Earlier this week, I was attending a networking event where we held our annual “after the holidays” holiday party and did a white elephant exchange. One of the gifts happened to be several rolls of toilet paper. While valuable and inarguably useful, it was not one of those gifts that invoked any jealousy or covetousness. There was some discussion, however, about the extent that people would have gone back in 2020 to obtain such a treasure as this. We’ve come a long way, baby. Welcome to the year 2024, where toilet paper is available by the cartful at nearly any grocery or big box store and in a variety of ranges offering premium choices for softness, strength and quality. I wish I could say the same for the housing options.

While 2023 brought us higher interest rates and a slowdown of buyers in the market, it would be inaccurate to state that we no longer have a housing shortage. The fact that buyers have been biding their time waiting for rates to soften or taking much longer to decide on a house does not at all presume or equate to fewer buyers. We still need houses, especially here in our pretty great state of Utah, where we continue to reproduce at higher-than-average rates, and we continue to bring in jobs and workers for those jobs who love it here and decide to stay. I can’t blame them. We have everything here but a beach. We even have one of those occasionally on a dry year by one of our lakes. I’m not even counting the brine shrimp one. As a result, builders are keeping busy.

If building a new house is on your list of goals for 2024, this is a great time to build, assuming you are armed with the knowledge of any inherent risks that also come with new construction. Working with a builder has unique challenges that should not be navigated alone. Most track builders will allow you to bring your own Realtor to help you negotiate this process and protect you and keep you informed along the way at no additional cost to you. However, many builders require that the Realtor accompany the potential buyer to the initial meeting, or you may forfeit the privilege of your own representation. For the love of everything that is holy, I implore you to bring your own Realtor. Trust me on this. The builder’s agent works for the builder. Their allegiance is going to be to the builder, not to you. There are many moving parts to a new build and many points of negotiation in which you will want your own representation.

First and foremost, not all builders are created equal. Most seasoned Realtors know the local builders, their reputations and their track records over the years. This is a big deal. While many builders didn’t need to negotiate prices in the past, that is not the case today. Different builders can offer different incentives. Anything from interest rate buy-downs, free upgrades or even a landscape allowance can be had for the asking. Incentives are there for the taking if you know enough to ask. Your Realtor will.

We are also all familiar with the reality of timelines during the process of building a home. If you currently own a home that needs to sell for you to use the proceeds to purchase your new home, there is a delicate balance to the timing with all this. There is also the aspect of potential time delays due to a variety of factors that need to be taken into account during the process.

Many excited buyers also assume that they can negotiate the appearance or floor plan of their new home from a track builder. This is not the case. A track builder has a few plans that you can choose from, but once that decision is made, except for a choice of colors and upgrades, the layout is what it is. Track builders are not likely to move a wall or redesign a pantry. Some builders offer a minimal level of personalization, but it is important to know what can and cannot be negotiated as far as customization.

It is also important to know that any changes that are made throughout the process are likely going to come at a price. Just as upgrades are not free, neither is changing your mind about those upgrades. This is called a “change fee” — not a “change is free” — for a reason.

Recently, many master-planned communities have additional amenities that are planned in the future. It is important to know about what those amenities will be and what kind of homeowner’s association fees will be attached to the community. Will you be paying these fees before the amenities are even put in place? If the fees are minimal now, will there be an increase when the community is completed?

Since the home is new, many people also feel they don’t need a home inspection at the completion. This could not be further from the truth. I have seen everything from incomplete plumbing to a positive meth test from the subcontractors partying it up while “working” on the home.

Building a home is something that many people have on their bucket list. If this is the year to cross that off, be sure to bring an experienced Realtor with you on your journey. It’s going to be a great year.

Jen Fischer is an associate broker and Realtor. She can be reached at 801-645-2134 or jen@jen-fischer.com.

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