Purchasing upgrades on a new built home.

[quote author="escrowbear"]
[quote author="ajw522"]Per the Montecito disclosures, if you decide to use your own contractor for flooring, you will not get a credit from Brookfield for not using the standard flooring. <!-- s:( --:mad:<!-- s:( -->[/quote]

Will they install vinyl instead of the standard to make it easier for the outside contractors to install hardwood? (vs. tile etc.)
[/quote]

I'd have to ask - I am only referring to the disclosures - I don't know what the Design Center would let me do.
 
[quote author="akim997"]It's the lemmings that we have become... we have apartments in downtown LA that we rent out. Not the greatest of neighborhoods, and the rent is cheap. Yet, you'd be surprised out how many prospective renters there are who say "I want granite countertops, stainless appliances, and hardwood floors..." Really? C'mon... it's $1300 for a 2BR apt... These are the same people leasing a BMW 328i or a MB C300 because it's a cheap way to drive the bottom end of the luxury lines... (I'm not saying leasing is a bad thing, but it is if it's the only way you can afford the car you want). We all feed our own inadequacies by false materials wants and needs. Further, alot of the upgrades done in the past 3 years were financed by HELOCs in excess of what the house was even worth.

It's so easy to fool these people... We use laminate flooring that we get a $.90/ ft, use pre-fab granite that you can get a $229 for a 8foot slab, and veneered particle board cabinets. If you use the white cabinetry, you can get away with matching white appliances because it remains visually appealin. People then come in and say "wooooow.. it's so NICE in here!!!".... [/quote]

You have a good understanding of materials cost and installations.

Did you get your knowledge from being a landlord or being in the housing industry?

The same group of people getting fooled by Home Depot grade materials, stocked granite, stainless appliances can't tell the real differences between the average and superior products. Their home buying decision is also driven by the lowest $/sf and "wow" finishes rather than function, efficiency, aesthetic and quality of construction.
 
[quote author="ajw522"]
[quote author="escrowbear"]

Will they install vinyl instead of the standard to make it easier for the outside contractors to install hardwood? (vs. tile etc.)
[/quote]

I'd have to ask - I am only referring to the disclosures - I don't know what the Design Center would let me do.[/quote]

As far as I know, they can leave bare flooring as long as the lender allows it. You will only get credit for the material if you update through the design center. Then again, the credit is not much but they charge much higher.
 
Here is the trick:

Don't mention about flooring from an outside source. Take the standard flooring and ask for a quote if the standard flooring is applied to places like laundry, bath and closet. it would cost an arm and a leg. Then use that same number and ask the builder to credit you a similar amount for not having any standard flooring.

Use the same trick in reverse. Tell the builder to leave the bare floor and you will get a low credit. Then take the standard flooring and use the same figure and materials for upgrades.
 
I heard that some builders like KB insist that at the very least, the basic crap is all installed into your home before they can sell it to you. So if you want to buy a home, you have to let them finish it for you.
 
[quote author="akim997"]It's the lemmings that we have become... we have apartments in downtown LA that we rent out. Not the greatest of neighborhoods, and the rent is cheap. Yet, you'd be surprised out how many prospective renters there are who say "I want granite countertops, stainless appliances, and hardwood floors..." Really? C'mon... it's $1300 for a 2BR apt... These are the same people leasing a BMW 328i or a MB C300 because it's a cheap way to drive the bottom end of the luxury lines... (I'm not saying leasing is a bad thing, but it is if it's the only way you can afford the car you want). We all feed our own inadequacies by false materials wants and needs. Further, alot of the upgrades done in the past 3 years were financed by HELOCs in excess of what the house was even worth.

It's so easy to fool these people... We use laminate flooring that we get a $.90/ ft, use pre-fab granite that you can get a $229 for a 8foot slab, and veneered particle board cabinets. If you use the white cabinetry, you can get away with matching white appliances because it remains visually appealin. People then come in and say "wooooow.. it's so NICE in here!!!".... [/quote]

First, you're probably Korean and you were rippin on your own peeps for going to woodbury. Now you're clowning people who give you money every month?

