What upgrades could you have lived without? (North: 2015, appliances)

[patt]

[quote=tiggeerrific;52894236]Hi Patt,!
I am in NY also and we are planning to move down in the spring if we can find something to build .We are coming for 2 months Feb&Mar. and i made a list of my wants
Gas fireplace
Screened porch or a carolina room depending on price
2 car garage
open concept
would love the kitchen and familyroom to over look the back

a lake behind the house doesn't have to be big but not a puddle
wood and tile floors no carpet
pantry
possibly a room over the garage but want the stairs to be not seen hopefully put in the laundryroom if not I can do without.We thought it would be great for walkup storage and also extra room for the grandkids
a community pool

This is our list so far

With new construction your list will give you plenty of places to check out when your down here.
Best of luck in your search!

[patt]

Originally Posted by FloridaKash

You can save money by choosing not to have a fireplace installed. Instead you can grab an electric one and put it in the same place for a few hundred bucks. Yeah, I know it's not the same, but it's a whole lot cheaper.

I personally prefer a screened porch over the Carolina room. Yes, to the wall oven. Our home came with double ovens in the wall... never had it before, love it.

A happy medium for flooring may be hard surfaces in the living areas and low pile carpet in the bedroom. I would not use laminate flooring in any wet areas (kitchen and bathrooms).

If it is just the two of you, you may want to think about that 4th bedroom. Remember, more space = more maintenance, utilities and insurance. I also believe 3bd are more in demand than 4bd... something to think about for resale.

Thank you I agree - I think we will pass on the 4th bedroom- we have that now and we don't even go into the room anymore. The double oven for this builder is an upgrade unfortunately.

[tiggeerrific]

I wanted the 4th bedroom over the garage just for storage where do you store things like luggage and seasonal items etc.seeing these homes have no basement
I am rethinking the fireplace as you guys gave good input on that

[Retire in MB]

My guest rooms have large closets where I store seasonal items, luggage etc. Extra linens, seasonal linens are stored in the lower dresser drawers in the guest room. Visiting guests don't need a full closet or dresser. They should not be bringing so much clothes that they need the entire closet or dresser.

[marjean]

Hi Patt. We’ve moved around and built homes. Always thinking or resale we do a lot of upgrades. If it just me thought- I don’t like granite. It’s cold and hard and drives me crazy cause the darker ones show every drop of water- and smears. I would definetly do the floor outlets since that’d be very hard to do later. They make beautiful electric fireplaces now you could use on cold days if you didn’t do a fireplace. I’m not a huge fan of wood floors (except the old oiled ones) and would like a tile floor. There are nice ones now. A screen porch is a must for us. We like to watch birds etc.

[marjean]

I’m sorry about all the typos in the last post. I wanted to say more. Lol. The most important thing for me is the direction the house sits. I like a lot of light in the living areas. In our current house we were not able to get that and next time I won’t let that happen. Partly because of our screened porch our living room and kitchen are so dark I have to have lights on during the day. When the living room is in the middle of the house plan that’s often a problem. I’m also glad I got a very quit dishwasher. We don’t like the tv above the fireplace- too hard to always be looking up. We left the utility sink out of the laundry room since I wanted more space. Never have missed it but some people really want that. A lot of people our age leave out the big bathtub. You can add them later but I LOVE the roll outs in my kitchen. I’m too old to get down looking in the back of base cabinets. I like a gas range but this time I tried a regular electric range but the top is induction. I LOVE it. Never going back. SO fast. If something boils over nothing burns on or sticks. It’s great. Hope some of the suggestions are helpful.

[marjean]

We live in SC. It gets cold. Everyone in our neighborhood uses their fireplace all the time. Heck we lived in N Florida and people there had fireplaces they used. It gets cold there too. Plus it’s just cozy. And the greatest thing is you can stay warm in the winter if the power goes out.

[patt]

Thanks Marjean! My husband would love the induction cook top. Also - I didn't consider the way the direction the house is built and sunlight - I like the natural light coming in and with the covered porch on both ends - which we were considering, that's something to think about with the sunlight and all. We have been more concerned about the view and privacy. I appreciate all your suggestions and are going to put roll outs on the list with the wall oven!

[Retire in MB]

I purposely chose a house that faced west. My living room has a wall of windows facing east. I did this because I wanted the morning sun, but didn't want the afternoon sun beating against the living room windows overworking the air conditioning. Also everyone of my friends who opted for a Carolina room over a screened porch wished they had gone with the screened porch. With a screened porch you can sit outside and be relatively bug free in the evenings.

[tiggeerrific]

Wouldn't a Carolina room offer you both seeing the windows have screens? I was thinking of making a carolina room with wicker table and couches to make it feel like outside seeing I have the glass/ screens
This way I get to use the room year round