Talk of The Villages Florida
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Talk of The Villages Florida (https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/)
-   The Villages, Florida, General Discussion (https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/villages-florida-general-discussion-73/)
-   -   Frustration prior to Design Team meeting (https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/villages-florida-general-discussion-73/frustration-prior-design-team-meeting-54214/)

Bonny 06-01-2012 06:56 AM
One of the things we did that a lot of my friends say they wish they would have done, is make my driveway wider. The driveway is always the width of the garage door. I made mine the width of the garage. One of the best things we did.

keithwand 06-01-2012 08:13 AM
Not as frustrating as you may think and actually fun.
Our rep gave us a price; "loaded" he said before we purchased our lot.
We never told him our budget and it came in lower than we had expected so we purchased our lot.
Then we found out there was a mistake made on the original quote and there was no price for tile throughout so now the price shot up.
One huge mistake but mistakes happen to everyone.
We deleted the 3rd bath (pool bath) and went with WP Gold instead of Kitchenaid and got back into the budget we had.
Looking at it positively we decided had the mistake not been made we may have stayed in Orlando and who needs the pool bath anyway.
Close in 4 days.

Golfer in Sanibel 06-01-2012 08:42 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by bdabob (Post 499922)
Many thanks for all the responses. Our rep has been very good at trying to assist us. We have chatted with several non TV suppliers for items such as granite, appliances & pools, but we can't even gwet ballpark figures from TV to compare.
We would prefer to one-stop-shop and have TV do everything but we need to research and compare to ensure we get the most for our dollars.
We are also from overseas so there is an aditional learning curve. We will be in town for 4 days so that doesn't leave us much time to coordinate with outside suppliers, if necessary.
If I knew in advance that the grade granite we want is approx. a $10K upgrade from TV, and our outside source is quoting a similar price, then I can tick that off as a TV supplied item. The pool is going to be the most expensive option but we can't even get a ballpark even after submitting sketches of our ideas.
I guess I'll have to bring a flask of Dark n' Stormies to help me through the process!
Cherie and I went through this in January. Our home was finished in March and we are thrilled with the result.

Keep in mind this place is different then anywhere else you may have bought/built a home. Their processes have been refined through virtually tens of thousands of transactions. They currently are selling around 200 new homes per month. That is maybe 10 or more customers per day in the design center. As others have said, their process in the design center is slick, efficient, thorough and complete.

Many of us moving here have owned our own businesses and been in control for decades. It is hard for us to let go and just let the process happen. You want it done via your style and terms. We call that swimming against the tide. What you need to do is just relax and let things happen. When all is done you'll look back and say "Wow, that was great."

You will be amazed at how much fun this process can be if you will just get out of the way and let it happen. And don't pay any attention to that old grouch who said they squeeze you for all your money. As Gracie said, they will not pressure you at all. They will do their best to help you get what you want, within your budget.

One tip. The design people do this everyday. Be sure to ask for their suggestions and ask which options are the most cost effective. On just a little item like the banding in the master shower tile we were able to get something awesome for less money just by asking "What do you suggest?".

Good luck and enjoy the ride. :MOJE_whot:

Golfer in Sanibel 06-01-2012 08:45 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by keithwand (Post 499965)
Not as frustrating as you may think and actually fun.
Our rep gave us a price; "loaded" he said before we purchased our lot.
We never told him our budget and it came in lower than we had expected so we purchased our lot.
Then we found out there was a mistake made on the original quote and there was no price for tile throughout so now the price shot up.
One huge mistake but mistakes happen to everyone.
We deleted the 3rd bath (pool bath) and went with WP Gold instead of Kitchenaid and got back into the budget we had.
Looking at it positively we decided had the mistake not been made we may have stayed in Orlando and who needs the pool bath anyway.
Close in 4 days.
Congratulations. :MOJE_whot::MOJE_whot::MOJE_whot:

Mikitv 06-01-2012 12:25 PM
We picked our lot and house back in Dec. 2009. There was no design team. It was our Realtor and us going through the models to pick out the flooring, cabinets, fixtures, etc. I always had an A and B selection as we went because it was hard to remember what we had seen after going through all the models. At the end she got the information on our selections and gave us an estimate. Then she went back to her office and did all the final pricing and had us back to go over those figures. It was all done before we left to go back home and they started our home in Jan. and finished in March. Sounds like they have a different procedure in place now. The told some recent friends looking here that if they bought a lot today they couldn't get with the design team until Sept. Sounds like they are doing a lot of new houses again.