It's not that they're fools, it's all relative to price. For $1300, who wouldn't be happy w/ a visually appealing apartment? Now if you asked $5,000 for that pig, I'm sure everyone would point out your cheap finishes and say it's not worth the price. If you asked $100, even if you told them there was a quadruple homicide the day before, they probably wouldn't mind.

And yeah, your renters have demands. Should they all be satisfied w/ what you think is acceptable and live by your rules? And who cares what they drive? If they managed their money better, maybe you wouldn't have as large a tenant pool. Just be happy they pay the rent and don't f up your place. By saying they drive nice cars but have no money, sounds like you're trying to clown asians again. If so, you've gotta be the world biggest twinkie.

FYI: TIC thought you were the idiot for wanting to buy those cr@ppy montecito homes. Yes, I know you're not interested anymore but only because they raised their price...boohoo. Go move into your downtown apartment. Btw, you're not the only one here paying AMT so quit trying to swing a big d!ck but you can't afford to buy a 800k house? Something doesn't add up. Oh yeah, you can afford it but you've been holding out since 1999. how's that worked out?

Edit:
In case IrvineRealtor reads this post, love and peace to ALL! ;D
 
Good guess. Akim is likely a Korean dude due to being a LA landlord and a big fan of Korean and Chinese food. Koreans from K Town is a big fan of the Lakers. His Handle 997 however is still puzzling to me. I can't completely draw the conclusion but there is a strong reference to "1997" or may be I am just over sensitive to numbers.
 
[quote author="graceomalley"]Good guess. Akim is likely a Korean dude due to being a LA landlord and a big fan of Korean and Chinese food. Koreans from K Town is a big fan of the Lakers. His Handle 997 however is still puzzling to me. I can't completely draw the conclusion but there is a strong reference to "1997" or may be I am just over sensitive to numbers. [/quote]

No way he's from ktown. If so, he grew up on the one street in ktown w/ no koreans. I think he grew up in south OC and was embarrassed to be Asian. When his mom showed up at school and in front of his non asian friends said, "hey, you jipper down, your pantie showing." He probably started crying and ran to the bathroom to bleach his hair blond. the few asians at his school knew him only as uncle kim. He's wondering why they didn't have color contacts when he was growing up. the notorious C.H.O is his secret crush. When his non asian friends ask him to take them for authentic asian food, he takes them to panda express in garden grove. He might go to a korean restaurant but only if he can order in english. He refused to play kickball because he didn't want his non asian friends to accuse him of being a master in tae kwon do. He uses chopsticks with rubberbands. He wouldn't be caught dead in H-Mart, instead he's at Ralphs w/ a bag of white rice in one hand and an even bigger jar of soy sauce in the other. The only time he's proud to be asian is when his non asian friends tell him they love rice-a-roni.

Btw, if you're not korean, please disregard everything I've written...my apologies.

Have a good night everyone and hope you have a fantastic tuesday ;D
 
mr. haiku:
haha... wow... strong words!!! well, i am korean... and actually very proud of it. and i am proud to the point that i expect more from the overall community. i make comments and references because all my friends are korean and it's something we joke about all the time. while i live in irvine, i have friends who refer to "escaping" fullerton...

i grew up near LA, and grew up amongst a large chinese/tawainese population. i knew a lot of parachute kids from well to do families, so i joke about the whole FCB deal too... (well i guess it's not actually a joke). sorry you are so offended, but unlike many people i talk about things i know and thing i have ACTUALLY experienced. i've trolled k-town almost 20 years so i know the deal... does every guy at le cercle or VR really claim he's a surgeon/lawyer/investment banker? no, but that's just the running joke. does every k-town girl talk in a fob/valley girl accent, say "ohhh llleeely? (oh really) and obsess over LV and chanel bags? (well uh... that's up for debate...lol). do a lot of koreans live in shabby k-town apts while paying $800 to lease a car? no, but i've met and seen a lot in that situation. fine, i'm degrading my people by making generalizations, if that makes you dislike me there's nothing i can do about it. personally i want/expect more from people...

