[Mohansic510$]

Hi! Thank you for all this wonderful information on this site. It is much appreciated.

We are planning to build new in the villages and have a few questions. I know a village rep will be able to help but thought I could get some helpful info from all of you while we are just in the beginning stages of planning. Thank you!

1-What are some upgrades that you think would be worth it to do while they are building instead of waiting until after. What might be more cost effective/easier to have them do?

2-Does anyone know approximately what it would cost to add a golf cart garage to the build.
The house we are thinking about does not come with one. We just wanted a ballpark from someone that knows or has done this recently

3-Do the villages give you the cost of stretches, or upgrades individually. I have seen others comment that they do not. I would like to know how much an upgrade is before I decide to do it.


Thank you so very much! ****I appreciate any tips or advice that might help when building.

[Altavia]

What model do you want to build?

You can look online at house with and without golf cart garages to get an idea of the cost.

[Dusty_Star]

Originally Posted by Mohansic510$

Hi! Thank you for all this wonderful information on this site. It is much appreciated.

We are planning to build new in the villages and have a few questions. I know a village rep will be able to help but thought I could get some helpful info from all of you while we are just in the beginning stages of planning. Thank you!

1-What are some upgrades that you think would be worth it to do while they are building instead of waiting until after. What might be more cost effective/easier to have them do?

2-Does anyone know approximately what it would cost to add a golf cart garage to the build.
The house we are thinking about does not come with one. We just wanted a ballpark from someone that knows or has done this recently

3-Do the villages give you the cost of stretches, or upgrades individually. I have seen others comment that they do not. I would like to know how much an upgrade is before I decide to do it.


Thank you so very much! ****I appreciate any tips or advice that might help when building.

Whether you can add a golf cart garage may depend on your lot. Is the house situated on the lot so that there is room for a golf cart garage?

[CarlR33]

A VLS realtor can answer all three questions as we would just be speculating about a build that is almost a year out if you started today.

[villagetinker]

We did what you want to do in 2013, and as I understand it, the options are now much more limited. Send me a PM if you would like to discuss over the phone.

We were able to build a stretched Gardenia, 2 feet on the width, 4 feet on the garage, 4 feet on the lanai, and with the golf cart garage on the outside wall. Lots of specific stuff inside.

[Mohansic510$]

Originally Posted by CarlR33

A VLS realtor can answer all three questions as we would just be speculating about a build that is almost a year out if you started today.

Thank you for your response. I am not looking for speculation about the future. I am looking for input from people that may have done this recently. If you have not no need to respond.

We are looking at the Bougainvillea Model. Wanted really to see input on what upgrades you did and felt they were cost effective and worthwhile. Thank you!

[Marathon Man]

Originally Posted by Mohansic510$

Hi! Thank you for all this wonderful information on this site. It is much appreciated.

We are planning to build new in the villages and have a few questions. I know a village rep will be able to help but thought I could get some helpful info from all of you while we are just in the beginning stages of planning. Thank you!

1-What are some upgrades that you think would be worth it to do while they are building instead of waiting until after. What might be more cost effective/easier to have them do?

2-Does anyone know approximately what it would cost to add a golf cart garage to the build.
The house we are thinking about does not come with one. We just wanted a ballpark from someone that knows or has done this recently

3-Do the villages give you the cost of stretches, or upgrades individually. I have seen others comment that they do not. I would like to know how much an upgrade is before I decide to do it.


Thank you so very much! ****I appreciate any tips or advice that might help when building.

1. This is a matter of choice. We avoided after market changes that would require work inside the house. The one exception was window treatments. Outside additions (gutters, screen door, etc.) we will do after build.

2. Can not help.

3. Once you are in the design process, you will see the exact cost of options.

[thelegges]

Originally Posted by Marathon Man

1. This is a matter of choice. We avoided after market changes that would require work inside the house. The one exception was window treatments. Outside additions (gutters, screen door, etc.) we will do after build.

2. Can not help.

3. Once you are in the design process, you will see the exact cost of options.

One can’t add gutters, only what required you have zero choices on screen doors, moving interior walls, adding extra outlets, fan/lights, the list goes on….
For most items, You get to look at pictures, not the product you are choosing for your home. Depending on your design person, you may or may not have any idea how much anything costs. You pick out and the big reveal is on your return to sign papers.

[CarlR33]

Originally Posted by Mohansic510$

Thank you for your response. I am not looking for speculation about the future. I am looking for input from people that may have done this recently. If you have not no need to respond.

