What is the Process for Buying New Constuction?

[kjel]

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@TimeToRecover wrote:

Honestly a new build goes in spurts.  from foundation to framing was QUICK.  I opted to have my own inspector come for a predryall inspection.  I found this inspection actually more beneficial then the final as here they can see everything from locations where the framing inst correct or up to code and if the cut out framing to put in things like light switches (rather then moving the piece they cut it out) etc....

So that is one reccomendation I would make.  it does cost to have your own inspector come but I found it quite beneficial.

As far as timing as I said once foundation is done the framing is quick, then the county had to do all their inspections as well before the drywall goes up.  so you will see a what feels like eternity in this state.  Then it will move really fast again once drywall goes up.  Then another round of county inspections things.  My builder set closing after the kitchen cabinet go in.  This is their base for their timline.

My apprasial was actaully BEFORE the COO.  Someone oabove said appraser was after.  By COO didn't come in till the day before closing but the apprasial was done the week before.  

I would also reccomend that rather then taking the "call me when its done" approach that you go out and check it out on a regular basis.  1. its fun to watch it go up to 2. you can know where things are yourself.  and know what is behing those walls and ceilings yourself.

if you do a search for y posts you can see where I kept a journal on here of my road watching the house go up etc from april thru dec.

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I am a project manager and have done both rehab and new construction. You are 200% correct that new construction happens in spurts. Many people don't know that there are many, many inspections done by the city/county and builders are often at their mercy for scheduling them, hoping they are having a good day, and they give you a passed inspection. Your advice to have your own inspection prior to drywall is golden, every builder and their subs make mistakes-doesn't matter if it's a 100K house or a 1M house. My general contractor and I often joke that we should have a line item called "idiot factor" on the architect forms.

The appraisal can be done before the certificate of occupancy is issued as long as the build is substantially complete.

[TimeToRecover]

actually my realtor reccommended my inspector.  and yes you would want someone with the qualifications.  That doesn't stop a friend from going with you.  My  nephew actually is an electrical engineer he and one of his coworkers walked thru with me on saturday and my inspector came on monday.  DO GO WITH YOUR INSPECTOR that way when you do you pre-drywall walkthru you know what the inspector found and can talk intellegently.  Although my builder had the inspector copy with them and we went over EVERYTHING that the inspector found.

As far as not knowing what your looking at I didn't either but there are things like knowing where your plumbing is (ie i will keep an eye out for water in those areas).  

What area are you in.  if in GA I can give you the name of the guy I used, he was great I had him do both a predryall inspection and a final inspection.  he took picture of all items and wrote up reports that are sent to the builder and me.  

[StartingOver10]

 ..."Your advice to have your own inspection prior to drywall is golden, every builder and their subs make mistakes-doesn't matter if it's a 100K house or a 1M house. My general contractor and I often joke that we should have a line item called "idiot factor" on the architect forms"

^^^Can I steal this line from you? It is so true!

[TimeToRecover]

yes IE they put all my plumbing in backwards.  put plumbing inf or a right sided hours but it was a left sided house.  I am sure that cost the builder a pretty penny to dig up the foundation and relay it.  as well as my stress level seeing it too.

[ezdriver]

I work for a national homebuilder. It takes us 5 months [from contract signing to end of construction] to build a new home. Month #1 involved finalizing configuration of house, engineering, permit application, etc. By week #6, we usuall have permit in hand and then constuction moved very fast. Our process involves three formal meetings with the construction superintendent ... pre-construction, pre-drywall and buyer orientation/final walkthrough.

I encourage my buyer customers to visit their homes as often as they can. For folks who don't understand a lot about construction, I offer to walk their homes with them so I can answer all of their questions or point things out to them [eg: how we achieve high energy efficiency] that they don't ordinarily know about. Buying build-to-order new construction is a wonderful opportunity to learn a lot about how houses are constructed.

[Anonymous]

EZ-  Since you're in the business, lemme ask this.

A national home builder is building my house in the small development, on 30 lots, most are sold.   I informally met the construction super coming out of the office while I was coming in recently.  He had the plans in his truck and went over a few things.  He's local, and built a number of houses for the company.  He advised me my house and 2 more just like it, were on his plate.  Lots are cleared, water meter in, permit displayed etc.  Of course each of the 3 home will have the their own features and upgrades.  House number #2 is 2 lots down from mine.  

My question is what kind of system is used to make sure stuff doesn't get mixed up?  With 3 builds in close proximity, same floor plan and exteriors, how can I be sure my level 2 granite counter doesn't get sent to the house with the standard?  You know its gonna happen LOL.  I dang sure don't want my 400 dollar rain head shower thing going in my neighbors house and I get his standard, and nobody catches it 

How much say do you have in picking the subs, or do they just send them out there and tell ya to just make it work?

[ezdriver]

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@Anonymous wrote:

EZ-  Since you're in the business, lemme ask this.