i'll admit i was also wrong... i vented at tenants and this is not the correct forum to do so. i guess i'm also angry at myself for underestimating how difficult real estate is. when you try to be a good, honest landlord everyone in the world wants to take advantage of you. we actually learned the lesson the hard way... we started remodeling apts with all the amenities, and soon found out that it is a big mistake. tenants dont respect what u own, and use apts as a consumable good. they demand demand demand... and then stop paying rent while they have a leased luxury car in the garage. i dont thnk its fair to call me out, when you don't know how it is. i've been talking to other landlord/property managers in the area, so now i'm learning the biz. unfortunately, sometimes u've got to be an ass, and u have to treat people like the animals (they sometimes) are... and by the way, i made no derogatory references to koreans as tenats... because anybody can be a bad tenant!!!

i'm not sure what else you have against me. i complain about the prices, and you tell me "maybe you can't afford it"... i made a reference to the alt min tax and i'm swinging a big chaj? what's ur deal? i pull out of montecito, but the fact i looked made me TIC's beeyatch? everything i say or write comes from my real experiences, every comment you have made has been an assumption of who i am. do you know how many people the amt affects? do you realize it can be viewed as a "middle class tax" due to the exemption phased out limits (i do believe they will extend the patch for 2010)? am i really swinging my dck because i'm a part of the middle class that is paying a tax that was originally intended for wealthy low-tax paying individuals (i think rockefeller was one)? just because i had my name on the list means i was subscribing to TIC? on the contrary, i decided it wouldnt hurt to have my name on the priority list so that if prices go down, i would be in a good position to pick one up.

you have no idea who i am or where i'm from. you don't know that as much as i joke about koreans, i love being korean. you don't know that i'm actually actively looking in hawks pointe (cheaper per sq ft, nice layout, hillside view, no mellos). just because i happen to be a value investor (including in equities), doesn't mean u should hate me for that. i believe in getting value for a purchase. i love irvine, but i'm not going to pay too much for it. i haven't been waiting since 1999, since i purchased in 2001... don't know where you got that information... who did u want me to be? do you think i should have a shaved head with bangs with a chinese character tatoo on my back while sporting dickies, cortez and a hat from the compton swap meet that says AZN NVASN or something? well, im sorry to dissapoint... maybe you will be happy to know that i am still into cars... and yes, at this age i still lower them, but now i can afford coilovers instead of cutting the stock springs...
 
[quote author="jumpcut"]
[quote author="fe9000"]

As far as I know, they can leave bare flooring as long as the lender allows it. You will only get credit for the material if you update through the design center. Then again, the credit is not much but they charge much higher.[/quote]
That's true but it's unlikely any lender would allow it. Their appraiser would note any unfinished areas (floors, countertops, unpainted walls, etc.) and would likely hold off funding until finished and reinspected.

If you're paying all cash though, you can probably do what you want.[/quote]

Don't I wish I have the money to pay all cash.
 
the credit may not be that much, so it may be u just rip out the standard flooring whatever it may be.. if its the vinyl laminate i think it's a floating floor so that's easy... carpet is easy... the only pain would be the standard tile entry way. maybe you could ask them to put carpet there so it'd be easy to take out...

also, i may have heard wrong, but i thought i overheard someone saying that hardwood flooring was costing them almost $20/sq ft installed from the builder... can that be correct? I was eavesdropping, and it sounded like he said the downstairs of (i dont know which plan) Montecito was going to cost him well in excess of $20K to floor... what the heck?
 
i also heard that adding recessed lighting in all the bedroom wasn't going to be very expensive... i'd put that on the must do list...
 
[quote author=akim997 board=irvinere thread=519 post=5603 and yes, at this age i still lower them, but now i can afford coilovers instead of cutting the stock springs...
[/quote]

Haha, sorry don't mean to jump off target, but I remember those days... memories... Oh still can't afford coilovers... have to buy baby stuff now.
 
