What to Avoid When Building a New Home

In 2017, 345,543 buyers bought new construction homes in the United States. Many of these buyers lost tens of thousands of dollars along the way.

For such a massive financial and personal investment, buying and/or building a brand new home can feel surprisingly distant. Though you are the spearhead of the entire building process, you have to put your trust in a handful of third parties who specialise in each individual aspect. Unless you have firsthand experience, it can be hard to know if you are being taken advantage of, that there are always other (usually cheaper) options available, and if what being done is even necessary.

Builders, developers, financiers, even agents – they all are working for you, and you have the final say in all your decisions. To help you save on your bottom line, here are some key things to look out for when building and/or buying a newly home.

1 – Not Asking the Builder for Upgrades Or Other Non Price Incentives During Negotiations

Many times when builders won’t negotiate on price they are more than willing to negotiate on upgrades. They want sales prices to reflect higher numbers, so they are less likely to give in to offering discounts. However and as a result, they are more likely to give a free upgrade or offer you special services, just as a gesture of gratitude and to win over your satisfaction.

2 – Paying Too Much For Financing

Builders often lure clients with attractive seeming incentives such as a thousand dollar credit or rebate to help pay for the financing of the project. But an incentive is only as valuable as the initial arrangement: if the overall cost is inordinately high, a rebate will likely only be bringing the costs back down to normal, if even that.  That’s not to say these incentives are always as result of an inflated price: possibly there is a connection between your representative/agent and the building company for instance. But it’s something to be on the lookout for, especially if you don’t have as much trust in them yet as you would like.

3 – Not Understanding the Contract

Contracts are riddled with fine print, and even if read carefully it’s not guaranteed you’ll actually understand what’s being said in them. For such a huge financial endeavor, contracts are not to be taken lightly. Even if the builders you meet appear completely reasonable, it’s not even necessarily they who are behind the contract. Always run the contract by and through your representative, who is experienced in such matters and whose job it is to ensure you are not taken advantage of.

4 – Misreading Marking Trends

It’s critical to stay as up to date as possible on market trends. That way you will know the . Speak with your agent or representative about the latest insights and developments with the market. Remember: your agent is on your side, and a good agent will look out for you to ensure the decision you’re making it both the right one for you, and a sound one in terms of the overall market.

5 – Assuming All Builders Are the Same

Quality doesn’t just come from thin air; it takes years of experience to develop a skillset. For builders, the quality of their construction is of course the underlying and most critical element. Without the ability to execute great work, there is no way to sustain business. But construction quality is only one aspect of the overall quality of the building process. Your builder needs to be reliable. They need to be reasonable. They need to be forthright. Utilise the handy tools of the internet to comprehensively research your builder and their competitors, and see how other people’s experiences fare to make sure you are choosing the right builder for you.

6 – Thinking the Builder’s Agent Is on Your Side

An agent’s job is to look out for whomever they represent. There’s no getting around that fact. The builder has an agent and so do you. This is for a reason. Though you will be cordial and develop a rapport together, it is any agent’s job to get the best deal for their client. Now, any good agent will know the cost involved with being too pushy for only what their client wants – for risk of losing the business altogether – but that is why there is another agent to counter and find a mediating common ground.

Looking for some inspiration for your future home?

Come join us this Saturday May 12th at 12 PM for a limo tour of Loudoun County’s newest model homes!