[Duneahh]

Originally Posted by Choro&Swing

1) No one has mentioned insulation. I don’t know what the standard amount of insulation is, but adding 6” to 12” of extra blown in insulation in the ceiling should only add a few hundred dollars to the price but should be recuperated in the first year.

2) A more efficient HVAC system has a slower payback—several years—but then it’s gravy.

3) I love to take a bath, but I need a long, deep bathtub. Six feet long, two feet wide, and deep. The average bathtub is a waste. A larger one costs more, but it is more likely to get used. (By contrast, jacuzzis in bathtubs seldom get used, and shallow oval or triangular tubs are a waste. Get INTO the tub and make sure there is good neck support. Many baths are designed only for sitting up—too sharp at the edge.)

4) Put in lots of security grab bars in the bathrooms, whether horizontal, vertical, or diagonal. If horizontal, they double as towel rods. These have to be screwed into studs or into horizontal lumber set into the studs, so you need to plan for them in advance. One slip, fall, and trip to the E.R. Costs much more than do these grab bars. I have 15’ of horizontal bars and one vertical in my bathroom, and I’ve learned to use them all the time. They’ve saved me from many falls.

5) I installed kitchen cabinets in my bathroom over the sink, six feet wide and three feet high (two 24” doors and two 12” doors). I had a glass company put mirrors on the 24” doors. Thus, I have medicine cupboards six feet long and a foot deep. I also had four outlets put in the cupboard for recharging my shaver and things like that. I also had outlets installed below the counter for plugging in a blowdryer. It hangs from a hook below the counter.

6) Have Panasonic ultra quiet fans installed in all bathrooms and something similar in the kitchen over the stove. These must all vent to the outside. The bathroom fans should be 100 cubic feet per minute, and they should be wired to a timer that offers several presets. A stove should always have a strong but quiet fan above it and a range hood, and it has to vent outside so that smell of broccoli doesn’t fill the house. Don’t mount your microwave oven above the stove. That’s too high, anyway, for safety.

7) have your closets well-designed, ideally with a row of shelves as well as hanging room. (I use shelves instead of drawers.) Include hooks for hanging things, too. (Closets are easy to add later, but don’t skimp. They repay the cost on resale.)

These are excellent call outs & considerations!

[Kenswing]

Wow! Some absolutely great advice here. Thanks, Everyone!

So far we have it down to two models. The Laurel Oak and the Bridgeport. There has been a Villages couple that we've corresponded with that shared their experience with the upgrades and stretches they did on their Laurel Oak. You know who you are.. Thanks again!

So this is kind of where we're at now. I know we'll change our minds some once we get there and put eyes directly on things.

Will most likely add third car garage and maybe even a forward stretch. No such thing as a garage that's too big. Especially since the house we're leaving has a four car garage and a 40'X40' and a 25'X30' shop.

The wife is leaning toward vinyl plank flooring. She doesn't want carpet anywhere. I kinda like carpet in the bedrooms but she said I can have an area rug - lol..

I was worried about doing granite after the fact but am leaning that way. I'm not real familiar with quartz and what I've seen didn't give me the fizz like granite does. Will look at more quartz between now and then to give it its fair chance. Bottom line, wife has the say on this.

Will definitely do our own thing with appliances. Wife demands a range hood. The fan on the microwave just won't do. I'm trying to convince her that she doesn't need a double oven - lol

I know we'll need additional outlets and will learn more about ethernet outlets instead of phone line. I doubt we'll get a land line so that will be a waste for us. Also a hose bib on the lanai.

We plan on doing a pool during construction. We've heard the wait for a pool after the fact can be months and we would rather pay the markup now than have the intrusion of construction later.

I'm a big fan of insulation so that will certainly be something to look into.

At our current house we have a tankless water heater with hot water recirculation. We will look into having a recirc line installed during construction. Also need to look into having a larger gas meter. Our current heater is rated at 199,000 BTU's. Had to have a larger meter installed to accommodate. If we can't do it I won't cry too much..

Thanks again. This thread should be helpful to a lot of people. Some great things to take into consideration.

[Kenswing]

Originally Posted by Robbie0723

Max out the garage, they can never be too large in FL.

They can never be too large anywhere..

[joshgun]

My wife and I had five homes built for us. Two years ago after my wife passed away I decided to build in the Villages, orange Blossom Gardens. I knew exactly what I wanted in my home and it only took 2 hrs and 15 minutes to make all selections with the designer at the Street of Dreams design center. I have Hammock plan and I stretched what I could. The options available were more then any other house I was involved in. I knew what I wanted and I was the only decision maker, so decisions could be made quickly. The home was built in about 75 days and finished more than 30 days prior to the estimated closing date. I went with the high end appliance package except I requested a GE Advantium Microwave, which the builder was able to get.

[Pmarlow]

We built less than a year ago. We selected a lot and put down $10,000 in order for us to get 120 days to start the design. This gave us time to sell our house in Michigan. We rented a house in the villages starting August 1st last year. Second week of August was our design week. Took most of the week to get it done. We didn’t add a pool and that can add a significant amount of time to the process. We ordered a Iris 10 model with garage stretched 6ft and lanai stretched 4 ft. We used some of the garage space to add a utility room between the garage and kitchen. Only cost was additional doors and cabinets. Also added a large patio in back for grill, smoker, hammock, etc. Also added gas line for grill and smoker.
Once design was done we paid remaining amount needed to get to 20% on Friday of design week. We received a closing date of November 21. Wood for forms for concrete floor was dropped off at lot before the end of August. House probably could have been ready by November 1st if we were willing to pay to move closing date. We didn’t get fans, major light fixtures and appliances from the Villages. We ordered these while the house was being built and had them installed starting the day after closing. We moved in about 6 days after closing. We have been very happy with the entire process and of course the house.

