If you can't decide on items now, you might consider a cost plus contract. You probably have to give the builders some idea of budget. Usually your square footage gives them some idea of what your plans are.

If you want to hide what you expect to pay, then you really have to tell them something.

Thanks! We've definitely have given a 'range', but just haven't said what our absolute limit is. It's not that we want to hide what we expect to pay, it's just that I don't want to pay more for something then we should. Just because I say I'm willing to pay $40K for a car, doesn't mean I should pay $40K if it really is a $30K car, you know? I think the same applies for our house. Just because we have $X, doesn't mean we can't and shouldn't get the same house for less than that $X.

I agree that the builder should not ask what your budget is before he bids your plan. But many do because they're trying to get an idea of how upscale you'll want your appliances, fixtures, countertops, etc. to be. The problem is that, even if a builder gives you a bid within your budget, you still won't know what quality of materials the allowances he gives will really cover. One builder will bid the plan based on the cheapest "builder grade" carpet, tile, appliances, countertops, fixtures, etc while another will bid it based on an unspecified level of upgrades.
To the extent that there are any "allowances" within the bids you receive, you are not comparing apples to apples.

And, unfortunately, builder "allowances" are almost never set high enough to purchase the quality of finishes you really want. Sometimes they're set so artificially low you can't possibly purchase anything for the amount set - much less anything you would want to have in your home.

Rather than paying attention to my specs, one of the builders I asked to bid tried to put in an allowance for plumbing fixtures of just $5000. My home has three full baths (one with a claw-foot tub, one with an extra-long garden tub, and one with a particular neo-round shower available only from one manufacturer) plus two powderrooms. Since I had already priced claw-foot tubs ($3000 for the least expensive one I could find), garden tubs ($1800 for the one specified), the neo-round shower unit ($1600), the toilets I'd specified ($300 each X 5) plus the sinks and faucets for all of the above and kitchen and laundry sinks, I knew his allowance was ridiculously low! His lighting fixture "allowance" was equally low-balled. I handed his bid back to him and told him I had specified exactly the fixtures I wanted and that if he was willing to contract that he would supply the specified items for the allowance amounts, we would talk but that he might want to do a bit more research. He revised his bid upward by nearly $25,000.
The best way around this issue is to specify as many of the details as you possibly can BEFORE you send your plan out for bids and then only accept bids that do not include "allowance" amounts. I.e., the builder agrees to include everything specified for the bid amount.

Some of the items you should specify in detail - by manufacturer, design/style, color, item number, size, and so forth - include:

1) Roofing material (Do you want asphalt shingles? 30 year architectural shingles? wood shakes? clay tiles? metal?) 2) Siding materials (brick? stone? hardi? aluminum or vinyl siding?)
3) Windows and window hardward
4) Doors and door hardware(don't forget the garage doors and door openers)
5) Flooring (carpet/carpetpads? tile? hardwoods? stained cement?)
6) Wallboard and ceiling finish level (Level 5 smooth? knockdown? orange peel?)
7) Paint, primers and stains for each part of the house(manufacturer, quality, number of coats to be applied, and method of application. You should probably also figure out how many different colors of paint you're going to want to use and specify that. The exact colors can wait till later.)
8) Millwork (crown molding, baseboards, chair moulding, etc.)
9) Stair parts (newels, balusters, treads, risers, handrails.)
10) Plumbing fixtures (tubs, shower units, toilets, faucets, kitchen sinks, laundry sinks, bath sinks)
11) Lighting fixtures (don't forget ceiling fans)
12) Built-in cabinetry (kitchens, bathrooms, laundry, mudroom, plus bookcases throughout the house)
13) Kitchen appliances
13) Fireplace and mantle
14) HVAC system
15) Hot water heaters
16) Prewired audio/video systems
17) Rain gutters
18) Decking materials
19) Mirrors, towel bars, toilet paper holders... all the little "finish" stuff.
20) Landscaping (watering systems, how many plants and what types, etc.)

I'm sure others can and will add to this list but don't despair. You'll have to make all these decisions eventually, you might as well do it up front. Plus doing research to decide on all these details ahead of time will also give you a chance to get a feel for what items really cost and help you determine whether or how much you need to cut back on your desires.

