Top 3 Tips When Buying a New Construction Home

#1: WORK WITH A BUYERS AGENT

The reason I mention this one first is that ultimately… it is foolish not to have a buyer's agent on your side throughout the process. Building a home can be a bit of a long journey, and a lot of things can go wrong or be done incorrectly throughout the process. Having a buyer's agent on your side allows you to have a professional, that is in the business, representing your best interests throughout the transaction. If anything goes south or any issues arise throughout the process, you have a fiduciary there to help step in and address the issue or help avoid the issue from happening in its entirety. It also COSTS YOU NOTHING to have this extra layer of protection (the builders pay your agent's commission.) Remember, the builder's salesperson, works for the builder, so for your own protection, find an agent that you like and who is educated in the business to represent you in the transaction.

#2: CHECK UP ON THE PROGRESS THROUGHOUT THE PROCESS

This is very important. A lot of times builders, whether larger-scale or smaller-scale builders have multiple projects, to sometimes hundreds of homes being built all at the same time. It is very easy for things that were agreed upon in the beginning to accidentally be done wrong or missed when the construction of the home is actually taking place. I've had multiple times where recessed lighting, with custom homes, isn't done per the plans specified and per the buyer's requests. Or plumbing, they miss a rain showerhead that was supposed to be in the master shower. With all of these things, it's extremely important to be able to catch the mistake in the stage of construction where the issue lies. So electrical mistakes, or plumbing mistakes, being able to catch the problem before they close everything up and hang drywall, allows them to easily address the problem before everything is done and it becomes a bigger issue, more stressful, and larger pain to fix. So whether it's you checking in on things or your buyer's agent, make sure to stay involved throughout the construction process to make sure everything that you want, and that the builder agreed to, is done as it should be. 

#3: MAKE SURE THAT EVERYTHING IS IN WRITING

Anything that is agreed upon when building a home, no matter how minute you might think it is… if you want it to be there, or you want something done a certain way, make SURE it is in writing. Builders will always try to cut corners or save on costs, so whatever you do, if they promise you one thing to your face but it is not written in writing and acknowledged by both parties, unfortunately, a lot of times the buyers end up not getting what they imagined. A past client of ours once had a conversation with the builder of his home one-on-one and face to face at the very beginning of the process and was promised a modern 4-window garage door [that was also depicted in the marketing materials they were using.] Not noticing that detail when he went to sign the contract, down the road they then ended up saying the home came with a generic 4-panel garage door and if he wanted the modern garage door it was going to cost him $10,000. The lesson here is to make sure to communicate all details with your buyer's agent of conversations had, and to triple-check that anything verbally agreed upon or promised by the builder, is accounted for in writing and signed off on by both parties. 

I hope that is helpful in your new construction home journey. If you have any questions in regards to buying new construction or resale home, please feel free to give us a shout & the Tatum Praise Team would be more than happy to assist in any way that we can!