In recent years the housing market in Northern Colorado has had many prospective home buyers turning towards new construction in an attempt to remove themselves from the competitive environment encapsulating pre-owned homes. From bidding wars and appraisal gaps to split-second decisions; home buyers of all types were aghast at what they had to do to “win” a home. Today, luckily for home buyers, many of these pressures have let up and buyers have been able to step back and breathe a little. However, in Northern Colorado, we are still experiencing historically low inventory with the prospects of 250,000 more people moving into the area in the next 10 years alongside a generation coming into prime household formation age that has numbers almost equal to the baby boomers. So, although pressures are loosening, new construction still appears to be the answer to the question that many are asking.
So what happens when you decide to look at New Construction? Well, that depends! You may hear terms such as “tract home” and “semi-custom” or the glitzy all out “custom home”. Each of these will have a semi-different process. Tract Homes and Semi-Custom homes follow a similar process and is what the majority of home buyers are seeing available right now. These home builders tend to offer several different plans, have a certain number of lots to choose from and have standard features with upgrade options.
So what is step one?
Find a reputable, diligent and knowledgeable buyers Broker! Any broker can walk you into a builder, help you sign on the dotted line and then show up to collect their commission check once you close. But you should expect so much more from them! Ensure that they will be there for all of your appointments and walk-throughs and be that 2nd or 3rd set of ears as well as someone to ask the questions that you do not know to ask. Trust me, this is the most important step! My new construction clients will gladly tell you how important this was to them, and they never even knew they needed this until we were thick into the process.
As we dive back into finding clarity during the building of a new home, let’s remember step one. Find a reputable, diligent and knowledgeable Buyer’s Broker!
Now, once you have an agent to row beside you in your journey to closing, it’s time to narrow down your parameters. What town do you want to live in? Are there builders you would prefer? Is there a certain subdivision you are interested in? What is your budget? How soon do you need a home? This is just the tip of the iceberg, but an experienced Broker will help funnel all of this into a manageable search that will make your home buying process less daunting.
Check back next week for Step 2 in our New Construction Series log!
Written by:
Sonja Belfiore, Broker Associate/Partner
970-978-7012
Sonja@SearsRealEstate.com
