“What upgrades should I buy through the builder and which should I do after closing?”
Congratulations! You’ve bought your brand-new home, and you’re off to that exciting appointment at the design centre to choose all your upgrades…. Here are our suggestions on what to consider.
Getting upgrades through the builder is certainly convenient because everything is done before you move in, and you can include a lot of those costs in your mortgage. It’s less money out of your pocket, but you often end up paying more money for those conveniences. A couple of examples of this would be pot lights and a backsplash.
Pot lights are usually $250 or more through the builder, when you can get this done for about $100 after closing. Even if you have to pay somebody to repair and repaint the ceiling, you still come out ahead.
Doing the backsplash afterwards will save you hundreds of dollars, plus you have a much better selection of tiles as you’re not limited to what the builder has to offer.
When deciding which upgrades to do, we recommend choosing ones that would be difficult or simply not feasible to complete after closing. Items like hardwood stairs and a larger master ensuite would be a great example. You should also take into consideration upgrades that can’t be done afterwards, and how that may impact your resale value down the road. Nine-foot ceilings are a great example– Many new home builders will include it as a standard feature now. In fact, we have buyers today that will not even consider a home if it doesn’t have it.
If you’re in the process of buying a new home, or know of someone else who is, and you’d like help making the decisions on which upgrades to choose, send us a DM on Facebook or Instagram @kormendytrott.
