The real incentives
Rate buy-downs, closing-cost credits, design-center dollars, and lot-premium waivers, what's actually on the table this week, and what's negotiable beyond the flyer.
New construction
The person across the table used to be me.
I spent the majority of my career on the builder's side of new-home sales, more than $150 million in closed transactions representing the builder. I know exactly how new construction is priced, incentivized, and contracted, because I did it every day. Now I put that on your side of the table: clearer decisions, fewer expensive surprises, and representation that usually costs you nothing.
Understand the table
Who works for whom on a new-build deal
No fearmongering, just clarity. The agent in the builder's model home is good at their job. It simply helps to know whose job that is, because I've had it.
The on-site sales counselor
Works for the builder
- Paid by the builder to sell that builder's homes
- Knows their community, not how it stacks up against others
- Uses the builder's contract, written to protect the builder
- Isn't there to tell you what's negotiable elsewhere
Pete, as your advisor
Works for you
- I've sat in that on-site chair, so I know the playbook firsthand
- I compare communities, builders, and incentives across the market
- I read the contract for the terms that actually matter to you
- I'll always be clear about how I'm paid, in new construction it's often covered by the builder
Bring me in before you register or sign at a model home. That's when representation matters most.
Where buyers lose money, quietly
What I watch for that most buyers can't see
New construction has a whole layer of costs and terms the sticker price never shows. Here's some of what I check on every deal.
The builder's contract
Builder contracts are written to protect the builder. I read for the terms that matter to you, earnest money, timelines, appraisal and financing outs, and warranty.
Year-two tax reality
New communities often sit in MUD or PID districts, and year-two property taxes can jump once the home and district are fully assessed. We plan for it up front.
Upgrades that don't return
The design center is where budgets blow up. I help you spend on what holds value and skip the upgrades you'd never get back at resale.
Spec vs. to-be-built
Move-in-ready incentives vs. building from dirt, different risks, timelines, and leverage. We pick the path that fits your timing and budget.
Lender & financing options
Preferred-lender offers can be real value or a trade-off. We compare the builder's lender against outside options so the incentive is worth it.
Where I earn you real money
The advertised deal is the starting point, not the deal.
There is almost always a gap between what a builder advertises and what a well-represented buyer actually gets. Knowing where that gap is, on price, incentives, rate buy-downs, closing costs, and design-center dollars, and having the negotiating skill to close it in your favor, is exactly what a decade inside the builder's business taught me. That's the job: getting you the most money possible.
It goes past negotiation. I track which communities and floor plans are the real wedge opportunities, where today's pricing sits below where the community is headed. I hear about inventory before it's advertised, spec homes, quiet price adjustments, and close-out deals, through years of builder relationships. And because I run a team and invest in real estate myself, I look at every new build the way an owner does: what it's worth now, and what it sets you up for later.
- Negotiating the gapthe space between the flyer and the best real deal
- Wedge opportunitiescommunities priced below where they're heading
- Off-market accessspecs, close-outs, and quiet incentives before they're public
- An investor's readwhich builds hold value, and which just look good
A free second opinion
Thinking of buying new, or already in a builder's contract?
Before you register at a model home or sign anything, let's talk. And if you're already under contract, I'll give you an honest second opinion on what you're signing: the incentives, the upgrades, the tax picture, and the terms.
No pressure and no cost. In new construction, a buyer's agent is typically accounted for in the builder's budget, but you have to be represented from the start. Register with me first, and I'll be clear about exactly how I'm paid.
Register with me before you visit. Most builders require your agent to be with you (or named) on your first visit for representation to apply. One text before you go is all it takes.
- Compare communities & buildersnot just the one you walked into
- Read the contract with youthe terms that actually matter
- Plan the true costtaxes, MUD/PID, HOA, upgrades, holding
- Protect your earnest moneyouts, timelines, and inspections
Proof, not promises
I teach before I ask for your business.
New Home Dispatch is my independent guide to buying new construction in Central Texas: community comparisons, builder breakdowns, and clear buyer guides. No email wall, no sales pitch.
It's the clearest way to see how I research a market and think about a deal before we ever talk. If it's useful, the next step is easy.
newhomedispatch.com
The independent guide to new construction
Written for buyers, not builders. Community Explorer, builder comparisons, buyer guides, and free tools, the same research I use with my own clients.
Community Explorer
Builder breakdowns
Buyer guides
Free tools
Free new-construction guide
Buying New Construction, the Right Way
From someone who spent years selling new homes for the builders: where the money really hides, how the incentives and contracts work, and why an insider on your side changes everything. Yours free.
Pete Seider · Central Texas real estate advisor
Considering a new build? Text or call me before your first visit, I'll tell you straight what to watch for in that community, and it won't cost you anything to have me in your corner.
Talk before you tour.
One conversation before you register at a model home can change the whole deal. Let's make sure you're the one who comes out ahead.
