Getting ready to pick which designer - suggestions
 

We are going to drive down on the 20th, staying 10 days to narrow down which designer to build, and set a design date.

We don't want/need too big a home, nor go over $200K, so these are our current choices.
When we were there in April we never looked at anything but the Patio Villa, so we will now see these for first time, including the lot. By the way we will not have a home directly behind us so lanai should be kinda private.

Rear or lanai will face south

Bougainvilla, 2083' $184,700 or $132' like MBD in rear along with Kit. :mornincoffee: Highest cost per ' ft.

Wisteria & Jasmine same just one is block built, 2228' 191,800/197,500 $122/$126 per sq. kit in front along with EIK but will be on the north side no morning sun??? W/D room takes a lot space.

Allamanda, 2227' 195,300 $126 per sq. the thing is it is poured concrete and it has a year round Fl room. Seeing so many enclosing their lanai with glass it makes us think this may be great feature.

Whispering Pine 2455', 198, 400 $116 per sq (the lowest) huge lanai, not sure of dining room location EIK nook and Kit look very open, the largest of these homes.

Anyone having gone through considering these or bought one of them your input would be appreciated.

tks

I believe my agent told me the Whispering Pine will shortly be discontinued. Can't state positively, so perhaps check with your agent on that one! I have seen it and liked it a lot. Pretty home with good layout and space. One thing to consider is the location of the kitchen if it makes a difference to you! And the size of the lanai and if it can be bumped if outside space is important. Also how many windows in the bedroom if that is of concern. Somehow it seems so much different to walk thru these rather than to see them on paper as you get an idea of the flow. I knew with certainty I would want the Bridgeport, but once I did a walk-through, I knew it was not a good fit. Good luck and have fun!

We love our Jasmine because it is a split plan. Master bedroom on one side of the living room, with two guest bedrooms and bathroom on the opposite side. It's private and quiet even when we have company.

We find it's just the right size for a seasonal home. We also enjoy the laundry room being right beside the master bedroom. In our CYV, the laundry room was in the garage and we didn't like that one bit!

We bought a pre-owned Bougonvilla on an off-set lot. Still had lots of concerns about the neighbors in the back, but got lucky 'cause one has no outside living area and the others aren't around and supposedly haven't been for a while. I can tell you this - we literally live outside on our enclosed lania which does not have heat or air. Our back faces east so we put solar shades for the morning and have found with the ceiling fan going and the slider open it is quite comfortable out there.

Love the floor plan 'cause our world is in the middle of the home and wide open. Split floor plan with the pocket door is awesome with guests. We get up early and don't bother those that like to sleep late. Only changes I would make is the lanai bigger 'cause we spend so much time out here. Now why I want it bigger I have no idea because we are quite comfortable. We extended the grill area to a patio the same size
of the enclosed lania and worke perfectly for a grill and an outdoor table.

Just sit in the home for a while and you will get a feeling for what works for you. We didn't want anything too big to take care of either, but I will tell you if you can find this model with a golf cart garage it will be the answer to your prayers.

Good luck and welcome and I hope this experience exceeds your expectations as it did mine.

Jimbo,

Can't give you a comparison because we picked a spec stretched Jasmine 1707' under air without going through the model homes. Things we like: split floorplan (see above), rectangular living room so we could swap the furniture around some day, and external lanai with three sides open. What could have been better is a larger kitchen nook. It was hard to find a dinette set that did not interfere with opening some of the cabinets. Otherwise we are delighted.

We picked the Bougonvilla because I'm very claustrophobic. The Bougonvilla lets me see out the front and back of the home from the kitchen. We also liked the split bedrooms. I did not want two eating areas, and plan to incorporate the dining room into the kitchen with wood flooring. I really like the idea of a front porch. So many decisions.......

I just bought a Gardina in Sanibel....It is one of the fav homes in the Villages...I love the big kitchen and love the idea that I can look out the front window when having my coffee in the morning....I am moving from a Gardina into another Gardina but this time we are building a pool....I am sure you will be happy with any model that you pick I wish you luck....What part of NY are you from?

I'll tell you our first love was the Whispering Pine with a closed kitchen. However not wanting to build there was not a single spec on the market with a closed kitchen accept the model which would be far out of the price range when they release those to sell in the near future :(

Our choice came down to an Allamanda in Charlotte and a Wisteria in Sanibel. Wisteria won. The Allamanda had pluses but the way it was layed out seemed to eat up a lot of space...living room sunroom combination didn't seem to leave much space. Loved the coloring of the kitchen though. But rooms were smaller than the wisteria. And the funny thing was this house cost more than the wisteria only because it was cement / stucco whatever they use.

