When my husband and I had our first home built as early-20s newlyweds (production home, not custom), we deleted as many appliances as they let us (everything except the dishwasher) precisely because we didn't want to finance them for 30 years, *and* because we didn't want to be limited by the builder's offerings. :-)

My dad also suggested we take credits on anything else we possibly could, that was considered a more consumable good (like ceiling fans, light fixtures, etc.).

Thank you!! I just wanted to make sure I wasn't crazy in my thinking! LOL! Plus, with Black Friday coming up, there are a lot of opportunities to save a lot of money on some really nice appliances!

Makes perfect sense to me, but I'd check on one thing: Just how much discount will you receive? Thing is, the builder is going to get a bulk discount, so he may be paying very little for those appliances -- and the discount may not be enough to cover the appliances you'd choose.

Still, anything you're not financing for 30 years is a win.

Pennies on the dollar credit is the norm. make sure on the pricing and wording in your contract.

I checked with the builder already .. I would get a credit of about $3,000 for no appliances.

Take the credit and go shopping. You will probably spend double the credit amount! :-)

Find out the exact models you would receive for the $3,000 and shop around and see if you are happy with those models and what you could purchase them for yourself. We chose not to include appliances in our financing.

Builders get a discount on appliances but you don't. Sjre, you may get a $3,000 credit but what will that buy you if you pick out your own...a refrigerator and dishwasher at the most. You'll be paying a lot more out of pocket which is fine if you have the money to do so.

When we built our home came with a Whirlpool range, dishwasher, and over-the-range microwave and they were only worth a $800 credit or something ridiculously low like that. We opted to keep those appliances (except we upgraded to a range hood and built-in microwave). We already had to purchase a refrigerator, washer, and dryer so we didn't want to pay extra for other appliances. We will be able to sell them when we decide to upgrade, or just use them until they die.

I understand not wanting to finance those items and wanting to pick the exact models out yourself. However, for folks that are somewhat indifferent to appliance models - you'll save cash if you go with the builder provided ones and just bring the extra $3k to closing for down payment. You won't be financing them if you cover the costs in a down payment.

I went with the builder's appliances instead of the credit. When I totaled up the cost of the appliances in the package, it would have cost me $7,000 more than the credit (high end appliances). It's also less of a hassle for me because I don't have to deal with deliveries and installation. If you don't want to finance the purchase, can't you just add $3K to the down payment?

My opinion is finance them and invest the $3,000. Interest rates are so low right now that even if you have money it is better to finance them.

Increasing your loan size and investing the difference is an entirely different conversation which requires knowledge about your overall financial picture and spending habits which no one on here should be advising you on.

As to the question at hand - I strongly agree with the posters above that you should see how far that $3k would go towards the appliances (and remember to include delivery and taxes - plus if you buy them from the builder he's responsible for installing them - make sure that is the case if you supply them yourself. If not, make sure to include that in your price as well). And there could be unforeseen costs if your chosen appliances require modifications to the cabinetry and/or underlying electrical, plumbing and venting. So just make sure you are doing a full apples/apples comparison.

As others have said, if you don't want to include the $3k in your loan, just put that $3k down at closing. A wise decision imo as financing something for 30yrs which has a lifespan of 10 is not a good idea.

As for not wanting to "finance" them for 30 years, why not delete light fixtures, fans, faucets, counter tops, etc. too? That starts to sound silly. On my last build each time we removed something from the builders standard items we did not receive much compensation for them. Not even close to what we paid out of pocket for the "upgraded" item, but we were fine with that because we knew what we wanted.

As previously mentioned, builders get discounts at stores and you may be better off keeping them in your build package. Another question would be whether or not you could get your final appraisal without appliances installed.

Increasing your loan size and investing the difference is an entirely different conversation which requires knowledge about your overall financial picture and spending habits which no one on here should be advising you on.

All advise on all forums is general advise and, of course, needs to be filtered through the needs of the individuals. However, since we are giving general advice mine isn't controversial or particularly dependent on the OP's financial situation. While giving significant life planning advice maybe something that requires a better understanding of goals, etc. That is not the case here.

We know the OP has the option of financing the $3,000 and is considering not doing so because the OP asked, "I'm technically paying interest on for 30 years. Why not knock $3,000 off my build price by saying no appliances, lower my monthly mortgage (I know, not by much), and I won't be paying interest on them for 30 years. Am I wrong in my thinking here?" So my advice specifically addresses his question. And the answer is: yes, because you are forgetting about the time value of money when doing your calculation.

The total payments of $13.47 per month over the life of 30 years is $4,489.20, so at first blush it may seem a no-brainer to buy them. However, the purchasing power of a dollar goes down over time, the real value of $13.47 per month is about $3,179.16 once adjusted for inflation. I think it is fair to say that spreading payments out 30 years for only 179.16 of lost buying power is a fair trade.

This assumes that you will not exceed the standard deduction so you will get no benefit from the mortgage interest deduction. If you do exceed the standard deduction by $105 then your total inflation adjusted payments would be $2,826.31 which of course is a savings of $173.69 of buying power.

We can also look at the investment in a municipal bond fund. Investing the $3,000 into a 3.5% municipal bond as a sinking fund will still be better. Investing in a broad market mutual fund with 6% performance will make all the payments while amassing $4,352 of money saved. The lowest annualized performance for a 30 year period of the Dow Jones Industrial Average was from 1954 to 1984 when the annualized return went all the way down to 8.17%. Using this return for our $3,000 investment we will make all the payments plus have $11,940.64 after 30 years not including the tax benefit for mortgage interest deductions of $481.32.

Now in the interest of full disclosure that $11,940.64 will probably only have the buying power of $4,762.95 in 30 years. But then again it is money you wouldn't have had anyway so all good.

In the end, I feel my advice was pretty solid and generic enough to not need to do all the calculations but now you have some more information to make an informed decision.