Of options and options and options

Back when I signed my purchase agreement in September, I was flying slightly blind. I had no idea what was capable of being built.

My options, upon signing my purchase contract were as follows:

Rec Room, no interior garage
Elevation C
Two car detached garage
Wet bar plumbing rough in (I found out about the wet bar option by doing a interior view of a model in another community)
Kitchen island
Scottsdale square maple cognac Timberlake cabinets
Cabinet hardware bronze
Granite Countertop kitchen upgrade #1
Gas range hookup
Feature IV range/microwave/dishwasher in stainless steel
Fridge G (side by side 36") stainless steel
Powder room first floor
Under cabinet lighting kitchen
Recessed lights finished basement
Recessed lights kitchen
1 x 110 volt outlet (deck)
6 ceiling fan rough ins (basement study, basement rec room, living room, owners bedroom, bedroom 2, bedroom 3)
Kitchen faucet upgrade #3 (Aberdeen oil rubbed bronze)
Hardwood foyer
Light package "E" (bravo), brushed nickle

Discounts were given for: finished rec room, cabinet hardware, granite countertop upgrade #1, Feature IV appliances, Fridge G, Hardwood foyer)
Partial discounts were given for: brick elevation, kitchen cabinets, kitchen faucet)

At this point I was given the master options list for the house. I was in limbo for about three months from signing the contract to the final building specifications. This gave me time to make some changes.

I also was able to meet with the Guardian, M&R Flooring, and CTI reps, to make decisions on various things.

First I met with CTI about a week into the process. I decided to go with a neutral tan carpeting, level B (level A carpet did not have stain protection, which is important when having a German Shepherd that likes to drool everywhere and anywhere he can, and both a dog and a cat that has one shedding season: a year long one that lasts 365 days a year). I did not upgrade the vinyl flooring in any location that had it. My eventual plan is to put tile in half of the kitchen, and hardwood in the dining room half of the kitchen and have hardwood installed in the living room and have tile installed in the half bath on the 1st floor.

Then a few days later, after working a midnight shift, I met with M&R Flooring. When I was signing my purchase agreement, I was in their mini design center, and found a tile surround, level D, that was exactly what I was looking for, for the master bathroom. It was a Castle DeVerre CV12 grey stone with a glass listello. I opted for that, and found out something I was not informed by my original purchase rep: This included a matching tile floor. I elected to have a pewter grey grout installed throughout the master bathroom, and requested the tile be placed in a broken joint pattern. I also decided to go with a level B tile package for the hallway bathroom, but kept that as base as it could be. This got me a tile floor, which I elected to be in 12x12 tan tile with a magnolia green grout. The tub surround was going to be white tile, an ivy listello in white, and white grout. I was contacted a few days later by the rep saying that the green grout was not available anymore from their distributor, so I elected to go with a "summer tan" color, which, while being much more neutral, was also as boring as a Toyota Camry painted Desert Sand Mica (yes, Dan, I am talking about you here).

The following week I met with guardian. There were some things I wanted, but the prices were going to be high. In the model was a whole home audio system. The good news was they could "pre wire" for the system for around $1400. The system fully installed was $4800 or so. I opted to do a pre wire, knowing that I could purchase the components for around $1200 from the local electrical supply house, and better speakers for about $500. I have done home theater installations for people, and can do the rest of the leg work myself at a later date saving money. I elected to have 7.1 surround sound wiring installed in the rec room. I was disappointed that this would only be 16 gauge wire, I normally use 12 gauge speaker wire, but it was much better than making holes in the walls and ceilings as soon as I move in, or rip carpet up and have wires stapled to the walls. I elected to have 5.1 surround sound installed in the owners bedroom, for the same reason. The base price of the house included two cable jacks and two Cat 5e jacks. I ended up installing Cat 5e jacks in the following locations: 2 in the study, 1 in the rec room, 1 in the kitchen, 2 in the master bedroom, 1 in bedroom 2, 1 in bedroom 3. I also elected to have cable TV jacks installed in the following locations: 2 in the study, 2 in the rec room, 1 in the kitchen, 1 in the living room, 2 in the owners bedroom, 1 in Bedroom 2, 1 in Bedroom 3. The purpose of having double jacks in some rooms involves using a TV/FM antenna, so that the audio equipment I have will be able to get a reliable FM signal. I only plan on having FiOS TV in the study, the rec room, the kitchen and the master bedroom (unless I get a roommate, and then I will add one more box). The other jacks are going to be for OTA TV signals, except in the living room where it would be used for a mini stereo I have. I also had to pay for extra Cat 5e wires to upgrade the whole home audio, I think that worked out to about three or four extra feeds, and one extra feed for an IP security camera at the front door. I elected not to have the security system installed by Guardian. My coworkers that have security systems all recommend another local company that has basic monitoring, plus a pet proof motion sensor for around $15 a month.

