If you’ve been looking for a new home for any length of time, then you know that inventory is lacking and demand is high in much of the State of California. Many people are taking advantage of the approximately 200 new home communities that are popping up in the Greater Sacramento region. You only need a real estate agent if you’re buying a resale residential property, right? Wrong! Here are five reasons why you should visit new build homes with a real estate professional.
They know what questions to ask. – If you’re like me, then visiting model homes is as much fun as a five year old taking a vacation to Disneyland. There are sparkly new appliances, high-end art on the walls, lighting fixtures dripping with glass bobbles, and a landscaped backyard where you can picture your family lounging during a cool summer night. Yes! This is exactly the life that I picture myself living!
Now let’s take away the pretty upgrades, decorator touches, and get down to the dirt the yard comes with and you just may have a wake up call. An agent knows to ask about what comes with the property, what costs extra, how long will it take to build the home, is there a wait list, what are the HOA fees, what are the Melllo-Roos fees, how much is the premium lot fee, and more. As a first time new build buyer, sometimes you don’t know what you don’t know and not knowing can cost you tens of thousands of dollars down the road.
They know what to look for. – As someone who has lived in her home for over 18 years, I have no idea about the technology that comes with a new home. I don’t even have a Ring doorbell camera! When I was walking new builds with my Realtor®, she pointed things that I wouldn’t even have noticed such as the dual zone thermostat, which homes had double ovens, why having a kids room at the front of the house can be problematic, and how to prioritize our favorite features in each home to decide which one we liked best.
She also informed us of where the new schools were being built, the pros and cons of each new build neighborhood, delays to prepare for, and tips for finding the right short-term apartment so that we can move when schools starts even if our home isn’t ready in time. That alone made her worth her weight in gold!
They can guide you through the process of paperwork and legal stuff. – I just bought a new smartphone from Costco last week. It took a couple of hours, we spent another week trying to move the old data to the new phone, and we initialed enough pages to be the next Harry Potter manuscript. And that was just for a stupid phone!!!!!!
Buying a home is a thousand times more complicated with a tangle of legal jargon, taxation verbiage, and other miniscule details that we’ll start to glaze over around page 15. When you have an experienced and trusted real estate agent, they can explain what all the different forms mean, how much you’ll actually be paying, and more.
One of the biggest things you need to know is that when you enter the office of a new build community, the nice people you meet are there to represent the builder’s best interests and sell homes. When you arrive with an agent, they have YOUR best interest in mind. (And you need an agent on the first visit in order to have representation. Don’t just stop by!)
The Rick Fuller Team is equipped with amazing agents who know the area, the process of purchasing a new home, and how to get the paperwork done right. Don’t take chances… take a Realtor!®
