Hello everyone and Welcome once again to
another episode of Selling Greenville
your favorite real estate podcast as I
like to to say and I believe your
favorite real estate podcast here in
lovely Greenville South Carolina I am
your host as always Stan McCune realtor
here in the upstate of South Carolina
here in the dog days of the summer
and I appreciate you guys tuning in
as always I like to mention my
contact information is in the show notes
you can look that up reach out to me
however it's most convenient for you and
if you need a realtor I'm your guy and
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those come through today we are going to
be talking about the don'ts of new
construction the don'ts of new
construction that's a weird word to say
it's it's it's not easy to say don'ts
without sounding really weird but
that is what we're going to be talking
about today new construction is is a Hot
Topic you know in a market when there is
low
inventory some people are just saying
you know what rather than getting into
bidding wars on every single house that
comes on the market why don't I just
build my my own house that's so much
simpler in so many ways but there are a
lot of pitfalls to new construction and
we want to make sure that we get out in
front of those things and so I don't
want this to be a negative episode but
I thought about doing the dos and the
don'ts and I decided let's just focus on
the don'ts maybe we'll do maybe we will
do the dos and I'm not referring to
Mountain Dew which I guess that was
her slogan at one point something close
to that but but maybe I I'll do a
podcast on the Dos of new construction
at a different time today just the
don'ts and so let's Jump Right In
there's a lot of of of different
assumptions that people have when it
comes to building their own home and by
the way when I when we're talking about
new construction here I'm I have in mind
primarily with production Builders you
know building and subdivisions some of
this may also apply to to communities
where or or or to custom Builders
where you can buy your own land and then
build using that custom builder but
I'm I'm focused primarily on production
built communities production built
neighborhoods and let's just start
here don't assume that the HOA in the
community that you're building in and
most of these communities now they have
HOAs do not assume that that HOA is
going to let you do
anything and that that's a very
important distinction right a very
important caveat
HOAs you know they will they will
have covenants and
restrictions and you need to to make
sure that you are aware of what those
covenants and restrictions say and
and and then you know go from there make
sure that for instance if you're wanting
to put a pool in you need to make sure
that you know not just what the HOAs
requirements are for pools which by the
way most HOAs do not allow above ground
pools most of them are okay within
ground pools but then it's got to be a
by an Architectural Review
Committee now if you're in a community
which there's a lot of communities
now being built that are on septic
systems rather than public sewer you
might not even be able to build a pool
in there because of the septic system so
you need to get out in front of some of
those things and unfortunately some of
those things you won't be able to get
out in front of until after you close an
Architectural Review Committee with an
HOA board they might not even talk to
you A lot of them will not even talk to
you until you actually are an owner in
the community and submit to them actual
plans and yeah it's frustrating this is
why some people hate HOAs but this is
the way it is don't assume anything
when it comes to the HOAs make sure that
that you do as much homework as
possible if you're planning to do
particular if you're planning to do
unusual things on the outside of your
house or or if you like to have things
in your backyard that are perhaps you
know trampolines and and pools and and
you know things like that that not
everyone has in their backyard if you
want to have a unique animals a lot of
them have restrictions on on animals
if you have a an RV or something like
that a lot of them have restrictions on
where you can park those things boats
same thing make sure that you know
what you're getting into on the front
end let's just say this HOAs are not
getting more lenient they are getting
stricter and so with each new community
that's being built you know it's you
know the the over and window as as it's
called for what's acceptable is is
Shifting and things are getting
stricter and stricter so don't make any
assumptions when it comes to that don't
assume that new construction means that
you can customize anything that's the
second Point here don't assume new
construction means that you can just
customize anything and everything with
regard to the home some Builders allow
you to customize more than others and
and some communities as well you know
there are for instance Ryan Holmes
and DR Horton they will do some I
don't want to say low-end communities
but some communities where they're you
know just kind of throwing up homes
pretty quickly and then others that are
kind of nice you know and the
standard for what they allow you to