[quote author="akim997"]the credit may not be that much, so it may be u just rip out the standard flooring whatever it may be.. if its the vinyl laminate i think it's a floating floor so that's easy... carpet is easy... the only pain would be the standard tile entry way. maybe you could ask them to put carpet there so it'd be easy to take out...

also, i may have heard wrong, but i thought i overheard someone saying that hardwood flooring was costing them almost $20/sq ft installed from the builder... can that be correct? I was eavesdropping, and it sounded like he said the downstairs of (i dont know which plan) Montecito was going to cost him well in excess of $20K to floor... what the heck?[/quote]

Did you hear that in the sales office? We went through the design center and it's coming out to about $15.5/sq ft.
 
it depends on what exact wood/tile you pick... but i guess that sounds about right...

i'd go and try belmont carpet and wood in anaheim and talk to gene. they are on state college blvd where there are bout 30 different places that you can check out. Gene isn't the cheapest, but they do a good job and have an extensive showroom with a lot of samples that you can look at for comparison.

http://www.belmontcarpets.com/

i'd guess that you can save around $7-9K going outside. if that's not a big deal, just go with the builder... otherwise, u've just saved enough to pay for a full year of mellos roos!

if you plan on having carpet upstairs and you are going to upgrade the carpet (recommended), just make sure you pay extra for the upgraded padding. that's worth EVERY penny (see, im not that cheap!)
 
[quote author="akim997"]it depends on what exact wood/tile you pick... but i guess that sounds about right...

i'd go and try belmont carpet and wood in anaheim and talk to gene. they are on state college blvd where there are bout 30 different places that you can check out. Gene isn't the cheapest, but they do a good job and have an extensive showroom with a lot of samples that you can look at for comparison.

http://www.belmontcarpets.com/

i'd guess that you can save around $7-9K going outside. if that's not a big deal, just go with the builder... otherwise, u've just saved enough to pay for a full year of mellos roos!

if you plan on having carpet upstairs and you are going to upgrade the carpet (recommended), just make sure you pay extra for the upgraded padding. that's worth EVERY penny (see, im not that cheap!) [/quote]

Upgrade the carpet through the builder or at the same time would you do the upgrade after the home was built?
 
[quote author="akim997"]mr. haiku:
haha... wow... strong words!!! well, i am korean... and actually very proud of it. and i am proud to the point that i expect more from the overall community. i make comments and references because all my friends are korean and it's something we joke about all the time. while i live in irvine, i have friends who refer to "escaping" fullerton...

i grew up near LA, and grew up amongst a large chinese/tawainese population. i knew a lot of parachute kids from well to do families, so i joke about the whole FCB deal too... (well i guess it's not actually a joke). sorry you are so offended, but unlike many people i talk about things i know and thing i have ACTUALLY experienced. i've trolled k-town almost 20 years so i know the deal... does every guy at le cercle or VR really claim he's a surgeon/lawyer/investment banker? no, but that's just the running joke. does every k-town girl talk in a fob/valley girl accent, say "ohhh llleeely? (oh really) and obsess over LV and chanel bags? (well uh... that's up for debate...lol). do a lot of koreans live in shabby k-town apts while paying $800 to lease a car? no, but i've met and seen a lot in that situation. fine, i'm degrading my people by making generalizations, if that makes you dislike me there's nothing i can do about it. personally i want/expect more from people...

i'll admit i was also wrong... i vented at tenants and this is not the correct forum to do so. i guess i'm also angry at myself for underestimating how difficult real estate is. when you try to be a good, honest landlord everyone in the world wants to take advantage of you. we actually learned the lesson the hard way... we started remodeling apts with all the amenities, and soon found out that it is a big mistake. tenants dont respect what u own, and use apts as a consumable good. they demand demand demand... and then stop paying rent while they have a leased luxury car in the garage. i dont thnk its fair to call me out, when you don't know how it is. i've been talking to other landlord/property managers in the area, so now i'm learning the biz. unfortunately, sometimes u've got to be an ass, and u have to treat people like the animals (they sometimes) are... and by the way, i made no derogatory references to koreans as tenats... because anybody can be a bad tenant!!!

