[jcvdd1]

Hello-----

Any suggestions sincerely appreciated on the purchase of a newly build home versus the option of selecting a lot site and having a home built with the professional sales team at the Villages Design Center.

Does anyone here have experience using the Villages Design Center such as time frame and cost versus the purchase of a newly built home ?

Thanks

Joe Miami

[JoeandSue]

We close on ours Tuesday, and it is a custom built Begonia. We thought one of the biggest factors was the price of the lot. The design center experience was awesome. So accommodating and not pushy at all, and had good suggestions when we asked. If you can, I would suggest building, if you can find an affordable you like. Ours was done in 65 days, with a pool. We had a previously set closing date, and had no need or desire to move it up, as the house was done 2-3 weeks before that. Don't know if this helps, but it has been a pleasurable experience so far.

[vintageogauge]

We are visual only and have to see what we're going to end up with so we chose to buy a spec home that was pretty much exactly what we wanted. This way we new exactly what we would have. We built homes in the past up north and make mistakes that we had to live with. Everyone is different so you'll have to make your own mind up. Either way you're going to like it here.

[Joeg180]

Closed last month on our Woodside that we customized. We picked out all of the fixtures and finishes with the exception of the kitchen in about 6 hours with our designer. The kitchen took another 5 hours. We then had a day off so the drawings could be adjusted and the contract could be finalized. We then spent several hours going line by line with the designer to ensure we had everything was included.

It was great experience

[dewilson58]

Customize vs. Spec.

Customizing was huge for us.

I didn't feel this was higher priced than a Spec.

The experience was awesome.............very helpful staff.

[Gpsma]

We did a custom. It allowed us to build the house to move in state without having to deal with construction after we got here. It also allowed us to bump out sections of the house..lanai, garage

In retrospect, The only advantage was the bump out. Knowing now that there are quality contractors that can remodel your kitchen, flooring, etc. at reasonable prices, I would have gone that route. The prices the builder charges for upgrades is very high

[VillageIdiots]

Sometimes it's a matter of whether or not you can find what you want in a spec home and desirable location or building what you want. And sometimes it's whether or not what you want can even be custom built for you. If you want a Villa or Veranda series home, those can't be custom built so you have no other choice than to find a spec one that you like. That's usually not an issue, though, as there are always some to choose from and more on the way. We moved down here into a rental looking to buy a pre-owned home north of 44. After 4 days, we found a new spec home that was just about what we would have built if we had designed it ourselves.

[VApeople]

We initially wanted to buy a spec home because we like "what you see is what you get'. Before we came here, we spent a couple months looking at spec homes on the computer but could not find what we want. When we got here, we decided to buy a lot and have a designer house built.

Before we met with the designer, we looked at a LOT of open houses to help us decide what options we wanted. These options (golf cart garage, expended lanai, etc) added $65K to the cost. Since we had made almost all of our decisions in advance, we only spent 1.5 days with the designer, who was a pleasure to work with.

That was 2 years ago and we love our house. We have made some changes (pocket lights to replace chandelier, nice cornice over sliding doors, shades for the lanai, patio in front) but that is about all.

[jcvdd1]

I thank everyone for their information....

Speaking only on the basis of money, is it cheaper or more expensive to buy a newly built home as is or having a new home built by the New HomeDesign Center?

[dewilson58]

Originally Posted by jcvdd1

I thank everyone for their information....

Speaking only on the basis of money, is it cheaper or more expensive to buy a newly built home as is or having a new home built by the New HomeDesign Center?

Push

[VillageIdiots]

Originally Posted by jcvdd1

Speaking only on the basis of money, is it cheaper or more expensive to buy a newly built home as is or having a new home built by the New HomeDesign Center?

I'm not sure that question can be answered definitively. My guess is that you could easily spend more on a custom design when presented with all of the options, including the lot. In the end, did you pay more or less for your counter tops than the same counter tops in a spec home? Don't know. I'm just speaking to overall cost. On the other hand, if you find a spec home that checks most of your boxes, but maybe there are a few things you want to change, it's almost certainly cheaper to make those changes after buying than to have had them included in the spec home or even the custom design.

Ideally, if you find the perfect home, but it has carpet where you want tile, laminate counters where you want granite, no pool but room for a pool (if you'd even want one), then you would be better off from a cost perspective, changing those things after the fact. The trade off is all the time and mess dealing with those things.

[Joeg180]

We looked at a home that was close to what we wanted. We built instead and the difference was about $3000 in our favor.

[NatureBoy]

Originally Posted by VillageIdiots

it's almost certainly cheaper to make those changes after buying than to have had them included in the spec home or even the custom design.

Ideally, if you find the perfect home, but it has carpet where you want tile, laminate counters where you want granite, no pool but room for a pool (if you'd even want one), then you would be better off from a cost perspective, changing those things after the fact. The trade off is all the time and mess dealing with those things.

That's rather sad. A great waste of time & material.

[VillageIdiots]

Originally Posted by NatureBoy

That's rather sad. A great waste of time & material.

Agree, but that doesn't make it not true. Down here in the new area, it's not uncommon at all to see a driveway full of carpet and padding outside a brand new house and a tile saw in the garage.

[VApeople]

In the areas around us (Osceola Hills, LaBelle, Pine Hills, Charlotte) some of the resales are terribly over-priced, in our opinion. The ones that are fairly priced seem to go very fast.