@User We are probably looking to stay for ~10 years or so. We understand it isn't a luxury/custom home, but we have heard good things from people who have lived in homes built by them and they seem decent when it comes to pricing. Comparing to the standard inclusions from some local luxury builders, most of them are the same (only differences listed really are hardie/brick vs vinyl siding, Andersen/Pella windows, hardwood floors, and an additional R3-R5 of insulation on exterior walls, OSB vs Rigid Foam sheathing), which doesn't seem worth the extra $300k-400k they are charging for very similar floorplans, but we really don't know what is and is not acceptable with these. Is there anything in particular that stands out to you as egregious?

What should we be looking for at a minimum?

Are these the standard or the upgrades they're offering?

@cpartist Those are standards.

This list is a summary of what they build, it is not presented as a choosable upgrade, that will be a separate list (but may cover some of the same items). "Upgrade" is a generic term relative to each item, so understand the nuances of it's meaning and evaluate on that - as examples:

- Interior doors are solid core. Understand that their base install already is an "upgrade" over hollow core, but you didn't choose it, it's just the door spec for the market they have positioned themselves to offer as a standard. But since they didn't state the style, let's assume they are flush. A chooseable upgrade might be paying extra for 6 panel doors.

- Kitchen counter is probably an allowance. You will probably have 2 levels of types of counters that you choose from their supplier. One of the choices can be considered an "upgrade" over the other, and sometimes you can even "upgrade" an "upgrade" by going over those costs if you fall in love with an expensive slab beyond the 2 levels offered, and pay out of pocket.

- The driveway is asphalt. "Upgrade" here would mean concrete, a completely different material, timeline, and contractor.

- Often back sliders have a simple wooden step down, and backyards are seeded. An offerable "upgrade" would be a small deck or sod.

- Often "upgrades" are offered plan-wise, like extending the Dining Room or adding a fireplace.

Typically a builder will not venture far from the materials and methods they always build houses, even if it were a custom house. So you can't just state you want something different than their summary list you have posted. You'd have to get their list of items they offer "upgrades" on and evaluate their stated costs for your budget, your desires, and the neighborhood specific to only those items offered.

They should give you a list of available "upgrades" and cost for each upgrade.

Check for an upgrade to 2x6 on 24" exterior walls with more insulation. Windows will be an expensive upgrade. Vinyl windows have a limited life. Fiberglass casements would be an upgrade. You may be able to switch some to fixed to limit the added cost.

Their is nothing wrong with anything given in the inclusions, and doesn't lack anything which would constitute an inferior or low grade build. It checks off everything I'd demand in a build and like a new car you can add all the bells and whistles you want on top of the basics.

If you want to add a water line in the basement for a sauna then speak up now. Or the extra load requirements for solar panels. Safe room anyone? $$$$

Add a 220 AMP line to the garage for an EV.

Carpet in the basement is a poor idea unless it's low pile moisture resistant glue-down.

An outlet every 8' inside is standard here (nation wide too I think). But here the garage only needs to have 1 per car (not counting the ones on the ceiling for the garage door opener). My SIL was very disappointed when they moved into their build and realized there were only 3 outlets and none where they'd actually want to use them.

As for everything else be prepared to go over their budgets.

@dan1888 the 2x4 walls have 1" foam, listed total wall value of R20. Probably cheaper even with the extra labor than going with the lumber cost of 2x6 with R19.

@worthy electrical lists a 240V outlet in garage (for EV use or welding). 220amp would be a secondary service, it only needs max 50amp.

@aziline electrical lists outlets "to code," which is the best way to specify it. FWIW code is 6ft either way and 2ft in the kitchen.

Yes, 220 volt may be overkill for an EV alone.

But to avoid the cost of retrofitting, which may involve removing/repairing finished walls, consider the higher capacity for future uses, including pool heating and re-circulation, electrical space heating etc.

volt, not amp

a subpanel would be say 50amp or 100amp (overkill in tract home)

Most people with that size house would probably do an 80 gallon hot water heater if a heat pump.

Most of the time upgrades are for light fixtures/trim etc. Most people don't upgrade the bones on a tract house - which is probably right from a resale standpoint. Ask about windows and you will be shocked. I doubt you have concrete drives mixed in with asphalt.

Your garage is small - IMO.

As has been said, much of what is listed is just code. But some is definitely better.

The attic insulation might be reasonable to upgrade. R-60 or better would be more appropriate.

I think a 200 amp panel is fine. I have 2 EV's, all electric heat/hot water, solar panels, a pool and 3800 sqft - on 200 amps.

2x6 ext walls on 24" center would also include the 1" foamboard. This is meant to add additional R value. I'd also ask for a blower door test with a minimum result.

Ev outlet must be industrial grade receptacle Hubbell or Bryant to take continuous operation to avoid being a fire hazard. I'd also upgrade any 110v receptacles in the garage area to industrial grade for ev use with the standard charger. A lot of people just use that every day. I do. If any outlets are switched the switches also need to be upgraded. I had one fail.

