how close are new construction prices to website?

photoelise · January 2012

DH and I are really getting excited about the idea of building our next home. We are looking at Ryland (for what its worth) and are wondering if anyone has any experience with a production builder. We know that upgrades will obviously be extra, however we were curious what extra fees are tacked onto the price on the website. Anyone know? Do the website prices reflect the lot? Any info would be AWESOME!!

stephm0188 · January 2012

We looked at a Ryan home. The base price on the website was 198.

Upgrades we considered:

Upgrading the elevation: $2000
Upgrading the kitchen cabinets to maple: $1,150
Upgrading to 42" cabinets: $700
Gas hookup for range: $250
Appliance upgrade: $600
Fireplace: $3,300
Master Bath Upgrade: $2,990
Wood banister on stairs instead of halfwall: $350
Recessed kitchen lighting: $600
Rough-ins for overhead lights: $700
Premium lot: $3000

We didn't even do things like granite, upgraded carpet or hardwood floors or anything like that. By the time we picked out just the structural stuff that couldn't be easily changed later, we were looking at 30K.

shanwalk2 · January 2012

We negotiated the majority of our upgrades into the purchase price. Details in my blog. Good luck!

MrsPM · February 2012

The price on the website is not always reflective of the lot. Most lots have a premium attached to it. For example we picked a lot that was capable of having a walk out basement, so the premium was higher on this lot.

Like others have said the price goes up from there with the upgrades.

April37 · February 2012

Don't forget that, more often than not, those prices also don't include lot improvements which are things such as water and sewer hookup, driveway, grass and other landscaping.

cltk12 · February 2012

DH and I are currently building a Ryland house. We have 3 weeks til we move in!

The price on the site includes ONLY base items and does not include the lot price. When it was all said and done with our lot premium and all upgrades we are $90k over the base price listed on their site. We did all the upgrades that were in the model house as we plan to live there for a long time and want it all done now. (added on morning room, hardwood floors, vaulted ceiling, upgraded carpet, upgraded to silestone, etc).

The process for us has been very easy.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

nsfw · February 2012

We built with Ryland in 2009.

The price listed on their website is the "base price" of the home without any upgrades. Depending on your price point, standard inclusions vary. The higher end communities might include stone countertops and stainless steel appliances, for example, but ours did not. The base price is for a bare-bones, very very basic house.

For us, it included the house (duh), laminate countertops, vinyl flooring for kitchen/bathrooms, carpet for the rest of the home, an automatic open garage door with 2 remote openers, and a basic lighting package which did not include overhead lights in the living room or bedrooms. It included a standard kitchen appliance package (dishwasher, fridge, range and microwave) in either black or white. All of the "base price" included finishes were polished brass. It did not include a washer and dryer. Electric hookups for dryer/stove were in the base price, gas hookups were an additional charge.

The base price did include sewer hookups, landscaping (trees, plants and sod) and an in-ground sprinkler system.

It does not include the lot premium but we asked them to waive it and they did.

They usually run one big sale every 4-6 weeks and their standard discount/seller concession is about $20K. They gave us 10% off the base price (a sale they had), paid all closing costs, waived the lot fee and gave $8K towards free upgrades. That was contingent on using their mortgage company and after we closed they sold the mortgage to BofA immediately (they told us this would happen).

Let me know if you have more questions

cltk12 · February 2012

Another thing to add: We didn't really see any hidden costs. Everything you choose is a cost. You want to add a garage door opener...it's a cost ($45). Seriously, why wouldn't that just be in the base price. The only cost that caught us off-guard a bit is that after you make your final selections if you want to change anything like the color of flooring you choose there's a fee ($250 for us) just to do the paper work. So make sure to be sure about all your chooses before signing the final time. Our Ryland agent said that most people make about 5-8 changes during the process. We've only made 1 and they waived the fee for us after some haggeling.

lindyanne · February 2012

I know nothing about your builder. For ours, we could have built a house for the price on the website. The lot was included but we paid an upgrade charge for a larger lot ($5k). We added on several other structural upgrades such as a sunroom and 5th bedroom/3rd bath. Then we upgraded cabinets, flooring, hardware, doors, countertops, rounded corners rather than square. You'll really only know if you go talk to them and then look at what their options are.

makinithappen · February 2012

I built a production house (different builder) and the base price included the lot although I paid a premium for a lot in the cul de sac. Upgrades easily add up, but I was able to sign while they were running a special of 3k in free upgrades plus they would match any earnest money you were willing to put down with upgrade money. I was able to do all upgrades I wanted for free and even got the lot premium waived after a small mishap.

EMWindy · February 2012

We built with Ryan - closed yesterday. The base price of our house did not include the lot premium. Houses in our neighborhood came standard with full basements, full brick fronts, sod in the front, and landscaping.

I think our total upgrades were around 60K - but we had big ticket upgrades:

-Add 3rd car garage

-Finish basement with full bath and media/theatre room

-Added 400 sq ft on the main floor (and also added that much in the basement) - breakfast room, home office and 4 ft extension on family room

-Fireplace

-Some upgraded carpet, padding and laminate flooring (base flooring was cheap carpet and vinyl floors)

I have a price sheet with options list - I'm in Indiana with a different builder, but if you want it, send me a PM and I'll PDF it to you so you can see how much production builders charge for upgrades

photoelise · February 2012

Thank you!!!!!

This seriously helped a lot! We can afford about 20k above the base price of the second elevation, so I'm thinking we may ask them to waive the lot premium and wait for a sale that offers a good about of incetives

Luckily for us the neighborhood we are look at comes with hardwood on the entire first level, ss appliances, granite counter tops, recessed lighting in the kitchen/family room, and fireplace. I think we can probably get away with only using their incentives and save the $20k to finish the basement later

I'm also going to talk to a custom builder who builds in the same neighborhood and see if they can match or exceed what we can get with Ryland

Thanks again ladies!

cltk12 · February 2012

Just noticed you are in the twin cities. Which development are you looking at? We had no luck getting them to waive anything, but we also we on a waiting list for a wooded lot and one became available due to someone financing falling through and there were 14 ppl behind us on the list.

photoelise · February 2012

Arbor Groves

There are only a few lots left so we are hoping that they may be motivated to close out the neighborhood

how close are new construction prices to website?

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