[SteveFromNY]

"Extras" are options on top of a standard package. At one time, you could visit TV and spend a week at the "Street of Dreams" (now the Southern Lifestyles store at Lake Sumter), and pick out all the options you wanted in your house. What TV did, presumably to save cost by getting economies of scale on their purchases, was to eliminate the option of custom designing homes and started building with popular sets of options. I would imagine they'd save a penny or two if they could order 10,000 yds of carpet at a deep volume discount, then sell it to you in your pre-built home as an upgrade. Many houses come now with ceramic, upgraded lights, extra elec outlets, pocket doors, all of which are listed as options on the receipt you get at closing.
Another advantage to the builder is they don't have to fix mistakes. "I said I wanted brown carpeting, you put in beige" complaints go away. Now it's take it or leave it when you see the already built house.
We had the option of buying one and picking everything out, but we opted for one built already. I wanted a few things the house had, and it had a few more things I'm glad I got.
I jsut can't wait to get there! It's a great place!