parents built, and they installed a different counter than the one she ordered. She didn't want the delay, so she didn't push it and 7 years later they still haven't changed it! We don't have a lot of extra money for upgrades as well. We want to make sure we have a cushion leftover!
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I agree with others that stainless may be on the way out depending on where you live. So you might want to just buy whatever style you like later (unless you really love stainless).
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We upgraded the carpet, lights, kitchen splashback and changed the floor coverings.
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@MrsTal: @dc yoga bee: Keep in mind that granite is far heavier than laminate and needs different structural support. So it's a difficult thing to upgrade later.
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@dc yoga bee: definitely think about not doing hardwoods in the basement because of flooding and any other water damage. We went with a high quality click together vinyl flooring (google image search trafficmaster allure ultra) and it looks like wood or tile but if anything were to submerge it it wouldn't be ruined. My DH did tons of research and there are not many recommend types of flooring for basement because of potential water damage.
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Wow, you guys are really making me reconsider hardwoods in the basement! And that's a $5K item too. Seriously, thank you for all the suggestions!
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Definitely wood floors, we also upgraded our tub because I like to relax in the bath. We put ceiling fans in and they are great... If skip on faucets unless that's something you are into. I upgraded the moldings because I thought they looked really nice. And we upgraded the doors, also for aesthetic purposes.
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Definitely ask about energy efficiency upgrades. They are less flashy/sexy but they pay off in your reduced utility bills and increased comfort, and they'll help with resale value.
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If you're getting carpet anywhere, upgrade the under padding!!
ETA: and make sure your kitchen cabinets are real wood!
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We are currently in the process of building our house, however we seem to be doing the opposite of what most do/suggest. We are on a budget, and have to stick with it. It's so easy to go overboard, since so much ends up not being included. We wanted to make sure that our musts are done, and any expansions on the house. And when there was no room in the budget for upgraded floors and countertops, oh well.
We also know several people who can do the things we aren't able to upgrade, and help us, saving us money. We know someone who owns a marble and granite countertop business, my brother has done flooring before. My dad will put on our deck.
What we made sure we had:
-4 ft expansion on the family room
-nicer carpet pad
-banister on the stairs, and not just the half wall
-upgraded roofing
-upgraded siding
-upgraded to stainless steel appliancesIt just realy comes down to what is most important to you to have in your home, and where you can make concessions.
We also thought about he things we didn't want to pay 30 years on, or just could get cheaper later, that we didn't mind living without. We live in the NE, and our house should be done in October, we don't need AC until probably June, so we aren't having it put in. We know we can get an AC unit cheaper when they run their sales after winter/after summer. Plus, the price they told us it would be, just wasn't worth it.
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We've started to discuss this, I would upgrade things that are too hard to do later in life/expensive to do. I would make sure tile in bathroom/kitchen is what I want (backsplashes/ect.), cabinets are of high quality (I want the extra tall ones), and stone countertops (however that is usually part of the package anymore.) I would also pay for crown molding.
For me I prefer carpet in bedrooms/living room so I would do hardwood in the other living areas. I would for sure skip hardwood in the basement if there is any risk of flooding as that would ruin it completely.
Appliances I would look into getting yourself if they aren't getting you a deal. (you can always do the free financing through Lowes/Home Depot if you would need too.)
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@dc yoga bee: There are some really great vinyl planks now that look like laminate but are completely safe for water. It might be a great option for a basement.
Also think about lighting, do you need any extra recessed lights?
A few big house things that I am hating right now is needing to upgrade our windows (ask if yours have a lifetime warranty if they are double paned and get foggy) and our doors are super cheap hollow doors (and are expensive to replace but make our rooms loud and feel cheap).
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@GrapeCrush: We just did carpet and got the mid grade pad (8 lb i think) and added the moisture barrier. With kids I didn't want to worry about the pad absorbing any spills.
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So exciting! We're doing a massive renovation on a house. It has gorgeous hardwoods already. Our splurges are mostly things that will make it easier to live long-term:
solar panels
geothermal
attached garage
four season room
everything kitchen- custom cabinets (hard to change later), quartz countertops (no maintenance), induction, oven with steam convection -
@T.H.O.U.: yeah, I think we did the 6lb one...I didn't really know there was a difference and left that to my husband haha.
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We are in the process of building now, and let me tell you - it is easy to go over on allowances! I would say the things we chose to spend a bit extra on are:
nice kitchen appliances
wide plank hardwood floors (as others have said, we are doing tile on ground floor due to the water content of the soil, etc.)
quartz countertops in kitchen
radiant heat in the master bath floor
a gas fireplace in the living room (we live in New England, brr)
tile and hard surface counter tops in all bathrooms
a nice washer dryerWe couldn't change anything structural like ceiling height or windows so ours were purely cosmetic.
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One thing I'll add to the discussion is that if you do a soaking tub in your master bath, make sure your hot water heater is big enough to fill it. Ours wasn't in both the house we built and one we rented. My DH would boil water in big pots on the stove to add to the tub. No joke. I'd get the tankless / demand hot water heater.
And I'll add my voice to no hardwood in the basement. The house we built is in Baltimore and our basement is below the water line, so water in the basement is a real risk. My parents have had to replace carpeting in the basement twice now, and I still couldn't convince them to go to tile. To each their own!
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@ballerinabee: It comes with an oversized soaking tub, and the realtor asked about the water heater. It's oversized, and my realtor said its really nice. I was so set on hardwoods too!
We think the crown molding is an easy one since it's a couple hundred more. I asked about the energy efficiency rating, and I forget what it was, but it's in the 90s.
@T.H.O.U.: good call on the windows!
@GrapeCrush: DH is an accountant, and the budget is the budget is the budget. We really don't want to go over it either!! -
@dc yoga bee: we found how easy it is to. I'm sad we can't upgrade some things, but I know we'll have time to do them in the future. And I don't want my kids ruining all the nice stuff hah
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@dc yoga bee: I'd seriously question how often you'll use the soaking tub. We almost never use ours, so we're skipping that in the master bath and doing a huge steam shower instead.
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@AmeliaBedilia: We both love taking baths! I soak in the tub 2-3x a week, and we hate how tiny our apt tub is!! I really want the rain shower head thing. It's $750 bucks though!!
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