New construction and pre-construction representation
New development
Pre-construction contracts, allowance schedules and first-year HOA budgets, read line by line before you commit to anything.
The person in the sales office works for the builder. That is not a criticism — it is the arrangement — but it means nobody in that room is reading the contract on your behalf. Pre-construction purchase agreements are drafted by the developer’s counsel and they are not neutral documents. We have read a great many of them.
Process
How it runs
- 01
Register us before your first visit
Most builders will not pay a buyer’s broker if you toured without one first. This costs nothing and it is the single most common way buyers give up representation by accident.
- 02
Read the contract
Completion dates and what happens when they slip. Allowance schedules and what an upgrade actually costs against them. Change-order pricing. Warranty scope and duration. Arbitration clauses. What the builder may substitute without telling you.
- 03
The HOA and metro district
A new community’s year-one budget is a projection made by the developer. We look at the reserve study, the mill levy on the metro district, and what dues did in the last three comparable projects the same developer built.
- 04
Selections
Which upgrades add resale value, which are cheaper after closing, and which cannot be done later at any price. Structural options are the ones that matter; the design centre will steer you to finishes.
- 05
Inspections, plural
Pre-drywall and final, both with an independent inspector — not the municipal inspection, which is a code check and nothing more. The pre-drywall walk is the only chance anyone gets to see the framing, plumbing and electrical.
- 06
Closing and the warranty year
A punch list at closing, and a second walk at eleven months while the first-year warranty is still live. Most buyers forget the second one. It is worth thousands.
Included
What you get
- Broker registration before your first site visit
- Line-by-line pre-construction contract review
- Allowance and change-order analysis
- HOA / metro district budget and reserve review
- Structural-option advice at selections
- Independent pre-drywall and final inspections
- Eleven-month warranty walk
Questions
Asked and answered
No. Builder pricing does not change based on whether you are represented, and most builders budget for broker compensation. What changes is whether anyone in the transaction is reading the contract on your side.
A quasi-governmental entity that issues bonds to fund infrastructure in new Colorado developments and repays them through a property tax mill levy on the homes inside it. It can add meaningfully to your annual tax bill for decades. It is disclosed, and it is very easy to skim past.
Almost always, though builders frequently offer incentives — closing-cost credits, rate buydowns — for using their affiliated lender. Sometimes those are worth taking. We compare the total cost rather than the headline rate.
That depends entirely on the contract, which is why we read it first. Some agreements give the buyer a termination right after a defined delay; many give the builder wide latitude and the buyer none. Know which one you are signing.
Next step
Tell us what you are looking for.
A first conversation is 30 minutes, costs nothing, and ends with a written view of what your budget actually buys in each neighborhood you are considering.
