Should I find an agent before I sign up for a waiting list with new homes?

I

irvine-villager

New member
Hi,

I'm new to the process of purchasing a new home.

I've heard that you should bring an agent with you to sign up into waiting lists to get a rebate/cash back from the agent since they will get incentives from the builder.

Is that true? If I don't bring an agent with me, is it possible to get more upgrade/rebate from the builder?

What's the benefit of bringing an agent with me? What does he do in the purchase process?

More specifically, I'm interested in Azul and Cielo in PS.

TIA for your response.
 
1. Bringing an agent doesn't affect upgrades/incentives. In fact, you DON'T get any upgrades or incentives from any builder in PS right now. The only "incentives" you get from Azul is 2%/1% discount on the mortgage rates on the first two years if you go with US Bank. Cielo and Olivewood don't even thave this incentive. There is no incentives on upgrades. You pay more than you would if you were to upgrade after CoE. The only thing is that some things need to be upgraded. We purchased Cielo and we HAD to upgrade kitchen cabinets and all countertops because it doesn't make sense to do those things after CoE. Flooring would cost almost double to go with builder vs. after CoE.

The only things that we got a good price on were Sub-Zero fridge and glass stair rail. Shea originally was going to charge $16,000+ for the Sub-Zero 42", but after I showed them that the MSRP on Wolf's website was $14,000+, the designer brought it up to management and they actually revised it to $13,760, which I gladly took. All the subsequent Cielo buyers should thank me for that. 😂 As for the glass stair rail, Shea is charging around $25k. We brought in the contractor who did our Bluffs glass stair rails and he said he could only match that price, at best. The first quoted $30k+. So we went with Shea on that.

2. The benefit of bringing an agent is that most of them are willing to split the commission 50/50 with you. Cielo offers $50k, Olivewood $40k, but Azul only $20k. So you could get back $25k if you bought Cielo. I'm sure Martin (usctrojancpa) would be happy to help you out.
 
As CalBear mentioned, the real estate market is too hot for any buyer to be able to negotiate the sales price or the cost of upgrades. There are agents out there like myself that provide a 50/50 commission rebate to my new home buyers because there is a lot less work to do with a new home purchase versus a resale home purchase (this rebate is tax free to the buyer). Besides that, I've helped buyers walk through which options to get through the builder and which options to get after the close of escrow including providing them the necessary contractor referrals along with providing them my lender referrals so they can price shop their interest rate.

The rule is that your first physical visit to the sales office has to be with your agent in order for your agent to qualify for the broker commission from the builder. You can call and email the builder's sales people without having to had connected with a realtor. Once you register with your agent, you can go to the sales office and models without your agent. Feel free to contact me if I can be of assistance.
 
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