Those that built a house. ?

[Christina]

What outside costs other than downpayment for the mortgage did you have?
For example a house we looked at last night is finishing being built. We wouLd have to:
Build a deck
Do landscaping
Get central air
Blinds or window treatments

Dh thinks it will be too much out of pocket cash.
What was your experience?

[mrs.spunky]

What appliances, if any, come with it?
Ours came with a base level dishwasher and stove. We upgraded those and had to purchase a washer, dryer, refrigerator and added a built-in microwave.

Is everything the base level, or are there upgrades included? Examples would be cabinets, countertops, flooring (carpet, tile, wood, etc), extra outlets, ceiling fans, bath fixtures like a whirlpool tub, larger shower.
We got a credit for $50k in upgrades and went over that by about $15k.

Since it was our first house, we had to get lawn equipment, like a lawn mower, string trimmer, edger and hand tools. We built a shed. We live in an area where we get a decent amount of snow, so we got a snowblower.

The DP and mortgage are only the beginning when it comes to buying a house, even a new one.

[countthestars]

Are all of the bathroom mirrors/shower rods/toilet paper holders/towel bars installed? Are the closets finished?

[rosiedozie]

I don't have a helpful response, but they're building a new construction home without a/c? That seems odd to me.

[lindyanne]

We had a lot of upgrade costs but none of those were "mandatory" although it would have been pointless to build without them. We probably added on about 35% of the base price with upgrades (both structural like a 3rd car garage, 5th bedroom and 3rd bathroom, 9 foot basement and a sunroom) and cosmetic (upgraded flooring, appliances, an upgraded bathroom, etc etc) Our basic landscaping was done for us. We had to purchase the washer, dryer and fridge. We had the home painted bc we didn't want to live with builder white and then had to touch up paint after we fixed nail pops, we had to do touch up landscaping - refill grass and change/add plants, and more furniture. We also were in the "need a deck" sort of camp because our lot had a 5% grade. We waited 2.5 years though so we could put the money in and do what we wanted which was pool & patio. It stunk not being able to hang out outside and eat dinner (we did have an area we could play that was flat a little futher away from the house) but it was worth waiting for. It can definitely add up fast but it doesn't have to and it doesn't have to all come at once. We had white paper blinds that cost $5 from HD on a good bit of our windows for awhile until we got settled and figured out what we wanted and then actually got around to buying/ordering other ones.

[boiler717]

Deck, landscaping, and central air were all included. Deck isn't as common but I think any new constriction would include central air and front landscaping. Irrigation system would be extra.

We spent a lot of money on upgrades ($100k). We had moving expenses and then maybe $2k on random stuff from lowes and HD. We still need a ton of furniture though.

[ijack]

Our house came with landscaping (drip system in the front, underground irrigation in the back), and we added a/c into our package. We had to chose to purchase the fridge, w/d, window treatments - though we could have rolled those in as well.

[Deleted]

Cabinet knobs and drawer pulls, shower curtain rods, garage organization system, garage door opener, landscaping past the basic sprinkler system and sod, area rugs.

Word to the wise: I kick myself daily for not installing medicine cabinets in the bathrooms. I hate having crap out on countertops and we don't have enough bathroom storage. Pottery Barn has a couple of nice medicine cabinets!

[noodleoo]

We bought a new construction and yes, there were a lot of extra expenses. However, I think it is worth it for a brand new home (assuming you can afford it).

Things we had to buy:
* appliances, their allowance was very low so we put money in to buy better ones
* light fixtures, again, same issue with appliances
* upgrades: we upgraded the kitchen and added a tile backsplash
* landscaping (they did minimal)
* blinds for all windows, cost a lot more than we were expecting
* needed towel rods, TP holders in all bathrooms
* added shelving to closets, garage, etc
* shower curtain rods
* had to buy and install a mailbox

Some of these expenses were optional, so we definitely could have waited longer to put them in. But in all, it was a few extra thousand dollars. Most of my friends have had similar expenses to customize already build homes to fix things or paint, etc, etc. So I think it is kind of a wash.

