Two years in with a designer build in Fenney. Here are some things that worked for us:
1. Stretched to 3100 sq ft, also stretched garage on all sides to get extra storage. Less expensive to do up front as opposed to changing later. We opted to remove the lanai and enclose it instead.
2. We put insulation in some interior walls to limit noise between rooms. Insulated garage door and above attic will help with energy cost.
3. Did not upgrade carpet from TV. Instead had high end LVP sent from American Wholesalers and had Jason's Flooring remove the carpeting and installed the LVP in the entire house. Total cost of $15K for the upgrade. If TV had done it, would have been double plus it would have been part of the cost basis for the house and would have to pay property taxes on the upgrade.
4. Install a Nova Water Softener and Whole Home Water Filter. Potassium Chloride from Sparr is better then salt and will not kill the grass/plants when it recycles. If you do not get a water softener, you will start to have calcium buildup within 6 months on dishwasher, shower heads.
5. NEVER pay for any services in advance. NEVER use Good Neighbor / Service Smart. Within first week of moving in, you will have people coming around trying to sell you stuff, turn them away.
6. Solar tubes (Solar guys) helps with light in the house, plus you get a tax credit for the cost.
7. Quartz is the best option for kitchen. We also replaced the cheap garbage disposer with a high end 1HP. Also easy and inexpensive to put in under cabinet lighting later.
8. If you expand the house, consider going for a higher end AC unit. Having a home with Lanai/Florida Room facing North will also help keep home cooler.
9. Be sure that each room is wired for a ceiling fan and box, as you may want to add later. Adding ceiling fans up front is cheaper. Consider ceiling fan with remote or alexa in the master bedroom.
10. Go for upgraded 4" molding, two tone paint, round corners.
11. Get garage epoxy done up front. We used Tim Miller and he also put in an attic stairs. Has numerous positive reviews.
12. We also got garage door with windows to provide light. For $10, you can get magnetic garage door accents from Amazon. If you get the garage door from TV that has the accents installed it will be $2K extra. I went for the $10 option and works great.
13. Concrete block construction (not wood frame).
14. Easier to put extra electrical outlets and outdoor water faucets in up front .
15. We did pocket doors on all bedroom closets
16. Higher ceilings will provide a more open look as well.

Great Info!
 

Lots of good info here! My husband and I were down last week and chose a lot in St. Catherine. Our Design appt is set for the end of December. We are still trying to decide between a Woodside or Mossy Oak.

We both love the Woodside, no room for side stretches, more expensive.

The Mossy Oak would require a 6' side stretch to meet our lot requirement. We hear complaints that the living room is small and I am not a fan of the configuration of the Master Bath (both of these rooms would be fighting for that 6' of space).

We plan on building a pool.

Any comments or suggestions are greatly appreciated!

We built in 2004 in Winifred a 2400 sq ft Lantana. I am surprised at the new bond prices we paid $10,000. We wanted hardwood floors in the Family room but not the bedrooms so I was advised to have TV place the no cost linoleum in the areas we were putting hardwood to act as a vapor barrier, and we bought the hardwood from Paradise Flooring . The thought was to keep the house price lower that would help keep the property tax lower, I have no idea if it actually did, but after living here for 16 years I would not want to live anyplace else, we love it here.

Excellent summary, very well done!

sportsguy

My recommendations:

For a home with a garage pushed out to one side, add a rear door and 6'x8' concrete pad (relocate the ac unit to do this). This way the door can be screened and opened for the best garage ventilation. Later the pad can have some brick added as a decorative wall. This can be used as a grilling area or a place to hide a garbage can.

If you have a pool or anticipate one add extra garden hose bibs. Typically a home has two or three. You will want extra outside of the pool area. I have six, five would have been enough.

If the budget allows have the home plumbed and wired for an exterior kitchen.

Both excellent ideas!! Noted, thank you! We decided to go with the Woodside, so no room for side stretches.

Following

If your design and budget allows add a bar sink to the kitchen island, while you are add it add a beverage hot water tap. These give you 2 quarts of 200 degree water now, great for tea or coffee from a French press.

A suprise to me is how nice a whole hose vacuum is. Perhaps this is how my spouse gets me to help clean.

The bonds are up to $38,000? Holy crap!
True story: Our previous home was an Iris model that we had built a few years back. When we were in the designing process, we were only given a few 'packages' to pick from. The whole thing was done in a couple of hours. The sales person asked hubby if we wanted to add the option of an outdoor kitchen. Hubby looks at him, starts laughing and says: "Why would I want that? My wife doesn't even use the kitchen that comes with the house." LOL

The (Designer) lots in St. Catherine have a $32,800 bond. In Chitty Chatty there are some >$41,000 bonds. At least that's according to a sales rep I spoke with.

They told us to set aside ~nine days for our design process. That includes a full day for the pool.

These comments are great. Wondering if there is a list with all the upgrades available?

Our designer has been great in giving us prices that we ask for, like cost for specific stretches, but, it is always a "+/-". They seem pretty tight-lipped on price lists.

Folks this gentleman is one of the most knowledgeable , intelligent and practical of anyone you may have the privilege of meeting here .
You would save yourself a lot of potential pain to listen closely to what he has to say about anything related to becoming a homeowner in The Villages or anywhere else .
He is that very knowledgeable no BS friend that you would hope to meet . I respect him very much .

The Woodside was our absolute first choice...until we saw the
Linden.

Having the bedrooms on three corners, each with full bath was appealing and the ability to stretch in all directions sealed the deal.

Designers are so custom these days, they might as well be Premieres.

These seem to be the common upgrades | extras from this post.

* Stretches - Garage / Lanai
* Diagonal Tile
* Upgrade HVAC
* Outside Water Spigot
* Ethernet Wiring (skip the phone wire)
* Put outlets in lanai
* Buy Own Appliances
* Buy Own Ceiling Fans
* Convert 2 gang outlets to 4 gang outlets near each rooms' entertainment center, to eliminate power strips
* Light Tubes (Small one in the bathroom, large one in the kitchen
* outlet Gas outside where a bbq grille
* Gutters all around
* Central Vacuum
* quartz, not granite
* 3/4 lanai floor, it raises the floor almost flush with interior
* Recess fridge 6
* extra blown in insulation in the ceiling
* Insulation in some interior walls to limit noise
* security grab bars in the bathrooms
* Panasonic ultra quiet fans installed in all bathrooms, kitchen
* get your own shower head
* taller kitchen cabinets as you always need more cabinet space
* Making ceilings higher in bedrooms
* install your own laundry room cabinets
* Nova Water Softener and Whole Home Water Filter
* Lanai/Florida Room facing North will also help keep home cooler
* Each room is wired for a ceiling fan and box