Negotiating Tips for Homebuyers

By Tara-Nicholle Nelson, FrontDoor.com | Published: 11/01/2007

Builders are often less flexible about price and terms than other sellers, but negotiate anyway when buying a newly built home.

Builders are often less flexible about price and terms than other sellers, but negotiate anyway when buying a newly built home.

#3: GAUGE THE SITUATION WHEN DEALING WITH A DEVELOPER/BUILDER
A lot of this talk about negotiating and price and terms, etc. may be moot when you're buying a newly built home. By and large, the builder/developer dictates the terms on which they will sell you a home in their community, and you either take it or leave it. The list price is the price you pay, though in many markets, developers and builders are willing to negotiate if they have a large amount of inventory.

The builder will have a standard contract with a standard required deposit, standard contingency removal or objection periods, and a standard set of disclosures that they make to every buyer. The larger the builder, the more set they will be in their ways and to their price. That said, it doesn't hurt to ask for concessions or upgrades. Furthermore, builders hate getting sued, so they generally try to create a standard contract that affords you most or all of the same protections your real estate agent would build into a contract for you.

<< #2: Cut in the Middle (Wo)man I #4: Get the Dirt on Pendings >>

           
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