How to Compare Two Builders' Standard Features

Compare the schedules, not the show home

A model home is a marketing exercise. It is usually finished to a higher specification than the home you would receive, and the items that differ are rarely labelled. Comparing two builders by walking their model homes compares their decorators.

What binds is the standard features schedule attached to the agreement. Both builders will have one. Those are the two documents to put side by side.

The lines that genuinely differ

Most schedules cover the same categories, so the differences hide in the detail rather than in the headings. A small number of lines account for most of the real variation between builders.

• Ceiling height, stated per floor rather than for the home overall
• Which surfaces are specified by material, and which only by allowance
• Whether flooring is named by type and area, or left as a package choice
• Electrical service size, and what is roughed in versus installed
• Whether the heating system is sized to accept future air conditioning
• What the basement is delivered as, and at what height
• Which items are charged as closing adjustments rather than included

Watch for allowances in place of specifications

An allowance is a budget, not a product. A schedule that specifies a material tells you what you will receive. One that gives an allowance tells you what the builder will spend, and leaves the quality to whatever that buys at the time.

Neither is wrong, but they are not comparable. Two schedules can look equivalent while one commits to a specification and the other commits to a number.

Count what is roughed in

Rough-ins are a legitimate and common way to keep a base price down, and they are genuinely useful: a rough-in now is far cheaper than opening a finished wall later.

The error is reading a rough-in as the thing itself. A rough-in for central air is not air conditioning. A rough-in for a dishwasher is not a dishwasher. When comparing two schedules, mark which items are installed and which are prepared for, and compare those columns separately.

Read the qualifiers

Schedules carry phrases that do real work: as per plans, where applicable, from the vendor's standard samples, subject to architectural control. Each one narrows what is promised, and they are not boilerplate.

As per plans means the item appears only where the drawing shows it. Where applicable means it may not apply to your model at all. If a line matters to your decision, ask which of those qualifiers attach to it and get the answer in writing.

What this comparison cannot tell you

A features schedule describes materials and provision. It does not describe build quality, how the builder handles deficiencies, or how responsive they are after closing. Those are the things buyers actually complain about, and they do not appear in any schedule.

So compare the schedules to establish what you are contractually owed, then judge the builder separately on track record and on how they answer questions before you have signed anything.