[Garywt]

I hope your build is going well. What Village are you in?

I’m dying to know what the 3 items you wanted but were not allowed.

Enjoy.

[SusanStCatherine]

Count your blessings. Not all have the same experience.

I suggest you keep a close eye on the build. They were pretty good about fixing things during the build.

And hire an inspector for shortly after closing as well as a month before one year warranty is up.

Hope your good luck continues throughout the build.

[GpaVader]

Welcome to the neighborhood! I live near the postal station and have watched in amazement as the custom homes have been going up! They all look beautiful and it will be so nice when the construction is done and the clean all the sand from the streets...... Enjoy your new home!

[deej012160]

I realize this post is originally from last November. Does anyone know what kind of "lead time" there is, to get an appointment with the home design folks? We are in a very similar ballpark to the original poster--we are kind of picky about homes and have been looking & looking day after day and not really anything is clicking for us to date (at least within our budget!). We are definitely coming to TV but we are going to sell our home in south Louisiana first, then we will be ready to jump into the deep end! We are thinking seriously about building a home with an Iris floorplan. Thanks in advance for whatever info anyone can share. We are very much looking forward to moving to TV!!!!!

[Garywt]

Originally Posted by Normal

We did the same, what I would recommend for all is:

The stove is very basic….upgrade
Don’t get the 850 dollar attic ladder system…upgrade yourself
Stretch, stretch, stretch…especially on your walk in closet side
Get the 48 inch cabinets
Raise the Lanai level to 3/4 inch from floor…it’s free
Pour the largest patio ever…dirt cheap at construction
Add outlets like crazy
Move your garage entry sink closest to the garage for adequate room

Garage entry sink? Is that just the laundry room sink is in the garage rather than the laundry room?

[Normal]

We have a Gardenia model that originally had the laundry room entry from the garage situated with the sink being located closest to the inside of the house near the kitchen. We relocated that sink closest to the garage entry to free up space upon initial entry from the garage. Our machines extended further into the house than the sink did. We liked the move. In addition, we added a half bath with ease. We extended the home 4 feet longer and took half of my closet and made it a 1/2 bath. My wife can't complain because now her closet is almost 10 feet long.

[Nick B]

Originally Posted by pdnesbitt

Yes it does include the pool, as well as the landscaping. In fact, the total build is more like 4 months. The construction actually begins January 12 and closing is May 2.

Good luck!

[VApeople]

Originally Posted by deej012160

We are thinking seriously about building a home with an Iris floorplan.

When we were having our house built in 2016, we also liked the Iris floorplan. However, we noticed the Laurel Oak had a similar floorplan and it cost 10% more than an Iris and had 20% more interior space, so we had that model built.

We had them add a golf cart garage, extended the lanai across the entire back of the house, and changed a few minor things inside the house during the design phase.

[valuemkt]

Congrats.. You will probably get one of the "A" team builders. Since you have been on both sides of the desk building homes, you will be amazed at the "supply chain" of construction and the quality. We increased the size of our home about 40% and the garage about an equal amount. To preserve our marriage (tongue in cheek), I did NOT attend most sessions at the Design Center. This was second half 2019, pre COVID, so out shovel to close time was 3 months. Any other place on the planet that was a seven or eight month project. Top quality construction and finish work. We bought none of the standard appliances.. had the specs for wall ovens in the contract and openings and outlets were put in with appliances installed by others day after close. The spec sheet was as thick as a novel .. BUT .. ZERO CHANGE ORDERS ! and another shout out to Heather ..

[Altavia]

Originally Posted by deej012160

I realize this post is originally from last November. Does anyone know what kind of "lead time" there is, to get an appointment with the home design folks? We are in a very similar ballpark to the original poster--we are kind of picky about homes and have been looking & looking day after day and not really anything is clicking for us to date (at least within our budget!). We are definitely coming to TV but we are going to sell our home in south Louisiana first, then we will be ready to jump into the deep end! We are thinking seriously about building a home with an Iris floorplan. Thanks in advance for whatever info anyone can share. We are very much looking forward to moving to TV!!!!!

Contact a Villages Rep, things change fast so you need to find one you liked to work with.

A good way to do that is visit an open house until you click with somebody.

[BlueStarAirlines]

Originally Posted by deej012160

I realize this post is originally from last November. Does anyone know what kind of "lead time" there is, to get an appointment with the home design folks?

We bought our lot the end of March, had our design appointment the last two weeks of April. We broke ground the end of May and are going to closing the end of September. We got the call to schedule our design appointment about 7-10 days after we bought our lot.

It also was a custom build and we pretty much changed every room, added rooms, stretched the heck out of it, and added a pool. Everything the OP said was true of our experiences and was very upfront about costs and things we could and could not do. Our design person was incredibly knowledgeable and made our two weeks a fantastic experience.

The only caution I would offer is to be careful at the beginning discussing your overall budget. If you say your budget is $xxxk, they look out for you by steering you away from things or upgrades that you might want, but are outside your budget. We said we had no budget and if we didn't bring up something but there was an option for it we wanted to know about it. Some of the options\upgrades were ridiculous, but I'm glad we knew about them. We came in under our personal budget and got the options and upgrades that were important to us.

The best advice received over a year ago is to tell your sales agent the model home you want, that you want to stretch it, and if you want a pool (if that is true for you). With that knowledge he knew we needed a lot over a certain size and didn't call us every few days when lots went up for sale. It took us almost nine months to get our view lot that was oversized, but was worth it to us.