umeng2002:

First thing I do when moving into a new house is bust out the drill and crawl in the attic for a few hours running ethernet cable to the rooms with PCs.

Why is a new house not coming with the infrastructure already in place.

pegasus1:

Why is a new house not coming with the infrastructure already in place.

Because large home builders are lazy and cheap.

umeng2002:

Because large home builders are lazy and cheap.

I got involved with my newest place when it was at this stage, its nice to have complete control over exactly what went where, what materials were used etc. However i still question my decision to have three toilets when i live on my own ha ha ha.

Most of the large home builders won't allow you to customize anything unless it's a pre-defined customization they have... like ordering a car. Hiring a smaller builder is the way to go to get everything how you want it.

umeng2002:

Most of the large home builders won't allow you to customize anything unless it's a pre-defined customization they have... like ordering a car. Hiring a smaller builder is the way to go to get everything how you want it.

There's only four properties on my road, all built at the same time with loads of flexability on both the internal and external design. As I'm a foreigner my internal design and the materials used are very different, same for my Russian neighbour. As above if you can find a smaller developer who uses their own money to fund the project (not borrowed) and their PM has a good reputation then its a winner.