The Bare Necessities

The first thing we did was tour the model home of the community we were looking to build, which was the Belleville.  

This floor plan was on our list of interest, so we definitely looked around but it didn’t feel like “home” to us.  Another home we were very much interested in was the Buchanan.  

The model home for that house plan was about 40 minutes away but our Market Manager was more than happy to take us there to look around.  As soon as I walked in to that model, I knew that was the home for me - I fell in love with it instantly!

We came back to the model home/Drees office of our community and picked out our lot.  Once the lot was picked out, our Market Manager made a “wish list” and a “structural list”.  The structural list was for things we needed to decide on right then and there since we decided to move forward with buying this home. 

Here are a few things to consider when thinking about your structural:

Fireplace – location of the fireplace (if it can be changed) and any surround on the fireplace such as the stone on the wall.

Carriage garage doors – You wouldn’t think this was a structural element, but IT IS! If you want carriage garage doors, you must put this in with your initial structural meeting with your market manager

Front door with side and top windows – Unfortunately, we did not know this was a structural thing until our design appointment.  At that point, it was too late for us to change anything structural so we could not get that done.

Vaulted/tray ceilings

Sunroom addition

Finished basement – bathroom, media room, wet bar, etc.

Family foyer

Additional garage

Built-in shelves

Patio/outdoor living

Gas line to patio

Any room extensions

Changing the owner’s suite bath to a garden/deluxe bath

These are just a few off the top of my head.  I would recommend having your market manager go over literally every single thing on their structural list so you can be sure you’re getting everything you want - especially if you didn’t think of it as being structural.

Here is what we chose for structural, along with pricing (pricing likely varies depending on location and any promotions they have going on):

Hopefully this will help anyone with pricing.  The fireplace listed does not include the stone extension going up to the ceiling. We originally went with a finished basement, but did a contract addendum before our design appointment and changed it to a sunroom. I can say that the finished basement was around $29,000 dollars - but this was with a wet bar, media room, and full bathroom.

The design elements on the wish list is also extremely helpful to do.  Again, have your Market Manager go through everything on the list so you know you’re not missing out on anything.  These items are not set in stone until after your design appointment, but this way you know what price point you’re looking at.  This includes:

Floor upgrades

Adding extra cabinets - in addition to Butler’s Pantry

Adding a banister

Counter top upgrade

Cabinet upgrades - height/pull out drawers/etc.

Trim/wainscoting

Signing and payment

Once you have all your structural elements selected and you’re ready to sign all your paperwork, Drees will need $5,000 as a deposit toward the 5% minimum down payment.  The total down payment is 5% of the base price of the house with elevation you chose + additional lot cost + structural changes. 

To get an idea, our house base price with the lot and elevation was $401,400 with an additional $19,505 for our structural changes/upgrades which totals to 420,905. 5% of that is $21,045.  After paying the $5,000 deposit, Drees does not need the remainder of the 5% until your design center appointment, so you have a couple weeks to come up with that if needed.

I know it’s a lot of information but hopefully it’s useful to some!

Upcoming posts will include our 2 design center appointments, our pre-construction meeting, and our ground breaking!