We kept the same theory. This house is such an upgrade for us even leaving everything as standard I felt guilty when I was upgrading to the larger sized tile in the kitchen. We did leave most of the area carpet. Mostly because we want hardwood and their costs were high on that as well I also have a 11 month old who is just learning to walk. We have hardwood floors where we are now and I was constantly a mess when my daughter was learning to crawl/walk because she was always getting bruises. So we figured in 5 years or whenver the carpet can't handle anymore kids we'll do something then.
Starting Score: 553
@jzsnow wrote:
I will need the garage raised up by 2-3 inches! I drive a 12 passenger van and need an 81 inch clearance. I'm sure that wont be cheap!
ooh yeah I can't imagine. That wasn't an option for that for us. I wish there was because my husbands truck is massive but I think will still fit. we actually did the extended garage. Its a 3 car garage, but only looks 2 car on the outside because it goes back deeper. That's pretty much what sold me on the house we are getting.
Hmmm....I'm from Texas! Maybe they'll make an exception and come to Alabama 
Our builder had the option of making the garage taller by 3-4" or something, I think it was a few grand (we did not do this). The plans for my neighborhood all included the 3 car tandem garage, where it looks like a 2 car from the outside but the one side goes back deeper, so nice. My husband says that can b his office and I get the inside office
Our home was an inventory home as most of you know so the $51,000 in upgrades came rolled into the purchase price of the home. We wouldn't have been able to afford them if we had to pay for them upfront. We did get $15K in incentives but $10K went towards paying all our closing costs, which was $8000. And then we got $5K off the purchase price. The front and back landscaping is included and will be done in the spring when it gets warmer. But they forgot to add in landscaping so they didn't charge us for it! 
The house already has the sprinkler system installed...just needs grass! I am also going to call the solar panel guys tomorrow to get that going and installed before it gets hot.
One of the most amazing things about our home is our electricity/gas bill for the first month was only $166 and the house is 3700 sq ft and it was for a full billing cycle too! Soooo excited!!! Our first home was 4,000 sq ft and elect/gas bill was $500 a month and our new house has the same heating bill as the rental we were staying in and it was only 1450 sq ft but severely inefficient so the new house is definitely super energy efficient so we don't have to worry about higher heating bills and being ultra conservative. And we weren't being conservative with the heat last month at all and it was cold most days last month. We ran the gas fireplace for a considerable amount of time, left the outside lights on every night, and the thermostat has been set at 70 deg at night and 73 deg during the day and only $166! I can't get over that! There is so much I like about our home.
Someone said they got 8' doors. Are those so elegant looking?!? We got that height of door too.
All stainless steel appliances were included along with a washer and dryer. We are not sure if it was an up charge to stainless or not as Lennar homes include the appliances as standard.
The lot was another major up charge as well that I forgot about. The house backs to open space with only one adjacent home and there is a trail that runs back there. It reminds me of Ireland as the house sits on a hill above the subdivision across from it so when you look out from the backyard, you can see the horizon and the homes are nestled underneath it. It is so beautiful. And the hills get taller to the right of us so in the summertime, it is going to look like the rolling green hills of Ireland.
I wish we could have finished the basement but that would have been way too much so it is the first upgrade on our wish list for the future. :-)
The house already has the sprinkler system installed...just needs grass! I am also going to call the solar panel guys tomorrow to get that going and installed before it gets hot.One of the most amazing things about our home is our electricity/gas bill for the first month was only $166 and the house is 3700 sq ft and it was for a full billing cycle too! Soooo excited!!! Our first home was 4,000 sq ft and elect/gas bill was $500 a month and our new house has the same heating bill as the rental we were staying in and it was only 1450 sq ft but severely inefficient so the new house is definitely super energy efficient so we don't have to worry about higher heating bills and being ultra conservative. And we weren't being conservative with the heat last month at all and it was cold most days last month. We ran the gas fireplace for a considerable amount of time, left the outside lights on every night, and the thermostat has been set at 70 deg at night and 73 deg during the day and only $166! I can't get over that! There is so much I like about our home.
Someone said they got 8' doors. Are those so elegant looking?!? We got that height of door too.
All stainless steel appliances were included along with a washer and dryer. We are not sure if it was an up charge to stainless or not as Lennar homes include the appliances as standard.
The lot was another major up charge as well that I forgot about. The house backs to open space with only one adjacent home and there is a trail that runs back there. It reminds me of Ireland as the house sits on a hill above the subdivision across from it so when you look out from the backyard, you can see the horizon and the homes are nestled underneath it. It is so beautiful. And the hills get taller to the right of us so in the summertime, it is going to look like the rolling green hills of Ireland.
I wish we could have finished the basement but that would have been way too much so it is the first upgrade on our wish list for the future. :-)
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