Building a home - questions

[dbiondi14]

We took the plunge and will start building in the villages starting in Feb.
Any suggestions with dealing with building our dream house and what to expect. How are the prices determined and how can I be assured that I am not being overcharged? Are prices negotiable? I was told to build with the most basic options and then make the upgrades you want later. Thanks

[graciegirl]

What style of home do you like the best? Villa? Cottage? Designer? No matter what series of home you build, it isn't quite like the building process you may have experienced before. The choices are limited somewhat and the way it is set up you can't put two things together that don't go together such as tile and carpet that are color clashes and the outside color of your house is automatically part of the color choices.

Most people agree that if you can afford to, make the garage and lanai bigger. It is much cheaper in the building process, and well worth the money. Just two foot extensions here are so very beneficial. The style home you build is limited by the choice of lot. Some homes don't fit on some lots. If you plan to add a bird cage or pool, I have heard many argue that you may as well wait until after you build because you can negotiate that price with after market contractors better.

Others will chime in. I hope you enjoy your new home. I am guessing it is south of 466A in Sanibel or Charlotte or ???? We have built homes several times up north and feel that the homes here are well constructed and the process is really amazing and beautifully planned. They have top notch teams building our homes here. We are in our second new home here and highly enjoyed the process of watching this house go up.

[champion6]

I'm not sure if you will meet with a TV designer or do everything with your TV sales rep. At any rate, they have configuration software which is used.

Some choices/options are "Yes or No." Others are "A or B." The prices are not negotiable.

If there is something you want that is not available for your model in the configuration software, your can request it in the Comments Section at the end of the configuration software. TV will evaluate your request(s) and either deny it(them) or approve it(them) and adjust your price.

This is how we did it in June 2011. I'm not sure if t process has been changed.

[zcaveman]

When I built my home back in 2001, they gave me a package with the cost of all of the things that I could add to the house. Since mine was done in 2001, I do not know how much the Villages has cut back on what you can do.

If you are thinking about exterior changes (Florida room, Lanai, etc) do it with the build because it is cheaper than adding it later. If it is some small thing, you can do it at your leisure.

Just consider how much disruption will be need to add the wanted changes.

[Yankee Quilter]

We put a reservation on a lot last week. We wnt through what we thought we would want to bump out and found a lot that would accomidate that. There were only 3 in the area of Charlotte! We then went through the wish list of things we wanted in the home and our rep input it into the appropriate spaces on her "cheat sheet" on the computer and gave us an estimate. We are going to work from there. We are definately bumping the den out to be a bedroom (closet) and the lanai at least 2 if not 4 feet. She advised that until we meet with the design team, we won't really know all our choices. We are looking at the designer series Sunflower - the Villas and Cottages are different in choices.
Let us know what you find out - we who are going to go through the process are curious!!!
Good luck with the move.

[Russ_Boston]

If possible go with the 4 foot (or more) lanai extension. And any other side bump-outs your lot will fit. You can always upgrade the interior later but the basic square foot space should be maxed at the build IMO.

[BookBarb]

We met with the design team in July when we were ready to build. It was so much fun picking out everything and then seeing it in a model home. We went to several models to see how the floor tile looked over a large area, how the cabinets looked, even the faucets! We had built a home in Ohio and were given options, but doing it in TV when they show you exactly how it will look is totally different and they are amazing. Our home is so neat and we are really enjoying it. Everything was how we had planned it.

Good luck!!!!:coolsmiley:

[KathyW]

We will meet with the design center in April. Does anyone know if it is cheaper to have a private contractor put in granite, or should we have the TV do it? I plan to have "48-Hour Blinds" do the windows, but not sure what to do with the granite in the kitchen?

[CarGuys]

I visited with Gracie and Henry in their beautiful Home and some others in TV.

And while I may be second guessed by some we are so Happy that we did the bumps on the Lanie and Garage and Ft Bedroom .

I have put my wife throught several Home remodeling " nightmares"

I was not going to have the dust men and construction going on when we were moved in our new home. A counter top or some cabiets later will be OK.

