The most expensive decisions in a new-construction purchase are made in the first fortnight, by people who have not yet realised they are making them. Some choices close at contract, some at a selections deadline, and some stay open forever. Knowing which is which is worth more than any single upgrade.
Two different models, and you should know which one you signed
Production builders take one of two broad approaches, and they are genuinely different products rather than better and worse versions of the same thing.
The design centre model
Some builders run a branded studio. Pulte’s Home Expressions Studio is the clearest publicly documented example, and its own materials list what gets chosen there: cabinetry style, colour, hardware, soft-close and interior accessories; countertops and edge profiles; backsplash; sinks and plumbing fixtures; bath tile and mirrors; lighting packages plus added cans and pendants; interior and exterior door styles and hardware; stair and woodwork stains, newels, balusters, baseboards and crown; two-tone paint packages; flooring; fireplace surrounds; and added electrical outlets.
That is a long list, and it is a long appointment. It is also where a base price becomes a final price.
The included model
Lennar — the builder in all six of the communities we cover — runs Everything’s Included. The proposition is that features other builders sell as upgrades are in the base price: granite or quartz counters, stainless appliances, cabinetry, hard-surface flooring and built-in smart home technology, described as standard rather than optional.
Lennar’s own homebuying materials describe the personalisation available as finish-level: “the chance to personalize design aspects along the way, such as the finish of your cabinets or the material of your countertops.” And Lennar’s annual report is unusually candid about why the programme exists — it lets the company include those features at competitive prices “while reducing construction and overhead costs through a simplified construction process, product standardization and volume purchasing.”
Standardisation is the mechanism, not a side effect. That is the trade you are making: less to choose, for a price that reflects buying the same thing many times.
We could not find a Lennar source that states buyers cannot select structural options. Lennar’s published materials describe finish-level personalisation and never affirmatively offer structural choices — but the absence of an offer is not a prohibition, and it varies by community and by what is still available when you sign. Ask for the option list for your specific community, in writing. Do not take anyone’s blanket claim, including a competitor’s.
The three tiers of decision
Locked at contract
Anything that changes the structure or the permit set. Footprint, elevation, whether there is a bonus room, an extended lanai, a third garage bay, a pool as part of the build rather than after. Some finish-adjacent items sit here too: Pulte’s own guide states a fireplace is “selected at contract with your Sales Consultant and cannot be added at your design appointment.”
These are the decisions people make fastest and regret longest, because they are made in a sales office on the day they fall in love with the model home.
Locked at the selections deadline
Finishes, fixtures, and anything the builder has to order. Every builder has a cutoff, it is in your contract, and after it changes stop or become change orders with fees attached.
There is no industry-standard number of days for this and we are not going to invent one. Find the clause in your contract and put the date in your calendar the week you sign.
Open forever
Paint, light fixtures, mirrors, faucets, cabinet hardware, window treatments, landscaping, appliances once the manufacturer warranty is your problem anyway. If a thing can be swapped by someone standing in a finished room with a screwdriver, do not pay a builder’s margin for it during the build.
The real dividing line: is it behind the drywall?
The useful test is not cosmetic versus structural. It is whether doing it later means opening a wall.
Things that are dramatically cheaper during the build:
- Additional electrical circuits, outlets and switch locations
- Conduit or pull strings for anything you might want to run later
- Data cabling, and power where a wall-mounted screen will go
- Plumbing rough-ins — an outdoor kitchen, a future pool bath, a utility sink
- Gas lines
- Structural blocking behind drywall for grab bars, heavy shelving or cabinetry
- Anything affecting the slab
That list is short and it is where the money is. A run of conduit costs very little while the studs are open and is a demolition job afterwards.
The bit nobody mentions: your own work and the warranty
Florida’s mandatory builder warranty under section 553.837 covers construction defects that are a material violation of the Florida Building Code, for one year. Among its exclusions is damage caused by work performed by the purchaser or a third party.
So the pool cage, the extended pavers, the built-ins, the whole-house filtration — anything you have installed after closing by someone who is not the builder — sits outside that warranty, and can complicate a claim on work near it. That is not an argument against doing any of it. It is an argument for doing it after the eleven-month inspection rather than in month two, and for keeping clear records of who touched what and when.
How to walk into the appointment
- Get the option list and the price for each item before the appointment, not at it. Decide at a kitchen table, not under fluorescent lights with a consultant waiting.
- Separate the list into the three tiers above. Spend the budget on tier one and tier two. Be ruthless about tier three.
- Ask what happens to your deposit and your options money if the deal does not close.
- Ask for the selections deadline in writing and diary it with a week of slack in front.
- Ask which options require a change order after a given construction milestone, and what the fee is.
The single most useful sentence in that appointment is “can I see the price list before we start.” Builders that run a good studio will hand it over. The answer tells you a great deal either way.