A national home builder is building my house in the small development, on 30 lots, most are sold.   I informally met the construction super coming out of the office while I was coming in recently.  He had the plans in his truck and went over a few things.  He's local, and built a number of houses for the company.  He advised me my house and 2 more just like it, were on his plate.  Lots are cleared, water meter in, permit displayed etc.  Of course each of the 3 home will have the their own features and upgrades.  House number #2 is 2 lots down from mine.  

My question is what kind of system is used to make sure stuff doesn't get mixed up?  With 3 builds in close proximity, same floor plan and exteriors, how can I be sure my level 2 granite counter doesn't get sent to the house with the standard?  You know its gonna happen LOL.  I dang sure don't want my 400 dollar rain head shower thing going in my neighbors house and I get his standard, and nobody catches it 

How much say do you have in picking the subs, or do they just send them out there and tell ya to just make it work?

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Our construction personnel are employees like I am. Does not matter about the subs that work for us,  our construction superintendents are responsible for each home and they verify that the correct materials are in the right lot/home. I have never seen mixups like you describe. Our buyers sig a document that certifies their home is 100% complete and correct. 

By the way,  I am a sales counselor.

[mynameainttracy]

In our case we had been looking at a particular neighborhood for about 3 years. They required 5% down and 25% of upgrades to build so because of lack of cash on hand or timing with our lease we just couldn't make things work out. They are now down to the last 50 or so lots and started doing some spec homes which works better for us since we only have to come up with the 5% and not the 25% for the upgrades.

One became available about 3 months ago that met all of our needs as far as floorplan, timing  and the upgrades were fantastic. The house is loaded and we didn't have to come up with the $25k extra.

We put $1000 down to hold the lot while we secured financing.

We went through full underwriting with their lender. Some of you may remember that they tried to force us to use their lender and we almost walked away. In the end we have decided to use them...on our terms.

We then put down 5% which was based on the base house +lot premium and signed the contract.

Although the house was already designed, we went through the design phase where we added some laundry cabinets, a storm door and some other minor things. For this we did have to put down an additional 25% which only came out to about $1000.

We had our first walk through last Friday. We realized we needed a couple of extra outlets and they let us pay to have them added. Costly, but we will be there for a long time and it was worth it to us.

Our closing is set for April 2nd.

So that's how we have gone about buying new construction. We looked at a lot of different options before choosing this neighborhood/builder and so far we are very happy with our decision.

[merlinflex]

I just built a house this past year.

I applied with 3 different lenders via my work relocation program and went with Discover Home Loans and Discover Home Real Estate, that was 1/31/2014

Got a call a little while later and was approved based on the initial application.  Gathered 3 years tax returns and W2's and 3 months current bank statement, go the pre-approval a few days later.

Decided on a new build here in D.C. and put $25K down to start in mid-march (took some time looking and closed on the previous house I was selling).  In the end I had put down 23% on a $665K new build and financed the rest.

Due to weather and such, we did not close until 9-30-2014, so six month process from start to finish. 

During that 6+ months, I charged ZERO/NADA and locked all my credit reports and charged nothing at all....not one dime and opened no accounts.....no HPs at all.

Since I was in a corp housing with no mortgage, I paid myself down to 3% utilization across the board.

When my old mortgage reported as closed, no change to my FICO, but when a truck I had reached its loan end, my score dropped 5pts.....go figure....(i had three car loans and still had two active). but rebounded back a month or so.

Then at the start of Sept, they pulled my CRs to lock me in and we went from there.  My scores were very good across the board as had paid everything down pretty quickly in April so that it would catch up to my credit reports and that can take up to 90 days.  So I was right on time when I went to close.

Just be ready to lock yourself down and such and do nothing to afffect your FICO scores......Good luck!

[ezdriver]

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@merlinflex wrote:

I just built a house this past year.

I applied with 3 different lenders via my work relocation program and went with Discover Home Loans and Discover Home Real Estate, that was 1/31/2014

Got a call a little while later and was approved based on the initial application.  Gathered 3 years tax returns and W2's and 3 months current bank statement, go the pre-approval a few days later.

Decided on a new build here in D.C. and put $25K down to start in mid-march (took some time looking and closed on the previous house I was selling).  In the end I had put down 23% on a $665K new build and financed the rest.

Due to weather and such, we did not close until 9-30-2014, so six month process from start to finish. 

During that 6+ months, I charged ZERO/NADA and locked all my credit reports and charged nothing at all....not one dime and opened no accounts.....no HPs at all.

Since I was in a corp housing with no mortgage, I paid myself down to 3% utilization across the board.

When my old mortgage reported as closed, no change to my FICO, but when a truck I had reached its loan end, my score dropped 5pts.....go figure....(i had three car loans and still had two active). but rebounded back a month or so.

Then at the start of Sept, they pulled my CRs to lock me in and we went from there.  My scores were very good across the board as had paid everything down pretty quickly in April so that it would catch up to my credit reports and that can take up to 90 days.  So I was right on time when I went to close.

Just be ready to lock yourself down and such and do nothing to afffect your FICO scores......Good luck!

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That is music to my ears! Perfect way to handle one's credit during the home-buying process. wish that all my buyer clients would be so proactive and diciplined.

Congratulations on your new home.