How exciting -- another step closer to your dream house! I think if you can let the builder know what you are trying to get out of the meeting, he/she might better figure out the best way to help you: "why are you the right builder for my dream house," "should I buy this property for my dream house," "how much do you think it would cost to build my dream house here," all of the above? something else? I wouldn't be so concerned about coming across as a "silly first time builder," personally I would want more education about what I didn't already know that I should know. Especially since it sounds like you are already talking with an architect who ultimately could become your guide during the building process. When we first met with builders, I would affirmatively say that we had not built a house before, here's what we're thinking about but you are the experts so we want your opinions, and what else should we be asking. The contractors knew that we would be talking to other contractors and using an architect, so there was every incentive for them to be forthcoming and helpful rather than trying to take advantage of any initial lack of knowledge on our part. At some point, you will want to get references and see completed projects. And, as still_waters points out, the whole "getting to know you" part is very important as you ultimately will be spending lots of time with the one you choose. Good luck!

See, I'd just tell my DH that he could enjoy the sunrise while he's doing the laundry rather than while he's making coffee! ;) I kind of like the look of latest rendition, but I'm not loving the function. Leaving the laundry in the MBR would kill it for me. I know you don't mind it, but I can't imagine that it wouldn't be a sticking point for some potential buyer down the road. It would be for me. The issue raised earlier about kids having to come in the parents' room to do their laundry as they got older would be even stickier with the addition of another bedroom--i.e., room for a second kid with laundry needs. Could your stackable W/D fit in that closet area in the mudroom? Also, how will you use this desk? Will it become your home office space? If not, it seems like it would become a clutter magnet, ruining that nice view. I still prefer the rendition above where you reuse your sink and five-panel door. I think it makes the space far more useful in a house where useful space is at a premium.

Just a quick update on the builders I'd originally mentioned. (After consideration, we've recently decided to request quotes on a larger pool than we'd originally looked at.) Presidential: I submitted a dimensioned drawing on Tuesday asking for an updated quote & haven't heard back yet. I think I can deduce the extra cost based on some of the line items from the original quote, but would certainly like to know for sure. Dolphin: Good quote, weird experience. Has anyone else worked with these guys before? Curious if your experience was anything like mine, or if this was an anomole? They came last night (an hour late, due to being hung up at a previous appointment, but whatever... figured I'd forgive it & see how the actual meeting went.) Even though I had already very carefully measured the yard and access, he spent the 1st 10-15 minutes re-measuring everything. I guess I can understand that; some people probably aren't as obsessively careful as I was. While he was doing that He gave us some ziploc bags full of pictures to look at (though we'd seen just about everything we could possiblly hope to see by now online), and we waited for him to finish. He then proceeded to take the next 2 hours to meticulously draw the exact same pool dimensions I'd already given him onto a larger piece of paper. (I gave him an actual CAD drawing I did with full dimensions, placed in the yard with required setbacks, summed perimeter ft, surface feet, etc.) He sort of messed up his drawing and we had to go over it and have him re-do some things. He used a bunch of architectual tools & a calculator to come to the exact same dimensions I'd already given him, and finally quoted me a pretty decent price. Of course, I was able to ask him a bunch of questions along the way, but it was still a pretty weird experience, and he wasn't a good multi-tasker, so it really stretched out the time he was here. (I already had my questions before he got to the house, so I could have easily asked them via phone or email, so I didn't see any real value-add to having him at the house.) I sort of get the "old-school" approach, but honestly, the only real thing that scares me off a bit from using these guys was the lack of technology involved in their pitch. Maybe I am not the norm here. Anyway, when it was all said and done, he gave me a price, but left without giving me a quote sheet or 2D/3D renderings of the pool. The latter was less of an issues since I'd already done all that myself, but I literally had to snap a cell-phone picture of the quote that he penciled in on his drawing before he rolled it up and took it with him. So right now I feel a little conflicted by these guys. I do believe that, at the end of the day, they build a good pool with a lot of the add-ons you want packaged in, for a fair price. But would have been nice to see this company had stepped into the 90s (let alone the 2000s or 2010s!) California Pools: Still haven't heard back from these guys. Maybe Cliff is trolling boards here at GardenWeb and decided that my calling him a turd didn't warrant a response from them! LOL... anyway, i sent a follow-up email to him today. If I don't get a quote by end of day, they're out of the running. I might call one or two of the smaller guys to see what they have to offer, and we'll make our decision within a week or so. That's all for now! Dan

Motherof3, if you'd like an excel spreadsheet for budgeting I'd be happy to share mine with you. I'm doing basically what you're talking about so it's probably pretty accurate to your job. If you're comfy with 400K than you're probably ok with budget issues. I'm pushing $250 now, for a pretty high end job (over half of that is the kitchen). $400 seems high if you're not adding on to the house...but heck, in every community it's different. IF we'd have gone design/build we were talking numbers like $350k so given who you're talking to, that could be right. When we started pushing the budget upwards over $150 we decided we should look to our options. First, was the value there (we paid $600 to have an "as proposed" appraisal done). It did justify the expense as reasonable for resale. (I wanted to see a minimum of 67% return on money spent). Then we looked at other homes on lakes (we're in a townhome on a lake and didn't want to give the "lake" away). We couldn't find anything for less than $950 and it needed about $250 put into it :) We love the home, love the location, and the investment wasn't unreasonable given the value of the improved property, so we went for it. Going the GC route allowed for me to upgrade to a pretty high end level on our remodel. It meant more work for me, searching for everything from light fixtures to sinks, but I enjoyed the hunt (still doing it today actually) and think the final project will be better because of the time spent making it different from the norm (in a good way) :) The negatives of that are you don't have warranty for 100% of the job and fixtures, but I do have warranty on the work by the GC and the items I've purchased on an individual basis. I guess more work for me when they break maybe? But I'm ok with that. Even a good design/build wouldn't go to the efforts I've gone to in finding the right art deco lighting, etc...ok they might, but the budget would have pushed half a million if they had done it. Starting with that budget sheet in hand was a valuable tool for me. I'd before thought "oh $40,000 will do it...then $90..." and then I put it all on paper...and reality sunk in :)