Pros and Cons of using buyers' agent for new Pulte home (sales, condo)

[mccray916]

I would like to know the pros and cons of using a buyers agent to purchase a new home [Pulte]. I've been looking at homes for 3 months on my own and know the home I want to purchase so I'm thinking about foregoing a buyers' agent in order to have more negotiating leverage with the price. I am trying to get a 15 or 20 year mortgage [I'm 52] and need to get the selling price down to as low as possible in order to be able to manage the payments.

I know from reading many of the threads that most Pulte homeowners have been satisfied with their purchase. I also realize that there are many buyer rebate programs out there that I will not be able to take advantage of and further realize that I am absolutely on my own should I choose to forego a buyers' agent. If I do decide not to use a buyers' agent, can someone please offer a checklist of sorts that I can use in negotiating with the builder. Thanks so very much for any advice that you can offer.

[mccray916]

I forgot to mention my question about pre-approval loans in the above post. I keep reading that a person should get pre-approved for a mortgage loan before even looking at homes to purchase. I have not been pre-approved but the builder says that he can get me pre-approved through their lender who is also the builder [smile]. However, I plan to submit my information to several lenders to see where I can get the best rate. Don't I need to know exactly what the home is going to cost me before asking a lender to approve a loan?

[BobKovacs]

Unless the house you're looking to buy is standing inventory, Pulte's not likely to budge at all on the sales price- regardless of whether you're using an agent or not. They're still doing pretty well in most of their developments, and recently adjusted the pricing in some to stay competitive. While their mortgage company's rates weren't the lowest around, they were close enough, and the $5-6k in incentives for using Pulte Mortgage may make it worthwhile. If nothing else, it makes the coordination of the closing far easier.

[mccray916]

Originally Posted by BobKovacs

Unless the house you're looking to buy is standing inventory, Pulte's not likely to budge at all on the sales price- regardless of whether you're using an agent or not. They're still doing pretty well in most of their developments, and recently adjusted the pricing in some to stay competitive. While their mortgage company's rates weren't the lowest around, they were close enough, and the $5-6k in incentives for using Pulte Mortgage may make it worthwhile. If nothing else, it makes the coordination of the closing far easier.

Thanks fo much for your response. I was just alarmed that the pricing for a home I just looked at a few months ago had fallen $30,000. I just don't want to start off with negative equity.

[suzie02]

I live in a Pulte neighborhood. We bought without an agent because we had one that wouldn't let us put an offer that wasn't list price. We never pay list price. We had to go to a different county and buy in a neighborhood she hadn't shown us. In the end it was a better location. So it was meant to be.
We are about to list our house so we know what Pulte's new strategy is. They are selling their homes without any upgrades. Vinyl floor, laminate counter tops, etc...Once you add all the things they used to offer at the higher price your cost is the same.
Our strategy is to buy spec homes and never pay list price. If you buy under construction you will not be able to negotiate much. But you can't loose by offering less than list price. At least you know you tried.
Regarding financing, yes you have to use their company for them to lower your price by any amount.
For our prior Pulte home we shopped around for a good rate and brought our pre-approval letter to them and they matched it.
For this home we didn't care because the relo co paid closing cost. Then we turned around and refinanced with ING that was offering a zero closing costs special. We saved $30/month. My neighbor said it was 2 cases of beer.
Hope this helps.
BTW all agents we interviewed to sell were impressed with the deal we got with our current house. It was 2006 when we bought.

[mccray916]

Originally Posted by suzie02

I live in a Pulte neighborhood. We bought without an agent because we had one that wouldn't let us put an offer that wasn't list price. We never pay list price. We had to go to a different county and buy in a neighborhood she hadn't shown us. In the end it was a better location. So it was meant to be.
We are about to list our house so we know what Pulte's new strategy is. They are selling their homes without any upgrades. Vinyl floor, laminate counter tops, etc...Once you add all the things they used to offer at the higher price your cost is the same.
Our strategy is to buy spec homes and never pay list price. If you buy under construction you will not be able to negotiate much. But you can't loose by offering less than list price. At least you know you tried.
Regarding financing, yes you have to use their company for them to lower your price by any amount.
For our prior Pulte home we shopped around for a good rate and brought our pre-approval letter to them and they matched it.
For this home we didn't care because the relo co paid closing cost. Then we turned around and refinanced with ING that was offering a zero closing costs special. We saved $30/month. My neighbor said it was 2 cases of beer.
Hope this helps.
BTW all agents we interviewed to sell were impressed with the deal we got with our current house. It was 2006 when we bought.

Thank you so very much. Can you share with me the lenders who gave you a better rate than Pulte so I can perhaps start there. Thanks so much for taking the time to respond to my inquiry. I expect this home to be my retirement home and can ill afford to make too many mistakes.

[suzie02]

Originally Posted by mccray916

Thank you so very much. Can you share with me the lenders who gave you a better rate than Pulte so I can perhaps start there. Thanks so much for taking the time to respond to my inquiry. I expect this home to be my retirement home and can ill afford to make too many mistakes.

Any info I could give regarding loans is outdated since things have changed so much.

[home purchaser]

I am in the process of possibly purchasing a Pulte condo in Macomb Mi. Pulte agent trying to get me to sign his agreement with 10 K dollars in closing cost then saying Pulte will pay 5K in closing cost. For same loan through Chase, Charter One & Bank of America banks closing cost are under 2K dollars for $140,000 mortgage. Is this A Pulte scam? CONFUSED OR NOT BEING FOOLED?

[suzie02]

Originally Posted by home purchaser

I am in the process of possibly purchasing a Pulte condo in Macomb Mi. Pulte agent trying to get me to sign his agreement with 10 K dollars in closing cost then saying Pulte will pay 5K in closing cost. For same loan through Chase, Charter One & Bank of America banks closing cost are under 2K dollars for $140,000 mortgage. Is this A Pulte scam? CONFUSED OR NOT BEING FOOLED?

Just remember that Pulte is looking out for their own interests not yours. Just do the math and if you can get a better deal elsewhere go for it. Also remember that closing costs are negotiable too. If you go back to Pulte with GFE from somebody else they may match it.