How to Build a House
Step 6 – Home Design Gallery
Many builders offer their clients a “Home Design Gallery”, which will allow the new home buyer to customize their new home. As part of negotiation process you will have negotiated an “allowance” used to upgrade many of the finished products in the home. In the “Home Design Gallery” process you will have a chance to “upgrade” items such as carpet, hardwood, tile, cabinets, tops, plumbing fixtures and home technology.
Many builders have thousands of options to choose from and the section possibilities can be numbing. Despite the large number of very custom possibilities that exist as far as colors are concerned, it is usually best to try to look at how that selection is going to impact resale value in the future and make more traditional choices that will appeal to more buyers when you sell your home.
When going thru the home personalization process it is best to try to meet with the designer the builder assigns to you in at least two sessions. Often trying to complete this task in one appointment is really difficult and may result in changes and additional expense down the line. In addition, take the opportunity to browse thru the builder’s Home Design Gallery before actually doing the appointments. Many Galleries have open browse time on the weekends. Once you have made your selections be sure to check and double check everything, including the pricing against the “allowance” before signing the document.