Builders are hungry now. I don't know if there's ever been a better time to negotiate home prices. You won't get it unless you ask, so ask away.

I'm confused though about Builder #1 vs Builder #2. Do you prefer one over the other, or are you shopping strictly on price? Can I ask who the builders are (I'm in Columbus too)?

I assume you can only choose from one of these two builders?

We have shopped 2 neighborhoods that at least include 2 of the following builders, Centex now Fischer, Virginia Homes, and MI Homes. We prefer one floorplan of one builder over the others but don't want to single that one out yet. The builders all seem to have similiar base prices with similar square footage. We have been pricing out all the options that we want and seeing what builders have already included some options in the base that we have to pay extra for the other builder. I just wonder if they will look at what the other builder's standard features are and take that in consideration when we make them an offer. MI Homes, in particular, had a lot of features that we wanted but that is not the floorplan that we fell in love with.

All I can say is do your research on all the builders. A house with a great floorplan isn't worth a dime if the quality is crap. Once you find the best builder of the three, then do your negotiations with them.

Again, because of the market, they should be willing to negotiate. I can't imagine they're selling a lot of houses right about now. If MI is offering a free finished basement with theirs and you don't want to go with MI, I don't see how mentioning that to your chosen builder could hurt. All they can do is say no. It's a lot like buying a used car. Be prepared to walk out of their office if you don't like what you hear. I bet they cave, at least somewhat, if you show you're not in love with them or their house and are willing to go elsewhere.

I am just surprised at how a builder can nickel and dime you for everything. Yes we have looked at the quality in the building of these houses and the neighborhoods. You definitely pay for a nice neighborhood. We are currently in a MI home that is about 12 years old but not happy with the insulation of it and the furnace and A/C. Got to the point where we were wondering if it was worth fixing the problems if we could or moving into a newer bigger house (our family is getting bigger). It also seems that builders are bragging out about how energy efficient they are, maybe we should see how much their model homes costs to run. I don't know it is just all too overwhelming but we have a make a decision soon.

They might negotiate some, but you are more likely to get "upgrades" included over the price reduced. Builders seem to prefer to keep pricing the same or discount additional items over reducing the cost of the house.

Whatever you do, stay away from Schumacher. I'm in the Columbus area too. If you do a search for Schumacher in this forum, you'll see why I say that. They do a lot of "creative math" in their pricing scheme, so make sure your builder isn't doing the same thing.

Not meaning to hijack but....Wow, seems to be a few Columbus people on this thread! I can throw my hat into that ring, too. We live in Dublin. I would love to be able to compare notes, subs etc... with anyone local that has any great tips to pass on. I know the market and builders in our area pretty well but I'm sure I don't know it all.
comfortdog

You can email me at highlandwarlord@gmail.com if you want to compare notes about the builders in Columbus. I am stilling learning but have learned a few things.

Those are all large track builders. I personally would never use them to build my house. You will get builders grade everything(the very cheapest possible material they can find). It'll be built to code but just code is not much better than a len-too. Of course they will tell you their HVAC and a few other things are better than your 12 yr old house is because that is req. by code. Ask them what they actually build 'above' code and they will probably start mumbling and stuttering. If they are claiming they are supposedly building green, ask them specifically how in very detail. Alot of builders are throwing out the word 'green' just so they can snag people that aren't educated in the building process and it's really a bait and switch or just total BS.
Also remember, you said you are building a bigger house. Utilities will never come down in the future only go up. Might be something to think about.
Sorry to rant but I get sooooooo frustrated with these track builders around here adv. so much BS. I've watched their houses being built and will stay faaaaaaarrrrrr away from them.

robin0919, I was honestly thinking the same thing about all these builders but didn't really want to say it since a lot of people don't really have a choice because they want to live in a particular area. If you want quality, you need to find an independent, custom builder. And even then you need to watch them like a hawk or pay the really big bucks for the few real quality builders out there. That means you can't live in a subdivision owned by MI, you need to find a lot that lets you choose your own builder.

All the big builders are virtually the same. I have friends that built with Wayne homes and I'm disgusted every time I hear her complaining about the next thing that's gone wrong in their two year old home. They got screwed, mostly because they're naive, and it disgusts me that these big builders get away with building such crap.

We currently live in a house that's nearly 100 years old and the house we're building should hopefully last that long thanks to all the effort DH has put into monitoring the construction quality. I'd hate to see what all these MI/Dominion type developments are going to look like in 100 years. I imagine they'll all be torn down and replaced twice in that amount of time.

parkejo, you say you currently live in an MI home and are not happy so I'm surprised you're even considering MI for your next home. Honestly, unless you just absolutely HAVE to live in a particular development, I'd say look for a lot elsewhere and research some true custom builders. You'd be a lot happier with the quality of the house in the long run.