An upgrade to a horizontally buried coiled ground loop heat pump if you have space would be an option.

Wow, thanks for the suggestions everyone! I'm not sure this qualifies as a tract home or more of a spec/semi-custom, as we were given the option of ~12 different floorplans to start from and were then able to modify them by adding/shifting/resizing some of the rooms. We were also given full control over the kitchen and all cabinetry/appliances/layout/countertop and are pretty happy with what we have chosen. We did ask for the kitchen is vented to exterior, and they added that as an upgrade with make-up air to accommodate our range hood.

@User For windows, we saw the default the home came with and definitely want to replace them. We are waiting on a quote for upgrade to Andersen 400s, which we imagine will be pretty high. There are some local window dealers that do really high quality triple-pane Soft-Lite windows at a reasonable price from what I hear, but they will only do replacement. Not sure if it would be cheaper/better to have them install the standard windows and have us replace them later or go with whatever builder upcharges there are for the Andersen windows.

I can ask about replacing the trunk and branch with a manifold. Is there any benefit to a trunk-and-branch or is manifold strictly superior? Should I as to get a larger trunk line (5/8" seems small).

We also were given full control over the flooring on all levels. We visited the flooring people and picked out an LVP feels and looks pretty decent (SPC with a 20mil wear layer). Their base carpet looked and felt pretty good, so we may stick with it, though may want to find something different for the basement.

All of those are upgradeable? To what? It really depends on what the upgrade IS and what it COSTS. Hard to advise otherwise. It's honestly surprising that there would be a lot of upgrades on the base construction (framing etc.). That stuff is usually pretty locked in.

I'll just say that the difference in the asphalt drive upgraded to concrete for us was around $10k. We decided to go with asphalt and if/when it starts deteriorating we can upgrade to concrete then. We'll at least get a few years (worst case) out of our asphalt.

We did opt to upgrade windows for better insulation.

Contrary to others' advice, we upgraded a lot of materials in our build instead of ripping stuff out and replacing it ourselves after move in. We did this for a number of reasons: so we wouldn't have to pay cash for it, so we wouldn't have to live in a construction zone, and so we didn't send a bunch of stuff to a landfill. I don't think we would have saved that much by doing it ourselves after, anyway. Something to consider. Just be aware that the price you sign for might be lower than your final price after you pick your finishes.

After building multiple houses,  I've learned that an intent to upgrade something after the fact usually never happens.  For example, I balked at the cost to upgrade a guest bathroom counter and thought I could just go it later for half the cost.  But it's a pain to do more construction later,  pick a stone,  find a contractor you trust etc.  

My recommendation is to upgrade finishes that are important to you now.  I wouldn't upgrade much on the basic construction of the home, other than taller ceilings of you want them and perhaps 2x6 framing.  

Also,  the garage width is pretty generous for a production home.  Ideal width is 24' with an 18' wide garage door.  Maybe one upgrade to consider there is an 18x8 garage door.

If you can do a 9’ garage door, I’d do it in a heartbeat - you can get a truck in there easily. Unless your garage is finished, chances are you can add electric cheaper after the fact than paying the builder to do it.

Unless your house is modern style and you have a lot of confidence in their drywall quality, I would want fully cased doorways and windows.

We did ask for the kitchen is vented to exterior, and they added that as an upgrade

Good grief! My parent's subdivision homes in the '50s had kitchen exhaust fans standard.

Absolutely don't do replacement windows after the fact. They aren't just plug and play.

Manifold is superior to twig and and brach for pex but in my area, no one does manifold. The connections are very reliable. Similar tech was a problem in the past and so understandably, people are worried about that. But Pex has been around for a long time and failures are not common. Manifold can help with hot water wait times.

I would not really want a plumbing team to do manifold when they aren't used to it. And neither would they want to do it.

I think Wacky Tacky wants to spend a lot of your money. Many of those upgrades are not done on custom $2M homes. Are they better? Sure. Does putting $200k into a house that no one will pay more for on resale a good financial decision?

Your house is tract - just a bit better than some. A lot of tract allows customization but they are still tract. I built a house just like what you describe and it was tract. Nothing wrong with that. They called it "semi-custom" and I made floorplan mods. I think most people would say there is no such thing as semi-custom. Custom is custom.

Tract really means that a builder bought a tract of land, subdivided it, and builds houses on that land. Technically, this can be full custom. But if you pick from a list of plans - then that is generally considered tract regardless of whether mods are allowed.

In my area (milder temp, less freeze thaw), asphalt is never done in a tract house - it is always concrete - may even be required by law. Done in rural areas sometimes because of long driveways. Similarly vinyl siding is never done (hardie or brick/stone). So be careful with advice from a national forum. The idea of manifold pex in the setting of asphalt/vinyl would be so foreign in my neck of the woods.

Think about adding an upgrade to the roof trusses to withstand 600 pounds per square foot volcanic ash load. It's not a matter of if but WHEN, it's coming.