Brand New Homes… and Chess

March 14, 2014 | Buying

Imagine you are back in high school and that you play chess about once a year. A nerdy guy asks you if you want to play chess. It just so happens that behind those pimples and thick-rimmed glasses and pocket protector is the president of the school’s chess club.

How’s that going to work out for you?

This situation pretty much exists if you are thinking about buying a new home. You can walk into some model homes and deal with the builder directly. the on-site salesperson and the main office executive staff behind him are real estate experts. They know how the game is played. They are kind of like the president of your high school chess club and you are like the occasional chess player.

Don’t get us wrong. New home builders and their staff are good people by and large. However, they are the seller and you are the buyer and buyers and sellers always have different objectives and agendas. It is just the nature of the transaction. If you are going to play the new home buying game, it would be great to have someone equally skilled as the builder’s people to help look out for your best interests.

Why is this important? One of the issues in our current market is a relatively low inventory of resale homes on the market. On the other hand, new home building is picking up after years of being pretty slow. It is more likely now than in the recent past that a new home may be the right choice for your next home. You may need to play that game of chess.

We can help you with a new home purchase in the exact same way that we help you with the purchase of a resale home! And there is no additional cost to you.

Years ago, the home builders and the real estate community in metro Denver got together and forged a joint marketing agreement. The builders realized that it was in their best interest to work cooperatively with the real estate brokers and provide them with compensation when they bring a buyer to the builder. At the same time, brokers realized that they’d be able to provide better service by being able to offer the new home option to their clients.

This created a true win-win-WIN. Builders got access to a larger market and brokers got additional options for their buyers. Builders agreed to compensate brokers and agreed to not have a “two-tiered “market … they don’t charge different prices to buyers working with an agent versus those working without an agent. Buyers got the expertise they needed with these sometimes complex transactions by being able to have an agent by their side representing their best interests.

Now this is IMPORTANT … part of the joint marketing agreement is that your agent is suppose to accompany you to the new home builder’s site on the first visit. Alternately, most builders are fine with you telling them on your first visit that you have an agent you want to use.

However, to preserve your rights to have an agent assist you and to represent your best interests, at least talk with your agent prior to visiting new homes. The agent can give you some business cards and you can hand these to the on-site salesperson when you first visit.

What can an agent do for you with a new home purchase? Check out the list of services we offer to new home buyers.

Don’t go into the new-home-buying “chess game” without an experienced player on your side. A good agent may be able to help you walk away from closing saying, “Checkmate.”

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