Stanley Martin build, but skip the design center?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Unless your agent kicks back to you like half of their commission, you don't really need one when buying from a reputable builder in this a development in this area. Save $$ and spend on upgrades and/or post closing improvements.

And no, unless you build a completely custom individual home, the builder won't hand over to you an incomplete house. Too much hassle/risk for them and doesn't really make sense $$-wise.

agreed

[Anonymous]

For millworks such as crown molding and mushroom cubbies, is it cheaper to do them with the builder or find a contractor after the house is built?
My intuition is the latter since builders would have to hire subcontractors for the jobs and they would also have markups. Unless they hire subcontractors at a much cheaper rate.
Do you agree with my understanding?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For millworks such as crown molding and mushroom cubbies, is it cheaper to do them with the builder or find a contractor after the house is built?
My intuition is the latter since builders would have to hire subcontractors for the jobs and they would also have markups. Unless they hire subcontractors at a much cheaper rate.
Do you agree with my understanding?

Mud room , not mushroom

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For millworks such as crown molding and mushroom cubbies, is it cheaper to do them with the builder or find a contractor after the house is built?
My intuition is the latter since builders would have to hire subcontractors for the jobs and they would also have markups. Unless they hire subcontractors at a much cheaper rate.
Do you agree with my understanding?

Mud room , not mushroom

stanley martin has a design studio website w/pricing options for a specific neighboorhood and home model. why dont you go on there and compare.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For millworks such as crown molding and mushroom cubbies, is it cheaper to do them with the builder or find a contractor after the house is built?
My intuition is the latter since builders would have to hire subcontractors for the jobs and they would also have markups. Unless they hire subcontractors at a much cheaper rate.
Do you agree with my understanding?

PP who built on the custom homes side here, we found that those items were much cheaper to do ourselves later. Also, for things like built-ins, closet systems, etc., based on our experience I would wait on putting those in even if it might cost a little more later. When we built our house, I had a vision of how we were going to use each space, and a plan for what we were going to have built in after closing. We ended up waiting a year so that we were through all of the warranty work before doing it, and during that year of actually living in that house, so many of my ideas of how we would use it changed. The built-ins we eventually did were completely different, but so much better for us than my original plan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For millworks such as crown molding and mushroom cubbies, is it cheaper to do them with the builder or find a contractor after the house is built?
My intuition is the latter since builders would have to hire subcontractors for the jobs and they would also have markups. Unless they hire subcontractors at a much cheaper rate.
Do you agree with my understanding?

PP who built on the custom homes side here, we found that those items were much cheaper to do ourselves later. Also, for things like built-ins, closet systems, etc., based on our experience I would wait on putting those in even if it might cost a little more later. When we built our house, I had a vision of how we were going to use each space, and a plan for what we were going to have built in after closing. We ended up waiting a year so that we were through all of the warranty work before doing it, and during that year of actually living in that house, so many of my ideas of how we would use it changed. The built-ins we eventually did were completely different, but so much better for us than my original plan.

Thanks a lot for sharing your experience. It's very helpful.