i would definitely get the heat pump option if available.

check the appliances closely and see what features they have v/s what you want. (ex. self cleaning oven, crushed ice, etc)
get real windows if possible. it may not matter now, but in a few years, it will matter if you try and open them...

french door v/s patio door.
real cabinets v/s trailer cabinets. that is probably the biggest after the heat pump.
we have replaced all bottom cabinets in the kitchen, and it is so much better. watch out for blind corners in the cabinets, and the bracing under the shelves if real cabinets are not available.
ALSO LOOK UNDER THE SINKS AND DRYER VENTS AT THE HOLES around the pipes.... YES it matters,,,,,, when 2 big FAT RATS decide they want your house as a home ! been there done that....
we have owned our house for 11+ years, and bought it new. we have painted every room, removed cabinets, removed the bar, wallpapered the kitchen and dinning room, upgraded faucets to REAL faucets... thinking.....
OH YES,,,, one more thing....

get DEADBOLTS for the doors !
i love our house, it is Homes of Legand, double wide, and i seriously think we may take it with us if and when we move.
we were new 1st time homeowners when we bought the house and thought we had the perfect house, and we would never want to change it, or make any repairs,,,,,,,
boy have we ever learned....
stace

It depends on how the home is built and what the basics are vs. the options. I would opt for plenty of insulation, good quality flooring and cabinets. It's hard to know what else I would recommend without being familiar with this particular home.

With my experience, I would have someone else do the upgrades. We upgraded lots of things, including sinks, carpeting, blinds, etc... We have had to REPLACE almost everything within 3yrs with the exception of the appliances. Although if I had to do it over again, would definitely upgrade the appliances myself and save $$$. (we upgraded those too)
No, we are not hard on things, the quality of the items was very disappointing.
We still need to replace the doors, windows, sinks and shower pans!
Do I like our home? Absolutely yes!

Thank you. Bookert, I had to laugh when I read your post because I was just this morning debating about the blinds.

I sold new homes and it was amazing how people bought the options the same way that the bought options for their cars...they most often chose the glitter before the practical things....fancy ceiling fans and garden tubs before they got decent insulation.
If you are going to be in the home for more than 5 years I would suggest that you first put any available money into energy saving products. Depending upon what the standard home comes with I would recommend "house type" doors and windows (double thickness glass), 6" exterior walls with 6" insulation and a pitched roof with shingles and 12" of insulation in the ceiling. These items should pay for themselves in about 5 years in energy savings.
If the home is going to come with plastic faucets I would upgrade to metal. I would make sure that each plumbing fixture has a shut-off in the water line feeding it (with many companies this is an option). And lastly I would want a removable hitch (bolts on rather than welded on).
Does your contract specify if the dealer will leave the wheels and axles? Many dealers take them back. The factory buys them back from the dealers at $100-$125 per axle. If any of you at the fine print of your contracts, you will see that the factory states the wheels and axles could be reconditioned. That means that they might have come from your neighbor's home 2 years ago.
Anyway, I tend to be practical first and then go for the other things.

I completely agree with coolvt. I wish I would have been able to talk to you, Cool, before we purchased ours. We regret not upgrading to 2X6s. Check out the insulation that is in the home also. Take off some of the siding and look under it on a similar model. If they won't let you, I'd go elsewhere. Our faucets turned out to be plastic also. I wouldn't have thought to check those when purchasing! We've replaced several do to poor quality. Upgraded carpet didn't last any longer than the cheap stuff. Padding was nonexistent. Get the cheaper and spend the saved money on high quality replacement and padding in a few years or see if they will let you go w/out it.

I have a dozen questions, but for now I'm concerned about the insulation in our new home (no, we are not in it yet). The standard ceiling insulation was R-21, but we upgraded to R-38 in the ceiling and paid $660. (I'm feeling stupid because we may have paid too much). Last week I got to thinking about it and asked my husband to go measure. Guess what? There's no attic access. With the way things have been going, I'm afraid we have paid for insulation we did not get. We also are supposed to have 2X6 exterior walls as well. I am thinking the only way to make sure you get what you are paying for is to go to the factory as the house is being built and watch everything they do.

On the each end of the home (on the outside) there should be vents up near the peak. The vents are just screwed in. Unscrew one and look in with a flashlight and see what you have.
On the 6" walls, go to a window or door opening and measure the thickness of the wall. Don't count the thickness of the the the trim, moulding, wall board or exterior siding. A 2"x6" wall should have 2x6" studs which are actually 5 1/2".
Were you supposed to get 6" of insulaton in the walls? If so and you want to be sure and feel comfortable, you can pull out one of the electrical boxes on an exterior wall and look in to see how much insulation is there.
If you did get the good insulation in the walls and ceiling...congratulations....you made a wise investment in my opinion.

Thank you Coolvt. I'll ask my husband to check. When he measures the insulation shouldn't R38 be at least 10" or more in the ceiling? As for wall insulation yes, if R19 wall insulation is 6". We'll check that too. I am praying we got the insulation we paid for.

I'm not sure any more, but I think fiberglass has an "R" factor of around 3.2 per inch. So 6" x 3.2 would equal R19 for the walls. If 3.2 per inch is correct, then you would need 12" in the ceiling for R38.
In these calculations I believe the company is adding in any insulating benefit that parts of the wall provide.
I wouldn' worry about the fine details. If you have 6" walls and they are filled, then you have your R19. And your R 38 attic should have about 12". If you have double paned house windows and insulated house doors, you should get some pretty decent heating and/or cooling savings.