Make a budget for upgraded features in your new home

Buying a home sometimes can feel like air travel: A low base price will get you a seat, but if you want anything extra, it’ll cost you.

Most builders are competitive with their standard options, said Karen Gradington, a buyer’s real estate agent in Las Vegas.

Complicating the pricing issue is that when shopping different builders, the buyer isn’t comparing apples to apples.

“They’re all different in how they do their pricing, which is a bit difficult and confusing for buyers that are looking to purchase,” said Adele Hrovat, real estate broker and owner of the Buyer’s Realty of Las Vegas. “For them, they have to really kind of get all the information they can, and then discern and that depends on the location they want and the kind of floor plan they’re looking for,” Hrovat said.

The nuts and bolts

A homebuyer drives by a new neighborhood advertising great pricing and strolls through a great model home and falls in love. But keep in mind, builders typically present a top-of-the-line model.

“When you see a sign saying low $300,000s, you can be sure that is the base price of the smallest plan the builder is offering,” Gradington said. “Pricing will go up from there depending on the floor plan chosen, plus options added.”

A buyer first chooses the perfect floor plan and signs a contract. Then what?

“Most of them offer you a booklet with all the floor plans and a sheet that has all the options listed, but not necessarily priced out,” Hrovat said.

Then comes the design center. At the design center, the buyer customizes her new home with options with an individual cost attached.

How can you estimate costs before signing a contract but without an option sheet with prices? Ask for pricing on specific options you’re interested in and ask for an average overall upgrade charge.

“Sometimes they’ll give you a number, like most people are spending another $37,000,” Hrovat said.

The base fare

There is no simple standard in new homes. Every builder will give you a separate list, so it boils down to shopping around and having a knowledgeable buyer’s agent with a relationship with new homebuilders.

It might behoove a buyer to create a spreadsheet of features that are important to him and note if they are included in the base price or the option fee as he visits different models.

Standard features at Pardee’s Bella Verde neighborhood include a covered patio with 12-foot sliding glass doors, gourmet kitchens with granite-slab countertops, maple cabinet doors and General Electric stainless-steel finish appliances.

Standard features typically reflect the market — starter home, move-up homes, executive, estate or luxury, according to Tiffany James of Touchstone Living.

“All new homes will come standard with a faucet in the bathroom, but the style or brand of the faucet could be totally different,” she said. “Touchstone Living homes, specifically, come standard with Kohler plumbing fixtures, separate tub and showers in the master suites and paver driveways. Our standard is to build on estate-sized lots.”

American West touts itself as ‘The Most Included Home in America’ and boasts about its commitment to offering the extras as part of the base rate (think Southwest’s bags-fly-free program).

“We offer more personalized features than any other builder. Our homes are turnkey; just bring your toothbrush is often our joke,” said Daniel Welsh, vice president of American West. “From the slab granite on our oversized dining islands and self-cleaning ovens included in the kitchen to our award-winning bathrooms complete with spa showers, large soaking tubs and wet rooms.”

The extras

And then come the options, the upgrades, the add-on, the extras. Some options depend on the floor plan (no balconies on those single-story homes), and others vary from builder to builder.

The options are where buyers can truly customize their homes, but again the prices can vary, so be sure to ask the sales agent.

“A difference between a new homebuyer and a resale homebuyer is a new homebuyer is able to customize their homes any way they want with the available options they are offered,” James said. “One homebuyer may love to cook and choose to upgrade their kitchen appliances to accommodate their wants, whereas another buyer may be fine with the standard kitchen appliance package but prefer to option an additional bedroom in lieu of a standard game room.”

And, according to Hrovat, there’s not much negotiating room on options, and there isn’t usually a bundling option to get a great deal.

“Pardee’s buyers are willing to pay to upgrade areas of their homes that are most important to them and that generally includes flooring and all aspects of the kitchen from countertops to cabinets and appliances,” said Pardee Division President Klif Andrews. “Buyers also are choosing to purchase master bath suites with free-standing tubs, optional casitas, four-bay garages and GenSmart suites in neighborhoods where they are offered.”

For Touchstone Living, structural options include additional bedrooms and bathrooms, butler pantries, casitas, separate guest entries and multiple garages. The nonstructural options include upgraded appliances, light fixtures, flooring and bath surrounds.

“Options that are featured in model homes tend to be more popular since they provide a visual for the home shopper,” James said. “For example, the butler’s pantry that we model sells well. People can visualize themselves using the space.”

“The opportunity to have the option or the choice to choose selections unique to only your home adds to our semicustom construction process,” Welsh said, noting that American West does not have a design center. “Our model homes are our design centers where you can see, feel, touch, live and experience just as you would if you were to purchase. We have found our homeowners to be very responsive to this style as they personalize their home.”

Comparison shopping

“Don’t be fooled by a base price and incentives apologizing for their price. Drive the neighborhood, look at landscaping designs and exterior styles and try and experience the homes as much as possible,” Welsh said.

If you’re willing to take someone else’s customization, a spec home could spell savings. These homes that are already built in the new neighborhood the builder is looking to sell fast can go at a discount, but that eliminates the chance to pick out the nitty gritty details.

“Models are gorgeous on purpose and sometimes when you get it built a different way, it looks totally different,” Gradington said. “Have the agent show it to you in production without the decorating and without all the upgrades so you can see it with the normal included features.”