[Halle]

Originally Posted by logdog

I remember reading somewhere on TOTV that stairs aren't provided because the developer doesn't want to accept liability in case of a fall. I also recall that someone in my village was seriously hurt or maybe even killed early this year after falling off these stairs.

The person who died after falling from a ladder was using a free standing ladder to access the attic, not built-in attic stairs. We had already scheduled to have attic stairs installed and the work was done the evening of this tragic accident.

[elevatorman]

The Designers have some flooring installed. Our Begonia has an area 8 X 8 with plywood. Some have more it depends on the roof style. We have a hip roof and the flooring does not extend toward the front of the garage, it is just in the center. The trusses that the flooring is on have 2 X 6 joists, most of the others are 2 X 4. Our neighbor does not have a hip style roof and his floor extends to the front. I guess it is all about headroom. There is a light installed at the center overhead. We keep all of the christmas decorations as well as luggage and other plastic containers with things my wife just could not part with.

[batman911]

Lets do the math. $500 saved by the developer by not installing gutters, attic stair, etc. times 50,000 homes = $25,000,000. That's a lot of elk hunting trips paid for.

[Tom Hannon]

Originally Posted by batman911

Lets do the math. $500 saved by the developer by not installing gutters, attic stair, etc. times 50,000 homes = $25,000,000. That's a lot of elk hunting trips paid for.

Maybe so but instead of charging something like $264,276 for a new home, why not add the $500 and make it $264,776. Nobody would think about the price and they'd be happy. For instance...on my Iris, we did not get a washer or dryer. Had to lay out a grand them.

[batman911]

I agree with you Tom but I believe the developer feels that they want to make the base price of the homes as low as possible to keep them affordable to people on fixed incomes. I personally would rather pay a little more up front than deal with the individual vendors (and scammers) and noise and dirt from renovations and additions. I guess making those items an option complicates the building process too much when you build so many homes per month.

[Niels]

Originally Posted by Tom Hannon

Maybe so but instead of charging something like $264,276 for a new home, why not add the $500 and make it $264,776. Nobody would think about the price and they'd be happy. For instance...on my Iris, we did not get a washer or dryer. Had to lay out a grand them.

The Villages does offer washers and dryers as an option. However, I have been told that they offer a limited selection of appliances at prices that are not competitive. Therefore, most people just buy them on their own.

[Tom Hannon]

Originally Posted by Niels

The Villages does offer washers and dryers as an option. However, I have been told that they offer a limited selection of appliances at prices that are not competitive. Therefore, most people just buy them on their own.

In our case, we bought a spec home. "What you see is what you get." I felt we got everything else we wanted and the lack of a washer/ dryer wasn't going to make us walk away. Even with the added expense of the washer/dryer - we still came in under the price range we were working with.