I had my Floors and Tile work done with the new home construction. Under the new home warranty. I got a email from my contractor saying Herv you did it all right/ Got it done up front good job!

Just IMHO a better fit for us.

The design team is a wonderful experience. I feel they saved me grief and money in the long run.

This week we fly down to see the finished Home and a walk thru and then the closing.

As my friend russ said! Do it up front on the square footage now vs later.

Welcome to the Villages

[Penguin]

When I put my deposit down on my cottage home I was never offered a design team. Is the design team only for the designer and premium homes?

[CarGuys]

If you bought a Spec home then what it is is what it is.

The Design team is a part of new house construction.

After your Lot is picked out and before you build you get a appointment.

By the way Nice CAR grew up in Lansing Michigan where the whole subdivision worked for GM Oldsmobile!

442's were everywhere! I remember my neighbor a engineer telling me he was working on a project doing something terrible.

A converted Gas engine, a GM Diesel engine into a Oldsmobile that he knew would never work! For CAFE laws, He said this is the start of GM's demise.

I was only in 8th grade. Now you see me sitting in a Toyota Prius Plug In- LOL

Herv

[Penguin]

A converted Gas engine, a GM Diesel engine into a Oldsmobile that he knew would never work! For CAFE laws, He said this is the start of GM's demise.

I was only in 8th grade. Now you see me sitting in a Toyota Prius Plug In- LOL

Herv[/QUOTE]

Funny you mentioned that, I worked for an Olds dealer in the early to mid 80"s and repaired a ton of those piece of junk diesels
As far as the house goes, It is being built as we speak but I still did not meet any "design team" I'm really glad to be building in the Villages but some of their practices are less than desireable.

[linandvin]

We built a cottage and met with the design team. I think it started up again over the summer.

[Penguin]

We took the plunge and will start building in the villages starting in Feb.
Any suggestions with dealing with building our dream house and what to expect. How are the prices determined and how can I be assured that I am not being overcharged? Are prices negotiable? I was told to build with the most basic options and then make the upgrades you want later. Thanks

My advice to you is TAKE YOUR TIME when deceiding how to build your home. Ask a ton of questions on everything you can think of. I picked my cabinet color but 12 hrs later I wanted a darker shade. The Villages charged me $250 to make the change. Really 12 hours later. Not real happy about that policy. Also check to make sure you wont have one of those stupid green transformers in you back yard.:cus:

[graciegirl]

Listen carefully everyone. If you make your choices and sign on them you are gonna be charged $250 if you change anything. This is not like your daddy's home building. They have it down to a science. They have teams scheduled to go in and do their job. My kids who were here at Christmastime watched a home's entire external walls go up in ONE day. The hoards of workers, more than 25, parked in a vacant lot, all at one time, and walked down the street with their long levels in their hands. When they went home that day the walls were up. The next day a different team arrived with a crane and put up the roof. It is like clockwork. It is a well oiled machine, right down to the day and time of closing. I believe that on the new video it was stated they built close to 5000 homes last year.

Tough as it is to hear that you were charged one day after you signed, the process was already well under way. If they keep changing things, well it slows things down. We are completely satisfied with the process and they correct things just as quickly. It is what it is. We are not new to building a house. How they do it here is by far the most efficient with the least errors that we have ever experienced.

[Bill-n-Brillo]

When I put my deposit down on my cottage home I was never offered a design team. Is the design team only for the designer and premium homes?

My understanding (directly from a TV sales rep) is that it's up the the sales rep as to whether or not the buyer goes through a design team to pick everything out. The cost for doing that comes out of the pocket of the sales rep.......hence some people might not be having that option offered to them.

I'd suggest poking your sales rep about it to see if they'll cough up for it.

Bill :)

[Happinow]

Thanks for the heads up Penguin. It does seem a bit much to charge for a cabinet color change, but I guess they don't want to be bothered going back to make changes after its all said and done. I'll make sure I pick the right color cabinets. Still undecided whether to do white or not.. I love the look of both brown and white cabinets. have to wait to see them again in person when we speck out our house.