rubicon 06-01-2012 12:39 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by bdabob (Post 499815)
AAAAAArgh!!
Our Design Team meeting is scheduled for mid June. We have been trying for several months to get vital information about our various options, including pricing, so that we are fully prepared; the last thing we want is to be rushed into major design issues, we want to be ahead of the game.
Our sales rep has been outstanding and has genuinely tried to assist us. Unfortunately, we have continuely been told there can be no direct communication between us, the buyers, and the Design Team, the people with all the pertinent info, prior to our June meeting.
We have dozens of questions that could easily be dealt with in advance. For example, we want a counter depth fridge. We have asked if that's an option. If not, we will then proceed with an outside vendor for our appliances. We can't get an answer in advance to this simple question.
We have asked what the upgrade price is for granite counter tops; wait until June.
We have asked about pool/spa/paver pricing; wait until June.
This is very frustrating and sadly this method of sales makes no sense to us whatsoever.
bdabob: You want frustration try being told with market price as high as it ever will probably be that what you see is what you get or go to the back of the line. that was the way it had been in 2005-06-07. I told the sales rep what I wanted in a house and what I was willing to pay and she came through
so stop complaining because many residents here wished they had an opportunity to choose. In retrospect I should have told them to drop dead. TV isn't the only nice place to live and you are getting more bang for your buck and the taxes given dollar per square foot of living space in popular places to retire/live.

aljetmet 06-01-2012 12:39 PM
new home sales rep
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by AlanC (Post 499891)
It sounds like your frustration is with your sales rep. They are the ones that should be preparing you for your design meeting.

We picked out our lot in December 2011 and scheduled our design meeting for last week. In the 5 months leading up to our design meeting our sales rep provided us pricing for at least 9 different combinations of options for the model we picked out.

We started with a base unit, and kept adding and subtracting options until we came up with the combination of options and final price we were comfortable with.

Our rep was very clear with us – he couldn’t supply us with a price list of the different options, but he could supply us with a total price for the home with the options we were considering – and he never turned down my request to provide a price for a new combination of options.

By the time we arrived last week we were ready to approve our final decisions with our designer. All she had to do was take us around to the various models so we could see the options we picked out in an actual home. We also spent about 90 minutes at the granite yard to pick out the 4 slabs they’ll be using in our home.

We started at 1pm on Thursday and were completely finished with the paperwork by 5pm on Friday.

I suggest you ask your sales rep to price out your model with a couple of different option combinations. You’ll be able to work the numbers to see what each of the major options are going to cost you.

The more you prepare prior to the designer meeting, the smoother it will go.
Good Luck to you…
Very well said!!:BigApplause: The OP is not the only one who who has mentioned on TOTV they were getting stonewalled by their rep....Rediculous!

Beatit 06-01-2012 12:52 PM
I agree with Alanc......we were given three different estimates, however, we did push our sales rep to give us as much info as he could regarding upgrades. We picked upgrades which were listed by grade, ie ABC, etc and then picked the highest grade given to determine the most expensive and then work from that point. Our meeting is on Monday, June 10!!!!! I hope it goes as smoothly as some indicate.

graciegirl 06-01-2012 03:35 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by rubicon (Post 500104)
bdabob: You want frustration try being told with market price as high as it ever will probably be that what you see is what you get or go to the back of the line. that was the way it had been in 2005-06-07. I told the sales rep what I wanted in a house and what I was willing to pay and she came through
so stop complaining because many residents here wished they had an opportunity to choose. In retrospect I should have told them to drop dead. TV isn't the only nice place to live and you are getting more bang for your buck and the taxes given dollar per square foot of living space in popular places to retire/live.
'
Why Rubicon? Why do you say that? I hate to hear you be unhappy. Houses are easy to sell here.

Pturner 06-02-2012 07:27 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by AlanC (Post 499891)
It sounds like your frustration is with your sales rep. They are the ones that should be preparing you for your design meeting.

We picked out our lot in December 2011 and scheduled our design meeting for last week. In the 5 months leading up to our design meeting our sales rep provided us pricing for at least 9 different combinations of options for the model we picked out.

We started with a base unit, and kept adding and subtracting options until we came up with the combination of options and final price we were comfortable with.