customize might be different in one
Community versus another but the main
thing is almost all of these are are
pretty strict and they're getting
stricter in terms of what they allow you
to customize they might not even allow
you to customize all the colors in a
house or or they might have you know a a
small list of colors that you can
base off of you know for your paint and
for the exterior and whatnot they might
have requirements for this home has to
look XYZ different than the home next to
it there's all sorts of things so so
people oftentimes I'll hear that that
they want to do new construction because
they want to be able to pick out
everything every Community is a
little bit different make sure that if
you're if that's a big selling point for
you that you're going into a community
where you actually can pick out what you
want to pick out most of them have
limitations and and by the way
major changes to the the floor plan or
the structure and whatnot most
production built communities are
completely uninterested in doing that
there are a few
I have I've had closings with a with
a few like Sable Sable is an example of
one that that that has allowed some
unique customizations to layout and to
you know moving some walls around and
whatnot most of them will not do that
most of the production Builders unless
you you really start to get into the
higher price point where
essentially the production Built
Homes aren't really production built
they're just custom built they're
just all done by the same Builder but
in these communities that are you know
under
$500,000 most of them what you
what you see is what you get in terms of
of the floor plan and and things like
that so don't assume that you can make
dramatic changes to the floor plan
and some of these communities as well
don't assume that new construction is
better or worse than older homes I I
hear both of these you know some people
are like I I've heard of people use
the the phrase Speck Hol almost like a
swear word this is like a speck Holm
you know I don't even really know what
that means when people use that as a
swear word but listen new
construction is sometimes better or
worse than older construction I have
seen some really shoddy older
construction around here I've seen some
really shoty newer construction I've
seen great on both sides as well
you you can't go in with assumptions one
way or the other me as a realtor I can
help you from the standpoint of of
being able to advise which Builders I
think do a better job than the others
and then of of course we can follow up
which I'm I'm going to mention here
again in a moment it's good to have
inspections done as well to to have an
inspector lay eyes on it to make sure
that things are being done the way they
should we do have some codes that are
increasingly stricter codes nowadays are
just stricter than they were in the
old days but that doesn't necessarily
mean that the older homes were built
more more poorly just because code was
less strict part of why code gets
stricter is because Builders try to cut
Corners more frequently and so the
code helps to to offset some of that and
to ensure that Builders don't cut
Corners in areas that are of the
building process that are really really
important another one I hear from
frequently is some people have very
strong opinions on Cross spaces versus
slab
homes listen both homes have pros and
cons I live in a home that is partial
basement partial slab my previous home
was partial crawl space partial slab
they they both have pros and cons
there's not a clearcut this one is
better than the other it really
depends on what you're looking for that
determines whether a slab home or a
crawl space home would make more or less
sense for you most homes nowadays are
built on slabs in the old days the crawl
space was much more commonplace don't
assume that one is better or worse than
the other another pointer here every
home builder at least in the
production built World they have a
preferred lender that they want you to
use and they have you know some type of
arrangements with those lenders I don't
know what all those arrangements are
but basically if you use their
preferred lender usually you'll get some
type of a of a closing credit don't
assume that that is your best option
don't blindly use the preferred lender
there may be better options there may be
other lenders that are willing to
match what that lender is offering in
terms of the credit while providing a
much better rate that I I've seen
that happen before so you want to make
sure that you don't just blindly use
okay I'm just going to use you know the
the Builder's preferred lender
clearly you know they're offering a
$2,500 lender credit I mean $2,500 is
pretty awesome I definitely think I want
that you actually may be leaving
money on the table by doing that and
and so this is where I can recommend
lenders as well that we'll just be
honest with you that I'll just say you
know what we can't really beat that like
you're going to you're going to be
better off in the long run by just using
them or if not they'll be honest oh
yeah we can definitely we definitely
have a track record of beating them we
can definitely match that credit let's
let's move forward with this another
Point here don't ignore the value of the
