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8 Ways You Could Be Throwing Away Money Buying a New Construction Home (and how to avoid them)

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We have saved clients over $60,000.00 on just one new home purchase!!

We work hard so you don’t have to!  Let us help you make your new home dreams come true!

Read what some clients think.

Are you considering purchasing a new construction home?   
Here are 8 ways you could be costing yourself a lot of money
if you are not careful!

Don't let these things happen to you!  Let us protect you.


1. Not Having Your Own Representation

 

No Tricks, No Gimmicks

If you are buying new construction, you NEED an expert on Your Team!  The Builder sales person’s goal is to make their quotas and make their employer more money!  Making some small concessions to you is a sales ploy to close the deal, not what is the best possible deal for you!

A Realtor® Buyer’s Agent’s goals are to get you the house you want, the way you want it, at the best possible price.  Having an expert agent represent you can result in tens of thousands of dollars in savings!!  Plus, they are available to educate you about what you are committing to, “What To Do Next”, and hold your hand every step of the way to protect you and assure you get exactly what you are expecting and paying for.

Not only are they there to help you select and purchase your dream home, the Buyer’s Agent is also available for you at; The Design Center, Inspections, Walk-Throughs and Closing. They utilize their years of experience at all stages to assure that you receive the excellent treatment you deserve.

IMPORTANT NOTE:  if you have a Realtor it costs you nothing. The new home seller pays for it. When you choose a Realtor, by LAW, that Realtor legally has a fiduciary duty (the highest responsibility) to get you the best deal, the most favorable terms, and look out for your best interests. Realtors are overseen by your State Real Estate Commission, are professionals and are there to advise you for FREE. If you do not have a Realtor with you, you are going in blind and are at a severe disadvantage in contracts and negotiating with the builder.  The fact that having a Buyer’s Agent representing you is almost always FREE to you cannot be repeated often enough.

 

MYTH: Builders will give you a better price if you don’t have a Real Estate agent.  Reputable builders and their agents do not offer this.  In fact, they like to have buyers to have an agent.

* Builders depend on agents to bring them customers.  You represent one sale for them. The agent you bring might have sold numerous homes for this builder already and will continue to do so as long as the builder treats their clients well.

* The commission paid to your agent is NOT paid from the cost of the home!  It is almost always paid from the builder’s marketing funds.  If that commission is not paid to an agent, it either pads the builder’s profits or gets paid to the onsite salesperson! It does not trickle down to you!

* Builders understand that a good agent reduces their problems.  They help explain the process to clients. They are a buffer between them and the client reducing the problems they might face without an agent.  It generally makes the process go more smoothly as agents do this a lot and know what to expect and how to handle issues that arise.

 

Make the Smart Choice! Contact Us Today and Start Saving Money on Your New Home! 
Call Now – (832) 603-1052


2. Negotiating Your Own Contract

Negotiate From Strength

Did you know that the builder wants to sell every home for
the highest possible price? But the builder is not just
motivated by making as much money as possible from the
sale. The builder also wants to keep the price high because

it helps the builder sell the next home for a similar price.
 

The builder can point to your sale and expect the next buyer
to accept a price that is somewhere near what you paid.
However, because keeping the price at a certain point is so important, it means that the builder might be willing to give you small concessions in order to “close the deal”.  But how do you know that you got the best price possible?  Are you experienced with negotiation a new home contract? Or, when you sign that contract will you wonder if you “left money on the table”?

 

How can you prevent this? Hire a Realtor Buyer’s Agent to represent you.  An experienced agent who has experience with new home construction has negotiated a lot of new home contracts with builders.  They know what items can be negotiated.  They know where they can gain you possibly thousands of dollars in savings on your dream home.
 

3. Selecting the Wrong Upgrades

This is your dream home we are discussing. You have a lot of ideas of just exactly what you want it to include, rooms, additions, flooring, décor, and even fixtures.  How do you know which are the right ones to pay the builder to include in your contract, and at what price?
 

Builders make a large portion of their profit from upgrades!  Do you want to do a lot of research to decide what you should buy now, or later?  Picking the wrong upgrades, at the wrong time can cost you a lot of money also.
 

