Home Buyer Tips for Buying A New Home From Home Builder

Sometimes home buyers want to buy a brand new home instead of a re-sell home. Home buyers sometimes want to buy a new house from a home builder.

There are some things that are very important that must be considered when thinking of buying a brand new home or townhouse or condo.

Obviously, whenever purchasing real estate, a home buyer should always be represented. This doesn’t mean being represented by the Listing Agent who represents the Seller or a new home subdivision personnel who represents the Builder.

All home buyers need professional representation by a Realtor you solely represents the home buyer’s best interest.  Many new home builders offer the Buyer’s Realtor a commission if the Realtor brings the home buyer to the subdivision. A Realtor can negotiate the best price, and terms for home buyers.

I do it all the time and recently did just that for a couple from San Jose who wanted to buy a new home in Elk Grove, CA. I negotiated not only the price of the house but since they were interested in the model home, I also negotiated all the furniture, appliances and decorative items in the model home and got them an excellent deal.

This week, I will be doing the same thing for a Chicago man who is looking to buy a new loft or condo in the Downtown Sacramento area or a loft or condo in West Sacramento. I plan to get him the deal of the century, just like I did for the couple who purchased a new home last year in Natomas.

One very important aspect of purchasing a new house, condo or townhouse from a home builder is to make sure that the builder is solvent, at least as much as you possibly can. Personally, I would only buy a new home from a builder if it was at the end of a project versus at the beginning.

There are builders in our region who have gone out of business and each month there seems to be another one to add to the list. This may seem insignificant to you, but believe me when I say, that it has a very significant impact on every new home buyer in a subdivision where the home builder has filed bankruptcy.

Liens are placed on each and every new home in a subdivision where the builder has gone out of business. Sometimes as many as 16–18 liens have been placed on the homeowners property in a subdivision as in the case of Dunmore Homes at Monterey Village.  The Sacbee published an article, Bankrupt Dunmore Homes liquidating Assets. Not only are the liens placed on homeowners who purchased a house in the subdivision but the remaining portion of the subdivision is not finished and becomes quite an eye sore.

Just recently, a group of half-finished homes near Fair Oaks Blvd are evidence of a developer gone bankrupt who built under several different company names and now has a total of $30 million debt. Calypso Bay townhomes, known as The Villas at Calypso Bay is just one of the Dubinsky brothers developments that have gone sour.

C. C. Meyers Inc. developer for Winchester Country Club has filed bankruptcy. Winchester is a developement located in the foothills northeast of Auburn.. You may remember C. C. Meyers who finished the Santa Monica  Freeway 74 days early after the earthquake.

And today, news hit that Woodside Homes is filing for bankruptcy by September 16, 2008. This Utah-based company builds in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, Texas, Utah and Virginia.

Woodside Homes has current home sales in Sacramento, Rancho Cordova, Elk Grove, and Marysville.

Tip: When considering buying a new home at a new home subdivision be sure to:

1. Contact your Realtor and get proper representation before visiting any new home builder subdivision.
2. Get a Home Inspection of the new house or new condo. Don’t have the builder represent you.
3. You don’t have to use the new home builder’s lender. Many times you can get better loans elsewhere.

My new homeowners that purchased a house in Natomas last year, were pleased as punch when they had a home inspection and found that the $350 spent paying the home inspector saved them thousands of dollars that the home builder had to fix.  Be sure to read, No Inspection? Don’t Take New Construction For Granted by Steven L. Smith, a Bellingham, WA home inspector that points out just one of the many items found with new home building that is missed unless the home buyer has their own representation.

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If you have a real estate question that you would like an answer to, be sure to check out and read what other home buyers and home sellers have asked and feel free to ask your Real Estate question by email.   Perhaps, your question will be part of the next article featured on Sacramento REAL Estate Voice.

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