Wow! @crowly48. Thanks so much for sharing all of that. I'm so sorry that happened to you! I will definitely hope for a better experience, but it's good to be aware and prepared. I've heard of builders not telling you the prices of upgrades, which totally blows my mind. How are you supposed to make any decisions or stick within our budget?

Be sure to do your homework. The cost of each upgrade might be less if you source the materials yourself. Lighting and flooring are big ticket items and often the choices are limited. Find out how much of a discount you would get by buying from someone else.

Thank you @keetsey! We're trying to research as much as we can up front for that exact reason. It's so frustrating because we only get one appointment and don't have information on most of the upgrades so that we can research in advance. They sure know how to get you! Thankfully my husband and I have done some remodeling before, so we have a rough idea of how much some things should cost, but we're by no means experts.

Make a list of everything you might want and then be prepared to delete some things (or maybe even add a few). :)
Example, do you want soft close drawers on your cabinet drawers? On the cabinet doors? Upgraded lighting important to you? How about flat panels on your cabinets or raised panel?
I got raised panel in the kitchen and key drop entry but flat panel fronts in the baths in order to save money.

Remember, things like faucets and lighting can always be changed after you move in (by you, I mean) so in those things you could save money by going with the Standard offered by your builder. So maybe concentrate on things at the design center that you'd have a hard time changing out later, after you've closed.

Do you want upper crown molding on the cabinets? Or both upper and lower crown molding on the cabinets?
To save a bit, I got upper crown molding only but if you want to add lighting under the cabinets you might want the bottoms of the upper cabinets done too.

When I first received my price list (a few weeks after our visit) I was then given the option of eliminating things that were too pricy. And I did--that was when I went to the flat panel fronts on the bath
cabinets. And I can hardly tell the difference and am very pleased.

A couple people in our neighborhood chose cabinet hardware only in the kitchen (to save money). I got cabinet hardware throughout but If when you get your price list you need to cut a little, that's what I've heard others are done.

Oh, another hint....if your price list includes specific model numbers, check that model number against your records or online. I just discovered today that my kitchen sink faucet model number was not what we'd ordered and it will be replaced.

The upgrades that were important to me were the cabinets and floor tile (I put floor tile throughout). Other things might be important to you tho.

Don't sign anything until you have the prices and are completely sure it's correct and you don't want to change or eliminate something.

Btw, it took me two visits to the design center in order to choose everything but other design centers might do it all in one shot. My first visit was to choose cabinets, flooring and granite. The second was to again choose flooring (the one I'd chosen had suddenly been discontinued), then lighting, Listello for the showers and kitchen areas, and faucets and sinks. Each visit took about 2 hours (and then we had to go back a third time but only because the tile delivered wasn't correct).

I know....a lot to choose and decide on in such a short time! It's mind- boggling!

Oh, and if you have a budget, don't be afraid to tell them upfront. My design center did ask because it helps them choose items to offer that would be within your budget.

I hope this helps! :)

You can spend your allowance anywhere you choose, check your contract but that is what I was told and that is what I did.

How'd you do at your appointment?

Thanks for asking! We just got home, and it wasn't too bad. We didn't leave with a final cost, but they did tell us the prices of items as we went along. Since we created a budget for each area in advance, it helped us keep a mental tally.

I made sure to take pictures of all of the items we chose, including serial numbers, etc. (thanks for that tip!) so we can go over the final list when they send it to us tomorrow.

We had a lot of "maybe" items, so that should give us some wiggle room. We selected a lot of things that might be "nice to have" but if we have to cross them off it'll be okay.

The only thing that was really shocking was the flooring cost, which was one of our biggest priorities. We chose a hardwood that they considered a "mid range" upgrade (everything was tiered like yours was - except they told us the prices) and it was WAY more than we were expecting (and we put similar flooring in our previous home). Unfortunately we could only do the ground floor hardwood and will have to do carpet upstairs.

I definitely think all of the pre-planning and research we did helped us. And it also helped that my husband and I have very similar taste.

Thanks for all of your advice!

You're welcome! Sounds as if you got a great design center! You'll get the prices tomorrow? Wow.
Our first appt was in early January and it took us weeks to get the first price estimate and another appt. then the price list was incorrect ( there were items all mixed up and some we hadn't even ordered). Our last visit to the design center was two weeks ago because they goofed up again. Sigh. On the other hand, the builder ended up giving us lots and lots of freebies and upgrades at no cost in addition to our discount. In the end, we paid $22,000 of the total cost of about $43,000. Most of that price was flooring and cabinets. Wish I had your builder and design center tho!

