Sacramento Real Estate Views

5 Reasons You Need a Realtor when Buying a New Home

Buying a new home is substantially different than buying an existing home.  I would know, I’ve sold many resale homes and I’ve also worked for one of the largest, publicly held home builders in the nation, Pulte Homes.

This gives me a depth of knowledge when working with a new home buyer that other Realtors who haven’t  had this experience can’t possibly know.  No amount of fancy letters behind the name of any Realtor can substitute for successfully selling new homes for a builder and working in that environment.

The Pitch: Buying a new home? Call me.  It would be a mistake not to let me represent you with my experience in tow.

Now, beyond that, here are some other reasons you want representation when purchasing a new home.

The Contracts and Disclosures

The paperwork in buying a new home is vastly different than purchasing a resale.  Realtors selling a resale use, mostly, California Association of Realtors (CAR) forms approved by the CAR attorneys in concert with the Department of Real Estate.  New home builders do not.  You’ll need someone who understands these differences to explain it to you.  Can someone whose never seen them do this adequately?  Your call, I’m just asking!

Warranties and SB 800

New homes are legislated far more than the resale side of the business.  Ask most Realtors what SB 800 is and you’ll get a blank stare most of the time.   Understanding this will help you to realize why buying a new home is so beneficial.  This is a MAJOR difference between buying new and existing homes.

Use the Builders Lender?

Using the builders lender can be tricky.  Some of the builders are using outside lenders while others have their own lenders who are under the same umbrella and affiliated with the builder.  Some Realtors will tell you that using the builders lender isn’t a good decision.  The proof will be in the fees charged and the incentives offered.  I generally recommend that the buyer uses the builders lender as the cost of using your own lender won’t be offset by incentives.  Incidentally, Pulte Homes has the best team of mortgage people I’ve ever run across.  I would ALWAYS recommend using their lender when purchasing a Pulte or Del Webb home.

Construction

New home sales consultants are trained in the current building standards of the homes they sell.  It’s part of objection handling and knowing the difference between one builder and another.  Understanding quality workmanship is critical to buying a new home.  Trust me on this.  The builder who built my home built it with components that won’t hold up in a stiff wind.  Every sales associate that works for the builder who built my home lied about quality.  They had to or they were not trained to know the difference.  Do you want to take that chance?  Knowing the difference between builders and what they build is critical to peace of mind.

and finally

GET THE BEST PRICE AND TERMS

You don’t work in the sales department of a homebuilder like Pulte without learning a thing or two about what they will do and what they won’t do.  Once I had a Realtor come and “negotiate” a sale for his client on a home that was a month from being finished.  He was trying to discredit the community and it’s pricing in an effort to get a better deal for his client.  I simply told him we don’t negotiate and asked if he needed me to leave the room to chat with his client which I did.

When I came back he asked me for a $5K discount on the home priced at base plus upgrades.  $5K…$5K!!!  I smiled and excused myself to chat with my community manager to tell her that I just saved the company $10K.   I had been authorized to give up $15K to make the deal work if need be.  By “negotiating” he cost his client $10K she didn’t have to spend.  INEXPERIENCE COST HIS CLIENT THOUSANDS!

The reason for this is knowing how the builders figure costs and where to ask for discounts. It’s not hard once you’ve worked in the industry to get the best possible price for your client.  The $5K discount cost the builder about $1,500.  That’s no discount.  This is where I can really help.

Well that’s my take.  I wouldn’t trade my experience at Pulte Homes for anything.  Some of the most professional and caring people I’ve ever worked with.  What I learned there will help me to be successful in the future.  I will always favor Pulte and Del Webb homes because they are one of the best production builders out there, bar none.

If you need representation purchasing your new home, and believe me you do, please call me at 916-532-7653. I’ll be happy to help you  or someone you know.

By the way, there are WAY more than 5 reasons to be represented when buying a new home.  Check Gena Riede’s article about her take.  It’s a good one.

Tags: cambridge, Del Webb, lennar, meritage, New homes in Sacramento, pulte, syncon, tim lewis

Bubble Bursts In Elk Grove = Unbalanced Media Coverage!

According to a friend of mine in the resale side of the industry, Lyon Real Estate pulled their corporate advertising from the Sacramento Bee a year or so ago. Correspondingly, I noticed at least, there was a decrease in the amount of articles about how bad our real estate market has been. Funny, money talks and (beep!) walks..I guess the sacbee was walking. (do you smell that? smells familiar, but I can’t place it.)

Recently, the SacBee ran an article about the “implosion” in the Elk Grove real estate market and it’s true, Elk Grove has been hard hit this time around. One of this city’s neighbors, Stockton, Ca has also had a rough go of it being named the “Foreclosure Capitol of the Nation”. Man, I’d hate to run for re-election in that town.

As there always is two sides to EVERY story, I thought I’d share a bright spot about the Elk Grove real estate market that you may not know. Although the SacBee also ran an article about the top selling new home communities in the Sacramento Region, it was buried under a pile of….well, you get the picture… and went largely unnoticed.

Glenbrooke, A Del Webb Community: Just under a year ago, Pulte Homes and Del Webb opened Glenbrooke on Bruceville Road between Elk Grove Blvd. & Whitelock Pkwy. The community offers six models ranging in size from the mid 1200′s to the mid 2200′s sq. ft., two and three bedroom single family detached homes. Last year, as reported by the SacBee, Glenbrooke was the #2 sellling community in the ENTIRE Sacramento region. The community features a 9000 sq. ft. community center with a full time Lifestyle Manager whose job it is to ensure that anyone looking for a good time, an awesome social experience with other like minded folks finds just that. Active Adult living, 55+ and better, at it’s finest.

The bright side about our market currently is that it’s a great time to buy; opportunity is everywhere. It’s unfortunate that so many are struggling to hold on but if they do, the market will reward them. It always has. Good times in our market are coming back soon. Hopefully with a bit more sanity than the last time things took off. I don’t know about you but I’d rather not see this type of market for many years to come!

A little balance in the media is needed. Let’s change the mindset and we can collectively change our results.

Tags: Del Webb, elk grove, Glenbrooke, New Homes, sacramento bee