Again it comes down to what they do with a floorplan. A good floorplan can make a house feel larger than it is. The Wisteria is very open and roomy at 1603 sq ft. It was also a stretched Wisteria so the front bedroom has extra room and a bay! Now if you're married don't throw away that W/D room idea as taking up space. Its has really nice storage in there!! Its actually really nice. We've always had the laundry rooms going out to the garage and at times they are pain. Its nice to have that extra little space for that. Our new home is facing east - west so we get the morning sun in the kitchen and evening in the back till it drops behind the house back there. Figure we'll pick up solar shades for cooling later. Extremely well lit home, stays light through the day. Thats a major thing for us. Like a naturally lit house. They had the thermostat at 78 and it felt comfortable.

I will forwarn you...the costs you listed seem low to me. Maybe its because I'm thinking of prebuilts but I know we had a figure on paper for the whispering pine like you did and that got blown out of the water when numbers got punched really fast. That kinda killed the build idea. We felt we got ALOT of home for the money when we caught this one.

Just make sure you take your time with the models and have them show you some builds of your favorite model as well to get a feel of what they can do with it. Good luck and let the adventure begin :)

whispering pine
 

Hi Jim...

We built the whispering pine... I really wanted the kitchen area... I did not want to eat all my meals in the dining room..( if we were not out on the lani )... The area is large enough for a nice size round table. I even have the hutch that matches the table... we have the open kitchen. This gives you the counter top you can also sit at.... our chairs match the hutch.. The dining room is large enough for my table (without the 2 leaves ) my hutch and a matching side bar!!! Everything is very open!!! If you are interested I can email you a picture of these rooms. We also did a birdcage on the lani with a spa... great way to relax in the evening with a glass of wine...

Jeanmarie~

This is great input, keep it coming please.

I made an appointment with our rep, not sure how much time he can spend, sounds like we need a few hours at least.

looking at houses
 

You deserve a lot more time than a few hours especially if you want to check out 4 models. If he doesn't have the time, get a new rep. I bet you can get about 20 suggestions in the the next few hours! My rep is the best cause we took loads of time and the day before our designer meeting she has us pencilled in for the whole day Sunday 11/18.

So far he's been great, and his wife is also a rep so it should work out.

Jimbo: You sort of answered your own question! At 116.00 a sq. ft. the Whispering Pine is currently your BEST BUY if you plan to build. Our friends have one and we have been in it several times-----they like it and we like it. They added 4' to the lanai and 2' to the garage and master bedroom. The rest is pretty "standard." Problem: I don't think you will be able to stay within 200,000 for this house/lot with current prices and prices going to the upside. If you are talking 200,000 for just the house, then you can easily do it. Good luck.

Well I think I'll get 3 or 3.5% discount, so it will work out.

The next design dates R in February?????

What happens to earlier dates that R canceled, is there a way to get one?

Wow Jimbo! I waited 4 months for mine, but 5 now? They must be really busy... I would call my agent and ask him/her to put you on a wait list for an earlier time should there be any opportunity. Good luck!!

I know someone was doing build / vs spec counts. LOL..now I'm glad we bought a spec instead of waiting for a build. Two more weeks to close :)

Jimbo- let us know how it goes and what you end up for for prices (whether it was higher or on target). I just think you're going to be in for sticker shock :( Sounds like they keep doing price increases on the builds from what I'm reading on different threads. Hope you get one for what you figure though.

I just saw a spec Lantana on the market for 448, almost 449. it's a GC view, but so is mine! I added a third bathroom, had 3 other stretches, added a closet, and many other upgrades. So I have more interioor space than the spec, and I did very well on pricing. I also received a 4% discount.
Perhaps the other lot was larger, but still... I think it all just depends on the lot and number of upgrades. In the end, we all get what makes us happiest! That's what it's all about.

IMO many of the spec builds are loaded with extras, that gives them a higher margin of profit.

Well I confirmed that the 3% discount will be in effect into February design dates.

So using my top of my budget of 198,400 on the WP, I start at about 192K, we've been studying the floor plans and videos and it appears that that model as of now needs the least amount of extras added, thinking about the walkin shower, but that's about it, can't bump to the side we're on a 60' lot, but can go 2' front or rear I think.

Looking at lower cost end the Bougainvillaea, to add a larger lanai with cement patio, is about 3K, larger bath layout $1100, front bump garage 1300, so you can get to 190 quick, less 3%, 185K.

The funny thing is the mortgage is roughly $5 a $1,000.........so between the two models is $35 a month :ohdear:.....really doesn't matter.




