Which New Home Updgrades Are Worth Every Penny?

When building a new home, you have a bunch of decisions to make. Sometimes it can be overwhelming. Sometimes you have to choose the design layout of your new home, right down to where the electrical outlets should be placed. And then there are the upgrade options. It's a giant budgeting decision. Sometimes you'll want to scrimp and save. Other times, you an upgrade will be worth every penny and then some.

So how can you know which new home upgrades are worth the money? Here's a list to keep in mind.

Square footage. If your builder is offering optional upgrade additions onto the basic design for your home, this is one upgrade where you should be willing to really stretch yourself budget wise. Almost everything else about your new home can be upgraded with relative ease in years to come. Adding square footage onto your house will be difficult and expensive. In some home communities, you will even need to get the permission of your home owner's association before you can even attempt an addition, and most times, they will say no. So even if it means eating off cardboard boxes for a few months because you can't afford a kitchen table, a square footage upgrade may be well worth it to build that sun room onto the back of the house.

Kitchen Islands. Perhaps though, you've got all the square footage in the house that you need, or additions are not part of the upgrade packages offered by your home builder. If that's the case, you can turn your attention to upgrades inside of your new home. If a kitchen island does not come standard, invest the money in an upgrade. Kitchen islands give you more counter space, a central location for cooking, and more eating space for friends and family. Unless you have a wonderful friend or relative who will build you an island for your kitchen later down the line, you will likely regret every day you cook in a kitchen without that new home upgrade. Even if you were to build a kitchen island yourself, you'd have to accept a kitchen island without an electrical outlet unless you had the forethought of asking your electrician to put an unsightly plug in the middle of your kitchen floor. When you're building a new home, you want to love every part of it - especially the kitchen. So this is one new home upgrade that's worth the investment.

Electrical Outlets. And speaking of electricians, a new home upgrade you should seriously consider is an additional electrical outlet package. In today's world, everything seems to plug in. Whether it's cordless phones, televisions, home office machines or an electric can-opener - you don't want to be caught with too few electrical outlets. Even if you think you have enough, you might find that your electrical outlets are poorly placed, causing you to run electrical wire all over your rooms. If your builder offers you a new home upgrade with additional electrical outlets, take full advantage of it. You'll be thanking yourself down the line.

Cable & Telephone Jacks. In keeping with the same principle, strongly consider investing in any new home upgrade package that includes extra cable and phone jacks. The placement of telephones and televisions in your home often absolutely dictates your decor. You know you've done something wrong when you start purchasing your sofa based on how it will fit on the only wall available to it given where the television must be. Don't let the position of cable and telephone jacks take all the fun out of decorating your new home. Also consider whether or not you'll have a home office. If so, you might want to have fax and LAN jacks installed too. This kind of thing is difficult to add to a house after the fact - you don't want wiring guys punching holes in your walls so that you can work from home. As a new home upgrade, this is worth every penny.

You might notice that upgrades to counter tops, cabinets and flooring are not included on this list of new home upgrades. While new home upgrades like those might bring a smile to your face, they are more easily upgraded later, once you've settled into the home and saved up some cash. They should be considered lower priority than those new home upgrades listed above. Armed with this list, hopefully your new home buying experience will be more pleasant now and in the years to come.