Builder Upgrades: What to Pay For and What to Skip

After you sign a contract on a new build, you will be invited to the builder's design center to choose your finishes and upgrades. It sounds fun, and it can be. It is also a fast paced sales appointment, often just a few hours, and most of your choices become final once you sign.

The buyers who walk out happy are the ones who walk in already decided. Here is how to get there.

The one rule that sorts everything

Every upgrade falls into one of two groups:

Structural: things that must be decided before construction because they cannot be added later without tearing something apart.

Finishes: things you can replace any time after you move in.

The test is simple. Could this be redone after I move in without opening a wall or a floor? If the answer is no, decide it now.

Worth paying the builder for

Structural items are usually worth it because they are expensive or messy to add later:

Extra rooms, fireplaces or added garage space

Changing a window to a door

Anything inside walls, floors or ceilings: extra outlets, speaker wiring, gas lines, plumbing for a future sink and added insulation

Often better to do later

These are finishes you can upgrade anytime, often for less than builder pricing:

Bedroom flooring

Backsplash tile

Light fixtures and mirrors

Cabinet hardware

Almost always better to do later

Blinds, closet systems and landscaping tend to carry the highest builder markups. In most cases you will pay less hiring them out after closing.

How to walk in already decided