4th Quarter is THE best time to buy new construction

4th Quarter is THE best time to buy new construction - The housing inventory has been incredibly low for the past couple years in most markets across the country, forcing a lot of would be sellers to just sit tight because they do not want to be "homeless" or have to do a double move with pricey short term rentals. I love showing and selling new construction homes. Buyers love them when they walk in and love the idea of selecting their own colors and floor plans, upgrades and accessories. 

As a Realtor, working with the sales team at a new construction site is typically a wonderful experience. Yes I am a realtor and I really believe it is absolutely critical that a buyer take their agent with them when looking at new construction, more on that in a minute.

Why is the 4th quarter the best time to buy new construction? Most new home communities are part of very big corporate home builders master plans and they want to have as much inventory off their books at years end as possible, incentives ramp up, discounts, quick move in homes become readily available and their lenders offer deeper incentives to get buyers into their homes.

If you are in one of those markets where there seems to be very little resale available ask your agent to take you to some new home sales sites. You may be asking why do you need a Realtor on new construction, the builder writes the offer and takes care of everything from A-Z, which is very true but having an agent represent you, costs you absolutely nothing. Keep in mind that the sales agents at the new home site work for the builder, the contracts are all designed to protect the builder, there is literally no one working to protect the buyer.

The following is a true story that happened with my clients buying a new home. we had looked at several resale but they knew they wanted new. So we toured several sites and found a model and a builder that they really liked. The model itself was actually not available any longer in this particular community, but a few miles south the builder had one in the framing stage that would be ready in 3 months, we drove down to take a look and they loved it and wrote the offer.

During the process the buyers, who lived an hour north of the property were not available to go by and check in through the various stages of construction. Not to worry I promised that I would check on the process every few days and take pictures of the builders progress. The buyers liked that idea and about three weeks in I noticed two of the roof support trusses were snapped in two. I took a photo and brought it to the attention of the foreman and the sales agent, they both said no worries they would make sure to correct this issue.

Weeks went by and construction continued, but nothing was being done to correct the beams. I kept bringing it up to the sales agent and she assured me it would get resolved, still nothing. Finally the dry wall stage came and they sealed up the ceiling, no more view of the broken beams and again we were told the issue had been resolved. I assured them that not only would my buyer not be purchasing this home until they were able to see the beams with their own eyes and be 100% satisfied that they were repaired or replaced, but I would also gladly share my photos with the next homeowner.

Within 5 minutes they had had cut a new attic access (which they also neglected to add initially) and showed us the still broken beams, and within three days they had them fixed and my buyers closed on the property. Do I believe the added value of having a Realtor accompany you on new construction is worth it, absolutely, and my clients will definitely agree.

It costs you absolutely nothing to include them and having the extra set of eyes and professional experience can save you so much in the end. Do yourself a favor and take your favorite agent along when you look at new construction, if you do not the builder may not allow them to participate and you could be costing yourself untold thousands, if you do not have a favorite Realtor, give me a call, I would be more than happy to help.