Negotiating on new construction?

[Mike_B03]

For some reason, it never dawned on me that you could negotiate the price/options on new construction...can you? I saw a few people mention it in the other new construction thread.

When we purchased our home, they offered to pay up to 3% in closing fees if we went with their lender and we were all happy about that but it never even crossed our minds to try and negotiate more, if not in the sales price but at least X amount in upgrades. Is it pretty common to negotiate? Did we basically do the equivalent of paying sticker price for a new car? ;/

[BCullum]

Yea, in a nutshell you just paid sticker on a car. The 3% is great, however its something they all plan on doing anyways. When we set down to sign the contract, I negotiated blinds, a fridge, a washer and dryer, a garage door opener, and an additional 5,000 off purchase price. We had a leg up since we were buying a spec home in a development in final close out. But there is always wiggle room, some builders are willing to do more. 

[Mike_B03]

Wow I feel so dumb for not even trying, how could it not even cross my mind? We were just so excited about even trying to buy a house that we were completely oblivious. And the worst part is that we usually are really good at negotiating...got $9k off on one of our cars. We should of played a little hardball...say we liked the house and would like to move forward but would like to have landscaping included or $10,000 in flooring upgrades or something.

[jordanmedical]

My realtor negotiated fridge, washer/dryer, blinds, full closing costs and my first year of HOA paid. Still think we should of asked for more especially since we didn't ask for a price change. I didn't know you could negotiate either, luckily my realtor knew.

I still wish I would have negotiated for more options like paint color and surround sound.

[Autumnslight]

Yeah, you can negotiate. How much will vary wildly by builder and area though. We got an incentive of $7,500, and negotiated another $7,000. I'm not thrilled with it, since the same builder regularly offers $20,000+ incentives in another area. Then again, in yet a different area, this builder usually doesn't offer or negotiate ANY incentives at all.

[tooleman694]

Yeah our realtor saved us a crap ton

[Mike_B03]

Doh! That really sucks. Now they actually were selling like hotcakes and all the lots have already been long sold since we bought but we probably could of at least tried. Then again maybe if we asked, the sales agent would have had to ask management and in the mean time someone could of come in and bought the lot we wanted, or at least I can tell myself that to feel better about it.

[MrChairman]

This all really depends on the area and how fast the community is selling. The area we bought in, they are only building 3 condo buildings and they were getting snapped up way faster than their townhomes. I tried to negotiate a discount but they were selling so fast there was really no reason for the builder to offer us anything. We bought at 209k, the price on the last few units and third and final building now start at 225k. We are also a suburb of DC so our market downtown isnt as bas as some other parts of the country.

[rehr22]

I'm thinking new construction, as well.  However, in NJ these placing are going really fast, so not sure what negotiating power I will have when the time comes.

[MovingForward_2012]

I bought a new inventory construction home and didn't negotiate either. But I still feel like I got a pretty good deal. Builder gave us $500 at closing for Radon Mitigation which the realtor negotiated, $5,000 off the purchase price, and $8000 in closing costs which paid them in full. The house was already fully upgraded with all appliances, landscaping with sprinkler system, and included all window coverings.