[Goldwingnut]

You can't have an outside contractor build your home here in The Villages. As far a the extras go The Villages is very competitive and competent with all of the "extras" and non-structural items. There is no fair way to compare the actual home pricing for a house in The Villages to other communities. You will pay more for the house itself but the true and extra value here is in the community and amenities that are a part of living in The Villages. There is a huge difference between shopping for price and shopping for value, the value shopper will find what they are looking for here in The Villages for an incredible retirement lifestyle and know they've come out a winner, the price shopper will leave disappointed.

A couple of items to consider:
1) warranty, if TV does it when they build the house, you have one number to call with any warranty issue and there is no finger pointing or "not my responsibility", it gets fixed if there is an issue, you done have to call each individual contractor who put in the extra feature.
2) convenience, it's one stop shopping with TV and it will be done when the house is completed and on time, in some cases they also use the same contractors you would use but you don't have to do all the leg work and contract it after the fact. Do you really want to spend the first 6 months in your new home making changes to something you just paid for when it could be done once and ready when you move in.
3) cost, in general it will cost you less overall to have it done at the time of construction instead of after you move in, you don't have to pay the electrician to come out twice to put in light switches if they do it all while the walls are all still open. Yes, the price sheet may say $500 for putting in an extra _______, and you can find company "x" to do it for $400 or bargain with them to get the price down a little, but what's your time worth to you and is it really worth the extra effort? And will they respond quickly on a warranty issue.
4) Taxes, this is the loser for you, the value of the home will be higher when you have the builder put everything in so you property taxes will be higher on closing day. The county will catch up with it all in short order, every time a contractor pulls a permit with the county to do "extra" work on your house that becomes a tickler for the property appraiser at reassessment time that your home value has gone up and it's time to raise your taxes. You my dodge the bullet for a year or two but they will catch up eventually and it may be a bigger hit if your improvement adds substantially more value than it cost. Depending what you are adding you may save a at most couple of hundred dollars until the tax collector catches up.

For the stuff you know your are going to do or want, let The Villages do it for you and save yourself the headache and enjoy it from day 1 after moving in. You will find plenty of other things you want to do to your home after you get settled in and see what your new neighbors and friends are doing.

Most importantly, WELCOME TO THE VILLAGES, you're going to LOVE it here.