Good luck and much happiness in your new home! :)

Thank you so much! I hope the rest of the process continues to go smoothly. There was a glitch with their computer yesterday that showed our upgraded bathroom flooring costing less than the standard flooring. They said they'd honor it as long as we don't make any changes to it. Keeping my fingers crossed on that one (and wishing we'd decided to upgrade all of the bathrooms and not just the master).

Nicole can you please tell us the name of your builder and design center???

The builder was Shea Homes. We actually just went through the process again for a new home with Toll Brothers, so if you have any questions about the process, I’m happy to help. It can be really overwhelming.

I just built a house with True Homes in Fort Mill SC and the experience was fine up until the END during the walk through. June 2017 While looking at lots this "salesperson" was not knowledgeable about the lot at all. (which needs to be corrected!! - how can you sell property you know nothing about!!) All that was mentioned was that if I wanted larger lot that it would cost 2k more and since it was near a drainage area that it was our responsibility to keep clear ( that wasnt a problem we wanted the extra square footage for our hot tub and fire pit- and mentioned our intentions throughout the entire process) purchased lot and began building. The builder in charge was, knowledgeable and on top of things. July we went to showroom. It took (2) 4 hour sessions 2 days in a row -which I highly recommend instead of (1) 8hr session and she was great! In october, since we live out of state we face timed with the Lot salesperson and the builder in charge to review all things which included extra charge for special electrical for the hot tub, extra charge for the concrete slab that the hot tub would sit on, and 6 ft bump out for sun porch and mentioned again our plans for a fire pit with a gas line since the house will be outfitted with gas for the stove that didnt seem to be problem and had to work that out with gas company since they dont get involved with that any more. (additionally, I put in extra door in sunroom (extra charge) that would lead to hot tub for easy access. At showroom in july and during the october meeting this was all mentioned again AND NO ONE SAID ANYTHING. House gets built just as we wanted and we go to walkthru. while touring the 2nd floor my DH measures for the lighting for the pool table and was promptly told that the 2nd floor cannot hold pool tables or waterbeds only furniture and ppl. (where is the professionalism!!!) Now, as we tour the back, the yard Is literally cut in half by a drainage divot so now there is no room to put pavers no room for gas grill and certainly no room for fire pit and the slab for the hot tub goes right to edge of level ground which is literally 4-6 ft from bedroom window. (i want to mention that we went down during construction phase the back yard was level so we didnt think there was an issue). Builder in charge cites some ridiculous story about the land developers needed to do this for drainage after house was completed. Why did no one know this from the start??? They are the builders with the experience and if they mentioned this up front i would have bought another lot from them ( they wouldnt have lost the sale) Now, not only do they have us in a legal contract with no way out unless i want to lose 35K and the house. True Homes has now lost at least 3 more potential sales as I have others who would like to build as well. The decision is to sell this house and start again elsewhere. I am hearing so many horror stories I now dont know which direction to go in. any insight/advice would be great. thanks for listening.

@nicole lang: I am going to my appt at the Toll Brothers design center this Friday iA..how has your experience been with them so far ? Have you been through the design center selection process ? I'm nervous ..

Nicole, I am doing research in how to prepare new homeowners for their design appointment. Can you share what you did to prepare that made you feel more comfortable?

@jenwoodstock I’d highly advise your article to include going to the design center before hand if they can. Meritage Homes (I ended up not purchasing, long story, mostly tied to the fact the sales person lied to me) has what they call an open house. They only happen certain nights, and my sales person wanted me to sign the contract so I wouldn’t lose incentives (SHOCKER: incentives were the same 3 days later). I waited, and glad I went. There were tons of people there and it made me realize for this specific builder, the process wasn’t special. Not enough control over what goes in. I’m not claiming to be a designer by any means, but I didn’t like the quality of most materials that were basic.

I got pricing for everything and realized quickly that my upgrades were going to push me into a better builder.

Nicole can you share your experience with toll brothers? Did they provide any design center allowances or incentives?

I Have a question. Do you pay them then and there like upfront??? because i don’t understand