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Buying and Selling Homes

Buying a new home _ where to start negotiations???

miraclecleaning

17 years ago

We live in North Carolina

I'm looking at a brand new house in a brand new neighborhood and the house runs $324,900 with a $5000 buyers incentive. How can I get a lower price? Where should negotiations start? How do I work in a refrigerator?

This is the actual home - http://theclmgroup.com/ListNow/Search.aspx?ddlLinkTo=3&PropertyID=1311212&;

Thanks

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Comments (7)

Linda
17 years ago
Im not familiar with how real estate works in NC, but in NY, rarely do you get to negotiate on new construction. Since they are already giving you a $5000 incentive, I would guess they won't do more. But you could always ask for the refrigerator to be included. The most they can do is say no.
eal51
17 years ago
You can't start negotiations because you have not bid on the property.

Put in a realistic bid and see what happens. I would agree with linda117 that the price listed is what you will pay.

Enjoy the journey.

eal51 in western CT
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In our area, builders are beginning to negotiate on spec houses because inventory is too high. However, they are not yet negotiating on to-be-built houses. The savings on buying an existing new house may be worth the trade off of not getting exactly what you'd like. For example, a couple I know recently bought a builder's spec house that was originally listed for $849K for just $699K after some intense negotiating. They loved the lot and location, but weren't entirely wild about the house. However, they believe they can put $50K+ into changes and upgrades and still have a good value. A RE agent friend has recently persuaded a few builders to come down $100K - $200K on houses reduced to $1.1MM - $1.3MM. These same floorplans sold two years ago for $1.5MM - $1.7MM with similar finishes and on equivalent premium lots, so you can see that the builders thought they had already reduced their prices to rock bottom. Folks who insist on building here are not seeing any reductions. Whatever savings there may be in materials costs are more than being offset by increased fuel prices, and we're seeing higher labor costs and higher delivery fees. That's a long, round about way to get to the answer. Sorry. I think that if you find a new house that you like well enough you could try to get a bargain by putting up a large earnest money deposit along with an offer to close quickly, and give the builder 24 hrs. to respond. If the answer is anything but yes, walk away and try a different builder. If you really love the first house, give it a week or two and try again, perhaps with 10% or 20% earnest money to show you mean business.
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Looks like the past home owners were going for a transitional look, but ended up with a weird hybrid of transitional/eclectic. Nothing inherently wrong with it I guess and looking at it. It doesn't seem you would have to do anything really extensive to get the modern look you are going for. Id start with the cabinets myself. That concrete sink just has to go. Im not sure what the last home owners were thinking with that one. It does not fit well with the current look of the bathroom nor would it fit the modern look you are looking for. Its a Leviathan of a sink that draws the eye away from everything else. The drawer fronts are already flat which is great for the modern look you are going for. I would opt to remove the shaker style cabinet doors though and replace them with flat front doors the same species of wood. Id also re-stain the cabinets to a darker color to give them a little more contrast in the room. If you plan to do it yourself opt for a nice General Finishes or Old Masters Gel stain that can go right over the existing finish. Last but not least for the cabinet door and drawer pulls. Change them out for something longer. 8 to 10 inch bar style pulls will go a long way to updating the look If you are really a stickler for detail and you want to really get into it. Get rid of the block glass around the shower and opt for a frame less plate glass instead. Maybe even add a knee wall where the block glass is between the shower and the toilet. Id also get rid of the mosaic tile on the floor of the shower. It just looks drab. Look for something with the same color variations as the wall tile, but with a little more pop to them. Last but not least for the shower. The shower trim kit to me completely go against the modern look you are going for. The trim can be changed out easily. Just opt for something of the same brand. If you go with a different brand then you will get into having to change the shower and diverter valves which means tearing out wall tile and plumbing. To much of a hassle. Stick with the same brand. Id get rid of that eclectic style ceiling light. For something with a more modern look. That square pot light over the toilet is really hurting the look of the bathroom. The vanity light over the sink is to eclectic and would need to go. The mirror is just to small and the frame around it does not suit the look you are going for. Also the wall mount faucet. Very traditional looking. Nothing wrong with the faucet being wall mounted I would just replace it with something more modern like a the Delta Trinsic wall mount faucet. Just my opinion on what should be done. I am not sure just how for into a remodel you were looking to get though
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kudzu9
17 years ago
I think you should decide what the house is worth to you and offer that. I'm curious: do you need a lower price to be able to afford it, or do you just want to have some money knocked off? The house may be fairly priced already. Since they're providing a buyer incentive, I doubt that you'll get them down much further.
sparksals
17 years ago
I'm surprised people are saying that there isn't room for negotiation. I could see in a hot seller's market where the new areas are sold out with waiting lists, but that isn't the case in most areas of the US right now.

Anything is open for negotiation. Builders are trying to rid their inventory by offering all types of incentives. I see nothing wrong with the OP saying they want a fridge included, but personally, I'd be inclined to ask for a fridge allowance so I could pick my own.

If this area of NC is like other areas of the US, then the buyer certainly does have some negotiating room.
triciae
17 years ago
This looks to me like either a spec house or a "contract fallout". It's listed with Re/max. It's a little different that walking into a model home builder office & purchasing a "to-be-built" from a spec sheet.

I don't see any reason not to treat this like negotiating to buy a resale. I'd make a written offer including a check for an earnest money deposit & see what happens. Cancellation rates are generally running high (although I don't know about this particular subdivision)...so, this builder might be highly motivated to move this property & stop the construction loan interest drain.

Start off asking for a bit more than you're willing to settle for. And, I agree...ask for an "appliance allowance" rather than the frig itself or you'll end up with some model home left over that the builder has sitting in the construction office!

Good luck...looks like a nice home.

Tricia
Nancy Adamopoulos
17 years ago
We just made an offer on a brand new construction house, that was just accepted. The development started about 1.5 years ago. It is an upscale community with about 15 lots. When we first saw it, there were 3 lots left and 2 lots on hold. Since then, the 2 lot holds cancelled and we put a hold on 1 of the lots. We had several meetings with the project manager and made many custom changes to the floor plan and layout. These changes were priced out and added to the base price. At this point we felt we could make an "offer" to them along with earnest money. We offered 10% lower than asking price , expecting a counter offer. Instead, they accepted the offer outright. We just signed the contract and our house will begin construction shortly.

I was under the impression that new construction prices were set- but DH believes everything is negotiable- in our case it was. There are carrying costs associated with unsold lots- so if the builder hasn't had much activity lately- They will probably be more willing to negotiate the price- if not, they offer you a free upgrade. Worse case scenario- they say no and you pay the full price- it doesn't hurt to ask.
myfask
17 years ago
I with lishaana's husband everything is negotiable isn't that half the fun !!
When we were looking at a new construction subdivision I came right out and said "there are 5 new subs within 15 mins why should I build here?" well on top of the $7500 in closing cost they would pay,they threw in $4500 in upgrades. I asked for $7000 they countered with the $4500 which is what I really wanted so start high
the only bad thing is due to a merger the job transfer has been delayed and we had to cancel the contract. sigh

but as others have said "what can it hurt to ask

good luck and remember have fun !!
karla

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