lot okay this is very very important
the lot that you choose has a major
major impact on on both your enjoyment
of the house but also the value the
long-term value of the house and
sometimes it's really hard to visualize
at at the beginning you know when it's
just a piece of land a piece of dirt
but some lots are clearly better than
others there there and there's a
variety of factors that play here in
terms of sight lines in terms of how you
know what does it back up to is it going
to back up to another house is it going
to back up to a road is it going to
is it going to back up to trees
there's a lot of different things to
consider here and again it it can it may
be difficult for you if this is the
first time you've done it to visualize
it and this is where I can help and I I
again I can help
to tell you okay from my experience this
lot you're not going to have any
privacy it doesn't look like you're
going to have a whole lot of privacy
with this lot whereas you know this
lot this this one may have issues with
with erosion when it rains there there's
a whole lot of
considerations I've got some
experience with this so I can help you
to to kind of paint the picture of what
it's going to look
like another pointer here don't be the
first to move into a new community if
there's a chance you'll be the first to
move out or or one of the first to move
out now this is really really important
some of these communities take years to
be built in fact a lot of them do a lot
of them take years to to be fully built
let let's say you're one of the first to
move in and then a couple of years later
you're ready to move
out you might find yourself in really
big trouble because you might find that
you're now competing with homes that are
being built that are brand new and here
you have a 2-year-old home lived in home
that's not as nice as the newer homes
but you might be asking for a similar
price point to those newer homes that is
not going to work out super well for you
that is a a scenario that you want to
avoid like the plague so make sure if
you're if you're one of the first to
move into a new community make sure that
your plan is long-term to stay in that
Community because you may find yourself
in a situation where you have a hard
time selling that house down the road
and you might say well I'll just rent
the house out okay again look at the
covenants and restrictions sometimes
there are some some strict rules in
terms of of renting properties out that
the covenants and restrictions will
outline so make sure that you're
aware of what you can and can't do and
know as well that those covenants and
restrictions can
change don't pretend like you know
more than the Builder I see this
sometimes as well where someone that
has you know a a little bit of handyman
experience or whatever they come in and
you know start acting as if they know
more than the Builder and they start
educating the Builder on oh you you're
not doing this right I don't like the
way you're doing this what's going on
here why why did you hang the
sheet rock this way why did you you know
they they'll just start doing all this
stuff and that does not the Builder
doesn't want to hear that they're
they're not going to handle that well
a better way to do that is to have the
property have the new build inspected by
a licensed home inspector that is the
best way to go about it and it's what I
highly recommend and will listen to an
inspector they might not love what the
inspector says but they know this is
someone at the very least that's been
licensed they've gone through some type
of a some type of a process they do this
for a living they're going to respect
that person more than just you coming in
you know and saying this is wrong this
is wrong I don't like how you did
this and last but not least Shameless
plug do not go into the new construction
process unrepresented these builders
that are out here they want to work with
agents they are offering to pay for
agents realtor fees okay they're
offering to pay that and they're not
going to give you a credit if they don't
pay it if you're unrepresented you're
not going to have a cheaper house
they'll pay for for your ability to be
represented by another realtor and they
see the value in that they love to be
able to have another realtor on the
other side that's able to handle all the
drama in theory so of course some
Realtors bring more drama but but a good
realtor is able to handle the drama with
their client and is able to to deal with
things before they reach the desk of the
Builder and so that is something that
provides value for them it provides
value and protection for you and you
want to have someone in your corner
someone in your corner that is
representing you and that has your best
interests in mind and that's what I can
do I've worked with a bunch of these
Builders over the years and I'm happy to
help you if you go down the new
construction route that's all for
today's episode of selling Greenville I
hope you guys enjoyed it my contact
information as always is in the show
notes if you have any questions
please let me know rate review subscribe
and until next time hope you guys stay
safe and have a great rest of the week
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