Buying a New Construction Property

If you bought a traditional early 1900s single family in Cambridge you might think, I understand how the buying process goes, why would I need a real estate agent to help me navigate the purchase of my new construction condo or home?

The reality is, buying a new construction condo or home is a completely different process when compared to a traditional home purchase.

First of all, a developer (along with their crew) built this property from the ground up or at least the foundation up. If that’s the case and the property’s been sitting for a bit, the developer might be willing to make some tweaks to the property for you.

For example, maybe you really love the property but hate the light fixtures. Maybe you love the kitchen cabinets but hate the hardware they chose. For smaller items like this, you can often negotiate what you do want and have those items installed prior to closing. 

Depending on the price point and days on market, sometimes you can ask for bigger things like a new electric charging station or entirely new kitchen cabinets. 

The mistake I see a lot of new construction buyers make is they assume the property is what it is and move onto the next one. If you are into the layout, but don’t like the finishes, take a deep breath and really think whether a few small changes could make this property a win for you.

The next thing that’s a bit different is the blue tape process. The blue tape process involves going through the property with blue tape and pointing out small blemishes and small issues that need to be resolved prior to closing. It’s not uncommon to find touch paint spots or small marks on the floor or other smaller tweaks that need to be remedied. For an older home, most home sellers expect to sell as-is. But if you’re a developer, you most likely expect requests for many of these items - so as a buyer it’s important to push for what you can. 

Finally, in the areas I work you’ll typically have a builder warranty. This is a limited warranty, so don’t get too excited, but if any major issues come up with the property, typically within the first year, the GC or subcontractors will come back to the property and fix the issue at no cost to you.

I promise you, if you buy an old 1900s single family home and ask the seller to come back and fix an issue, they are almost certainly going to tell you to pound sand. So definitely a very nice benefit!

These are just a few of the factors to consider when buying new construction, but if you want to learn more just give me a call and we can talk it through at length!