Benefits of Using an Agent When Buying a New “Build

What can an agent do for you with a new home purchase?

1. 1. Your Agent is Paid by the Builder: The builder will pay the fee due to your agent with no increase to the purchase price of the property.

1. 1. Negotiation Expertise: Builders, like every seller, may be negotiable on the sales price. An agent can help you determine when a reduced sales price might be achieved with a builder in given situations.

1. 1. Contract Review: Unlike Colorado Real Estate Commission approved contract forms that heavily favor the buyers of resale homes, new home contracts are drafted by a builder’s attorney and are extremely biased towards protection of the builder. An agent can help you understand these differences and suggest legal review as needed. Colorado Home Realty agents provide a 17-point checklist to every new home buyer that identifies key differences where builder contracts may put you at a disadvantage. You’ll be more informed about the risks/rewards of a new home purchase and, in some cases, proactive steps can then be taken to minimize contractual disadvantages.

1. 1. Inspection Guidance: Many new home buyers do not consider having an inspection on a new home. However, almost every new home probably has some construction details that are not to code or that were not done properly. This is true even though city/county building inspectors have conducted numerous on-site inspections. Your agent can help you decide on the need for your own inspector to accompany you on your pre-closing walk-through to make sure you end up with a complete punch list of items for the builder to correct.

1. 1. Selection of Options and Upgrades: You may not need a particular option but it might be best to include it to avoid resale disadvantages. For example, you may not need a 3-car garage but you’d probably want to include one if 70% of the homes in the area have this feature. Otherwise, you may run into problems when you sell the property years later. The same applies to upgrades to flooring, countertops, plumbing, lighting and so forth. Some of these items can have broad appeal to a wide range of buyers if selected thoughtfully.

1. At The Closing Table: You’d think that closings are pretty standardized. However, papers that are missed or filled out incorrectly at closings constantly amaze us. One of our agents attended a new home closing recently and discovered that the wrong kind of deed was being used to convey the property to the buyer. The builder had been using the same deed form for over 12 years and key required language was missing! A good agent can review the closing documents and make sure that you get what is required by contract.