[nanci2539]

Correct me if I'm wrong but do I understand at one time, buyers were able to select their own decor in terms of finish (formica, granite, etc). Tile vs hardwood and things like that. You even had a choice of cabinet handles!

The TV agent told us that regardless of how expensive the home is, you can't upgrade. What you see is what you get and the builder will not change a thing, even if it means more money for him!!!

When we bought our home here, we had it customized to meet our needs so this concept baffles me. Say for instance, we want a designer home or even a premier home and want to change a few things or add on space or upgrade the appliances we're told that we have to wait until we move in and then tear things out and do our own upgrades????

I know and understand the concept of buying a lifestyle but to me, having a home with the amenities I want is important too.

[Happy Villager]

Yes that is the way it is and has been since 2004 or 2005. They used to have what was called the street of dreams and buyers went there to pick out their fixtures, colors etc and it is now a Southern Lifestyles Store.
It doesn't matter how much you are willing to spend on your home everyone is treated the same.

[nanci2539]

I wonder what the reason or logic behind this is?

Any chance that they go back to the old concept of letting the buyer choose what they want? Do you know if this discourages people from buying homes or am I the odd man out here????

[Happy Villager]

I have no idea why they changed the way they build. I did hear from a friend that works for TV that one gentlemen that was purchasing a premier wanted different kitchen cabinets installed and even offered to pay for the original ones that were scheduled to be put in plus the ones of his choice. He was told no that he would have to do it after the fact. Sometimes I wonder what is fact and what is rumor. Only way for you to know is to ask TV prior to buying. We just had granite installed in our kitchen and both baths and it is a pain having things torn up in a brand new home. Good luck to you. The Villages is still the best place to live.

[nanci2539]

Thanks Happy - I spoke to one of the guest coordinators and she told me the same thing - that people who buy million dollar homes don't have even have a choice.

I know upgrades are so much easier before you move in. My son owns a construction company so I am well aware of the mess you need to put up with.

If the builder is making more money this way, I can't figure it out but it has to be more profitable for him. I know from my own experience building here that every upgrade I wanted was more money in the builder's pocket.

I guess one is better off buying the cheapest designer home they can find and then upgrading to what they want once moved in.

Or maybe the light will go off in the builder's head and he might become greedy and not turn away the extra money he would get on upgrades!

[bestmickey]

Very good point Nanci. I'm planning to relocate to TV in Fall '08 and will be purchasing a base model new 3 bdrm ranch. Like you noted, I'll later do upgrades specific to my liking. I agree the developer/builders are losing out by not allowing choices to be made up front.

[JohnZ]

I heard something a while back that TV was considering going back to the old format of allowing upgrades on a new-builds. I can't recall the source as I write this, but it may be worth investigating.

[nanci2539]

[color=red]heard something a while back that TV was considering going back to the old format of allowing upgrades on a new-builds. I can't recall the source as I write this, but it may be worth investigating[/color].

Any way to find out if it's rumor or fact?

[Mary Lou]

From what I was told, they stopped allowing upgrades a few years ago when the homes were selling like crazy. Things were moving so fast, it moved the inventory faster that way. (I know because we bought our first Villages home at the beginning of 2004 and they had just changed the policy a few months prior.) It sure seemed crazy to me, but that was the way it was (and still is). If you wanted to live here, you picked a home from the available inventory -- or bought a resale. It will be interesting to see if they change this policy now that sales are somewhat slower.

Mary Lou

[Villages Kahuna]

[list]We did our "lifestyle experience" when TV still used the "street of dreams" (SOD) concept. Never having purchased a brand new house, we were looking forward to the experience. It was a bit of a downer when we arrived to make our decision in May, 2006 to find that the SOD concept has been discontinued at about the end of 2005.

When I asked our sales rep (a terrific, honest, friendly and very experienced rep) why and whether she thought it was better or worse for buyers to have the SOD "taken away" and replaced with the "what you see is what you get" (WYSIWYG) approach, she answered as follows...

• She thought it was actually better for the home buyer to be able to see the house they are considering in a neighborhood, with landscaping installed. She went on to say that people had a terrible time picking out a lot once they had selected the model they wanted. She said that a lot of her clients found it very difficult to picture their house on a lot marked only with stakes, on a big wide open parcel of dusty land.
• She said that, yes the street of dreams was nice but that a lot of people complained about having to come back to TV for a whole week to go thru the process of picking out every feature, color and upgrade for their new house.
• Lastly, and maybe most important, she explained that it's not as if TV doesn't know what people want in their Villages homes. She explained that over 10,000 houses have been built in TV and (at the time) they were building 300-400 a month. So their designers had a vast amount of statistical knowledge about what was being ordered in the SOD and based their design decisions under WYSIWYG on that information once SOD was discontinued. (Interestingly, she used that as an explanation of my question of why we never saw whirlpool tubs in Villages houses. She explained that they used to be offered in the SOD, but almost no one ever chose that upgrade. So now you will never see a whirlpool tub in a "spec" home.)

But how about the "common sense" reason for why SOD was discontinued? I used to finance real estate and the reason is obvious. Under the SOD concept, TV did the land and amenity development and then released a neighborhood, maybe 400-500 lots, for sale. It might take 45 days to sell those homes. After selling the lots, about 45-60 days later the buyers came back to TV to go thru the SOD. Once they made their choices their house would be completed and ready for closing in 45-60 days. So when you add up all the time, TV had to hold 400-500 homes at varying stages of construction in inventory for between 5-6 months.

Under the current "WYSIWYG" sales system, TV can control the level of inventory of unsold homes to a level less than a 5-6 month supply. The financing costs, insurance, maintenance and security for new unoccupied houses can run up pretty quickly. If TV could cut the level of home inventory available for sale from 6 months down to 4 months, as an example, the cost savings would be significant.

So, in my humble opinion, the discontinuance of the SOD was done for some combination of the reasons given by our sales rep and the cost savings that could be achieved with a WYSIWYG sales approach.

Will SOD come back? Who knows? But if it hasn't be re-adopted during the last year or so of reduced sales levels, I'd guess it's doubtful.