New Build Questions

[jeffc1965]

Good evening everyone. We are waiting for certain lots in Lake Denham to be released by the developer in hopes of grabbing one to build our retirement home. Since we started exploring TV as a retirement location about a year ago, many changes have been made to the design/build process that significantly restricts the options available. Although we were disappointed that the "Build Your Dream Home" had migrated to "Personalize Your Dream Home", we were still looking forward to joining the community. Recently I have read/heard that the selections of finishes have been greatly reduced, so I am becoming a little hesitant to pay a premium price for a home in TV that may not be exactly what we want. With that said, I have a few questions about the home design/build If folks who have recently undertaken the process would be so kind to answer.
Do you feel the form and finish options were satisfactory?
How many pool options as part of the build were available?
Are bird cage options offered by the builder?
How flexible is the home placement on the lot?
Are the costs for the options itemized such that trade-offs are easily understood?
Are the costs locked once the contract is signed?

Thanks for any insights. I hope to see everyone in the Fall.

[Babubhat]

A friend was disappointed by lack of choices and he spent over a million. Still needs to spend a bundle afterwards. The pool choices were not satisfactory but taken because they didn’t want to wait. They are more interested in completing the job fast.

[thelegges]

Good evening everyone. We are waiting for certain lots in Lake Denham to be released by the developer in hopes of grabbing one to build our retirement home. Since we started exploring TV as a retirement location about a year ago, many changes have been made to the design/build process that significantly restricts the options available. Although we were disappointed that the "Build Your Dream Home" had migrated to "Personalize Your Dream Home", we were still looking forward to joining the community. Recently I have read/heard that the selections of finishes have been greatly reduced, so I am becoming a little hesitant to pay a premium price for a home in TV that may not be exactly what we want. With that said, I have a few questions about the home design/build If folks who have recently undertaken the process would be so kind to answer.
Do you feel the form and finish options were satisfactory?
How many pool options as part of the build were available?
Are bird cage options offered by the builder?
How flexible is the home placement on the lot?
Are the costs for the options itemized such that trade-offs are easily understood?
Are the costs locked once the contract is signed?

Thanks for any insights. I hope to see everyone in the Fall.

Pool option “A” or “B”
Unless you have really hit the lottery for largest lot, placement of the home may have some wiggle room. Since side stretching was not an option, but you want to add on later to bedroom side or living side, let them know so home isn’t in the middle of the lot.
Cost is locked on lot for non refundable $10,000. At design finish 20% required, and cost is locked. However if you want to change your mind on something you choose, there is a $500 change order.

Not sure what you mean about form and finish. We upgraded appliances, but have no idea the cost difference.(Two choices)

Good luck we lost on 14 lots, number 15 was not exactly the lot or the area of the new village, but our house with 4 foot front and rear stretch, fit, and room to add pool aftermarket. 4 other lots became available after our deposit, our name was not #1 on those either.

[jeffc1965]

Thanks for response. Just meant - did you find the choices of flooring, cabinets, countertops, fixtures, etc to be sufficient such that you weren't ready to just go to Home Depot to replace everything :-)

[Altavia]

At this point, it may be best (where feasable) to select minimums and upgrade after purchase. You may even save money since their prices the to be 30-50% higher than after market.

[Cupcake57]

Thanks for response. Just meant - did you find the choices of flooring, cabinets, countertops, fixtures, etc to be sufficient such that you weren't ready to just go to Home Depot to replace everything :-)
If the quality of items available at Home Depot suit you, you should be fine.
Hopefully you will be too busy enjoying your new active lifestyle that you won't fuss over having exactly what you dreamed of. I bought a 'spec' house and before I moved in I changed the things that really bugged me. Countertops, sinks, faucets, flooring, paint, crown molding, closet system, garage racks--now its perfect for me. I am waiting for the lightbulb in that horrid Samsung refrigerator to blow then that dud is going to the curb. What seems important now may not be such a big deal once you move in. A pool lot in (approximately) the right location is what matters. Enjoy!

