"Berber carpeting would be nice. Tile floors in my new kitchen. Perhaps some "surround sound" speakers in the family room. Oh, yes, a central vacuum! A friend of mine has that in their house and they just love it."

You're about to take the plunge. Your new home is beginning to become more than just a pipe dream. It's time to take the trek to the builder's design center for those all-important upgrades selections. How can you prepare yourself, mentally, emotionally, and financially for this experience? What should you expect from this meeting?

This is an exciting time for you. Many buyers look at the design center appointment as one of the more enjoyable steps in the process of buying a new home. There are several ways to prepare yourselves for this experience, with the help of your sales consultant and some pre-planning.

If your plan is to go with the builder's included flooring, fixtures, and countertops, chances are you will have a limited number of items to choose from, and the process should go rather quickly. Carpeting included in the price for most new homes is of the "apartment" variety, with minimal or no stain resistance, tends to be light in weight (yarns per square inch) and show wear quicker than the upgraded, heavier varieties. Buyers who opt for standard carpet may wish to upgrade their carpet pad, which may permit their carpeting to last longer. It will also be in place should you decide to opt for a higher grade carpet later on. Other "standard" flooring in today's production homes usually include some tile in the entry foyer and vinyl in bathrooms, kitchen and laundry areas. Counter top surfaces can vary greatly from builder to builder, as will the type and style of lighting fixtures indoor and out. Ask your sales consultant to walk you through the models and point out any included builder features, so you'll know what to expect.

Whenever possible, get a list of as many of the potential options and upgrades that will be available to you through the builder's design center. Sometimes these lists lack pricing, but some builders will have listed prices for each item. Try to determine whether the pricing you see is what you would be paying at deposit time, as pricing for upgrades can be rather static. If something within the model home or inventory home you have been shown has some special feature that really hits your fancy, but you find it difficult to describe, take your video camera along. A picture is worth a thousand words.

If you have pre-determined the maximum amount you are willing to spend on upgrading your house, use this preliminary list as your guide, and prioritize items with a color-coded system. Highlight the "can't live without" items first, the "next in priority" items in a second color, and the "maybe if I stretch it" items with, perhaps, blue (for "once in a blue moon"). After checking with your lender, you may be surprised to find out that an extra $1,000 in upgrades may only add about $7 per month to your monthly house payment. If you don't have a problem qualifying for a bit extra, it may be well worth it to get that granite counter top for your kitchen or the jacuzzi tub you may picture yourself soaking in after the boxes are unpacked.

Electrical options, landscape or patio options, and plumbing extras (laundry tub, jacuzzi, instant hot water, etc.) may be included in the design center appointment as well. Options of this kind during the construction of your new home are becoming more and more popular, as two income households have less and less time to devote to 'do it yourself' home enhancement these days.

Many builders may charge up-front non-refundable administrative fees for special requests for non-standard pricing from their buyers, and most now do charge a similar fee for changing your mind after having selected and signed for your upgrades. As with any business operation, the time and manpower devoted to a revision or special request, with its inherent paper trail and communication to the builder's field personnel can be costly.

If the home you selected was under construction at the time you agreed to purchase it, there will be cut-off times for electrical, plumbing, construction options (den or bonus rooms, 3 or 4 car garage, for example), door and window changes, to name a few. A production home is continuously being built, which means the proper sub-contractors are scheduled weeks and even months in advance. Your sales consultant should be able to tell you when these cut-off dates are. One warning, however. Builders don't give you much time to "think about it" when building a home. Your hesitance to make a final decision on a particular option within the builder's time frame (and place the additional deposits they require to go forward) can cause some frustration when it becomes too late to add what you wanted. Keep in mind that the longer the builder "owns" the house, the more money it costs them to carry it. Delays for any reason, including buyer indecision, is often met with serious consequences.

Your sales consultant will probably give you a buyer's guide to the entire process, explaining how all of this happens, step by step. The Design Center appointment is your opportunity to make this new house a reflection of you. You can be as creative as your heart desires and your pocketbook permits. Try not to get too wild if you don't plan to live in the home forever, though. This may help preserve your new home's re-sale value someday.

Also See: New Homes News