Hella

Darling Homes is building a new house for me in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. I originally inquired about the community after it was fairly well sold and not many homes were available. In fact, as I was putting down the deposit on the lot, the other 3 remaining lots were sold. Compared to other builders in the same community, Darling was more impressive on both a process and knowledge. Other builders required a significant amount of money upfront while Darling spaced out (and required less overall) the money. The salesperson has continued to be extremely professional and helpful.

The process has been going smoothly so far. After agreeing on a price and lot with the salesperson, I was quickly handed off to the builder who leads the process to closing, where the salesperson once again steps in to complete the transaction.

The builder wasn’t able to get a clear lot on the house for a while so that delayed things in the beginning. Then, after viewing more houses in the community, I decided I wanted to submit an exterior color change. That delayed things another couple of weeks. With all clear, they began framing the house last week and today my Realtor and I suspect that the framing is complete. Now it’s time to set up meetings with various tradesmen.

I’ve already met with the Design Center to select paint colors, floor options, bathroom tile, stair balusters, and many other items. After receiving the pricing from the builder a couple of weeks from that meeting, I can say I’m satisfied with it. Compared to other options which I explored late last year, the upgrades seem reasonably priced.

So now it’s time to setup meetings with the audio/video guy who will handle all the wiring. He was extremey helpful today and went over all wall mount options in great detail over the phone. He’s also very knowledgeable on all the latest equipment and technologies. In addition to the sound stuff, I’ll also be meeting with the cabinet guy. There are standard pictures of all the cabinets which we’ll go over along with any proposed upgrades. The kitchen island is an area I plan to focus on, perhaps going for a look similar to this black peel paint and finish treatment:

After those meetings, I’ll meet the builder again for the pre-sheetrock walkthrough. Beyond that, it’s then to the lighting company to pick out fixtures and to the landscape company to select the plants, greenery, and any additional flatwork.

[tags]building a house,darling homes[/tags]

Filed under: House