Honestly I think what you'll be doing is like jannicone and sophie said, over improving for your neighborhood. I don't have a good feeling about what you're getting into with what you want to upgrade. As Sophie mentioned your neighborhood is $400k houses and that's about where you want to stay. Even if you put in an expensive kitchen, it won't appraise for what you invest in it. The appraisals will come in at what the builder basic is. This is not by any means a custom house. It's a development or tract house. The builder is giving you a number of choices and as jannicone said, if you upgrade you'll pay through the nose. As she said, if you decide to go with your appliances, you'll get maybe a credit of $500-$1000 if that. Same if you upgrade anything else. Like I said earlier, it's how tract builders make their money. If you can find a house you like that works pretty much as is, I say go ahead and buy it, but don't go upgrading. It's not worth it. Or if you do upgrade, do it for things that are important such as heating and cooling. Let's take your list and explain: Blueprint Review with Builder Um you said you haven't met the builder Framing Inspection with Builder ditto Full limited Warranty Coverage What does that mean? 24-hour Plumbing & HVAC Service What kind of plumbing and HVAC service? Distinctive Kitchen Features Schrock Oak/Maple front These cabinets are probably one step above Ikea cabinets, although personally I'd probably prefer Ikea. Plus I'd prefer to design a kitchen the way I need it. My guess is if you want to change anything you'll pay a fortune for it. Cabinets w/Dove Tail, Self-Close Do they have soft close drawers or just soft close? Are they full extension drawers? Are they Blum hardware? Granite countertop with 4” Backsplash I'm guessing you are getting a bunch of level 1 granite choices most of which will be ugly. Level 1 granite nowadays is almost considered builder basic. Plus nothing about backsplashes. The 4" backsplash is only done in tract homes nowadays. Double-bowl 8” Stainless Steel Undermount Sink What brand? What gauge steel? What double bowl configuration? Delta 470 single lever faucet Not to be rude but this faucet looks like what my Mother had in her kitchen back in the 70's. Recessed Light over kitchen sink What about recessed lights in the rest of the kitchen? Over the stove, countertops, the island? What about under counter lighting? Let me guess. All are upgrades. Frigidaire FGEF3041KF Smoothtop Electric Range- S/S, Did you know this range is discontinued? And that's what he's putting in all the houses? Granted you want to upgrade to a Wolf, but this range that he has sold for under $1000. You are upgrading to something that is over 5x the price of this range, including adding gas. It's overkill for the neighborhood. A better choice to upgrade would be to go with a GE or a Bosch if you must upgrade. I am building in an area where the houses are in the high 6, low 7 figure range, and I'm not putting in a Wolf! (I'm using Bosch) Frigidaire FGMV174KF Microhood (Non-vented)- S/SFrigidaire FGBD2432KF Dishwasher-SS Both of these are also discontinued. Frigidaire FFHS2622MS Side-by- Side Refrigerator- S/S This is basically one step above an entry level Fridge. Elegant Bath Features Schrock Oak/Maple Front Cabinets w/Dove Tail, Self-Close See comments from kitchen. Ceramic Tile Bathroom Floors Porcelain is better in a bathroom Clarion Acrylic Shower/tub In other words, your tub will have a one piece acrylic surround and not be tiled. One-piece Marbleized Vanity Top We used to call them cultured marble in the 70's. Kohler ‘Wellworth’ Commode Delta 2538 Double-lever Faucets Vanity Mirror Delta Chrome Bathroom Accessories Exhaust Fans – Per Code Kohler Pedestal Sink in Half Bath Final Touch Interior Finishes Bruce Dundee 2 ¼” Hardwood Flooring in Foyer, Dining Room, Kitchen and Kitchen Nook Area Bruce Flooring is HD quality. Superior Gas Fireplace Is this a vented or unvented fireplace. Hopefully it's not unvented. (do some research) Colonial Painted Woodwork What does that mean? What size are the moldings? Crown moldings? Baseboards? What? Smooth Finish Walls and Ceilings What level smooth? Sherwin Williams ‘Dover White’ Paint throughout Living Space Sherwin Williams like all paint manufacturers makes quality paint and builder's special which is garbage. Which is he using? 6-panel Masonite Interior Doors Are they solid core doors or I'm guessing they're hollow core doors Closet Maid Shelving System Also available in HD Solid Exterior Features Viewpoint Slider – Per Plan .Viewpoint Low ‘E’ Vinyl Windows Viewpoint are considered a lower quality window and slider. Near the bottom. Windows and doors really are so important Energy Efficiency & Comfort Central Air by Lennox Lennox Gas Furnace-up to 95% Which ones? All furnace and AC companies have different grades, from bottom to top. R-21 Fiberglass Side Wall Insulation R-38 Fiberglass Ceiling Insulation I agree with Sophie that this is probably minimum insulation and again you need to really check things out. Also what will be the insulation for the basement, the attic, etc. Pressure Balancing Shower Valves Personally I would want only a thermostatic shower valve, especially in your neck of the woods. Do research. The rest is out of my wheelhouse so I'll leave it to others. I can tell you that my specification sheet before I got my final bid was even a lot more specific than what you got.

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I like your house colors enough that I wouldn't paint unless the finish is deteriorated enough that painting is necessary. When painting comes, I'd darken the body color a couple of degrees so as to have more contrast with the white trim. I might explore ways of incorporating more white trim, too. As far as plants, I'm not making recommendations of specific plants or colors to use, but am suggesting general layout, shapes & forms, approximate sizes, etc. Where you live, maybe there's a dozen different plants you could use around the tree. It would be up to you to find the one out of that group that has the most appeal and that would grow well in that spot. You could research ground covers & perennials on your own, or you could post the drawing in that, or your regional forum, and see if anyone has suggestions for something that could work. And then you could research those suggestions to see if it's what appeals to you. (For the drawing, I used the plant that you already have growing there for inspiration, trying to draw more of it. I don't know what it is, but it looks to be doing well. If it's good to you, you just need about a hundred times as much as what's there now.)

What's most important is that you like your home. You mentioned above wanting a timeless rather than trendy paint color, but the house itself checks all the current trend boxes. Stone on the bottom, craftsman columns, shakes in the gables, an extra gable or 2 for good measure -- it's as if builders have a formula. Here I raised the stone on the single garage, extended the porch roof across to the garage, moved the gable from over the window to over the door, moved the 2 windows together, removed the large central gable, and extended the main roof to the right (guessing the right side 2nd floor roof looks something like the 2nd picture below). Unless there is a reason, this part of the roof might better match the front. Difficult to see, but I also added trim between paired windows -- better seen in the images above, and I'd do all windows like this. The goal being to simplify the elevation a bit. I did some renderings in another thread that may give you some ideas for colors, but they are made up colors and not specific to any brand. https://www.houzz.com/discussions/4710835/help-with-exterior-colors Can your builder provide you with something similar? Original.