KyleS

Buying a New house that was just built need advice

So we just sold our Home in Oregon and we are looking to get a new house in Southern Indiana now. Currently we are living in a 2 bedroom townhouse and its driving us nuts since we dont have any free space. We found a new house that was just built and are looking to make an offer on it but we dont like the deal the builder is giving.

His offer is 154K and we get $900 towards kitchen appliances and $22 per Sq YARD for flooring of our choice. The Builder is well known and does great work but the allowances he is giving are laughable to say the least. We looked at appliances and figure around $1300-1400 would get us what we are looking at for a Microwave with Hood, Dishwasher, & Range.

The flooring is where he is WAY off IMO. And that price is for US to have it installed not him doing it. Its a really nice house for the area and I am not going to be putting in crappy floors to ruin the Value. From what I can find most of the other builders in our area are giving $15 per sq ft not Yard.

What is the best way to approach the Builder on a deal for the house? Offer him a lot less and cover the items on our own? (Not our first choice since that would be about 6K or more out of our pockets and the items would be staying with the house when we sell.

Low ball him and then let him know we will increase the price to compensate for the real price of the items going into the house?

OR ?

KyleS

Kirk Gunn

Was the 1300.00 for appliances the price you came up with at retail or was it the builders cost ? Are you using a realtor or dealing directly with the builder ?

I have heard builders typically do not negotiate much, but there should be some room. The allowances sound like his cost minus labor, so you've got to find some middle ground.

What are the comp prices like in the neighborhood ? New homes are always tough because of these startup costs. How's the landscaping ? That's another big startup cost to incur.

ace peterson

I don't think he will deal with you. If you don't buy the house, somebody else will.

The figures he gave you are probably for the cheapest appliances he can buy and likewise for the flooring. I think you should be thankful you can decide which flooring you like before it is done. Otherwise you would have to pay for the entire thing if you had it redone at a later date.

A lot of builders will just put in cheap appliances that are white. (They are clean-looking). Then later on, you find out that they are cheap and you want to upgrade appliances. You have to buy all new and are stuck with old ones to sell at garage sales which nobody else wants.

Eric Samonte

We were in the same situation a few months ago. We made an offer for a not yet finished house but was turned off by the builder's seemingly Godlike attitude. He wants things advantageous for him and nothing for us. We ended up getting an 11 year old house that far cheaper and probably better overall compared to said house.

andrew markworthy

Sorry, this is tangential to the question, but what are you guys talking about? In the UK, if a builder offers a new house, then generally they offer basic fitments as part of the total cost - all the purchaser usually has a choice of is in the colour of the finishes, etc (and sometimes not even that).

The only thing I can add is that in my experience builders are less likely to jerk you around than private sellers (at least, that's been my bitter experience in the UK ). Also in the UK if you buy a house, then all reputable builders offer as standard a ten year guarantee against major structural defects (and the remainder of the guarantee passes on to your purchaser if you sell within the ten years), something you obviously don't get with a private sale on an older house. Does the same apply to the USA?

John Miles

It's not a good idea to buy a "spec" home, in my (unfortunate) experience. The builder will have cut every last corner possible to reduce his expenses, up to and including violation of local building codes.

Ask me about my $280K house in Austin sometime after we've both had a stiff drink or two.

Edwin-S

KyleS

The $1300 is the amount it would cost us to get decent appliances for the Kitchen he is Giving $900. For the flooring what he is offering is $22 per square yard and he is NOT doing the install. So that $22 per square yard comes down to $2.44 per square foot including installation. I cant even get like Patio fake grass covering for that installed. So we are going to counter offer the guys tomorrow. He has been sitting on this house for 5 months now which means he has been making payments for that long. I have checked into his reputation for building and he is top notch with his home owners saying they have not had problems and loved the work. We will see tomorrow what he decides to do.

KyleS