I have built new 2 times now. Built the first one about 3 years ago and are selling it to move into another house that I've had built.

I found it helpful to go through a showhome of the same floorplan that I'd chosen so that I could better envision things that we liked, things we'd like changed, etc.

Some things to think about are locations of lights and location of wall plugs, including telephone and cable outlets. They may seem like minor things now, but they are pretty hard to change later on. If you haven't gone for wireless LAN connections in your house, think about adding in your own LAN connections. All of this can be done through the builder, but if you have a friend that can do wiring, it's much cheaper.

The choices are pretty much endless in terms of what you can change. I spent a lot of time looking through design magazines looking for ideas that could be incorporated.

Be sure to go to the site as often as possible to check the progress of the house. There are constant errors and if you don't stay on top of them, they could just get ignored and covered over.

More importantly though, have fun with the process! Grats on the house!