99% of the time I have seen a model home – when I ask the sales people HOW MUCH the options cost – they dont’ know..or won’t say. they can usually tell you WHAT items are upgrades, but very few will actually tell you what they cost.
I have had a few exceptions, where they have printed out a pricing sheet with costs for all the options and let me take it with me. My guess is that it’s just too time consuming to get into a long discussion on how much the extras cost – adn unless you have already put money down on the house – they don’t want to waste their time.
if you walked onto the lot at the porsche dealer, and wanted detailed info on how much all the various options costed, and wanted to price out the car – they would happily do it *IF* they thought you were for real..if they figured you were just a looky loo they would politely refer you to the porsche website where you can look all that stuff up.
given the high volume of Lookyloo people at model homes…they probably assume a majority of the people walking in are not going to buy.
I really liked the Lennar homes that were “EI” = everything’s included. you don’t get to pick what color your counter tops or cabinets will be – but there are NO options or upgrades except flooring. so when you walk the models – what you see is exactly what you get – paint, base boards, appliances, lights, fixtures.
it is very frustrating to walk through a model home – think to yourself – wow this house is beautiful. you look at the pricesheet and it has a very affordable number on it. then you look at the “option/upgrade” list andf ind out that virtually EVERYTHING in teh house was an upgrade. I’ve seen RIDICULOUS stuff as options – lights, switches, door knobs… then you find out that to make the house look even REMOTELY like what you saw would be $100,000 or more extra..and you feel like it’s a bait and switch. some models will have one home more basic..so you can see what you are going to get – but still – i like the Lennar EI idea. you get less choie..but you pay less for more b/c they bought in mega bulk…