[angiefox10]

Listen carefully everyone. If you make your choices and sign on them you are gonna be charged $250 if you change anything. This is not like your daddy's home building. They have it down to a science. They have teams scheduled to go in and do their job. My kids who were here at Christmastime watched a home's entire external walls go up in ONE day. The hoards of workers, more than 25, parked in a vacant lot, all at one time, and walked down the street with their long levels in their hands. When they went home that day the walls were up. The next day a different team arrived with a crane and put up the roof. It is like clockwork. It is a well oiled machine, right down to the day and time of closing.

Tough as it is to hear that you were charged one day after you signed, the process was already well under way. If they keep changing things, well it slows things down. We are completely satisfied with the process and they correct things just as quickly. It is what it is. We are not new to building a house. How they do it here is by far the most efficient with the least errors that we have ever experienced.

I agree... It was made clear when we signed the contract that any changes after that, even if it was an hour later, would cost us $250. When we went through the process of choosing what we wanted for our home. They made sure we were sure... went over it again and again. Brought out all the color samples, took us through each home with our choices, etc.

When you sign the contract.... It's a done deal!

As Gracie said, if people can change their minds it will slow down the process for everyone.

To be honest, I don't think I've seen a bad build in The Villages! :)

[CarGuys]

I think that is why the design team is two days long. It gives you time to process the first days choices, Next day when you leave that is it. As all have said it will cost you to change after that.

[Yankee Quilter]

Thanks for the heads up Penguin. It does seem a bit much to charge for a cabinet color change, but I guess they don't want to be bothered going back to make changes after its all said and done. I'll make sure I pick the right color cabinets. Still undecided whether to do white or not.. I love the look of both brown and white cabinets. have to wait to see them again in person when we speck out our house.

I have the same concern, but am leaning white. Currently, I have beautiful cherry but it has to be dusted every week or so. It is sort of a pain! There are 2 models now with one of each -doesn't help, both are beautiful.
Good luck

[Happinow]

I have the same concern, but am leaning white. Currently, I have beautiful cherry but it has to be dusted every week or so. It is sort of a pain! There are 2 models now with one of each -doesn't help, both are beautiful.
Good luck

That's one of the reasons I was leaning towards white....can't see the dust! I am a dust freak...can't stand to see dust. Would probably calm me down if I didn't have dark cabinets to see the dust on.

[graciegirl]

Happinow...if you intend to create a tropical, beachy,cottagy feel to your home here, white is the choice. If you plan to be more traditional or even a West Indies, tropical feel then medium is best. If you plan to have a very traditional, more formal feel than maybe darker would be best. Darker also lends itself to contemporary depending on the lines.

However...you can have beachy with dark and contemporary with all and ...It is a difficult question and all of the answers are RIGHT. Just don't change your mind into the process and have to pay the $250.

I didn't help, did I?:sad:

But.....the people who help you make choices are excellent, EXCELLENT, decorators and can guide you once they know what you want to create in your new home. (And they do NOT try to steer you toward the more expensive...)

Here's a hug.

[Happinow]

Ah thanks Gracie. Always good words of wisdom. Ya know, living in the cold all my life, it's attractive to have that light, airy feeling throughout the home, which white lends itself to nicely. But, I don't want to get "caught up" in that beachy, feeling and get sick of it. On the other hand, I've lived with brown cabinets for all of my life so I guess it may be time for a change. By the way, hubby and I LOVE the beach and the ocean. Perhaps if I decide on white, my spare room will have a nautical feel. Decisions, decisions, decisions.....

[Yankee Quilter]

Happinow...if you intend to create a tropical, beachy,cottagy feel to your home here, white is the choice. If you plan to be more traditional or even a West Indies, tropical feel then medium is best. If you plan to have a very traditional, more formal feel than maybe darker would be best. Darker also lends itself to contemporary depending on the lines.

However...you can have beachy with dark and contemporary with all and ...It is a difficult question and all of the answers are RIGHT. Just don't change your mind into the process and have to pay the $250.