With having the option list in hand, now I could make some tweaks to what was being built. My generous brother (well, he owed me on this, because I remodeled his master bathroom and accidently remodeled his living room) gave me the money for oak stairs. My real estate agent talked me into getting the tray ceiling. I went to another Ryan home to meet with my new purchase agent and noticed the cabinets in their model were substantially nicer than the ones I had selected. Then at Thanksgiving, I went to a friend's mother's house for a great home cooked dinner. She had cherry spice cabinets (also made by Timberlake) with uba tuba granite and stainless steel appliances. It looked unique, and extremely tasteful. So, for $500 extra, I decided to go with the Cherry Spice to get the better quality frames. There were other spot options I decided to go with.

Things I deleted:
Refrigerator G (stainless steel)
Feature IV appliances (stainless steel)
Cabinet Hardware bronze
Elevation C
Scottsdale square maple cognac cabinets in the kitchen
Kitchen faucet upgrade #3 (Aberdeen oil rubbed bronze)
One ceiling fan rough in (Living Room)
Light package "E" (Bravo) brushed nickel


Options added:
Refrigerator A (white)
Deluxe 1 appliances (white) (this was an upgrade over the Feature level appliances, including a quieter dishwasher with delay start options, a 5 burner gas range with convection, and a more powerful microwave, but since it's not stainless steel finish, it's $200 cheaper)
Elevation B
Cabinet hardware brushed nickel
Wyoming Square Cherry Spice cabinets
Kitchen faucet upgrade #3 (Aberdeen brushed nickel)
Tray ceiling owners bedroom
Tray ceiling lights owner's bedroom
Two recessed lights in owner's bedroom
Six recessed lights in the living room
Single wire prewire light in the living room
Two 110 volt electrical outlets (one in the owner's bedroom closet, one extra in another location that I can't remember right now)
Three dedicated circuits (one in the owner's bedroom bathroom, one for the range (for a future dual fuel range), and one for the study [color laser printers use a lot of juice to start up and I did not want the rest of the basement to go dim when it boots up])
Oak stairs with white balusters
third hose bib (deck level)
Owners bathroom vanity (Scottsdale square maple cognac)
Brantford oil rubbed bronze bathroom fixtures, including faucets, and accessory bars. This also is the 'semi secret' way to get oil rubbed bronze light fixtures, hinges and door knobs (I hated the brushed nickel knobs and hinges, because they looked, um, institutional)
Gas fireplace in Rec room, Mantel "A", slate surround
Fireplace blower with remote
Two recess lights over fireplace

