Carol Kelly sent a message to David Auld that said:
I recently visited one of your "freedom" home communities in Florida. While I understand the concept of the "freedom" home lifestyle, I think it's a disadvantage "not" to allow potential home buyers to upgrade and/or change certain features. I believe the freedom home concept is geared to those who want a low maintenance lifestyle and appeal to active adults (like my husband and myself...ages 59 and 65); however, now that we are close to retirement age, we want our home to have those features and upgrades we've worked hard to afford. I think my husband and I would've seriously considered buying a home, maybe even 2 homes, in Falcon Trace, Vero Beach if we could've had some additional options. For example, we didn't want any carpet, but carpet is mandatory in the bedrooms. We wanted a different floor tile than the 3 you offered, but that wasn't allowed even if we were willing to pay for it. (Actually we wanted a tile that looks like hardwood). The kitchen granite options were builder grade granite...no upgraded choices. We couldn't even get granite in the bathrooms. Who wants laminate anymore??? We couldn't get impact windows even though that area is known for hurricanes. I understand by keeping it simple, you are able to keep prices reasonable, but for those of us who've worked hard for 35-40 years, we want to be able to have the features in a home that we want. If we had bought the home, we would've had to rip up all the tile in the entire living area, changed the counter tops in the kitchen and bath, and changed out the windows with impact glass. Who wants to buy a brand new home only to start all over with re-modeling issues? Not us!
So now that I've complained...I also have a suggestion for a solution! Maybe you could have an option called "Freedom Plus" homes. The same home might cost $1000 more but would allow more upgrade choices for the kitchen, bath and flooring...maybe even the outside elevation.
Like I said, my husband and I loved the "Delray" model in Falcon Trace. The layout of the home was "perfect"; however, my husband was not willing to buy a new home only to have to rip everything apart once we moved in. We even asked if they could give us a flooring allowance and we'd put in our own flooring, but I understand that's not possible.
Thank you for listening to my concerns. For the first time home buyer, the "express" homes you offer with the limited options is fine. But for retirees and people close to retirement, I think it would be beneficial to offer a lot more options and upgrades.
I look forward to hearing back from you and appreciate you taking the time to listen to my concerns.
Carol Kelly