The good news is, if you hire a qualified Buyer’s Agent to help you they can guide you in a number of ways.  They help you determine what is the most important to you, your budget and how to best utilize it.  Is it better to contract for that item now, at the Design Center, or later after you are living in the home?

An experienced Buyer’s Agent has done this many times and knows the most cost effective way to make this house yours just as you want it at the best price to you!
 

4. Selecting the Wrong Location

It is likely that this will not be your final home.  Just how much attention should you pay to the decisions you make today when it comes to reselling your home?  Or, how will the location you choose for your home affect your long term enjoyment.  There are a lot of factors that come into play concerning the lot you select!  You have heard the old adage “location, location, location”.  It is an old adage for a reason; it is probably the most important factor when determining your home’s value.

The builder will have a number of lots to choose to build your house.  Which one is the best for you? Probably not the one the builder’s agent recommends!  They know which ones are good, not so good, or just poor.  They want to sell the poorer lots as soon as they can because they don’t want to be stuck with them later.  Is that the one you might buy? 
 

Considering all the factors that affect the home’s value takes specialized knowledge and experience.  Good Buyer’s Agents have learned what these factors are and what to look out for in a location.  They will educate you on these factors and help you decide which are important to you.  They can help you decide if a particular lot is worth paying a premium to acquire.

We Have 20+ Years of Experience of Helping Clients with New Construction Home Purchases! We Have Saved Clients Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars!  Don’t Hesitate, Call Now – (832) 603-1052
 

5. Accepting the Builder’s Financing

Most builders have in-house mortgage lenders or preferred companies they work with who may or may not offer competitive rates and terms.  They will often offer a buyer financial incentives to use their mortgage company.  These may be discounts on the house price or contributions to closing costs.  They do this for a few reasons; it makes the builder’s company more money from the interest you pay on the loan, it gives them control of the total transaction, and it protects their financial interests to know your financial situation.  What it doesn’t do is guarantee you the best deal for you!
 

Are the discounts they offer a good deal? Unless you compare what they offer with other mortgage options, you won’t have a basis for comparison.  Often the rate they offer is higher than an independent broker may be able to provide.
 

6. Not Having an Independent Inspector

The builder sales representative will often tell you, "You don't need
an independent home inspector, this is a new home and what
could go wrong, don’t worry we inspect the home numerous times
throughout the build process." There is plenty of that can go
wrong!”  Builders hire the most cost competitive contractors that
they can.  Typically their project managers are also assigned more
homes than they can effectively manage. This means that errors
can slip through quite often.  Some of these possible errors could be very expensive to fix later!  A simple mistake like a pinhole leak in a water pipe buried in a wall might take a very long time to discover.  That repair would not be covered by the builder after one year and your Home Owner’s Insurance won’t cover it.  It may cost thousands to fix this simple issue that an independent inspection should catch!

 

It is YOUR hard earned money & it is up to you to protect your investment. You have a right to hire a home inspector and you should not skip this most important step.  A Realtor should have contact and experience with a number of highly qualified inspectors.  A good inspector is worth every penny!
 

7. Accepting Any Issues That Arise

Builder’s contracts are written to protect the builder and to bind you to the purchase no matter what goes wrong during the construction process. They are not written to protect you!  The builder puts in the wrong tile, fails to make a structural change you purchased, or does sloppy work on something, what are you going to do? Insist they fix it?  If they think it will cost too much to fix they will just tell you “Take it, or leave it. Someone else will buy it!”
 

But, if you have a Buyer’s Agent representing you, they will fight for you if any issues arise during construction of your new home. Your agent has far more pull with a builder than you will. This is because builders need to maintain their relationships and reputations with REALTORS®.  They count on agents bringing clients to see their homes over and over again. They also know that if they do not make an agent’s client happy and satisfied, Realtors talk to each other and will energetically share the bad experience with many others.  Builders do NOT want that kind of exposure. Don't go into the largest purchase of your life without someone in your corner to fight for you!
 

8. Wasting Your Time

“Time is money!”  This saying has never been truer than it is today!  How many hours will you spend looking for the right builder, the right community, the right schools, the right model, and the right everything?  How long will you spend during the process?  We can can save you many hours of your time by helping you in your search, in the purchase, in the building process and at closing!

There is no better investment you can make than to engage the free services of an experience Realtor!  You have nothing to lose, and a huge amount to gain!

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