Buying a new construction home is exciting and probably a little overwhelming. You get to customize the home to your personal taste, but at the same time, you have a lot of decisions to make! You’ll be picking every detail, right down to the cabinet hardware for your new home. It’s a lot to take in.
While you’re making all these choices, managing your day to day real life, and possibly trying to sell your old home, it’s important to keep track of the progress on your new home build. There’s one key item in particular that every new construction buyer should do, but most aren’t aware they can.
Schedule a Pre-Drywall Inspection
Once the foundation is set and the framing is up, the builder will be ready to start placing walls and giving the home its shape. Make sure before they begin hanging drywall that you get a chance to do a full walkthrough inspection. Especially if you’re buying in a new housing development, it’s important to keep in mind that work crews are focused on volume over quality, and they could miss a few details.
When you walk through for your pre-drywall inspection, look carefully at the beams to check for cracks. Check where beams meet to confirm that they are flush. Look for hole patterns in the boards to make sure there’s no missing hardware, and look for cracks or slopes in the foundation. Ask if the builder uses drywall nails or screws. Nails will pop over time and come through your drywall.
What Do I Need Most When Buying New Construction?
Believe it or not, the thing you need most when buying a new construction home is your own real estate agent. The agent representing the builder is vested in the builder’s business. You need a dedicated agent to represent your best interests and advocate on your behalf throughout the process. The most important thing to remember when looking at new construction is:
Don’t sign the guestbook without your agent!
If you sign the guestbook in the model without naming your real estate agent, your agent won’t get paid their commission, no matter what role they play in the process. This puts you at a disadvantage when it comes to making sure you’re getting the best value, best features, and best home.
When 1SlickHome.com and The Geoff Slick Team assists clients with new construction, we help them navigate the whole process. Did you know that some developers build a model home with features that can’t be implemented in the actual homes? If there’s a feature you see in the model, confirm whether it is base, upgrade, or even possible at all. We typically advise clients to skip the builder grade deck and wait to have one professionally built. We help our client schedule multiple inspections and walkthroughs to check on the progress and build quality. We know to look at the drainage plan for the area, confirm sewage hookup, negotiate for waived fees, and push for an active radon mitigation system. We’ll also help you assess other upgrade options to determine if your money is better spent on the builder installing it or waiting until after you move in.
Don’t ever think that you’re on your own when building a new home, whether it’s in a planned development or on a gorgeous parcel of land all your own. A trustworthy real estate agent is always in your corner, ready to help you through your questions, concerns, and the occasional freak out.
If you’re looking at new construction, contact us to help you plan your build. At 1SlickHome.com and The Geoff Slick Team, we’ve taken the time to learn more about the home building process than your average realtor. We will come alongside you through the entire transaction to ensure that your brand new home really is the home of your dreams. We work with buyers and sellers in the western suburbs of Montgomery and Bucks Counties. We’ve helped clients land their dream homes in Doylestown, Lansdale, North Wales, Souderton, Quakertown, Chalfont, Perkasie, Collegeville, Gilbertsville, and beyond.