Buying a new home can certainly be more complicated than purchasing a resale home. For that reason, some home buyers - and Realtors - shy away from it altogether. But once you have done it for a while, you learn that the new home process can be very enjoyable. My experience in developing and marketing several Johnson County Kansas home communities allows me to provide home buyers with valuable insight. One of the nuances early in the process is understanding just how to search for available new homes.
When conducting a search online it is important to keep in mind that a lot of spec (speculative) home inventory that is early on in construction may not be listed on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). In a given community, a new home community project agent may choose to wait until a home is framed before placing it on the MLS. Others may wait until a home is drywalled or until the exterior flatwork (driveway and sidewalks) is poured. For clients looking to close on a home several months down the road, they are likely missing out on all of the available homes if they are simply conducting their search online. When a spec home finally does get listed on MLS, the home is unlikely to have a photo included. This is why the best course of action is taking a clients parameters and begin to narrow the options. Once we have done that, we need to go and visit the home communities that fit the best. Only then can we gain a complete understanding of the dynamics and the inventory of a particular home community.
Additionally, unlike resale homes which simply have the "active" option on MLS, new homes have two separate options - "Under Construction" and "New". You can expect a home that is at the foundation stage or framing stage to be listed as "under construction". This status also keeps the days on market from starting to tick on the home - this is important to the home builders and project agents. Spec homes that do not sell in the early stages will eventually be switched to "new" status. Doing so let's buyer's and buyer's agents know that the home is no longer in it's early stages. Different communities have different triggers for when they will switch a home to "new" status, but very often I see the switch made when a home is within 30 days of being able to close. Often times, homes that are listed as "new" need nothing more than the landscaping and sod installed for the home to be complete.
So when searching for new homes on MLS for my clients, I have a choice to make. I can either search for homes "under construction", search for homes listed as "new", or both depending on my buyer's needs. If I have a buyer who needs a home in 30 days, I'm going to exclude homes that are "under construction". If I have a buyer who wants to make the decorator selections on their new home, there is no point in looking at spec homes that are listed as "new". Also keep in mind that there could be a situation where a project agent is slow in listing a newer spec home onto MLS, or slow in switching the status from a progressed spec home to "new". It's impossible to predict every scenario, but having a basic understanding should help to make the early stages of the home search more enjoyable.
Your Realtor has the ability to send you a list of homes that most fits your needs, so letting your Realtor know more about your time frame for purchasing will help you narrow the available homes that fit your parameters. And remember, there is no substitute for visiting the new home community. If you visit a new home community without your buyer's agent present, be sure to take a handful of your Realtor's business cards to hand the project agents. This lets them know that you have a buyer's agent representing you and they can follow up with your Realtor regarding your visit.
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