The largest home builder in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, Fischer Homes, just made a change that makes a HUGE impact on you if you want to use a real estate agent when buying new construction. And if you don’t follow their policy, you could miss out on all of the advantages of using a real estate agent when building a new home.

Should I Use A Real Estate Agent When Building A New Construction Home?

And, what are the benefits of using a real estate agent when building a new home? There are many:

1. A real estate agent works for you, not the builder.

Do you need a real estate agent to build a new home? No. You can work with the builder’s sales rep directly. However, at the end of the day, the sales rep works for the builder and not for you.

It’s nice to have agent representation on your side if you need someone to go to bat for you during the new build process. And when you are building a new home, a lot of things can go wrong. If you don’t have an agent, you are the one that has to fight for yourself. And, you may be worried that it will hurt your overall quality of the build! Instead, having an agent represent you allows the experienced Realtor to do some of the heavy lifting when needed.

2. A real estate agent has market knowledge and experience to help you make wise choices with your home selection.

Builder sales reps will have knowledge of a particular neighborhood, but experienced real estate agents have knowledge of the market as a whole. Are you going to live in this house forever? Chances are that you won’t. So, it is helpful to enlist the market knowledge of an agent to help you choose a desirable neighborhood and point out details in the lot selection, structural build out, etc. that will be valuable to you when you to sell the home in the future.

3. A real estate agent can help you get price reductions or increased incentives on your new home.

Builders will offer incentives to you in order to help make the sale. However, when you are working with an agent, the builder knows that you have options. You could go to another builder or buy a resale home. Because of this, often times, a real estate agent can help you get a better deal on the house.

4. The builder pays the real estate agent’s commission, not you the home buyer!

Many home buyers mistakenly think that bring an agent will hurt their value of the home. They think they won’t get a discount or that they have to pay for the commission. However, in most cases, it is the BUILDER who pays the commission, not the buyer.

The builders want agents to bring their clients to them, and so they have money allocated in their marketing budget to pay for agent commissions.

So, in effect, bringing an agent with you to the builder costs you nothing! And, you get all of the benefits of their experience. Don’t miss out on this benefit to you as the buyer!

Whether it is Fischer Homes, Drees Homes, M/I Homes, D.R. Horton or another local builder, I HIGHLY recommend that you reach out to a real estate agent FIRST! Most builders, including Fischer Homes, have a policy where the Realtor needs to be at the “threshold” meeting (or, the introduction meeting, AND be the procuring cause of the buyer moving forward. If you as a buyer go and speak to Fischer Homes or the builder first, they will register you in their system, and they should ask if you are working with a real estate agent at the time of registration. If you say, “no”, then they will NOT allow you to add a real estate agent to your transaction going forward. In that case, you can still build your house, but you miss out on all of the benefits of having a real estate agent represent you in your transaction.

Using a Real Estate Agent for New Construction

So, what should you do? Connect with a real estate agent BEFORE you register with a builder. In the end, you will have a much better experience!

At Team Sztanyo, we are new construction specialists, and we’ve helped dozens and dozens of buyers build their dream home. If you are thinking of building a new home in the Cincinnati area, reach out to us first, so that we can leverage our relationships with local builders and get you the best home and deal possible.

Contact us today to get started!