Do I need my own agent for new construction?

Why the first visit decides it

Builder sales representatives are pleasant, knowledgeable people employed by the builder. Their job is the builder interest, which is not a criticism but an arrangement. The moment you sign in at the sales office without representation, most builders will not permit an agent to be added to that transaction later.

So the registration question is settled before you walk through the door of the first model home, not after you have chosen a lot.

The builder addendum is not a resale contract

This is where most of the value sits. A builder contract is drafted by the builder and typically narrows or removes the remedies a standard resale contract gives you: inspection rights, delay remedies, what happens to your deposit, how change orders are priced, and what the warranty actually covers.

Read it before the deposit, not after. Ask specifically what happens if completion slips by three months and whether your rate lock survives it.

Inspect twice, not once

1. 1Pre-drywall. The walls are open and the expensive things are visible: framing, strapping and tie-downs, plumbing and electrical rough-in, window flashing, duct runs.
2. 2Before closing. Finishes, doors and windows operating correctly, grading and drainage away from the house, and everything on the punch list actually done.

I do those walks myself, because I hold a residential contractor licence as well as a real-estate one. Pre-drywall is the one people skip and the one that matters most. Then diarise the eleven-month warranty walk, which is a separate exercise with its own deadline.

Incentives usually live in the lender, not the price

When a builder advertises a large incentive it is commonly tied to using their affiliated lender and title company. Ask what the cash price is without their lender, then compare the total cost of both routes rather than the headline credit. Sometimes the builder package genuinely wins; you cannot know until you have both numbers.

If you would rather build on your own lot than buy builder inventory, the earlier question is what to check before buying the lot, and the contractor side explains how I run that.

What to do at the first visit

1. 1Register your agent on the sign-in sheet, or have them with you. This is the whole of it, and it cannot be undone later.
2. 2Ask for the current price sheet and the lot premium list rather than the monthly payment.
3. 3Ask what is standard and what is an option, in writing. Model homes are built with the option list.
4. 4Ask for the builder contract and the warranty document to take away and read.

A sales office will happily give you all four. What they will not do is tell you which options are worth the money at resale, or which upgrades are cheaper to do after closing with your own contractor — which is the conversation I am there for.