Ryland Homes - Design Center (Cinco Ranch, Howe: wood floors, house, neighborhood)

[a_guerrajr]

15K in a design center wont' go far.
i used it towards structural upgrades.
finishes can always be done later for cheaper or if not better quality.

[forums.sub]

Ihafer, thanks a lot for the detailed message. that truly helps give me an insight on the design center practices. Was this the design center in Sam Houston Pkway off Clay road, as thats where we are going..

We have done the exact same thing you mentioned, having an excel sheet of all the items we plan to check on. since our home is going to be in telfair, we think we have to go with water softner as i dont think they get water from the lake. may be i will pre-plumb and install it at a later date.

i think getting a good building contractor seems to be the key? Since this is the first time we are building one, is this in our control? Can we request for someone specific? Would you recommend who you used so that I can atleast check if he is still available and willing to work with us..

Thanks

[forums.sub]

Originally Posted by DavidAg02

No experience with Ryland, but I just recently went through the process with another builder.

The biggest advice I can give is to take pictures of EVERYTHING that you choose at the design center. Lay it all out, and take pictures. Then after your home is framed and drywalled, print those pictures and go tape them up inside the house so there should be no doubt about what is getting installed.

I had several instances (mostly with flooring), where the wrong material was being installed, had to be torn out and redone. Putting the pictures up will avoid any confusion.

As far as upgrades go...
It's difficult to establish a cost for most true "upgrades" because you don't know the value of the standard product. Focus on things that are additions, not upgrades of existing features. For example, my house did not include blinds, so adding those was an obvious choice because it's an addition to the house that wasn't there before. Your house will already include carpet, no matter what. Making that carpet nicer provides only a marginal return on investment.

Excellent advice, will definitely take pictures of what we decide on...Thanks

[forums.sub]

Originally Posted by a_guerrajr

15K in a design center wont' go far.
i used it towards structural upgrades.
finishes can always be done later for cheaper or if not better quality.

Luckily the 15K is post structural upgrades...

[lhafer]

Originally Posted by katy_kate

Have to say, we love our "Cantata" model as well! Got a load of upgrades, most were included as part of an incentive back in 2008. The one thing I absolutely love is the Moen Stone Sink. It's huge, and beautiful and I am so glad we got it. We also chose Silestone over Granite. And laid the 18" tile at an angle . . . makes a big difference.

We got a good incentive package too...Memorial weekend sale + we were the last house Ryland built in our section = great deals!!

I forgot to mention the other BIG upgrade we did was the stone fireplace! LOVE it. Thought about doing the tile at an angle, but in the end we didn't.

[forums.sub]

Originally Posted by lhafer

We got a good incentive package too...Memorial weekend sale + we were the last house Ryland built in our section = great deals!!

I forgot to mention the other BIG upgrade we did was the stone fireplace! LOVE it. Thought about doing the tile at an angle, but in the end we didn't.

Love the fireplace.. its amazing. It may cost a little more as ours is a Rosanno and the fireplace wall runs to the ceiling. What was the cost on this fireplace, it looks really good and I like the paint combination as well. Did u use Ryland or outside contractor for the paint?

[lhafer]

Originally Posted by forums.sub

Love the fireplace.. its amazing. It may cost a little more as ours is a Rosanno and the fireplace wall runs to the ceiling. What was the cost on this fireplace, it looks really good and I like the paint combination as well. Did u use Ryland or outside contractor for the paint?

The cost was ~$6,000. The ceiling height is 14' (that's a 58" tv to give you perspective on the size). The Rossano has 18' ceilings according to the floor plan - so a little more, but should be double or anything.

The ones we saw in the design center didn't have the seat on the fireplace - I am VERY glad that our masons made it like this. Though they did forget to put the mantle in, and had to come back later and rip some stone out to put one in. We also had them replace the stones that make up the seat of the fireplace because they were a purple tint and they were fugly. Plus we felt that they stuck out too far. So we had them redo it. And it turned out awesome.

I used an outside contractor for the paint ONLY because I didn't have a ladder to reach to the top safely. They only painted about a wall and half total. The wall opposite the fireplace is not painted this color. Otherwise I painted the rest of my house myself. My house is a mixture of reds, yellows and oranges. Goes with the *Tuscan* theme I told you about.

[BFFMaya]

They did a pretty crappy job on our fireplace the first go around. We made them do it over . . . was about 3/4 complete.

Originally Posted by lhafer

We also had them replace the stones that make up the seat of the fireplace because they were a purple tint and they were fugly. Plus we felt that they stuck out too far. So we had them redo it. And it turned out awesome.

[kdnkaty]

I totally agree with lhafer about the Design Center experience. I experienced the same rushed treatment. It's a good thing I am not a timid person nor was this the first time building a new house. At one point I was convinced that my DC person was taking a nip of something other than bottled water . I had to check her on several errors she recorded as my selections. This items she'd listed were of a lesser quality than the ones offered on the Upgrade Package provided to us during the Incentive Program. I really had to demand that she check and re-check periodically to make sure we were getting the right items.

I am also meticulous in the way I process information. I took pictures of everything I selected and calculated the cost of incentives and upgrades against our personal budget. I took my time and I asked questions! Finally, I was told that my appointment couldn't be completed at the DC and that further selections could be made with the on-site Sales Person in the home community.

For All Newbies: BEWARE The model home is loaded with upgrades!

That's okay. Why? Because the model (THE CANTATA) was the house we fell in love with and that's the house we determined to purchase.

1. I compiled what I called my "GOT TO HAVE" list and used as much of our incentive $$$ to get what was on
this list.

2. I took pictures of the model home (inside and outside). These photos were used to clarify any verbal
misunderstandings during Design Center appointments, construction meetings and builder's changes and replacements

3. To eliminate confusion and reinforced the "exact" selection and options that we wanted I keep a
binder of everything, (including emails and photos). A picture can save a 1000 headaches during construction.

Hopefully, we will be able to build this 3rd new house with fewer headaches. I am prayerful that we will be spared the expenses of a "bad" experience.

[agdimple333]

Originally Posted by d2mini

Yup, half down.
We're doing the same with Trendmaker. This week is our second appt.
Can these places have any standard colors other than freakin brown????
I couldn't even pick white paint! Had to ask them to paint the ceiling color on the walls, just to get something close to white.

The best thing is to negotiate your upgrades into the cost of the house, but unfortunately you are passed that. We got around $35k in upgrades on a $340k house. Upgraded wood floor all downstairs, premium coldesac lot, 3 car garage, outdoor kitchen, blinds, ss fridge, sprinkler system, upgraded elevation.

Now we just need to upgrade a few smaller items like kitchen countertop or bathroom tile.

As an example from my options list, the upgraded floor we got (level E) sells for $5.95 sq ft. Kind of expensive considering there is a base floor cost already in the price of the home.

where did you purchase the trendmaker home? we liked the trendmaker home in Cinco Ranch and Sugarland in 55" lot.