i'm not sure what else you have against me. i complain about the prices, and you tell me "maybe you can't afford it"... i made a reference to the alt min tax and i'm swinging a big chaj? what's ur deal? i pull out of montecito, but the fact i looked made me TIC's beeyatch? everything i say or write comes from my real experiences, every comment you have made has been an assumption of who i am. do you know how many people the amt affects? do you realize it can be viewed as a "middle class tax" due to the exemption phased out limits (i do believe they will extend the patch for 2010)? am i really swinging my dck because i'm a part of the middle class that is paying a tax that was originally intended for wealthy low-tax paying individuals (i think rockefeller was one)? just because i had my name on the list means i was subscribing to TIC? on the contrary, i decided it wouldnt hurt to have my name on the priority list so that if prices go down, i would be in a good position to pick one up.

you have no idea who i am or where i'm from. you don't know that as much as i joke about koreans, i love being korean. you don't know that i'm actually actively looking in hawks pointe (cheaper per sq ft, nice layout, hillside view, no mellos). just because i happen to be a value investor (including in equities), doesn't mean u should hate me for that. i believe in getting value for a purchase. i love irvine, but i'm not going to pay too much for it. i haven't been waiting since 1999, since i purchased in 2001... don't know where you got that information... who did u want me to be? do you think i should have a shaved head with bangs with a chinese character tatoo on my back while sporting dickies, cortez and a hat from the compton swap meet that says AZN NVASN or something? well, im sorry to dissapoint... maybe you will be happy to know that i am still into cars... and yes, at this age i still lower them, but now i can afford coilovers instead of cutting the stock springs...

[/quote]

So much to say but I'll tell you a story instead.

In college, I started a fight w/ 2 non-asians while by myself (I have to work on my smart mouth if you can't tell by now). Anyways, 2 total strangers who were Korean jumped in to fight. This is an example of where Koreans ONLY do certain things for each other even if for a total stranger...could be a good or bad thing. Anyways, I'm sure panda or any other korean reading this understands this.

On the other hand, when you see an Uncle Tom...errr Kim like yourself, it attracts the exact opposite reaction from fellow koreans. If you read my past posts, I'm all for jokes, but none of your comments regarding koreans sounded like a joke. Hence my issues w/ you and why I said this only applies if you're korean. Again, I'm sure Panda and all other koreans can see/understand this point also.

Or maybe I just don't get it. BK has accused me of horrible intuition while you were able to steal 2 pebbles from his hand.

Finally, it was an absolute joy interacting w/ you. I look forward to commenting on your future posts. ;D
 
[quote author="akim997"]mr. haiku:
haha... wow... strong words!!! well, i am korean... and actually very proud of it. and i am proud to the point that i expect more from the overall community.
[/quote]

What are you the Korean Carleton Banks? Expect more from the overall community by trolling cercle and VR? You only go to room salon to preach to the girls? No thank you Korean Bill Cosby.
 
[quote author="haiku"]

Finally, it was an absolute joy interacting w/ you. I look forward to commenting on your future posts. ;D

[/quote]

Ok. This conversation is making me think its about time for a Talk Irvine get together at an appropriate venue to resolve these unfortunate differences in perception. Generally, its been my experience that a misunderstanding of this nature can be resolved at an establishment where all parties can partake in a soju bomb.

1393946993074075351S500x500Q85.jpg


I take my job as a moderator here very seriously, and am willing to take whatever measures necessary to ensure the peaceful coexistence of our members.

<!-- s;) -->;)<!-- s;) -->
 
[quote author="akim997"]i also heard that adding recessed lighting in all the bedroom wasn't going to be very expensive... i'd put that on the must do list...[/quote]

Coronado was charging about $150 per recessed can. I know I could probably get them for half off if I did it after I moved in, but I just went ahead and put them into the master and office and just not deal with it later.
 
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