"Holli, why would I need a buyer's agent for a new build? I think that I can handle it myself. I mean it just like buying a car."
I hear this question a lot and everyone person that I have helped navigate the process of buying a new build has thanked me relentlessly. Let me ask you a serious question. Do you honestly believe that builder has your best interest in mind? Because in my experience, nine times out of ten, they are just looking out for their bottom line. I have been to some terrible walk throughs with my clients and laughed at some of the crap they try and pull because I know that they were hoping that their buyers were inexperienced and would let it pass.
Not only is it advantageous to have someone help you with negotiating, it is even more imperative to have someone that understands the building process and how things SHOULD be. Builders understand that many of their clients don't really know what they are responsible for. The client will bring up an issue and the builder will say, there isn't anything they can do about it or that's just how it is. When in reality it is just a lie or pure laziness on their part.
I recently went on a final walk through and my clients noticed that the brick wall under one of their windows was all wobbly. Last time I checked, brick should be secured and not wobble at all. We had previously taped this issue and brought it up to the superintendent who was on the walk through with us. He told us they already fixed it and my clients just damaged it again. I almost bit my tongue off when he even suggested such a ridiculous thing. Outside brick walls should not be that fragile that a person can just wiggle it with little force. I asked him, "If this was your house, would you be OK with that?" And of course he said no and changed his whole tune. He continued to give us problems on others areas that we have previously taped and eventually, I just got fed up and called his boss. After a nice conversation, that superintendent became our best friend.
The importance of that personal anecdote is to highlight how difficult it maybe when you don't know what the builder is supposed to be doing. Sometimes, they remove blue tape without fixing the problem, hoping you'd just forget. Sometimes, they do the bare minimum just to make it look like it was fixed. Sometimes, they even flat out just say, that's not our responsibility. Builders got real cocky during Covid and their customer service took a dip. They knew they had 20 people waiting for that house anyway and they didn't care. However, that's not the amrket anymore. And you need someone that wants to represent your best interests. Never close on a house without written agreements to everything the builders said they would fix. Not even if they want you to go through the warranty process after you close. If its not in WRITING, then it was never promised.
Don't let builders take advantage of you, always have an agent by your side...
