Any downsides to upgrading flooring after close of escrow?

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evie5

New member
Hi, all! I've been reading the forum for about a year now, but this is my first post. Love all the info here.

Other than having to wait to move in, what are some possible downsides to going with standard flooring with the builder and upgrading after close of escrow? We are considering wood and tile, or carpet and tile. Do builders even allow you close with bare floors these days? We were able to close with bare floors with our first house in Westpark (Irvine) - though that was back in the late 1980s!
 
evie5 said:
Hi, all! I've been reading the forum for about a year now, but this is my first post. Love all the info here.

Other than having to wait to move in, what are some possible downsides to going with standard flooring with the builder and upgrading after close of escrow? We are considering wood and tile, or carpet and tile. Do builders even allow you close with bare floors these days? We were able to close with bare floors with our first house in Westpark (Irvine) - though that was back in the late 1980s!
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Today, both the builder and lenders will not allow you to close with bare floors.  The only downside (which isn't really one in my book) is that the homebuilder may try to void your warranty if you install flooring after closing with an outsider contractor.  To me (and most of my clients), the upside of saving thousands outweighs the potential risk. 
 
The Motor Court Company said:
Is it a lot of hassle to upgrade after you move in and the home is furnished?
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you have to move the furniture out of the rooms you are doing, so that seems like a pain in the ass.

there is a risk that the new floor folks damage walls, cabinets, etc.  but that kind of damage is probably easy to repair.  Ultimately it is a convenience thing.  I got a quote from Thompkins Flooring and it was 3K less than the builder.  Not to minimize 3K, but it wasnt worth pushing back our move in date and deal with the potential headache of damage, dust everywhere. when we moved in the house was nice and clean.
 
qwerty said:
The Motor Court Company said:
Is it a lot of hassle to upgrade after you move in and the home is furnished?
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you have to move the furniture out of the rooms you are doing, so that seems like a pain in the ass.

there is a risk that the new floor folks damage walls, cabinets, etc.  but that kind of damage is probably easy to repair.  Ultimately it is a convenience thing.  I got a quote from Thompkins Flooring and it was 3K less than the builder.  Not to minimize 3K, but it wasnt worth pushing back our move in date and deal with the potential headache of damage, dust everywhere. when we moved in the house was nice and clean.
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But you are not locked in as to the subcontractor like you are with the builder.  Our flooring quote with Venetian is about 1/3 less what the builder wanted.  3 days to install and free baseboards.

One possible down side is that you are paying out-of-pocket where as you can roll the cost into your loan if you went with the lender.
 
Irvinecommuter said:
qwerty said:
The Motor Court Company said:
Is it a lot of hassle to upgrade after you move in and the home is furnished?
Click to expand...

you have to move the furniture out of the rooms you are doing, so that seems like a pain in the ass.

there is a risk that the new floor folks damage walls, cabinets, etc.  but that kind of damage is probably easy to repair.  Ultimately it is a convenience thing.  I got a quote from Thompkins Flooring and it was 3K less than the builder.  Not to minimize 3K, but it wasnt worth pushing back our move in date and deal with the potential headache of damage, dust everywhere. when we moved in the house was nice and clean.
Click to expand...

But you are not locked in as to the subcontractor like you are with the builder.  Our flooring quote with Venetian is about 1/3 less what the builder wanted.  3 days to install and free baseboards.

One possible down side is that you are paying out-of-pocket where as you can roll the cost into your loan if you went with the lender.
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yeah but with the builder, you can threaten not to close until they fix any crappy worksmanship. if you get crappy worksmanship from a third party its probably going to be a bigger inconvenience than if you went through the builder.
 
Frugal as I am, I'm with Qwerty on this one. One of the purposes buyers buy new is so they don't have a "Honey-Do" list upon closing. If you don't mind tackling floors and whatever else, why not go with a resale, then. To-do lists deter even resale buyers. It kind of defeats the purpose of buying a new construction if you ask me. If it's a cost issue, then it makes me wonder if this is a buyer who also puts plastic patio furniture in their living room because they are now House Poor. If it's a value issue, why are they buying an overpriced home in the first place? Convenience, that's why. If it's about the bottom line, do they take into account losing PTO during measuring / installation or pro-rated rent to live somewhere else in the meantime, etc. My guess is none of that... it's probably a feel-good thing to do to say to their friends, "I got a bargain on one thing. See. I can prove I am a smart shopper."
 
