New home communities are more popular than ever! With good reason - new home builders are using popular, open floor-plans, including appliances, sod, and blinds, and helping make it easier than ever to get into a new home with little or no money. New home transactions typically seem a lot easier, as well. If a buyer choses to, they could get through a new home transaction without contacting anyone except the on-site sales agent! However, this would open you up to HUGE losses. Take these simple steps to protect yourself in a new home transaction, and to ensure that yours is a success.
1. Use an Agent Who Has New Home Sales Experience: Many people think that they can save money by not using, or don't need the services of a Agent when buying a new construction home. This couldn't be further from the truth! New homebuilders typically try to monopolize a transaction - they only give you their attractive incentive packages if you agree, in writing, to use their lender, their title company, and sometimes even their insurance company! An Agent will walk you through the transaction and will make sure that you're protected every step of the way. If you've agreed to use the builder's lender, your Agent will make sure that you get a fair interest rate & fair closing costs. Your Agent will know what the industry standards are, and will make sure that the builder doesn't try and stretch beyond these. And best of all, an Agent with a lot of new home transactions under their belt will have long-standing, established relationships with your homebuilder. Because of this, the homebuilder will be on their "best behavior." The homebuilder doesn't want to run the risk of getting a bad reputation in the Agent community, one that can potentially bring the builder lots of homebuyers in the future.
2. Don't Sign ANYTHING Until You've Worked Out Every Detail of the Sale: Buying a home can be very emotional - and it should be. You're not simply picking out a house; you're picking out where you'll spend the holidays next year, where your parents will come visit you, and where you might raise your children. However, the on-site sales agent will try and play on this emotion and get you to "write up the contract so that no one else can get your house." That's just fine, as long as you understand what you're signing, and everything is okay with you. Just remember - no matter what is said, everything will be done as it is outlined in the contract.
3. GET A HOME INSPECTION!!!
Most people who buy new construction homes don't bother to get a home inspection. Most new homes come with a one year "bumper to bumper" warranty that includes everything, and many homebuyers feel that they can find out if there are any construction flaws during those 12 months. The problem with this mindset is that many problems won't surface until well after the 12 months. Remember, your home was built by humans, and humans make mistakes. And, no matter how much experience and reputation a builder brings to the table, it's still next to impossible for that builder to double check every part of the job their subcontractors have completed. A licensed inspector will go through a very thorough checklist to make sure that everything has been accounted for. At the very least, get an inspection so that you can sleep soundly at night, knowing that an independent third party has given your new home their stamp of approval.
