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.
Most builders I know will not negotiate verbally. They want a written offer and a mortgage pre-qualification so they know you are a serious buyer. It doesn't take that much to write an offer. Have your agent structure an offer that will work for you and give the builder 24 hours to respond. If they counter back, you are not obligated to accept, but you get an idea on how motivated they are.
Most builders I know will not negotiate verbally. They want a written offer and a mortgage pre-qualification so they know you are a serious buyer. It doesn't take that much to write an offer. Have your agent structure an offer that will work for you and give the builder 24 hours to respond. If they counter back, you are not obligated to accept, but you get an idea on how motivated they are.
Sandy
In our case to make our point. We wrote out a check of double the normal initial deposit amount when we made our written offer. It really helps convince the regional manager that you are serious.