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Our base price was $295,000, we added upgrades that totaled up to $323,000, but I offered the builder $308,000 and they accepted.
Always get the options list before you sign a purchase agreement. Look over the list, and bundle all the things you want and then submit your offer. Once you sign the purchase agreement for a set price, and there is something you forgot that you wanted, you usually have to pay out of pocket for that.
I thought we thought of everything before we signed, but we have since paid an additional $2400 out of pocket for things we didn't realize we wanted/needed.
We're looking at a house right now with a base price of $209,990. I've priced it out with pretty modest upgrades (laminate flooring, no hardwood, no granite, no upgraded lighting or ceiling fans, no stainless steel applicances, etc.), and my upgrades come to $62,260, for a total of $272,250.
My upgrades do include a finished basement with bathroom, additional morning room/sunroom, and a "bonus" room on the second floor, so that's the bulk of the cost. Those are almost $37,000 of the $62,260.
I'm probably going to make an offer in the next week, and I'm thinking of offering $245,000. Actually, I don't have much choice, because that's realistically all I can afford, LOL.
Base price of our house was $189,900 (that has gone up to $195,000 in the last month or so for people looking to buy now) and we were going to add maybe $2400 in upgrades to that at most when we first signed our contract. Then after we learned more about FHA, and the fact that we could get the best rate as long as we qualified with a 640 score (we incorrectly assumed our rate would be well over 4 because my wife's credit scores at the time were like something from The Walking Dead...lol) we added an upgraded carpet pad, and a morning room/sunroom. People who got in on the development early actually got the morning room as a buyers incentive, but not us. We were given a "free" $400 kitchen cabinet upgrade. Gee, thanks. lol. Anyway, I think the total price is going to be around $205,000. That does include the "loft" on the second floor being turned into a 4th bedroom for "free."
Honestly, we would have been fine with the bare bones basic model if that's all we had been able to afford. We could have added recessed lighting, kitchen islands, better carpeting, etc, ourselves over time. Probably could have paid for a sunroom as well in the future.
If we actually do buy the house, i'm going to finish the basement myself in a few years. I'm just mulling over whether i want them to put the rough in for plumbing in the basement so i can add a bathroom down there a lot easier in the future. Still not sure there needs to be a bathroom in the basement, but it's an option.
We essentially chose to buy a house that has the room we need without maxing out what we could pay per month or had to pay for a down payment. Even with a "payment shock" of around $400 more than our current rent, we would still have a sizeable cushion each month for savings and college funds...and of course, travel. lol
We did our final negotiating today. It didn't go as well as I hoped, but then again, I was asking for $25k in free upgrades, LOL They met me part way, and I got what I wanted except for the finished basement and bathroom. I'm disappointed about that, but I can still do it later at least. I did get the raw extra square footage in the structural upgrades that I was after, which was the most important part. I'm still considering things, but I have an appointment to go sign the purchase contract tomorrow morning, unless I decide to back out before then!
@jkwheaton78 wrote:
Foofighter add the rough in if you can and you are seriously considering adding the bathroom we have a friend that is a plumber and he was telling what a costly nightmare it is to do it later!!
My father-in-law said the same thing this weekend! I've decided there's no need for a bathroom down there. The first floor bathroom isn't far from the basement.
We're getting the plumbing rough-in and the egress window, because we definitely want to finish the basement and have a bedroom and full bathroom down there as soon as possible. I talked to a couple of outside contractors, and if they had to do the plumbing and egress window (required for code) after the fact, just to do those would be at least $10k. Having the builder do it, the total is only about $2,500 for both.