I didn't help, did I?:sad:

But.....the people who help you make choices are excellent, EXCELLENT, decorators and can guide you once they know what you want to create in your new home. (And they do NOT try to steer you toward the more expensive...)

Here's a hug.
Graciegirl
I love your educational posts ... Want to come with me when I get to g to the decorators!!!,,
SERIOUSLY THANKS

[Yankee Quilter]

That's one of the reasons I was leaning towards white....can't see the dust! I am a dust freak...can't stand to see dust. Would probably calm me down if I didn't have dark cabinets to see the dust on.

I had white in our last house but it was before they learned that the plastic coating yellowed. They say that has been taken care of, they were easy to take are of.... However, like you, Like you I am not sure what direction I am going to go in. It will be fun to see all of the choices ...well maybe fun,maybe more confusing. Let us know your decision!

[Happinow]

I had white in our last house but it was before they learned that the plastic coating yellowed. They say that has been taken care of, they were easy to take are of.... However, like you, Like you I am not sure what direction I am going to go in. It will be fun to see all of the choices ...well maybe fun,maybe more confusing. Let us know your decision!

I'll let you know next month. You do the same. I keep looking on the website at the model homes to get ideas. The problem is it all looks so good! So many decisions!!

[Victoriada1]

Hi Happy People,

My husband and I are coming down for 10 days in March, and I'm sooo excited! I've printed out every floorplan,and fall asleep at night studying my future dream-houses. At this point, I'm crazy about the Bridgeport, Aspen, Elm and Lily. We'd also love to put in a pool and birdcage, but I'm wondering how much that will add to the cost of the house. First of all, we'd needed a larger lot, wouldn't we? I'm worried that I'm dreaming beyond our means, but better that I figure it out now, I guess.

Thank you for all your experience and knowledge. It really helps us Frogs of the Future!

Victoria

[graciegirl]

Hi Happy People,

My husband and I are coming down for 10 days in March, and I'm sooo excited! I've printed out every floorplan,and fall asleep at night studying my future dream-houses. At this point, I'm crazy about the Bridgeport, Aspen, Elm and Lily. We'd also love to put in a pool and birdcage, but I'm wondering how much that will add to the cost of the house. First of all, we'd needed a larger lot, wouldn't we? I'm worried that I'm dreaming beyond our means, but better that I figure it out now, I guess.

Thank you for all your experience and knowledge. It really helps us Frogs of the Future!

Victoria


Frogs of the Future has such a nice ring to it. Welcome Victoria. May all of your choices bring you happiness.

We'll leave the light on for ya.

[Happinow]

Hi Victoria. We are going through the same process. We.ve toured some models and looked at one with a pool...it was a gardenia. I believe ot was also stretched in the garage, the guest bath and the lanai. It also had a birdcage. It was beautiful. It think our salesman said it was 415,000.00. You will pay a large premium for a lot that will accommodate a pool. We will have a pool and are unsure of the model we will build at this point. Will retour homes in February. We bought a premiere lot to accommodate which ever home we pick. It is expensive, but it never hurts to dream big! All of the homes are beautiful in person.

[jchase]

We used Jim Lane as our designer thru our realtor. He was great! Remember, they don't always ask you what you want, don't be afraid to ask. We built a Gardenia, make several stretches and changes. We asked for these options and sometime he would say, I don't know lets ask, everytime they approved the stretches and changes. That's if your lot will abide. If your lot is big enough and you can spare the exra money, expand your lanai and garage. We pushed both sides out as well and glad we did!

Good luck, and if you can get Jim Lane as your designer you won't be sorry. Great man to deal with!

:clap2:

[DebbieB]

Hi, we are in the process of building our forever home in the Villages as I type! Very exciting and we spent a week down in November going into every model home, who would have thought door pulls would be so hard? :laugh: I picked out cabinets and door pulls only to find out that night that the shade of cabinets didn't really go well with the door pull I picked out first, so I had to re-do them next day, take your time, it will all fall into place.

