frog sandinista: Home Build - Keith and Kinsey's Real Estate Update

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Home Build - Keith and Kinsey's Real Estate Update

Home Build ? Bids, Finishes, and?Contract March 15, 2012, 9:35 pm
Filed under: Home Build | Tags: building, construction, Home Buying, Keith and Kinsey, Real Estate, real estate agent, Realtor, Verona, WI

Well NOW it?s official, we are building a house. Today we signed the building contract; this means our contingency for purchasing the lot is satisfied and we can move forward! (Wife Comment: YAY!)

Yesterday, we took the day off and visited Nonn?s? Designer Showplace for a second time. Last time we selected counter tops and cabinets. This time we were looking to nail down flooring, trim, doors, and exterior finishes. There were many of choices that we never even thought of; window color, trim shape, shake colors, etc. Tamara Nonn was amazingly helpful selecting colors and materials. Based on the other finishes we had chosen and with Tamara?s opinion, we actually decided to back track and change one of the countertops. At this point, you?ll have to wait and see what we chose!

After that we grabbed a bite to eat (Sofra in Middleton ? check it out!) and headed to the builder?s office. Dave at Trademark Homes walked us through the specifications, contract, and pricing. His pricing was all based on the finishes we selected and bids from his sub-contractors (exteriors, electrical, plumbing, framing, etc). We ended up $3,000 over our maximum planned budget. This pricing was a little conservative, considering we selected countertops that where a hair less than budgeted. We also thought we could spend a little less on light fixtures since Kinsey?s step dad, with Isthmus Electric, would get his discount. We thought we maybe had $1000 worth of adjustment in there.

We were still $2000 over our max budget and this number didn?t factor in our washer and dryer, which we figured $1000 more for. So, we started talking about all the things we had added, and what we could cut out. We went through every option to cut cost. It was $200 here, $400 there, and it took deleting 5 or 6 features to hit our target. It didn?t seem worth it to sacrifice what we want in a house (the whole reason we are building) for a couple thousand dollars. The items we considered cutting (garage windows, soft close drawers, 3 panel doors, fireplace, tray ceiling, taller basement, basement window etc.), would have cost far more to add later. We negotiated pricing with the builder a bit more and ended up with a decision. We agreed to $1000 over our max for the house and appliances. This included everything we wanted. Although, I think we added in more than we planned on when we originally started. I hate spending more than planned, but $1000 extra is a small price to pay for everything we want in a neighborhood we love. ?and it?s still about $10,000 less than comparable homes in the neighborhood.