I will try to avoid doing the upgrade with the builder next time if possible. All the standard things in my house are ok. All the upgrade I got have some issues that need to be fixed or I need to live with them . They will fix it. But it takes time and they will come multiple times which is very inconvenient. If you hire people to do it, you can check and make sure they do it right at the time they install it.
 
irvine123searching said:
If you hire people to do it, you can check and make sure they do it right at the time they install it.
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you can drop by your house as its being built, you can identify things during your walkthroughs and force them to fix them before the close. we did that at our current place.  funny how things get done ASAP when the closing of the house is on the line.
 
When I bought new construction, I paid the builder for more expensive flooring upgrades because I can add it to the purchase price and mortgage.

If I had brought in my own contractor to do the floor, I'd have had to pay them the full amount in cash.  So it's a trade off.
 
SoCal said:
Frugal as I am, I'm with Qwerty on this one. One of the purposes buyers buy new is so they don't have a "Honey-Do" list upon closing. If you don't mind tackling floors and whatever else, why not go with a resale, then. To-do lists deter even resale buyers. It kind of defeats the purpose of buying a new construction if you ask me. If it's a cost issue, then it makes me wonder if this is a buyer who also puts plastic patio furniture in their living room because they are now House Poor. If it's a value issue, why are they buying an overpriced home in the first place? Convenience, that's why. If it's about the bottom line, do they take into account losing PTO during measuring / installation or pro-rated rent to live somewhere else in the meantime, etc. My guess is none of that... it's probably a feel-good thing to do to say to their friends, "I got a bargain on one thing. See. I can prove I am a smart shopper."
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It's not just the bargain.  It allows us to get a higher level of flooring for cheaper.  My wife is fairly particular about what she wants and the builder's price is just too high.  We can get what she wants at a lower price and the offset is 3 days of additional rent. 

Obviously, there is some trust involved with a third party vendor but I feel fairly confident with Venetian.  They have done things for builders in the past.  I am also thinking about checking out Costco as their quality control is pretty strict.
 
I'm having Venetian come do my floors next week.  Is it worth the displacement or extra pro-rated rent?  Damn straight it is.  Wood flooring saving me 3K.  Wait...IP said they would charge me an extra 1200 to do the downstair storage closet.  So I'm really saving $4200.  And This is for the exact same floor as the design center because my wife liked it and Venetian said they can get anything the design center has.

Bathroom tiles I'm getting at 2000 cheaper...and I'm doing the garage epoxy for 900 cheaper.  I've already saved 7100 by not having the convenience of the builder do it instead of having the "move-in ready" home.  Maybe you consider that "home poor".  But that $7100 made sure I'm not sitting on plastic furniture...enjoy your overpriced convenience upgrades. 

 
qwerty said:
broda said:
But that $7100 made sure I'm not sitting on plastic furniture...enjoy your overpriced convenience upgrades. 
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Spoken like a true 99%er  :)
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;)  Ooo...can I add that I'm not paying property taxes on my upgrades either?
 
broda said:
qwerty said:
broda said:
But that $7100 made sure I'm not sitting on plastic furniture...enjoy your overpriced convenience upgrades. 
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Spoken like a true 99%er  :)
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;)  Ooo...can I add that I'm not paying property taxes on my upgrades either?
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So u save what $71 a year?  Like i said, spoken like a true 99%er.  I kid because I care. Actually at 7k in savings that would start to sway me a little as well. My convenience upgrades savings was about 3k so not enough to sway me.
 
I agree too for the most part...if it was 3K total for the upgrades difference. I too would have opted for convenience. 

Don't sweat it about riding me.  I'm not sensitive.  Internet fighting is what makes forums fun.

qwerty said:
broda said:
qwerty said:
broda said:
But that $7100 made sure I'm not sitting on plastic furniture...enjoy your overpriced convenience upgrades. 
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Spoken like a true 99%er  :)
Click to expand...

;)  Ooo...can I add that I'm not paying property taxes on my upgrades either?
Click to expand...

So u save what $71 a year?  Like i said, spoken like a true 99%er.  I kid because I care. Actually at 7k in savings that would start to sway me a little as well. My convenience upgrades savings was about 3k so not enough to sway me.
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