[Laurawilcox]

Good evening everyone. We are waiting for certain lots in Lake Denham to be released by the developer in hopes of grabbing one to build our retirement home. Since we started exploring TV as a retirement location about a year ago, many changes have been made to the design/build process that significantly restricts the options available. Although we were disappointed that the "Build Your Dream Home" had migrated to "Personalize Your Dream Home", we were still looking forward to joining the community. Recently I have read/heard that the selections of finishes have been greatly reduced, so I am becoming a little hesitant to pay a premium price for a home in TV that may not be exactly what we want. With that said, I have a few questions about the home design/build If folks who have recently undertaken the process would be so kind to answer.
Do you feel the form and finish options were satisfactory?
How many pool options as part of the build were available?
Are bird cage options offered by the builder?
How flexible is the home placement on the lot?
Are the costs for the options itemized such that trade-offs are easily understood?
Are the costs locked once the contract is signed?

Thanks for any insights. I hope to see everyone in the Fall.

I have spoken to people who have just finished the process and were very disappointed in it. That said, they both purchased their home regardless. One had to change their model to meet their desires because the after construction changes would be less on the second choice vs the first to make them happen. I think you need to ensure your expectations are correct, like you are doing.

Presume you are getting a spec home with a couple of options like a stretch and minor upgrades. Similar to most builders. I believe the option categories have been publicized or your realtor can help you. Know the categories in advance.

Do not anticipate a wonderful time exploring the Design Center, it was built for the custom market that ended last summer. A friend of mine said she felt like it was “no” to everything, but she was expecting more possibilities from her experience. She wanted to know the pricing for work after construction and was told after her “design” experience they would introduce her to the contractors who can help. She couldn’t lock down price estimates that way. So ask around and you can have folk to talk to if you need to crunch your numbers.

Others can chime in, but I learned there are two pool options only. Only GE appliances are offered. No fireplace options. The developer can mandate a stretch in the middle of the home if it optimizes the lot and then you are responsible for the cost.

[Laurawilcox]

Sorry, yes the options will be priced for you sometime during the process and the price is locked when you sign.

[Papa_lecki]

Set your expectations, you will not get EXACTLY what you want. Get the best location you can.
There’s little ability to move the house around the lot, with set backs and the lot size, there’s just not that much room.
Pool - if you do it during the build, good news, you have a pool at settlement - bad news, few options.
If you wait, expect a 2 year with T&D - they are not taking design appointments for 12 months.

Get the closest you can to what you want - you’ll love it and you’ll love being here. Your house is a place to lay your head at night. You’re moving here for the lifestyle, not the house.

[Dani & Bill]

Thanks for response. Just meant - did you find the choices of flooring, cabinets, countertops, fixtures, etc to be sufficient such that you weren't ready to just go to Home Depot to replace everything :-)

You can tour the Design Center to see all the selections. Also, your representative who is a LICENSED AGENT, that solely represents TV and is focused on client satisfaction, can assist you with all the questions that you presented. First hand knowledge is always preferable over hear-say so that you can make informed decisions.

[jeffc1965]

Thank you to everyone that responded. Very valuable info. Better to have more grounded expectations.

[thelegges]

Thanks for response. Just meant - did you find the choices of flooring, cabinets, countertops, fixtures, etc to be sufficient such that you weren't ready to just go to Home Depot to replace everything :-)

What is offered is above Big box stores, problem is there are very few choices. There must be 50 samples of fixtures, , but only a handful available. Cabinets are disappointing, painted colors are very limited or wood. We opted out of washer and dryer, bought at Best Buy, saved chunk of money.

We really wanted a pool at build, but our lot required a custom design, and T&D only has 2 designs. Not a fan of wasting 6-8 feet for shelf design. Plus since no custom, we would have ended up with a pool 2’ width shorter, and wider.

[HIgolfers]

What is offered is above Big box stores, problem is there are very few choices. There must be 50 samples of fixtures, , but only a handful available. Cabinets are disappointing, painted colors are very limited or wood. We opted out of washer and dryer, bought at Best Buy, saved chunk of money.