Ultimately, unless you have an unlimited budget (HAH!) there will come a point when you will have to compromise and purchase something less costly than the item you'ld prefer to have.

Better to shave costs as you go along on items you don't really care all that much about than to get to the end of the build and discover that your budget just won't stretch to cover those gorgeous granite countertops that you really really really want and have been dreaming about since you first started talking "new home".

Besides, "allowances" are bugbears in residential construction contracts. They are the basis of more disagreements between builders and owners than anything else I can think of. See the link below for some examples of issues.

Trust me, the more you specify details ahead of time, the happier you will be with your new home and the less problems you'll have with your builder.

Here is a link that might be useful: Avoid Contractor Allowances

Thanks bevangel...that's exactly our concern re: the allowances...who knows what their amount really gets us and if we've agreed to a 'number' we'll get completely hosed as we go along. :)

Guess I better get shopping for everything :)

I think allowances are fine fi you are doing a fixed price build and you don't want to make all your decisions in the planning phase.

We had an $8k lighting allowance and spent $5k (and about $1k we bought ourselves). We stayed within our tile allowance despite tiling more area. Carpet allowance was fine.

Allowances are only a problem when you don't know what they really cover or they are ridiculously low. I was surprised to learn that lighting allowance covered smoke detectors and door bell. It didn't really matter in our situation but if you were fixed price, that would be pretty annoying.

We had a tile allowance of $10.50 per square which is pretty good but it did include install at $6.

The only way out of allowances is full specs at the getgo which doesn't sound possible for you.

I don't think there is a problem with allowance either as long as they are based on something. We have a cabinet allowance based on the builder submitting our plans to two cabinet companies we liked and giving specs (full inset, painted, etc.). Countertops were bid as carrera in the kitchen and master and ceasarstone in the kids baths and mud bath. We are probably going to change this around some but it gave us a pretty accurate idea. Same with carpet - we wanted wool carpet in our master bedroom and some sort of more durable carpet in the boys bedrooms and playrooms. We have hardwood everywhere else except for baths. I was familiar with the prices of both so what my builder said seemed right to me.

In fact, our builder talked to us to get an idea of what we were looking for and then bid out every single thing in the house from the water meter on up to construct his bid. It is a cost plus contract. He has done quite a bit of negotiating so the bids are coming down from what he contracted, but we also have a guaranteed maximum price contract. He is a very experienced builder and is building 3 big houses right now so he is getting some price cuts for volume too (pouring 3 basement foundations instead of one, etc.). He also generally builds the type of house we are building (or nicer) so he has an idea from just having worked with our architect what finishes we want.

Does your architect have a recommendation?

Lighting was taken completely out of my contract (except for can lights and installation). My builder usually does this as there is a huge range and most people want to see the framed rooms before they select hanging fixtures.

I think the best thing you can do is figure out what you want and what they cost so you will know if allowances are reasonable. Our appliance allowance is something he came up with and was calculated assuming Sub Zero/Wolf grade appliances. It is almost exact if we were to choose those - but we may do some other, less expensive brands on a few things so that will help too.

We did a cost plus contract. We asked 3 builders to get estimates and all them were very close to each other. I do wish we had gotten copies of all the bids and looked at things more closely on what was included. The areas of the build that went over budget were areas out of our control -like excavation, plumbing-it was always that the bid didn't include x, y, z.

We were pretty good about staying within budget of our allowances.

I can think of a non-nefarious reason the builder wants to know your budget. There may not be enough detail in the specs, so knowing your budget lets him back into it with selections. Lower budget gets thermofoil cabinets. High budget gets walnut. Builder carpet vs. antique limestone imported from the Middle East. Custom built-up trim vs. stock from HD. 3 tab shingle room vs. slate.

It's all about the details!

Just cause they ask you what your budget is, doesn't mean you have to give the highest amount you are willing to pay...

Don't tell them what your budget is. Figure out what your interior is. Maybe you need an interior designer, or did your architect do interior? Show the plans and specs to contractor, let them bid for it. If you give them a price, they'll definitely go over. Not that they're not going to go over anyway, but maybe you'll have a chance. CHANCE... My suggestion is to not give them a budget and shop around and ask them why it cost so much. And also, don't be afraid to call up vendors to see if they are making a buck or 2 on your products. Good luck~