My fiancee and I were searching for a home, and in her neighborhood was a new townhouse community being built by Richmond American Homes. We got some information, including floor plans, availability and prices for the townhomes, and really liked one of the models that was available called the Preston.
The floorplan for this model can be viewed online (when the website actually works). The floorplan shows that the townhouse has three floors. The ground floor consists of the garage a finished family room, and optional bathroom. The garage takes up the entire front of the house, which forces the house to have a side entry.
When we sat down with the agent to talk about the house and possible upgrades, she added at the last possible moment, that the lots that were available for this house were end units and had a walk out in the back and there were an additional $7,600 in mandatory upgrades for this.
Of course the house would be an end unit. It has only a side entry. If the house wasn't an end unit, you would have to enter from the neighbor's house, and they probably wouldn't enjoy that.
If the floorplan dictates that the house must be an end unit, shouldn't the cost be included in the base price? I also believe that all of the townhouses in the community were required to have the $3000 walk out, which should also have been included in the base price.
Always think twice about hidden mandatory fees.
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