If you're purchasing a home from a production builder, then you'll pay a deposit up front (e.g., $10k). When the home is completed you'll go to closing (at title company or a notary will come to you) where you'll sign docs, bring in any additional money needed to close, and then you're loan with fund the same day or the next.

Some builders require that you pay up to 100% deposit for options/upgrades when you select them at the design center.

Pay close attention to what happens to any deposits you make should you need to cancel. Some builders (Toll Brothers is a great example) will keep 100% of your deposit if you cancel or the deal falls apart. Some have lost tens of thousands. So, understand what you're signing.

I don't think anything has changed much in the last 15 years. But there is a big difference between small "custom" builders and large company production builders as Patrick described.

When you use the term "subdivision", in most areas that implies production builder. More so now then 15 years ago in my experience in NC.

This is dependent on the builder.

We are currently building in a subdivision with a tract builder. However, we had to take out a construction loan due to the cost of the house. Our builder is a local builder and they don't want to take on the risk with higher valued homes, so they require a construction loan when the cost is over a certain threshold. To alleviate some of our risk, we sold our home first and are living in an apartment while our new home is being built.

We paid the initial deposit as Patrick A stated (ours was $10k), then paid 10% down on our construction loan. Our builder takes 3 lump sum payments from the bank. We do not disperse the money. At the end our loan will convert to a mortgage.

For most national builders (Lennar, for example), we would have only paid the initial deposit ($10k or so), and they would have financed the build. This is good financially for buyers, as it doesn't require the cash up front, or the monthly loan payments, but leaves the buyer with less control over the build as the builder has no vested interest in YOU as long as it's a good market for new homes.

This information is very helpful. As Patrick guessed, Toll Brothers is one of the builders that is in Arizona that I have reached out to. The price range of the house I will build is around $1 million to $1.3 million, which sadly just gets us a basic 3,000 sq ft house with some nice upgrades these days. And in Chandler, Gilbert or Queen Creek. Can't even dip our toes in Scottsdale for that price range. The thing is, the upgrades will be about $200,000 or so, given that we want a pool, so I cannot pay those up front unless I sell my existing house first, or sell off some of what are supposed to be retirement investments and come with a tax penalty for selling early. I hope it can just be a deposit that's, say, $30K or less. That's manageable. But my 20% home downpayment comes from equity in my existing home.

I would be nervous about losing my deposit and the rules around it. I need to obviously have someone on my side reviewing contracts, etc.

Virtually all builders will keep your deposit if you back out.

Our builder's upgrades are all financed.

If you have to pay for your upgrades up front, I would not have your builder do your pool.

typically starts out with a deposit, followed b payments. Personally I wouldn't pay upfront because I've seen plenty of people get their money stolen