Wow! Some absolutely great advice here. Thanks, Everyone!
So far we have it down to two models. The Laurel Oak and the Bridgeport. There has been a Villages couple that we've corresponded with that shared their experience with the upgrades and stretches they did on their Laurel Oak. You know who you are.. Thanks again!
So this is kind of where we're at now. I know we'll change our minds some once we get there and put eyes directly on things.
Will most likely add third car garage and maybe even a forward stretch. No such thing as a garage that's too big. Especially since the house we're leaving has a four car garage and a 40'X40' and a 25'X30' shop.
The wife is leaning toward vinyl plank flooring. She doesn't want carpet anywhere. I kinda like carpet in the bedrooms but she said I can have an area rug - lol..
I was worried about doing granite after the fact but am leaning that way. I'm not real familiar with quartz and what I've seen didn't give me the fizz like granite does. Will look at more quartz between now and then to give it its fair chance. Bottom line, wife has the say on this.
Will definitely do our own thing with appliances. Wife demands a range hood. The fan on the microwave just won't do. I'm trying to convince her that she doesn't need a double oven - lol
I know we'll need additional outlets and will learn more about ethernet outlets instead of phone line. I doubt we'll get a land line so that will be a waste for us. Also a hose bib on the lanai.
We plan on doing a pool during construction. We've heard the wait for a pool after the fact can be months and we would rather pay the markup now than have the intrusion of construction later.
I'm a big fan of insulation so that will certainly be something to look into.
At our current house we have a tankless water heater with hot water recirculation. We will look into having a recirc line installed during construction. Also need to look into having a larger gas meter. Our current heater is rated at 199,000 BTU's. Had to have a larger meter installed to accommodate. If we can't do it I won't cry too much..
Thanks again. This thread should be helpful to a lot of people. Some great things to take into consideration.