[Dond1959]

Lots of good advice above. Agree with the stretches and garage. Add an extra outside water outlet, very cheap. We didn’t like the standard mirrors in baths so we had them not install any. Much easier then ripping out something And adding our own. We went with luxury vinyl flooring. Had lots of problems, Great Lakes eventually agreed to pull out all original flooring and replace at no cost. Took about 8 months to get it done but very pleased with the new floor. We had a great installer the second time who obviously knew what he was doing. The first floor was not done correctly which caused all the original problems. If I had to do it over again, I probably would get the standard flooring and replace after closing. We went with quartz, we had it in a previous home and we really like the ease of care. The design process and build went smoothly. We had some minor problems in the first year that were quickly addressed. The floors were the only major issue.

[jump4]

We were please with our sales agent and the construction crew, but not the design process (our closing was April 2020).

Since we were not living down here, we did the design process in a single week. It was one of the most frustrating experiences of my life! There are so many ways the process could be improved. Although the construction process seems to be efficient and well done, the design process stinks.

Opportunities for improvement include: allowing buyers to more freely browse the design center and make tentative selections BEFORE starting the formal design process; providing a clear schedule and milestones at the start of the process; proactive transparency around the full-range of available choices and selections (e.g. which Homecrest cabinet colors are not available in TV, what upgrades are available for garbage disposal, HVAC, garage opener); providing a floorplan that shows everything that is standard or typical (e.g. placement of outlets), transparency of pricing, having a broader range of materials and colors to select from (e.g., not everyone wants gray!); providing a list of top 10 enhancements buyers make when designing any house in TV such as widening driveway to go straight back from cart garage to street, and top 10 enhancements buyers make for each specific model), offering to provide the above information prior to start of formal design process. Good luck!

[jimbo2012]

I was given pricing on each item no issue,
when we weren't sure of an option we were given homes to look at with them in a finished home.

We spent about 9 partial days in design and several trips in homes as I said above,

As for upgrades we asked and were given answers & cost on the spot or next day

you don't need a floor plan for standard, just visit the model you want.

Overall it was a great enjoyable experience, we're in the home now about a week


.

[CoachKandSportsguy]

for those who want to grill, have a natural gas outlet piped to where you will have a grill station or close near by. Natural gas grill is much easier and cheaper to use than propane tanks.

sportsguy

[nyjets53]

Looking at different lots and see prices of 11k to 99k...
What does it cost to build an average designer home on a lot you buy... 1900 Sq foot and just like the ones that are pre built...

[Kenswing]

Originally Posted by nyjets53

Looking at different lots and see prices of 11k to 99k...
What does it cost to build an average designer home on a lot you buy... 1900 Sq foot and just like the ones that are pre built...

You can spend waaaaay more than that on a lot. Some with water views go for well over $200k.

As far as what it will cost to build is model specific. I've found out that a Bridgeport model which is in the 2100sqft range has a base price of $325k. But the average cost after stretches and upgrades is $457k.

[valuemkt]

My wife probably set a record for the number of visits to the design center. Impacted by the designers existing appointments, that process took nearly a month. We already lived here, and were (obviously) in no hurry. The end result was extensive modification to an existing floorplan, with changes we were told would never have been done just a few years ago. Because we decided to build vs buy existing and undergo an extensive remodeling project, we (she) locked everything down in the process and consequently submitted ZERO changes after contract signing. This project was done, per contract in 3 months. in any other universe, this was an easy 6-8 month build project. The Villages supply chain is remarkable. We followed the process very close, as I had a prior affiliation with a northern construction company. I have ZERO complaints about the quality of construction.. We have extensive cabinetry and tile work, and it is exceptional. Nearly all materials were selected from the design center, with the major exception being appliances. Changes outside the design center are problematic and costly, with the cost being RETAIL + sizable markup. Consequently, we bought our gas cooktop through the villages as it was integrated into the quartz island. Post closing, we added wall ovens, refrigerator, wine cooler and beverage cooler from an Orlando dealer. Villages openings and prep for those were precise, to manufacturers specs. Other post closing items were: custom chandelier in foyer hung, garage floor epoxied, lanai screens removed and replaced with double pane sliders, along with split system and shades. Closing was right before christmas 2019. PM if you need anything else.

[Heartnsoul]

We have lived here 13 yrs and did the street of dreams yrs ago. Our best advice to you is watch the building very carefully. you would not believe the mistakes they made in our 1st home. Too long to go into. But if possible for u to watch the building, do it!!

[NatureBoy]

We’re a bit over a year out from moving down. I’m very interested in the “buy from TV vs aftermarket” discussion. It sounds like structural items - stretches, outlets, concrete work - should be done by TV but there are other items like flooring & appliances that may be better and cheaper afterward.

I’ve also heard that the tax assessment is done on the closing cost, so keeping that low can be advantageous. Anyone care to comment on that?

Are there any businesses to help navigate the TV design process? Some of the advice given here could save someone several thousand dollars and be worth paying for.

[GNXGuy]

Keep the information coming. We are heading down next week to look for a lot to build