Our rep was very clear with us – he couldn’t supply us with a price list of the different options, but he could supply us with a total price for the home with the options we were considering – and he never turned down my request to provide a price for a new combination of options.

By the time we arrived last week we were ready to approve our final decisions with our designer. All she had to do was take us around to the various models so we could see the options we picked out in an actual home. We also spent about 90 minutes at the granite yard to pick out the 4 slabs they’ll be using in our home.

We started at 1pm on Thursday and were completely finished with the paperwork by 5pm on Friday.

I suggest you ask your sales rep to price out your model with a couple of different option combinations. You’ll be able to work the numbers to see what each of the major options are going to cost you.

The more you prepare prior to the designer meeting, the smoother it will go.
Good Luck to you…
Alanc,
Who was your sales rep?

Bdabob,
Perhaps you could try the approach Alanc took of requesting total home price with various combinations of options. If your sales rep. cannot accommodate you, you might want to call the sales office and ask to be switched to the sale agent that Alanc used. Whatever you do, I suspect you will be pleased with the result. Best wishes. Please keep us posted on your progress.

campy 06-03-2012 04:02 PM
We just went through the process. They don't give much information ahead of time - maybe no information is a better way to say it. We went down with a list of wants, including extensions that were not offered yet to our surprise were added to the plans because our lot had the room. We told them what we didn't want to exceed $$ wise and we were able to stay well within that amount. Ask for everything on your list and then decide what you can live without if you exceed your budget.

Good Luck and make this the first step of the good things to come in TV.

PandG 06-03-2012 09:25 PM
Just completed the design process
 
We had our design meeting last week. The remnants of "Beryl" didn't help because it was too wet to be driven by golf car to the various models, so we used cars.

We agree with the comments about TV not giving pricing and design choices ahead of time. They often change suppliers, which is difficult for TV to keep up with. For example, they used to offer GE appliances, but now use Whirlpool and KitchenAid.

I had a list of questions prepared for the designer, and we reviewed those at the start of the design meeting. We were never asked about a budget, and never knew any prices up-front. I had to ask multiple times how much something cost, because no price was given to us. Perhaps he was a bit frustrated, because for some strange reason, TV's pricing system is difficult for the sales reps and designers to use. And prices quoted are only approximate.

This surprised me because I learned just the opposite from posts on TOTV! At the end of day #1, I called our sales/mktg. rep (out of frustration), and he talked to our design person. Day #2 went better. We are pleased with the outcome, and the designer contributed some good and unique suggestions. Our new home in Fernandina will close in mid-August!

My advice is to bring lots of paper, take lots of notes, and ask lots of questions at the design meetings. Good luck to all!

bdabob 06-04-2012 07:06 AM
Hi PandG,
Thanks for the update on your design team meeting; sounds like you accomplished it all in the end.
We too are in Fernandina (205) and have our design team meeting at the end of next week.
My wife and I have been quite diligent in taking notes, reading TOTV daily, and speaking with our sales rep to be as prepared as possible. We even rented a home there for a week in early April to "kick the tires" and make some decisions in advance.
Our hope was that we could enter the design team meeting 85 - 90% ready, and then just fine tune. Sadly we estimate we are below 50% ready and will have to do plenty of thinking on our feet without the benefit of knowing in advance the approximate costs of all the upgrades & options.
It looks like we will be spending in excess of $500K with pool etc., and we just hoped we could have far more info in advance.
Best of luck to you with your new home.
Cheers,
Bob

jimbo2012 06-04-2012 07:25 AM
I realize that the TV sales & marketing team are probably the sharpest around with the number of homes going up over the years but it is odd that they don't offer a punch list of options with prices in advance or during the design meeting.

Why do they secret these costs?

I wish someone would explain their theory.

Is it to get you to spend more?

I had to twist my reps arm to get certain costs, that really shouldn't be necessary, I know you may say it will all work out in the end but it's not the point.

When I tell my friends about this process they are taken back.

Frustration is a great name for this thread:(

Happinow 06-04-2012 07:51 AM
I Agree with Gracie. There is absolutely no pressure when buying or designing your home. If anything, I would have liked to have known about more upgrades. The team just let's you pick what you want and they make suggestions, but I found them to be very helpful suggestions. This is a no pressure zone and I didn't feel at any time that they just wanted my money. They also want you to be happy with your purchase.


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