Ever since inventory has began to be scare, many home buyers are looking for new construction properties. When you purchase a newly constructed home, there are additional steps that are essential.
Because we want to make this a hassle-free process, we want to give you five tips to make sure you know when you’re buying a new construction home.
1. Hire the right inspector
Even though home builders must follow city and town regulations, an independent home inspector will have your best interest. Typically when a newly constructed home is going through the buying process, you’ll generally have 1-3 inspections depending on desires.
All of the inspections are critical since the inspector will usually spot anything that the developer possibly missed. It’s highly recommended that if you can, attend the inspection. This way you can ask questions about the new property to make sure any problems are addressed by the builder.
2. Have additional time during the buying process.
There’s quite a bit of factors that can ultimately impact the progress of your home. One key factor is the weather. This can be especially critical if it’s in the fall or winter. Rain and we weather can delay the initial foundation of home building. Snow and cold temperatures can also cause pipes and such to freeze slowing which will extend your timeline.
Most of the time, developers will have an additional week or two, in mind just in case. However for you, if you’re selling your home this can be another burden, you don’t want to end up in the process of buying and selling a home.
3. Go to the construction site when possible
At the end of the day, this is your new home so you want to make sure everything is going well. You want to check up on the property not just once, but make sure to visit often preferably at least once a week. You may also want to take pictures in case something in the future were to come up. This can be especially critical with pipe and electrical work.
4. See if there’s builder incentives
One of the benefits many homeowners like is the fact that they can customize their home the way they’d like. This can be anything from having your desired counter tops, porch. room, you name it!
However add-ons and work like this can add up quickly. It’s not uncommon for builder to have incentives that help you reduce your overall spending cost. By doing some research you can identify some way builders within your area are offering incentives.
5.Have a good relationship with the developer
Ultimately having a good relationship is key to a successful project. You can start by having a meeting prior to constructions starting. Here you will go over the project for your home. You can establish ways to stay up to date on the project, such as having weekly updates or so. Make sure they let you know by following up with you on the progress by showing you pictures along the way.
Ultimately, buying a newly constructed home can have its benefits. However, make sure you don’t fall victim to mistakes buyers make when purchasing a newly built home.