We are on our way be there Friday for 10 days.......ohhhh fun.

jimbo, I have a Wisteria and love it. Split floor plan works great for company.
Also love laundry by master bedroom. My lanai faces south and I did get blinds to use as needed. Early mornings, evenings. When you check out the Wisteria and the Jasmine, look at the kitchen area. Where a dinette set would go, in the Jasmine it is a little smaller place. That's because of the block vs vinyl. The block takes up a little more room.

On the other hand my sister has a Whisoering Pine and loves it! Stretched it front and back.

Good luck whatever you choose. Such an exciting time for you!

Becky

Jumbo, get as much now as you can without overextending yourself! I think in the end result you will be happier with the extra space. You seem to be leaning towards the Whispering Pine, so start there and in time you can perhaps add a little here and there! I got as much as I could comfortably afford and will make some minor changes as I am able! it's just harder to add more space later. Other interior things can always be done in the future! Enjoy making your choice and I hope you can get a meeting prior to February! Best of luck!

OK as of now the Wisteria or Jasmine R off the table didn't like walking into kitchen, but it does look better in person than the videos.

Alamanda off as well, the Florida room was much smaller than it appeared in the videos.

tomorrow we'll focus on the Bougainvillaea and the Whispering Pine, meeting our sales reps in the morning. Saw 2 WP's they are so far our favorite.

In walking thru some of the open houses there are some reps that are not aware of many things. Miss quoting standard things and options.

We just finished our design meeting today .We started yesterday took 5 hrs and today 3 1/2 hrs we go back tomorrow at Diana office to go over EVERYTHING then meet our rep to sign the papers and give the downpayment .
I must say it was Mentally Exhausting I am glad it is over .Diana really helped us a lot .We bump out every where . all together we bump out 14 feet ....Opt out of appliance and blinds.
We did go with the paint I did not want one color .
One thing I can say to everyone who going into the meeting when you go looking at the model home if you like something don't just take a picture you need the name of the street and the house number ..
I did get insulation in the lanai because we well be closing it in .And she said it hard to do after .
So maybe we well know tomorrow when our closing is .

Glad to hear you are making progress going through the various models. Hope you find the one that suits you best before you leave TV! Any luck with changing your design meeting to earlier? FYI- I saw your picture posted on the Crispers Thread! Nice to p ut a name with a face! Good luck and enjoy!

Congratulations and I hope you got most everything on your wish list! I also bumped out 14 feet. So we should all have plenty of room!! When you sign your final paperwork you will receive your closing date a d name of your builder. Hopefully my build will start tomorrow! Best of luck and post some pics as you can!!

Yep can't hide out any longer...

Yes that looks like it will work out, we'll be working on date this week.

That was a great suggestion.

Has anyone ever brought in a house they built for the number on the list price?

Like that would ever happen!! :jester: We idiots who choose to build and customize get to pay for what we receive! :doh: And we are happy we did!

So true. I was just wondering if in the history of TV, has ANYONE ever done it?

Hard to do, we R going to try and put a budget of upto 5K on extras, (because I'll do a lot of mods later myself, floors, paint extend lanai etc,

But I'm having a lengthily meeting with my two sales reps (husband & wife team) tomorrow.
After that I'll see if that budget is possible, if not my kids get a smaller inheritance: a20:

Thanks hotrodgirl
I guess tomorrow I well know when our closing well be YEA!!!
How long after you sign till they start building ?

I read here about 10 days

I signed my final papers on the 8th and I believe we start tomorrow, so approximately 2 weeks. I had a lot of changes, so maybe that is a bit longer than some? I think normally it would be 10 days to two weeks though.
Happy days ahead!

perhaps an expensive day!
 

Spent over 4 hours today with our reps, Bougainvillaea is now off the table, so that leaves up with the Whispering Pine to keep us under the 200K budget.

So I was all set........................but noooooo the sales rep says to my wife have you seen the Lilac,:22yikes: I said no its out of our $ range by about 15K.

She loves it!

Anyone have opinions on the Lilac?

My advice is to take frequent breaks during the process because after a while picker exhaustion sets in-that's when bad things happen.

true, we're having a few drinks looking at the floor plans and pics I took today.

Once you get here I think you will find picking the house with the most space will be the best. Even if you move furniture here u will want to shop and buy things that are Florida style.You can never have too much space which is why the average Villager moves 3 times. Good luck to you. I actually picked a Lilac, the Gardenia guest rooms were too little. I,we have 5 kids and four grandchildren and we love the big bedrooms in the Lilac. Believe me you will have company.. If you prefer stucco the Lilac is an IRIS. I also like the Whispering Pine.

With you...couldn't get into the building thing cause the price just was going up and up....with this or that. One week to close on our Wisteria and will be in it painting, cleaning and getting ready to move in the first week then doing the physical move.

OP have heard good things about the Lilac but its more than you plan like you said.