Buying a new house (McKinney: wood floors, appointed, sales)

[mikaels]

I am planning to buy a new house in McKinney. And since I am a first time homebuyer, I dont have any experience in getting the best deals. Do you guys have any suggestions like how to negotiate with the price of the house. Like when offering for a 180,000$ house, how low can you get? Thanks

[escanlan]

Originally Posted by mikaels

I am planning to buy a new house in McKinney. And since I am a first time homebuyer, I dont have any experience in getting the best deals. Do you guys have any suggestions like how to negotiate with the price of the house. Like when offering for a 180,000$ house, how low can you get? Thanks

Your best bet is to hire a Real Estate Agent who can help you through the process. We have a regular on the BB here, Naima Sumner, who can help you with all of your questions. She deals in both new and existing homes and has a wide knowledge and experience base. Moderator cut: sorry but only realtor.com can be posted
Having an Agent on your side is not going to cost you anything and will generally save you in money and aggravation. It is well worth at least speaking to an Agent before you approach any new home builder.

If you have any questions on the home construction itself ask away. Good luck on the purchase.

[TurtleCreek80]

You need a buyers agent who will help you determine an appropriate offer based on the price recent nearby homes have sold for. A buyers agent is free- the seller pays their commission. A buyers agent will represent YOU and take care of everything for you- negotiating and submitting all offers and counter-offers all the way through until you close on your new home.

If you are looking at brand new homes, the sales people in the communities are NOT there to help you- they get paid to sell homes for as high a price as possible by the builder.

Ask coworkers or friends who live in the area you're looking in for realtor references.

[mikaels]

Thanks for the info. A friend told me that it is much better for me to deal with a builder directly since I am buying a new house. The reason for this is that if I have a realtor, he can get all the 6% comission from the builder AND IF i dont have a realtor I can use this as a negotiation tool to lower the price. Now for a house worth 180,000$, I can at least lower it by 10k. I just dont know how low an offer I can make in this kind of market for a 180k house.

[stan4]

Originally Posted by mikaels

Thanks for the info. A friend told me that it is much better for me to deal with a builder directly since I am buying a new house. The reason for this is that if I have a realtor, he can get all the 6% comission from the builder AND IF i dont have a realtor I can use this as a negotiation tool to lower the price. Now for a house worth 180,000$, I can at least lower it by 10k. I just dont know how low an offer I can make in this kind of market for a 180k house.

That's crap, because the builder already has the realtor fee budgeted in another account that has nothing to do with your price for the house. So don't buy that.

That being said, every realtor out there doesn't have your best interests at heart. Find someone who knows the area and you can trust. They should be able to tell you what other similar houses in the area are selling for (that gives you a good base from which to start your negotiations).

[nsumner]

Michaels,
First, the builders don't pay agents 6%. They pay 3%. Having an agent represent you or not will not affect the price you pay. Every builder's pricing is different. There isn't a magic formula to tell you a given percentage that they negotiate on. The community status comes into play to, are they almost sold out? How many homes do they sell a month? Most builders will negotiate on homes that are completed or almost completed and if you close before the end of the year you can get an even better deal.

Are you sure that you want to buy a brand new home? Have you looked at may be pre-owned homes that are just a few years old that the owners may have upgraded and need to sell? There are currently 65 homes priced under 180K and less than 5 years old on the market in Mckinney. May be you can get more for less. Just some food for thought.

Naima

[Lynn411]

Your buyers agent should be assisting you with all these questions/ concerns. Each home stands alone as each person has their own DNA on how to structure a sales offer to a bank OR property owner. Much goes into the equation of submitting any sales offer .. are you qualified for a home loan is 1st step which governs how a Realtor can assist you .

[Rakin]

Find a good buyers agent. They will know the good builders from the bad and can guide you correctly.

The bad builders may tell you they discount because you don't have an agent but it's usually not true. They don't want you with an agent because they know the agent will take you to a better builder.

There are about 3-4 builders to avoid IMO at all costs in DFW, you need someone to help you buy the very best home you can for your money.

You'll never be disappointed in quality.

[lh_newbie]

One other thing to note - when negotiating price, make sure to negotiate a discount on all upgrades at the design center. Most folks will negotiate a price and forget this, then go to the design center and select upgraded carpets, tile, wood floors, counters, cabinets, backsplash, etc - and pay through the nose. Getting 25-50% discount on all upgrades added to your contract is not unreasonable, the design center has massive profit margins built in to list pricing.

[HOAPRESIDENT]

It sounds like you're about to get screwed.