That's a builder grade package, and not even a medium priced one at that. It's about as low as you can go and not be "apartment grade". Builders don't really get "discounts" until they spend quite a bit at a retailer, and even then it's not much. Margins on cheap appliances can be virtually nothing and there won't be any room to give anybody a discount.

Which appliance brands does your builder get a discount on? Most of the builders we talked to got discounts on Whirlpool or GE (not the higher end Monogram line tho). There were ZERO discounts on the appliances we wanted but we knew that going in.

Are you looking at gas, electric, induction?

M

I agree with GreenDesigns take on the builders allowances for appliances. Most customers go to contract and then find out what they are given for plumbing fixtures, cabinets, appliances, and flooring. When they finally sit down and research what is included and add what it will cost to upgrade it can cause a lot of disappointment. The builders can produce the house for their price, but most customers end up with thousands in upgrades. This is fairly uniform across the industry unless it is a real upscale house with a very high selling price.

$1500 fridge: Samsung
$1500 dishwasher & range: Bosch
$1500 washer and dryer :Samsung front loader

MW does not really matter. Pick either Bosch,Samsung,Sharp or Panasonic based on whatever criteria you want.Price,matching handles,whatever.

$950 Water softner : I don't think you can get one of the big name national brands at this price point. You need to pick one of the regional brands that put together a package of widely available parts. Check out plumbing forum for more exact advice.

Here is a link that might be useful: Plumbing Forum

We can get whatever brand is offered at our local appliance store. I seen maytag, whirlpool, kitchenaid..names like that. Our builder said these appliance stores he works with will give us a builder price. It is not the price on the sticker... Even 10% i'd be happy.

I am looking for gas. I haven't bought appliances for years except for a new washer and dryer. The house we moved into 8 years ago had old appliances that still worked.

My Oven I'm pretty sure is original to the house. 1968 brown GE. Works great. I kept hoping it would die to give me an excuse for a new one. lol Same thing with the stove top. The frige i have is from the 80's and i'm pretty sure it is the same one shown on the movie ET. :) Lol

So, anything is going to feel like a major upgrade to me. I've just read horror stories about new appliances catching on fire and breaking after a few weeks. Trying to avoid that.

We are not building a huge house. I wouldn't dream of spending 3K on an oven or a fridge..maybe for both combined. I don't feel the allowances are too low considering the entire house will be around 240.

oh and we paid $25 for our current water softner used. :) lol works pretty good

I'm not totally familiar with how the allowances work, but would you be better off buying the appliances on your own, at your own pricepoint, and maybe using one of the 0% financing offers so many places like Sears and Best Buy offer? Many of them are offering 0% for 18-24 months.

2.5-5% of the cost of a new home going into appliances is pretty normal.

You are at 2.27% including water softner.

we are building a 2000 sq ft ranch.
3 bedrooms
2 1/2 baths

This is what i'm thinking so far

two on the garage
one on the porch
1 foyer
1 dining room
3 closets
3 bedrooms
2 baths with vanity
1 half bath ceiling light
maybe one ceiling fan in great room
3 pendants in kitchen maybe 5 cans in here
maybe 3 or 4 cans in great room

As far as the percent goes it also includes a water heater

Ps. thank you all for the feedback on allowances. I've never built a home before and all this is new to me.
garbage disposal is included too

do those usually go in appliance allowance

oops ignore the lighting post above

Check Sears Outlet.

We've scored some incredible deals during our renovation from there, obviously your mileage may vary.

We purchased a 42" built in Jenn-Air refrigerator for $1K (seriously) and a 36" 500 series Bosch induction for $500.. The refrigerator was local and we had the cooktop shipped from S Carolina. You can check the inventory nationwide. It said the cooktop wouldn't ship, but we called the store and made arrangements.

It wouldn't hurt to check, you may get lucky since Sears is closing their Great Indoors stores.

In the planning stages now - I can tell you this though - there will be no builder allowance because I won't allow the builder to put appliances in. Course I'm going full custom so what I say goes. I did the builder appliances once - never again. Depending on how hard your water is, that $950 may be high. Costco has a nice unit for about 1/2 that, but you need to make sure it is right for your place & the amount of water you will use.

I will second the opinion to take the allowance and do your own shopping on everything you can. If you allow the builder to choose, you'll get the cheapest thing out there. I bought my own doors, door hardware, cabinet hardware, sinks, toilets, faucets, lighting, appliances and some other things I can't remember, and I got discounts of much better than 10% on all of it, more like 25-50%. My builder installed them, but I purchased them. (Be sure your builder is OK with this--mine actually encouraged it and enjoyed watching me shop!). My method was to target the appliances I wanted, picking the brand and model in each category that I felt best met my needs, but were perhaps just slightly out of our price range. I picked the appliance to fit the task I wanted it to do--not to match the handles or even the stainless steel, as most things were not next to each other anyway. (Fridge was the exception) I considered performance and reliability first, then features that I thought would be 'nice to have'. Then I shopped, waited for sales, waited for rebates, sometimes waited for holidays, as some online places offered an extra 5% off on every holiday weekend. One day my husband noticed that the toilets we had chosen were on sale at Home Depot. They were $50 less each online than in the store with free delivery. You would do well to start looking as soon as your kitchen layout is decided. You can make your purchase when the time/price is right and then arrange delivery when the builder needs it. There are many people on this board that have done similar things--Deeageaux, I think it is, is a master, getting super high end things at truely amazing prices. When you find what you want, don't be afraid to ask the salesperson if it will go on sale, or will there be a rebate on this item. Sometimes, you can get both if you time it right, but not always.

Good luck to you, and enjoy the new home.

Cj

It gets worse. I want my fridge and dishwasher to match. I also wanted stainless "LOOK", but not real stainless due to it being a pain to keep clean, and clean.

I decided on GE Clean Steel fridge and dishwasher.
NOW...I find the Clean Steel dishwasher won't fit.
AND..have heard that "clean steel" does not look like GE real stainless.
(If it's not one thing, it's another)

I've been doing my research on-line at AJMADISON. Simply because they carry so many different makes and models, and it's easy to compare features and specifications.