I agree. You need to draw boundaries – e.g., saving 5% or 10% of the cost of one category can be transferred to another category, but nothing less than that.
You might want to have some others – a designer, your agent, a lawyer – review the agreement before it’s final.
I would be inclined to add cabinet and counter material costs to her list along with the appliances and you factor install She could do Home Depot or custom, she could range in so many ways on the countertops, seems simple to my math brain to do it that way.
When my contractor gives me a contract to do work (and he’s done many projects for me) he always specifies that it’s the owner’s responsibility to select and pay for all design elements. That way, the ball’s in my court – I can go high-end or low-end if I want.
The buyer wants me to give my “allowance” on items and then she can decide if she wants something over the budget or not. She is pushing back on any more things on her plate
@coralbrook I totally understand the “bird in hand” thing here.
But are these decisions going to make you crazy?
Hi, we are building a house. We have allowances for appliances, tile, light fixtures, plumbing, etc. We are doing a mixture of letting the builder buy things according to his allowances and buying items online ourselves, even though we have an allowance. My feeling it will all wash out in the end. The options available for lighting is so vast, that we just bought all the decorative lights online, and will let the builder or electrician buy all the boring lights, like can lights or outdoor spot lights. Based on this, am I driving my builder crazy, or do they appreciate help on shopping for all the little things? I would appreciate your thoughts, since this is our first time dealing with a builder.
As a “builder” I would appreciate that you purchased your own lighting. Lighting choices are so personal, I would want you to be happy. Where it starts to drive a contractor crazy is if the lighting choices are running behind schedule and are not available when the electrician is ready to install them because it is expensive to call the electrician back for installs.
The best part of buyers purchasing their own lights is managing the deliveries, and the eventual returns :). Inevitably some of the lights are just not right for the space or are received damaged or wrong color or something
Another thing I like to do when I am selecting the lighting myself is purchase several candidates. I like to be able to hold up many choices and the winner is usually not the one I thought would work perfect in the space. Not too many builders are going to purchase 5 lights and hold them up so you can pick
Thanks for your message. I have not thought about returns yet. We will need to figure out how to manage that. Thanks for the heads up.
No More Buyer
Yesterday I sent a progress update email to the buyer. I got a short email back that her husband is having health issues and they decided they cannot go into contract right now, but keep them posted when it comes up for sale.
Oh well, we will move onwards but I need to be frugal with any decisions at this point because the market is slowing down around me. One of the key decisions I’m grappling with is changing out all the perfectly nice Milgard windows just because I Hate (with a capital H!!!) the grids. I don’t know if it is a valid design issue or me just being picky, probably to the tune of $7k out of pocket.
This week we have completed:
Dug up all the plants and dirt around the house.
Fought all the big stumps out of the ground.
Dug out 6” of dirt down the side of the house and dug the trench for French drain
Finished all new plumbing in garage for laundry and laundry sink
Killed a little bit of mold found in corner of garage. No mold, no smell remaining anywhere!!
Tore out everything in ceiling of A Frame area and re routed plumbing and wiring
Built soffits where needed
Installed beam and post to open up the kitchen wall
Installed a lot of Simpson caps, hurricane ties and strapping
Photos loaded
Decided to keep the large walk in closet that buyer wanted us to frame, bumping into kitchen. My agent came to help with some decisions today. She thinks the large walk in closet outweighs smaller kitchen. We are also going to raise ceiling in master bath. For some reason they purposely put in framing to drop the ceiling to 7 ft??? And fill in the sunken shower to create a walk in shower with no lip or dam.
Too bad about the buyer.
Can you just replace the glass in the windows?
Yes to replacing just the glass! Should be easy with vinyl Milgard windows. We paid $350 plus tax per panel for 3 large panels - could have been cheaper but we needed it done quickly.
Mortgage rates spiked up recently which was quite expected due to Fed tightening. That spooked some buyers.
What does your realtor say about the grid windows? Anderson is a good brand, as you well know, but I am not good at design choices, especially when the funds are coming from my pocket!
Still think you dodged a bullet with that buyer. I gather you decided to leave the washer/dryer in the garage - deal breaker for DH!
I agree with Marilyn that you dodged a bullet with that buyer–phew! Imagine if you were in contract and doing things that SHE wanted that you didn’t think would make the house more saleable and then for whatever reason she backed out of the contract and left you stuck!
I’d say good about the buyer. My sense is that she would have been a pita to deal with. Asking for this and that…
Going to contract with the buyer would have involved a significant down-payment that the buyer would forfeit if they walked away.
I’m not sure trading the PITA factor with a known price/profit point vs. perhaps more creative freedom with no one looking over your shoulder in a softening market is really a net win for Cb.
" a significant down-payment that the buyer would forfeit if they walked away."
In Calif, all RE funds are held by an escrow company and it would require the signature of both buyer and seller to release the down payment.
that can take months and more hassles that CB needed. Better to say 'bu bye to the PITA buyer before the deal closed.
Good point, RE laws are local and I forgot that.
I was planning to have strict language in the contract, overriding the standard buyer signature to release deposit, making the deposit non refundable. I have to do that if I’m building to their requirements.
It is what it is. I just have to have faith that a buyer will turn up when I get done.
I’m going to call a Milgard dealer and get a quote to replace glass panels only and weigh the cost against new retrofit windows
Good idea about the possibility of just replacing the glass.
CB, what were the things the potential buyer changed from your original ideas? Weren’t you going to incorporate the laundry into the house itself?? Is that no longer on the table?