Meritage Upgrades
The other day I received a letter about upgrades at the Meritage. For my unit, #504, 736 square feet these were the upgrades available:
| Upgrade | Price |
|---|---|
| Hardward floors throughout | 5573 |
| Storage, 72 cubic feet over parking | 2500 |
| Fireplace with custom mantelpiece | 2500 |
| Slab granite countertop with under mount sink | 4789 |
| Stone and mosiac tile backsplash | 900 |
| Window treatment A | 1075 |
| Window treatment B | 1447 |
| Window treatment C | 2755 |
| Bathroom accet tiles in shower and backsplash | 1000 |
I must admit I was a little disappointed to receive such a bland letter asking for so much money. I was expecting a glossy brochure with photos and renderings of the options. Heck, I had to ask my interior designer friend what a window treatment was and what the options might possibly be.
Though what I was most disappointed about was receiving a cryptic email three days before the deadline for choosing the upgrades detailing the payment options for the upgrades:
Your mailed invitation had upgrade pricing specific to your home. If you choose to do an upgrade, payments can either be paid in cash or can be financed as part of your mortgage. Please bear in mind that if you finance your upgrades, there will be an additional 10% charge that will need to be paid in cash. This is to cover the additional closing costs and taxes incurred by the developer due to a higher sales price. A $1,000 accent tile upgrade, for instance, would require a $100 payment. If you have any questions about the upgrade prices or the process, please drop us a line.
Seeing as how I don’t have thousands in cash laying around in my chequing account I read the above meaning that I’d need to bring 10% so that I could go the financing route. However, once the date arrived and I had my cheque book out it was explained that to finance the upgrades required writing a cheque for 110% of the amount and that upon close I’d receive the 100% back. So unfortunately I had to pass on the upgrades bcause I just didn’t have the funds available, which is really disappointing because I’d have no problems financing them at a later date, or paying an increased purchase price if they had been included in the price. The hardwood floors are just going to have to wait. But I can’t help but wonder why they didn’t have these upgrades available at the time of purchase?
I should also point out that I talked to lots of people about upgrades (realtors, an architect and an interior designer) and the consensus was that it didn’t make sense to do any of the upgrades with the exception of possibly the hardwood floors.
What upgrade experiences have others had? Prices?