Now, we picked a designer Whispering Pine on a premier lot, stretched it everywhere we could, the garage forward 4 feet, added a golf cart garage, extended the back of house (inside another 2 feet for the breakfast nook area, living room and master bedroom) We also extended our lanai 6 feet, yes, we had the room and did it. We plan on enclosing it in the future. Also opted for the shake siding which looks like wood. I found that picking out the front door design, outside lighting fixtures, type of shower tile design took the longest. The cabinets, flooring, sink fixtures were pretty easy, planning on ripping out the flooring when I get there as I am having new flooring, teak wood floors and tiles put in the wet areas. Appliances we opted out of, you can do that if you really feel strongly about a fridge ect. not in their packages. They will issue you a credit, only thing you can't opt out of is the microwave as it is vented and it has to be there for the CO.

I had a really great realtor from the villages who spent 3 days walking everywhere to see the models and then back and forth many times to help with our choices. Then we met with the design consultant who was the one who then went over those choices and we all went and looked at them again to be sure. Slept on it a night and then went back to finalize and sign next day. Week flew by, never did I ever get to pick out everything for any house like this before, it was a wonderful experience!

Oh, we also had the utility sink put in garage to give more space inside laundry room. I'm still losing sleep on window treatments and getting all new furniture for it when it is finished on we close in Feb.! We actually close on Valentine's Day. How cool is that? :icon_wink:

[Happinow]

You close on Valentines day and our first meeting with our designer is Valentines day. That's cool!
:coolsmiley::coolsmiley:

[DebbieB]

Wow! That is cool! You will enjoy putting it all together, just wear a good pair of walking shoes and take notes of what model and street you liked something in, just in case you need to go back. Oh and under cabinet lighting we got too. Added an outer electrical outlet on the outside wall somewhere, they were great to work with. We may do a bird cage down the road, they do look nice, thinking a jacuzzi in it will be great! Pool, well, thought about it, figured I have taken care of one for 24 years now, got a 21x40 inground with lovely gardens around it, but a lot of work and maintenance, looking forward to not doing it anymore and just going down the street to the community pool. A friend of mine in Florida does have one and it is a salt water one which she swears makes her skin real soft.

[Happinow]

Do any of you have a platform bed with storage on the sides or on the bottom of it? I kinda like that slick style but didn't know if I would grow tired of the design. Can never have too much storage.

[graciegirl]

It is so much fun to hear about your enjoyable experiences feathering your nests.

I wish every second of a thousand years of happiness for you new folks here in lower paradise.

[Badminton]

Do Patio Villas have a back yard? I never see pictures of them when I look at homes for sale/rent.

[mbikowski]

Congratulations DebbieB

Vera and I close on our house 2/7 (Sanibel) and can,t wit to start this adventure. Hope to see you guys around TV.

[Bill-n-Brillo]

Do Patio Villas have a back yard? I never see pictures of them when I look at homes for sale/rent.

Yes, but they generally don't get used as the lanai is on the front of the house and there is no access/door/slider out of the back of the house. Owners of Patio Villas on corner lots will sometimes add a birdcage onto the side of the house given that the side yard is large enough to accommodate one.

And welcome to TOTV!!! :wave:

Bill :)

[Badminton]

Yes, but they generally don't get used as the lanai is on the front of the house and there is no access/door/slider out of the back of the house. Owners of Patio Villas on corner lots will sometimes add a birdcage onto the side of the house given that the side yard is large enough to accommodate one.

And welcome to TOTV!!! :wave:

Bill :)

Thank You Bill For The Welcome !!!!

If you did sit in the back yard of the average Patio Villa what would you be looking at ? How many feet is the average back yard ?

[Bill-n-Brillo]

Thank You Bill For The Welcome !!!!

If you did sit in the back yard of the average Patio Villa what would you be looking at ? How many feet is the average back yard ?

What you'll see out back will depend on what's built behind it. Ours has a CYV wall - others will have another PV behind if on an interior street of a PV section of homes. They can also back up to other types of homes as well - I know I've seen some back up to designer homes.

Guesstimate of the depth of our back yard: 8' - 10'.

Bill :)