Thanks for the thoughts so far!! While there will be plenty of projects and upgrades in the near and far future for this house but I'm trying to make sure that when the dust settles most of the key things are ready to go from day one! Also, including these things in the build/loan simply helps them happen where if they were not, we would have to wait and compromise on choice at that! Also, I already have a big project for the home theater that I need to get to, my custom sub using this driver: http://loudmagnet.com/html/pdf/CSS-SDX15-data-121107.pdf It is in a temporary enclosure at the moment but I'm looking to build a IB box with a very low target frequency. As to the build, it will be installed by reasonably skilled techs, but I will be doing the design with help. I have been working with AV since the 80s and while I'm no expert per say, I'm very comfortable in that space.

Its sometimes difficult to plan the truss layout to center recessed lights, especially if needed in several rooms. We place ours in groups of 4, which are easier to find equal spacing, and most of our homes have centered hanging fixtures which will work in pan cake boxes. Tract or production homes are the assembly line version of a home... affordable via mass production, standardized designs and finishes. Managing changes is expensive, but is also a profit center for many tract oriented builders and vendors. Some will offer a Model T ("any color as long as its black") while some will offer an Escalade or F150 Raptor at $100K+ If you're at tract walkthrough and the home doesn't meet a standard you've seen in the models (not including extras) then you should have the right to walk and get a refund, but is that where you want to battle? No builder will move a truss.

Also, many new construction homes won't appraise for the cost to build them. The appraisal has nothing to do with what you pay. It just impacts how much the bank will loan you. I also don't really trust appraisals that much. In many cases, I see appraisers come up with a value that is just barely over what your Construction contract cost was. As an example, I had two appraisals on a new construction home done within 6 months of each other. The local market hadn't changed much, but the difference in appraised value was nearly 20%.

There isn't any population growth going on in the Cleveland metro and according to Redfin home prices are falling off a cliff right now. Wouldn't you be better off buying a used house or do you know something we don't? Builders are dropping prices on inventory and you could save a bundle.