We really wanted a pool at build, but our lot required a custom design, and T&D only has 2 designs. Not a fan of wasting 6-8 feet for shelf design. Plus since no custom, we would have ended up with a pool 2’ width shorter, and wider.

Recommend you buy all your own appliances- even the upgraded ones we purchased with our house are inferior in my opinion (esp the Whirlpool refrigerator).

[Rwirish]

Limited options and plan to open up the wallet.

Also, carefully check the lot relative to location from the turnpike.

[Remembergoldenrule]

Have more than one agent looking for when the lot released. If we had relied on one we would have the release of lot we wanted. Then keep asking because one was released and neither agent called we had to call them.

[jimdecastro]

Pool option “A” or “B”
Unless you have really hit the lottery for largest lot, placement of the home may have some wiggle room. Since side stretching was not an option, but you want to add on later to bedroom side or living side, let them know so home isn’t in the middle of the lot.
Cost is locked on lot for non refundable $10,000. At design finish 20% required, and cost is locked. However if you want to change your mind on something you choose, there is a $500 change order.

Not sure what you mean about form and finish. We upgraded appliances, but have no idea the cost difference.(Two choices)

Good luck we lost on 14 lots, number 15 was not exactly the lot or the area of the new village, but our house with 4 foot front and rear stretch, fit, and room to add pool aftermarket. 4 other lots became available after our deposit, our name was not #1 on those either.

I am in the building process now. This reply above is 100% correct. As I understand it, there are about six choices of pools. There is very little wiggle room on lot placement. Since a lot of the underground work is done in advance. If I had to do it all again, I wouldn't. But they've got my 20%… If you want to direct message me and give me a phone number I'd be happy to talk to you.

[GizmoWhiskers]

Good evening everyone. We are waiting for certain lots in Lake Denham to be released by the developer in hopes of grabbing one to build our retirement home. Since we started exploring TV as a retirement location about a year ago, many changes have been made to the design/build process that significantly restricts the options available. Although we were disappointed that the "Build Your Dream Home" had migrated to "Personalize Your Dream Home", we were still looking forward to joining the community. Recently I have read/heard that the selections of finishes have been greatly reduced, so I am becoming a little hesitant to pay a premium price for a home in TV that may not be exactly what we want. With that said, I have a few questions about the home design/build If folks who have recently undertaken the process would be so kind to answer.
Do you feel the form and finish options were satisfactory?
How many pool options as part of the build were available?
Are bird cage options offered by the builder?
How flexible is the home placement on the lot?
Are the costs for the options itemized such that trade-offs are easily understood?
Are the costs locked once the contract is signed?

Thanks for any insights. I hope to see everyone in the Fall.
It's not what you know it's who you know. Little known secret... "developer" matters and buy a lot with a lot of room to add onto a house. Prior to house transfering to T V ARC work out your "add on" with the Developer. If the neighborhood is new you could have 1.5 years to add on or more to totally change your house while not under T V rules. Check out the RV garage at a house next to the Water Lily Rec center. We moved here and saw it being built. Read a post on it. The Developer approved it prior to the turn over to T V. Great secret to know.

[geobar]

Wasn't there a song many years ago called "Do it my Way"?
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There have been a lot of omissions that The Morse Clan" has taken away.
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To build you have options depending on the lot size.
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As we moved out of TV 2 years ago I have no idea where you decided to hopefully select a lot. I see that "Lake Denham" is near Okahumpka.
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In Feb. 2009 we bought a lot in "Amelia". Were given one year to make decisions on building options. We finalized our selections on May 31, 2009, signed the contract, and were given the closing date being 77 days after on Aug. 27th.
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The house was ready 2 weeks before and asked to close earlier. Was told no. Now they will change a closing date for a ridiculous charge to turn on the computer and change the closing date.
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Need to ask you as to how many Publix Food Stores and shopping centers do you have in TV 's South of CR-44. Dont believe they have built another Town Square in the South, forcing you to drive to say Brownwood.
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Read they now have closed 2 of the 3 movie Theatres for people's entertainment. The only one that remains open is in Lake Sumter. As far as I'm concerned it is the nicest Town Square of the only 3 town squares for how many people?
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The originators of TV built all amenities before selling homes to attract buyers. Different now for sure. And you get a lot of free traffic as southern residents need to drive North to do things.
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Remember that their way is the easiest way to make more money than they will ever need.
:spoken:



Good evening everyone. We are waiting for certain lots in Lake Denham to be released by the developer in hopes of grabbing one to build our retirement home. Since we started exploring TV as a retirement location about a year ago, many changes have been made to the design/build process that significantly restricts the options available. Although we were disappointed that the "Build Your Dream Home" had migrated to "Personalize Your Dream Home", we were still looking forward to joining the community. Recently I have read/heard that the selections of finishes have been greatly reduced, so I am becoming a little hesitant to pay a premium price for a home in TV that may not be exactly what we want. With that said, I have a few questions about the home design/build If folks who have recently undertaken the process would be so kind to answer.
Do you feel the form and finish options were satisfactory?
How many pool options as part of the build were available?
Are bird cage options offered by the builder?
How flexible is the home placement on the lot?
Are the costs for the options itemized such that trade-offs are easily understood?
Are the costs locked once the contract is signed?

Thanks for any insights. I hope to see everyone in the Fall.

[Ptmckiou]

Location is most important with a lot size that allows a pool. Everything else can be improved with time, if it doesn’t meet your standards. We bought a spec home sight unseen because it was on a pool lot, fenced, with view of a large pond. Surprisingly it had just about everything we wanted including a 12’ kitchen island, 42” cabinets, beautiful quartz countertops and our floors are gorgeous with “wood plank” tile. After we purchased we donated the appliances and installed the high end LG series. We had Inspired Closets come in and install both walk in closets that match all the cabinets in the house, along with all to wall storage in the garage and garage epoxy coating. We custom designed a pool and summer kitchen to exactly what I wanted and T&D Pools is two weeks from being finished. We had to wait a year for an appointment, so get on their list immediately. Then after the design was completed it was another 5 months until construction started. Then it goes quickly. Done in 11 weeks. There are nightmares of people using other pool companies and taking up to two years to complete. The only thing we haven’t done is put in crown molding yet. Get the lot and view and floor plan you want and you can always do things after market to exactly what you want.

[NoMo50]

The new home "design" process these days is certainly a shadow of its former self. It makes me wonder why the need for the gigantic new design center in Brownwood. Perhaps things will change for the better in the future, when supply chain issues get back to more of what was "normal." I believe a big part of the current problem, and therefore lack of options, is that the developer will give you a hard closing date when you sign the contract. They are no doubt sticking to home components they know they can get their hands on.

[jayteadunn]

We were the first couple to go through the new design process. It is wildly frustrating because it is very arbitrary. The only thing making it bearable was the consultant from the design center was very helpful, felt our pain, and was probably as inwardly frustrated as we were. You feel like many of the take it or leave it decisions on allowed options were decided in a smoke filled room at 2am on how many pennies could be saved.

Go to the design center and walk around looking at the choices for cabinets, colors, counter tops etc. Upstairs among the tile etc look for the dozen or so red stickers for the items you can pick from among the hundreds they use to offer.

There is option forms for all model homes. Ask for it from your realtor or stop at the design center and get it. Ask for ALL the options well in advance to mull over before you are there. They did a sort of dropbox with all of the things and it saved time and tampered expectations.

I know things have changed. We wanted a backsplash in the kitchen and were told no way. Our neighbor did it a few weeks later and were told no problem on a back splash. We wanted the TV hookups to be 60 inches off the floor and they did it. Our neighbor who got the back splash was told no way to having hookups up the wall. Its just dumb.

Wild struggle to get double wall ovens and a gas cook top.

We wanted a pot filler in the kitchen and couldn't.

Every single item you pick or they will do is written out on a multi page list by room. They build against that specifically and not so much the plans. So if the list says X thats what it is. You need a fresh cup of coffee and plenty of time to clearly read through the list.

