Is it normal to spend 100K in builder upgrades?
Jim
6 years ago
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Milly Rey
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoMrs Pete
6 years agoRelated Discussions
Kitchen Cabinets... Worth it to spend the money???
Comments (26)Buying used cabinets isn't all that complicated if you're planning on changing the look anyway. You might not find the uppers crl_ describe above, but you might find all the lowers, for example, and then buy the uppers new. We currently have four different styles of door/drawer fronts in our kitchen with different finishes. We are reusing all our lower cabinets from our old kitchen, a few moved and re-purposed. The three unmatched cabinets consist of three 4-drawer stacks, one 3-drawer stack, and a 36" sink base and cost us a total of $375. You would be hard-pressed to find just one of these cabinets new at that price. We want a modern look so we will put new slab fronts on. Probably from Barker. We will probably get paint-grade fronts and paint everything but we are also considering finished fronts and then refacing the fronts of the cabinet boxes ourselves. Either way, we are saving thousands by doing this. I did once see at the Habitat Re-Store in Seattle a huge collection of cabinets removed from the same kitchen. Enough to outfit 2-3 more normal sized kitchens. They looked brand new to me. Soft-close drawers and cabinets. I didn't check closely for brand but the drawers seemed to have good quality glides. I suspect it was removed because it was very Tuscan with off-white finish with a glaze. Not to everyone's taste. But could have been stained with GF or painted and would have looked lovely in a more traditional or even transitional kitchen. I've seen other complete kitchens in good condition but this was definitely the largest matching set I've seen. I've also seen many complete bathroom sets in great condition. Quite often we advise people here not to do a new kitchen just to sell because the new owners might just rip it out to put in their own kitchen anyway. I suspect you'll see quality kitchens at Re-Stores or other salvage stores more often near high-end housing where this is probably more typical. The Seattle store gets all the kitchens in King County so that includes areas all the HCOL areas. The Habitat Re-Store in Bellevue sends kitchens to the Seattle location but keeps other items and, wow!, I have seen some amazing things there. A friend got a pristine 36" SS FD fridge/freezer, with ice-maker, water dispenser, and the drawer between freezer/fridge sections for $700 and everything works. There was a teensy crack in one of the door shelves. She put some clear shipping tape on it and it's covered by food so you don't even see it, Time to shop for my finds? Not much. We go to plays in Seattle quite often so, when we did, we took the pick-up and left early enough to stop at the Tacoma and Seattle Re-Stores each time until we found the sizes we needed. It took three trips. So not counting travel time since we were going that way anyway, maybe 4-5 hours total. I realize this isn't for everyone and that's OK but it's really not that difficult. And, if you're going to reface and get new fronts, you could always, for example, purchase those from a place like Barker or other RTA site and then also purchase whatever cabinets you weren't able to find second-hand from them, too. Oh, we recently decided to put storage on the back side of our peninsula instead of an overhang and I want at least part of it to be glass fronts. We're going to Seattle several times in Jan-Feb so we'll be checking out those places for more cabinets. If we can't find anything that will work and that will look the way I want, we'll just order new. We saved enough on everything else so that buying these new isn't something that puts us over budget. Sorry for writing a book but cheapie-me is just really into this type of stuff. :)...See MoreBuilder Allowance to normally include subcontractor installation cost?
Comments (7)Ichabod - Most upgrades was verbal.. In the beginning they would supply an invoice weeks after the verbal agreement and then I would pay.. However in the last few months it has been verbal with no invoice supplied.. I think things are going to take an ugly turn.. I approached the project manager about the driveway installation.. I asked him what material he was using for the curb on both sides of the driveway.. The ENGINEER put it on the site plan as a requirement.. I wanted to find out if they were simply pouring concrete or if there was a way to dress it up with Belgian Blocks.. The builder came back and said that the curb was not in my contract.. I laughed and asked him how he planned to build a house that was AGAINST the engineers plans. He told me that there was no line item for the curb in the contract.. I replied that the entire contract is that the build is in accordance with the supplied plans.. He then said that under the driveway section it only mentions asphalt and there is nothing about a curb.. I told him it was under Curbs and Sidewalks.. He then said that the Curbs and Sidewalks was specifically for the curb line and sidewalks.. I can't see how they are going to proceed as the town has an ordinance that requires the curb on both sides of the driveway.. Needless to say things are getting very tense and I foresee huge problems.....See MoreHow much money would you spend?
