- Elevation C with a roof over the door
- Hardwood in the living room and dinning room
- Hardwood stairs with runner
- Morning Room
- Upgraded carpet & padding in the living room
- Upgraded padding for the entire upstairs
- Upgraded MB tiles
- Roughing for ceiling fans in all bedrooms, living and morning room
- Pre-wiring for two pendents over the kitchen island
- Gourmet island
- Gourmet kitchen set up (Ended up getting a microwave and oven set up instead of a double oven)
- Changed the sink to a single 9" deep sink instead of two
- Extra bathroom in bedroom #2
- An extra cable outlet
- An extra power outlet on the floor of the living room so we didn't have to run wires to the wall
- Stainless steel appliances (Incentive)
- Recessed lighting through the main floor (Incentive)
- Hardwood in foyer, kitchen, and powder room (Incentive)
- Trim in the dinning room and foyer (Incentive)
- Finished rec. room basement (Incentive)
Our Guardian experience wasn't too bad. The guy wasn't a high pressure guy, so that felt good. But he did kind of talk to us like we were little kids. Just ignored it figuring he figured we didn't know anything. We ended up just getting security for the house. Wasn't too sure if we really needed it, but figured we'd just cancel after our contract ended if we didn't need. It is a multi year contract though. I believe 3 years. Didn't get any wiring done for speakers, though I wanted to. I just couldn't justify the cost for them. It's pretty pricey. Most of the Guardian stuff was pretty pricey. I'm going to see if the PM will either let me wire before the dry wall goes up or like Sgt Rich, install PVC pipes. Crossing my fingers but not much hope.
We didn't get anything on top of our incentives but the incentives we did get were really expensive so we didn't ask for me. I have heard of people asking for 3-6 months of free security monitoring. I heard the Guardian Rep can't offer it unless you specifically ask for it. I didn't know this until after my appointment. I didn't bother asking after the fact because I figured since we had already signed the contract, there would be no reason for them to give us the free service that we had already committed to paying for.
ReplyDeleteNo luck getting anything other than the standard incentives. Which, frankly, in our community wasn't much. I've heard of specials where they throw in the morning room or finished basement for free -- but I think that depends on how desperate the SRs are and what lot it is. They are running some special incentives now to button up our community on the 4 remaining lots.
ReplyDeleteThere were quite a few incentives being offered when we signed, and we also got them to throw in an upgraded landscaping package. We weren't able to negotiate on price at all though I know some other bloggers were able. It must depend on location.
ReplyDeleteNice, good work on the incentives there!
ReplyDeleteOur incentives included the morning room, upgraded kitchen cabinets, a partial stone front that we put towards a brick one instead, upgrade to a luxury owners suite, and an upgrade to the luxury owners bath. I think that's all of it. I would tell you the total but you would probably fall out of your seat. If it wasn't for these incentives, I'm not sure we would even be building this house right now.
ReplyDeleteI remember sitting at my SR's desk and talking to her and saw a sheet hanging on the wall. It was basically an advertisement sheet, but it was a diagram of Ryan's "already low prices" and other builders "high prices" and how other builders leave wiggle room to negotiate. I guess that means, what you see is what you get. Oh well. The incentives were good and we're happy. :-)
ReplyDeleteThe only people I know of who got a better deal are people who went in with a list of all the options they wanted and made an offer. Once you sit down with the sales rep and sign that contract they get you to sign on the first or second day it's too late.
ReplyDeleteWe added more than 50% to the price of our home with options and my husband tried to get them to give a little something extra while we were still in the add/delete phase. They wouldn't budge anything - not even a free light fixture somewhere. Nothing.
The only other time I heard of them budging was when they were building for someone on a VA loan and the valuation didn't meet the sales price. RH tried to get the people to give up some of their options, but the people wouldn't budge so Ryan dropped the price to meet the valuation. (by 3k, give or take)
We were able to get a few things thrown in for free (probably about $10,00 total) but it sounds like the incentives they offered you amount to a lot, so I'm not surprised they wouldn't budge from that. It seems like you made out well... I would have loved some free hardwood and recessed lighting! Tammigirl is right though, we did all of our negotiating before we signed anything.
ReplyDeleteDid they not offer you incentives? Maybe we should have gone in there with more of a game plan. Oh well, we're just so excited like everyone else. :-)
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