Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I'm in a situation I never thought I'd ever be in, and that's considering new construction in a new community. In this case, there isn't a model, I choose my lot, my plan, and wait. The developer has been releasing one or two lots a year over the past decade, and has been building out slowly. The lot has been listed as "sold", and a listing agent has put out an MLS for the model that will be build in 6 months. It seems she is just the middleman between me and the builder in my few conversations. I have no idea if this is normal or not, but I have put it here for context.
Meanwhile, I have my buyer's agent. She has spent a lot of time with me and I want to make sure she is compensated for her efforts when I finally purchase something. But my research has indicated that often times, you don't even need a realtor when purchasing a home in a planned community. The conventional wisdom is that the savings are passed to you as the buyer, and you don't really need the realtor's services.
So here's where I'm confused. While I would like her to be compensated, if this is a cost save for me, well, then that's a business decision I'm willing to consider. Is she required for this transaction?
Conventional wisdom is wrong. You will not save any money by not using your own realtor. No, you don't HAVE to have a realtor when purchasing new construction. You don't HAVE to have a realtor when purchasing a resale, either. But you SHOULD have one to protect your interests no matter what kind of property you are purchasing.
New home construction sales agent verbally told us that a $8000 upgrade was now included in all the homes. Four months later, we're at the pre-construction meeting and the plans do not show this structural upgrade. Sales agent denied she said anything of the sort. Guess what? Our realtor had confirmed what she said in writing via email. We got the upgrade.
Our realtor also bugged the hell out of them to get the house completed on time (saving me the work and being viewed as a PITA), found issues on the walk through that we would have missed, helped us find inspectors, and more that I'm sure I've forgotten.
Keep your realtor, and insist she be in on the deal. For her sake, and more importantly, for your own sake.
Yeah. When I was buying a new construction house, I had a problem come up and the fact that we had a buyers agent helped greatly in solving it.
Think about it. Lets say something happens and you are mad. What's the worst thing that can happen? Complain to your neighbors and a few friends? You put a sign in your yard or if it gets really really bad you call the local troubleshooter reporter? Then you don't buy your next house from them in 10 years?
A Buyers agent deals with dozens of buyers a year and works with other realtors and can steer them to other builders very easily.
If they treat a buyers agent badly and continually do not do the right thing by clients, they stand to lose way more sales. Plus the agents are educated and know what is reasonable and possible to get out of them, based on other deals.
Others have made excellent points. I will offer my own as well. I'm about to close on a new construction without an agent, as is one of my coworkers. While the official line is that you pay the same regardless of whether you have an agent or not, my experience is that you can often negotiate a better incentive if you do not have one. One builder straight up told me that I'd get a certain percentage back if I did not have an agent, while another builder told me that they don't have a policy like that because the realtors would be very unhappy if they did. But I ended up getting a pretty good incentive anyways.
My point being, if you want someone to be there for you, to guide you through the process, and to help you if you run into problems, by all means hire an agent. But not having one is also a valid option that I and many people have chosen. If you choose to not have one, make sure you do A LOT of research on your own.
Depends on how comfortable you are with buying property. If this is your first home, a buyer's agent will help lead you through the process and help get things done (inspection, appraisal, etc.) -- and will get paid via a split commission from the developer/listing agent.
If you instead deal directly with the developer's agent, you will be able to request and likely get a a 1.5-3% concession on either the price or upgrades. (A way to approach this (after settling on a price) is to ask, "Should I get my own agent for this transaction, or can we negotiate some type of concession to save you from having to pay an agent commission?")
As an aside, I don't know if you have ever bought a new house, but, they are frequently a major pain! -- There are always a host of new construction 'bugs' and things that are not quite as you expected them to be. This is an area where you need to get a pretty strong developer and commitment to take care of issues in a timely manner.
This will be my 5th time buying, but I've never bought new before. I'm morally opposed to suburban sprawl for reasons I won't go into here, but I'm in a market where frankly, people do not take care of their homes and I'm not interested in massive renovations. Since i have such a strong dislike of newer homes, I have little to no knowledge here. I just don't know if I feel comfortable supervising the builder without a helping hand.
If I was given an incentive of 5%, I'd be comfortable very quick, which is why I asked
This will be my 5th time buying, but I've never bought new before. I'm morally opposed to suburban sprawl for reasons I won't go into here, but I'm in a market where frankly, people do not take care of their homes and I'm not interested in massive renovations. Since i have such a strong dislike of newer homes, I have little to no knowledge here. I just don't know if I feel comfortable supervising the builder without a helping hand.
If I was given an incentive of 5%, I'd be comfortable very quick, which is why I asked
I'm in NC and don't know about other markets but in my area, the buyer's agent is paid from the marketing account, not the builder's account.
Here is what I mean...
Subdivision has 8 different builders that you can choose from. Each builder has paid in 6% in fees. 2.5% goes to the buyer's agent, 2.5% goes to the onsite agent (depends) and 1% goes to the developer.
Developer knows some buyers will bring their agent and some won't. The marketing fund allows for that. Developer uses those funds for advertising, as well. Sometimes they throw in an agent bonus or a broker's luncheon.
If no buyer's agent is with you, builder does not get his funds back from the marketing fee.
Your buyer's agent may be getting 2.5% but not the entire 6%, as I've stated above.
Yeah. When I was buying a new construction house, I had a problem come up and the fact that we had a buyers agent helped greatly in solving it.
Think about it. Lets say something happens and you are mad. What's the worst thing that can happen? Complain to your neighbors and a few friends? You put a sign in your yard or if it gets really really bad you call the local troubleshooter reporter? Then you don't buy your next house from them in 10 years?
A Buyers agent deals with dozens of buyers a year and works with other realtors and can steer them to other builders very easily.
If they treat a buyers agent badly and continually do not do the right thing by clients, they stand to lose way more sales. Plus the agents are educated and know what is reasonable and possible to get out of them, based on other deals.
THIS IS JUST SO TRUE!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