Comments (35)We will be moving next year and this is a discussion we're having. Like pal and chispa, we'll have a budget--and the price of the home plus necessary improvements has to fit in that budget. Looking at houses on-line, there are some I immediately start adding numbers on--flooring, painting, new kitchen. I'd rather buy a house that needed those things and was priced accordingly, though--especially the kitchen. For selling purposes, keeping this same concept in mind, we'll be repainting most of the house before listing it--Shaker Beige. I don't want people thinking "Oh--I have to paint that." Maybe they'll hate Shaker Beige and prefer a grey, but I figure beige won't keep people from looking at it (the purple/green in one room and deep teal in the other might--which is why we're painting those bedrooms). Our bathroom/kitchen/floor/lighting choices are all very neutral--I hope noone looks at ours and thinks "I'd have to spend $60,000 before I could even move in"...See MoreNew Build - Questions for Builder Before We Sign a Contract
Comments (133)@Rai Kai … I did learn so much!! Thanks for your contributions! @Beckysharp haha. I will be doing more research with the lawyer. I think overall my realtor was good—but I am not sure if overall we were the right fit. We will see if we stick with her. I know she put a lot of work and time into it --- so I do feel bad about us not going through with it. I will be doing more research and googling, and reading and using all my resources! Promise! @PitrateFoxy – I’ll probably be doing some research on a lawyer to have “on call” when we are at that point. You all were so right about all the other things – and I’m sure a few extra hundred bux (what like 500? ) will put me more at ease as I don’t like surprises unless they flowers, chocolate, or kisses :D @bellburgmaggie – isn’t that the truth. Alos.. Houzz app isn’t going anywhere! I love your story about finidng the right place! Man.. 3.5x your investment!! AWESOME!!! Were you ever concerned about over improving? That’s my biggest fear, especially if we buy very low… You know I always imagined buying the house with the crappy wall paper, shag carpet and pink or green tile in the bathrooms a horrible kitchen and then putting in my DREAM kitchen (or as im learning from houzzers, my 99% dream kitchen!). I think that’s something I was struggling with buying new. Even though I got to make a few selections… it wasn’t tailored to me really. So asking my husband in 3 years to redo the layout of the kitchen wasn’t going to fly :D Location location location is so hard for us. We are transplants – with family in the area, but are having a hard time finding the “right” home town. Everywhere we look is “safe” but I really want that neighborhood feel. I moved to Texas because I love saying yes sir, no ma’am, and I want to raise my kids like that. Sweet tea on the porch and waving to your neighbors. I want to make meals for new moms, or help out my grandparents when they need it. I may not have the Texas accent, and as the saying goes “I wasn’t born in Texas, but I got here as soon as I could!” @jannicone – I’m not deleting Houzz!! Just Realtor, Trulia and Zillow :D It may only last a week, but I need some distance! But I will use it as a resorce to keep an eye on the market and see what really happens during “selling” season. Happy to be sorta liked! @Denita , I should know better. I’m a firm believer that EVERYTHING is negotiable and if you aren’t willing to make any changes (they may not have lost me if they let me go to the design center and let me have 2 extra days – would have cost them nothing) I’m not inclined to play ball. Especially in an industry where negotiation is nearly expected. Looks like I have some more homework and research to do! I may need to find a new realtor. Not that she wasn’t good. I felt like she was doing a good job – but I’ll never know if she asked the builder for things. She did make us feel like her only clients, and she was very attentive and listened to my concerns. But I did get a slight feeling that she was “building” up the home a little more than she should have. We signed a contract for 6 months with her. She led with “if at any time you are done with me, I’ll just rip it up.” Who knows if that will come back to bite me in the butt. But, also thought we were going to end up with the first house and it would all be over. Again, lack of experience on my part. I've done some research on how you should select a buyers agent... and I did kind of do it all wrong....See MoreJim
6 years agoDavid Cary
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6 years agolast modified: 6 years agobeckysharp Reinstate SW Unconditionally
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6 years agoMrs Pete
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