New Home in Del Webb Stone Creek Part 5
This is part of my on going series about my experience building a new home in Del Webb Stone Creek for my wife and myself.
We closed on our new home on June 21st. It took just about 5 months from signing the contract until closing. In past blog posts I talked about the construction experience. I plan to continue to blog about my experiences after closing.
One thing that pops up is that we have spent quite a bit of money after closing. We found that we didn’t like some options offered by the builder and elected to take care of them on our own after closing. We didn’t like the window treatments offered and installed Levelor blinds on our own. We didn’t like the pendant light options over the kitchen island either and my wife found ones she liked online. There was no option for ceiling fans so we had to get them ourselves. Pendant lights and fans were about $1600- and window treatments which we installed ourselves were another $1,000-. We found a great retired electrician in the neighborhood to install our lights and fans at a super reasonable price of $30- each. These things add up fast ! We have a nice work area in the garage and cabinets and overhead storage were a quick $1,000-. We got a Lanai with a screen cage extension. For added outdoor space we had a 10 x 24 cement pad poured. The cement pad alone was $1800-. We didn’t use pavers on our Lanai floor because we thought they were crazy expensive, $3600- for a 16 x 16 area. We will probably tile the lanai and new cement pad and it should cost about $3000-. A savings but also an out of pocket expense too. We fenced our yard for our dog $3500-. My new neighbors have made similar comments about expenses after closing.
cement pad 10 x 24
garage cabinets and over head storage
Levelor honeycomb blinds
Living Room Ceiling Fan
Pendant Lights over Kitchen Island
Hello Joe. Having been a builder and developer when I was much younger, I expect that with all you’ve spent after closing, there were still two great advantages to your approach. First and most importantly, you finished the home to your taste, and secondly, I expect that you saved some money as compared to what the builder would have charged. Enjoy your new home, and all the best. – Andy K.
Hi Andy thanks for the comment. You are correct on both counts. I just want people to know that there are expenses well beyond the initial purchase price. Buyers should also appreciate those add on that come with a newer resale. For me personally it was about the great lot that was available at the time we were ready to buy. That’s not always the case.