There were some things I skipped for various reasons:
Deck (I wanted stairs off the deck if permitted by HOA, which were not optional, #2, I wanted to put a patio and hot tub under the deck, so that will determine some of the deck layout, plus the build out cost would have knocked me out of mortgage qualification OR forced me to remove many options that would be hard to add later)
Double patio doors for deck (#1, only one door opened, #2, they did not include blinds inside the glass) and for the price of the option, it can be done later for slightly less money, yet have the interior blinds and both sides operational)
Wet bar (the price of it started around $3500 or so, while it included an under counter refrigerator, but granite was an additional $1200), the price of the rough in, cabinets, granite, a full size refrigerator and a dishwasher would, out the door be around the same price or possibly less expensive)
End unit (I wanted to help keep my energy costs low, plus I would be tempted to add more windows, which would have made this a $20,000 upgrade by the end of the day)
Garage door opener (I can do this myself the day of settlement for 1/3 of the price)
Humidifier (My HVAC person I use can do it for less money, and integrate it into the thermostat that I plan on getting)
Crown molding and chair rail (I want the house to "settle" first before I add extra woodworking)
Extra trim for the kitchen cabinets (I had no idea what it would look like, I did not see it installed in any model that Ryan offered in my area, nor on any of the virtual tours, plus I figured out quickly if I added it later, it could be done for the same price)
Double bowl vanity in owners bathroom (I did not need one)
Tile backsplash for kitchen (I did not like the options they had, though they were charging prices that were very good for this option)
Upgraded vanity for the hall bath (I wanted the oak to coordinate with the floor selection)
Vanity tops (I did not like the selections available for the owners bathroom, I came close to having the hall bath upgraded to granite, but I am putting that on hold until later)
Ceiling fans (the price was reasonable, but I wanted to choose things that my neighbors won't have)
Elongated bowl toilets (I can buy four new elongated toilets, and install them on a paycheck to pay check basis, plus for the owners bath I would want one that looked a little more decorative)
Jets for the owners bath (I plan on putting a hot tub in the back yard after I put a deck on and patio in)
Tile for the 1st floor half bath (I plan on remodeling that bathroom within 2 years to something else, so I wanted to keep this space as basic as possible)
Washer and Dryer (I am getting high end Samsung front loaders for the same amount of money)
Upgraded refrigerator (Ryan Homes, at the time, did not offer at any price, a French door refrigerator that had an ice dispenser on the door, plus I can get into a Samsung French door with more features for the same amount they were charging for their smaller GE Profile French door without a ice dispenser on the door). Besides, they include a rough in with valve for an ice maker, so that did not compel me to buy an upgraded refrigerator. I plan on giving the one that comes with the house away to a friend that has an avocado green one in his garage. The credit that is being offered is definitely the way to go.
On a semi related final note: I am going to replace the dishwasher too. Even though this is an "upgraded" dishwasher, it is just builders grade plus. I plan on getting a new one when I install the wet bar, and move the one that comes with the house to the wet bar, if it even lasts that long.

So in essence, I added around $70,000 in options to the base price of the house, I am getting credits of around $15,000.

What is interesting is that Ryan Homes is now pricing these units in tiers, my unit would be somewhere between the Premium and Platinum tiers, and priced roughly in line with the Platinum tier. If this was the case now, I would have elected to have the platinum tier, which would include a full size deck, hardwood floors throughout the first floor, up to level D carpet and level C padding, runners for the oak stairs, metal balusters, any appliances they offered (though I would be forced to go with black or stainless, instead of the white that I love the look of, to get the GE Profile appliances they offer in higher appliance tiers), double sink vanity in the owners bath, jetted tub in the owners bath, a tile backsplash in the kitchen, crown mold, kitchen cabinet moldings, and chair rail, any cabinet and vanity that is offered, any washer and dryer, and other accessories that I probably am not aware of. I don't know how they deal with Guardian, if extras are thrown in there, I still would have added eight recessed lights and the wet bar rough in, plus a couple dedicated circuits. The downside is they don't offer closing help as an incentive. The closing help is what gave me the opportunity to add many features to my home. So at the end of the day, maybe I am coming out ahead and getting a home that is closer to my wants and needs, and give me room to upgrade things at a later time.

My main advice to anyone that is buying a Ryan Home, is demand to see the options sheet, if possible before signing the purchase agreement so you are not stabbing in the dark, or make sure it is provided after signing your purchase agreement. There are a lot of customization that is available (and from what I can gather, the single family models have nearly double the options), so that you can tailor your home to your tastes and budget. This was a major selling point for me, beyond the best floor plan for a townhouse.