Overall the home was built well. We are happy with it. I don't think you'll get much in the way of change orders. We never interacted with the builder during construction. A couple emails here and there with the design center people to clear up some questions.

I've never been as flexible as I was during this process. Its not the dream house but I'd give it a close enough........

[virtue51]

You may want to consider pre-owned homes.

[Regorp]

A friend was disappointed by lack of choices and he spent over a million. Still needs to spend a bundle afterwards. The pool choices were not satisfactory but taken because they didn’t want to wait. They are more interested in completing the job fast.

Tough to be rich and still not get what you want. Not rich and we are very happy in our villa.

[rrdsg]

We bought a lot in May and began our design meetings in June of 2022. We took possession of our home the end of November. We were very excited at the prospect of stretching, adding a bathroom and a pantry, changing the bathroom and closets configuration, and choosing our own floors, cabinets, countertops, paint, placement of lights and outlets, etc., etc. While we were able to accomplish most of what we wanted, when it came to choosing any of the materials, the choices were painfully limited. As to looking at the sample areas in the design center, every time I asked about something that was displayed, the response was, "that is no longer available". In addition, while we tried to get a handle on the cost of things we were choosing, it was like pulling teeth. The design center employees are less designers and more salespeople without price lists. While I told our designer to let me know if I was selecting any ridiculously expensive options, she mostly said she wouldn't know what things cost until the entire package was submitted for final pricing. We could then make changes to our choices but it's a very inefficient way to make choices. I think it benefits the builder because by the time you get the price of things, you are tired and worn down by the process so you inclined to just let it go. We did not see the price of many items until the last day of the design week when we were asked to sign off on everything. As an example, I chose a particular bathroom faucet which I knew sold at Home Depot for $125. The price from my "designer" was $350. Interior door handles that could be purchased at Amazon for less than $12 each were charged $50. These are small things but they add up when you are doing a larger house. At one point, I was ready to eliminate ALL the added charges for these things and just buy the basic house and then re-do after taking possession. As we were living 2500 miles away, the logistics would have been a nightmare and we just decided to do the best we could to eliminate the overcharges we could identify. We did have 30 days after signing to make changes and it was worth the change fees to do so. We did not want a pool or birdcage so I can't answer those questions. I'd certainly want to know the after market cost for those large items before agreeing to the builder's price. Bottom line, the design process was a nightmare IMHO but I am happy with my house and have adjusted to the choices we made. It is not the "dream" house we wanted but it is much closer to it than we could have had any other way. Neither a resale or a house totally designed by the builder would be close to what we have chosen. I wish you good luck with your design. I think part of my disappointment in the process is because I knew so little about it. You are smart to be asking questions now and perhaps if you go in with a better idea of what to expect, you won't be as disappointed. GOOD LUCK!

[maistocars]

I think you'll find much luck getting a lot of your choice. The far location will temper the demand. Good luck!

[Laurawilcox]

I wouldn’t get in the mess of managing multiple relationships, then no one is loyal to you either. Go with someone who has established success of getting lots. We worked with Todd and Beth Pope. They captured 3 out of 4 of the home lots around us. Exceedingly pleased.

[thelegges]

Limited options and plan to open up the wallet.

Also, carefully check the lot relative to location from the turnpike.

So how close to the turnpike are you to give first hand experience?

[Normal]

That will be an ideal location, but recognize you aren’t too far away from 470 and future commercial development plans. The upside is the newest town square in Middleton/Eastport which is already in progress. The downer, you will have to get to the Bexley Bridge to get there if you want to use a golf cart.

As far as the build goes, go upgrades on permanent sections like walk-in showers vs tubs etc and cabinets with countertops. Other than that, I would nix other upgrades with the exception to pool installation considerations. Remember your taxes are based on your purchase price. Add the bells and whistles for much less afterwards like: ceiling fans, lighting, doorknobs, crown molding, plantation shutters and landscaping.

If you really want a good buy in that area, don’t overlook some of the newer houses for sale right now in the St. Catherine Citrus Grove area because they have really come down in price and have some expensive add ons already done.