Want to move into a brand-new home by the fall of 1997?
Then better begin the selection process early in the first quarter of this year, new-home experts say.
“A lot of people don’t do enough homework,” says Donald Jacobs, president of the architectural firm of JBZ Dorius, a design consultant to mainstream home builders across America.
“To find the right builder, I’m really big on references. You want to know how you’ll be treated afterward and whether things will be fixed in a timely manner,” says Jacobs, former chairman of the American Institute of Architects’ housing committee.
How do you find the right references?
Ask the builder for names of customers who have purchased his homes at least a year prior, Jacobs suggests. That way you’ll find out if a company is conscientious in caring for consumers well after a deal is closed.
By the way, some of your best information on a builder can come from informal conversations with residents of local communities the firm has already completed, says Linda Cutter, a broker-associate for the RE/MAX chain.
“You should buy by walking around and talking to people,” says Cutter, an officer of the Residential Sales Council, a Chicago-based educational group for top-selling agents.
Choosing a builder through references from past customers is one secret to getting a high-quality new home. Here are five others:
1. Look for negotiating room on options.
Builders are unlikely to yield on the base price of the house.
Why? Because of something known as “price credibility.” If they get the reputation for price-cutting to suit Buyer B, then Buyer A–who bought at a higher base cost last month–may hear about it and get sore. And new owners never forget the base price they paid.
On the other hand, it’s perfectly plausible to convince a builder to give you a few extra options without adding to the base price, especially if you’re buying in an area where homes are selling slowly, says Jeff Shore, national sales director for Kaufman & Broad Home Corp., which built 9,000 homes last year.
For instance, you might ask for an upgraded landscaping package, better carpet and padding, a built-in microwave oven, or a backyard patio, Shore suggests. The trick here is to know what options you most want before you start negotiating.
You may be surprised to learn that many salespeople at subdivision models have been given a degree of latitude to yield “extras” at no charge, Shore says. Still, they have well defined “parameters” as to how much they can yield on options without having to call their manager, he says.
The only way to discover the builder’s parameters is by requesting extras and seeing how the sales force reacts. If the community is selling well, there may be no latitude at all for free options, Shore emphasizes.
2. Don’t buy the wrong home just because the price tag is right.
“I’ve seen people buy a house that didn’t suit them just because it was a bargain,” Shore says.
Some people become so absorbed in negotiating over options on a new property that they mistakenly walk away from the right house if the bottom line is a tad more than they sought to pay, Shore says.
“Buy the house, not the deal,” he advises.
To stay focused on your top priorities, write them down before you go house hunting. Then carry that paper in your pocket, referring to it along the trail.
Shore cautions buyers to be suspicious if a property is offered with extravagant giveaways, such as a free pool in the back yard, or a free car in the garage. In such cases, the building firm may be trying to make up for an inflated base price it doesn’t want to admit was set too high.
3. Don’t pick a palace in “Never-Never Land” if your job is distant.
“One of the problems in this country is that more reasonably priced houses are further out, and people have to drive an hour or longer to get to work,” says Barry A. Berkus, president of B3 Architects, who speaks frequently for the National Association of Home Builders.
Long commutes “create a tremendous amount of negative energy. They leave people agitated and take time away from family,” Berkus says.
Of course, if the castle you select happens to be in the same “edge city” where your job is located–and many new jobs are sprouting in the hinterlands–your commuting problem is solved. Ditto, if you happen to be one of the growing army of home-based workers.
“Your quality of life increases as you spend more time at home,” Berkus says.
4. Try to buy any structural extras you desire at the very beginning.
Do you now anticipate you’ll later want a second home office, a built-in media center or an extra bathroom on the first floor? Then, assuming you can afford it, get the builder to add in all such major extras at the outset, so they’ll be part of your original loan, recommends Jacobs, of JBZ Dorius.
For one thing, there’s less hassle and expense in making structural improvements from the beginning. For another, you spare yourself the costs of transaction fees involved in the home equity line you might need to make the structural changes later, Jacobs says.
5. Think through details of the floor plan you’ll need in a new home.
“People tend to need private time,” says Berkus, who serves as a design consultant to major home builders throughout the nation.
These days, couples in their late 40s– even their early 50s–can have very young families. Accustomed as they had been to solitude for many years, they may need a degree of separation between their master bedroom and their children’s rooms, he says.
Another contemporary factor of great import is the size and feeling of the kitchen.
“Today, cooking becomes a celebrated process of entertaining. And the kitchen should be a powerful magnet, a place where people can converse and spend time,” Berkus says.
Obviously, a new home is a major expenditure. What’s less apparent is that it’s an important lifestyle choice that should involve “a certain amount of romance and excitement for you,” according to Berkus.
“You want a home plan that fits like a glove,” he says.