We are looking at the Bougainvillea Model. Wanted really to see input on what upgrades you did and felt they were cost effective and worthwhile. Thank you!

The Villages(R) Homefinder - Find Your Dream Home type “Bougainvillea”in the search box. It appears they have been building that model for a while?

[ResQme]

2. Make sure the lot can accept a golf cart garage upgrade. Upgrade will range from approximately 20-25K. I say this because on the first model I chose, the upgrade was 20K. Then I switched models, and the upgrade for that model was 25K. My upgrade was just for the width, no length stretch. Oh, and this is fairly current; I close on my home on Dec. 26, 2024.

[dtennent]

I know that you build a house thinking you won’t be selling it. However, this happens more often than not. Therefore, including a golf cart garage is more important than you think.

[Ktots]

Originally Posted by Mohansic510$

Hi! Thank you for all this wonderful information on this site. It is much appreciated.

We are planning to build new in the villages and have a few questions. I know a village rep will be able to help but thought I could get some helpful info from all of you while we are just in the beginning stages of planning. Thank you!

1-What are some upgrades that you think would be worth it to do while they are building instead of waiting until after. What might be more cost effective/easier to have them do?
>>

Thank you so very much! ****I appreciate any tips or advice that might help when building.

We decided to do the floors and countertops that we wanted up front, instead of having the mess of doing them afterwards.
Two things we did but would wait and do after:

Paint the walls. We had them painted because we didn’t want to deal with it afterwards. It looks really nice, but the flat paint that they use is awful. It grabs every little bit of dirt and is very difficult to clean.

Put rollouts in the cabinets. The drawers are fine, but the hardware is cheap and can’t hold much weight. The drawers fall off of the tracks and height cannot be adjusted. We ended up ripping out the ones we had put in the pantry and replaced them with awesome ones from KitchenWise. I now have five rollouts in the pantry, instead of four, and they are fully adjustable and sturdy. KitchenWise was awesome to work with! Save the money up front and do it afterwards.

Only other suggestion is to pay close attention to electrical outlets. There are a couple places we wish we would have added them. We can still have it done, but much easier with the build.

Best of luck!

[Veracity]

We built our 2nd house less than a year ago and the experience was much different from the first house that we built in 2017. This time we were not allowed to make any "stretches," so we ended up choosing a house with a larger floor plan than we would have chosen had we been allowed to stretch rooms. The only "structural" changes that we had a choice on was the size of the garage and lanai, and we made them as big as the lot would allow. We also added a pool which was very expensive, but it was really nice having it ready for use on day one. After that, our most expensive options were counter tops and flooring. Looking back, the limited options actually saved us from ourselves, in that we spent less money building this house than we had anticipated and it turned out just as nice as it would have had they let us go wild. The things we added after the fact, such as plantation shutters (from Home Depot), gutters (from Stipes), upgrades to the landscaping (from La Familia), etc. were much cheaper than we would have paid The Villages had they allowed those options this time around. Plus, we had the time to look around at different options and get competitive quotes. You should budget $25-30K for the golf cart garage and they will provide the cost of every option up front (there are no hidden costs). You can change your mind on anything up until you sign the contract, so you will have a day or two to think it over. Everyone from our sales rep, to our designer, to our builder were incredibly helpful and nice. It was an all around great experience so enjoy yourself and don't be afraid to ask questions. You will get better answers from them than on this forum.

[Rocksnap]

Just moved in on our Osprey premier build, 2163sf living space. The cart garage was $27k. We also did the front bump and lanai bump. Both those we less $$$ than the cart garage. Those are the major upgrades allowed to the house.
Not much else to add these days, as they don’t let you even add an electrical outlet, which we wanted for at least one bathroom, for a bidet to plug into. I’m actually surprised that TV being a retirement community that more of us don’t have/use one.
I checked with an electrical contractor about adding one, they charge by 25’ increments, from the electrical panel. 75’ was $525. Tho literally on the other side of the wall of the half bath is an outlet, so I will just tap into that one, easy enough. We have solid surface flooring thruout, no carpet in the bedrooms. $3k to change the Villages white interior to a color of our choice.
We did upgrade to the mid level HVAC ($5k) which has a 2 speed fan. The third bump up in HVAC would have cost $15k, imo not worth it for what it does. Was not a fan of the one speed system in our lifestyle visit house.

[jcgrether]

One upgrade we did not do and regret is the 4’ garage extension. Storage is limited and the extra four feet makes a big difference. Would recommend you consider that option.