ETA: we were able to buy our own lighting and appliances and then we got a credit at closing for the builder allowances at closing. That way we didn't get their standard appliances and have to sell them or anything. Our house included central AC and a deck, those would be much more expensive to add and would have given us pause. For landscaping, ours included leveling the yard and hydroseeding plus about 6 shrubs they put in. It was very basic, so we bought more plants, mulch, etc. We thought about adding a sprinkler system but figured we could do it later if we wanted. No matter what house you buy, you'll need to get your own tools (lawnmower, rakes, shovels, etc).

[dragonfly08]

When we built a house, we had to upgrade all of the appliances. Builder grade just wasn't any good, but it was cheaper to upgrade through them than to take what was included and replace it ourselves. We also needed to buy a microwave and washer/dryer since those weren't options through the builder. Well, a built in microwave was an option with certain oven configurations but since we didn't choose one of those we had to get our own counter top model.

The house had central air although we replaced the basic thermostats (two since the house was dual zone) with upgraded programmable ones.

We eventually built a deck, but not in the first couple of years. That was simply more money than we had/wanted to spend.

Basic landscaping was included. We never upgraded that.

We did have to put window treatments in. We owned some things from our last house - good curtains and drapes - but needed lots of blinds.

Our last house included lawn maintenance, so we needed to buy rakes, shovels, a mower, trimmer, sprinkler, garden hoses, outdoor garbage cans for yard work, etc.

There were a few upgrades throughout the house - kitchen flooring, carpet padding, an extension on the kitchen without which it was *way* too small to be eat-in (basically the addition was a breakfast nook so there was space for the table). We did structural stuff that could not easily be done later on.

The base price of a house is really a starting point. It definitely adds up from there and you should account for a good bit of cost on top of the bottom line.

[M]

Can't you negotiate all the major things you want into it?

We did one of those build to suit (or whatever you call it) homes and the only major thing we bought was a fridge for $2k. We even got them to put in special flooring that we found ourselves and financed it into the mortgage. My parents first home was a construction built like you're describing. It was almost done when my parents decided they wanted it. They had them rebuild the concrete driveway so the cars didn't scrap and knock down a wall before they were willing to buy it.

[jene]

We are in the process of building, and things we will add on later will be:

Cabinet pulls and sliding cabinet drawers

Deck

Finished Basement

Irrigation system

The only reason we are adding these later are because H works in construction and can do most of these himself for cheaper than what the builder is charging.

[Deleted]

I think everyone has covered most of the stuff, I will just add a paved driveway, exterior light fixtures, mailbox.

As a realtor, I tell clients to budget 10% extra for 'finishing' on the purchase price. So for a $300K house you will need an extra $30K to finish things. Of course, some of these items you can negotiate, it depends on the builder, the market, etc. Appliances including the washer and dryer; plus window treatments and lighting are a major expense if they don't come with the house.

You also have to consider the taxes may be assessed differently post-build (they will be more than anticipated) and that some builders require extra deposits.

Just know what is standard and what is extra.

[mrsice]

We are building a new construction home and our list for things we need/want to move in always seems to be growing and/or importance order switches around. So far we have
refrigerator, washer/dryer, window treatments, garage door opener (we opted to not have our builder use theirs b/c it seems crappy for the money), breakfast area table, and now the list becomes more wants.... new living room furniture, new furniture for various rooms in the house, hardware for kitchen cabinets and new vacuum. We also could use some decor and decorations for the house. It comes with chandeliers in the entryway, dining room and eat in kitchen area but if money wasn't an issue (which it is) I would be getting nicer ones. I'm not too worried about getting things on my wants list right away because we bought this house with the intention of it being our forever home meaning I have a lot of time to figure stuff out and buy it.

[starlily]

We're buying new construction. Most of the options we've selected are of the structural variety: super family room instead of 3rd garage, California room, 12 foot slider to the patio from the family room, and a large extension on the kitchen island. We're also going to do a tile backsplash and upgrade the kitchen sink.

Window treatments are going to be the first major purchase. We'll have to bring our current refrigerator and washer/dryer with us to avoid buying new right away. Landscaping will eventually need to be done, but in the interim we're just going to put grass seed out. We also want to get the master closet done professionally and will DIY cabinet knobs & pulls. Upgraded flooring is going to wait until the kid's older. Each room is going to get furnished & decorated really slowly.

Our approach is to be really hard on defining need v. want and not getting wrapped up in having a model perfect house when we move in. Most of the stuff we plan on doesn't need to be done immediately. But the structural stuff is a lot easier to do now.