Read This Before You Visit a Model Home

New construction isn't automatically the better choice, and an existing home isn't automatically the cheaper one. Both have real costs, and the right answer depends on your budget, your timeline, and what you want the house to do.

• New construction gives you a current layout, new systems, finishes you pick, and a builder's warranty. You also take on a wait, a price that grows with every upgrade, landscaping and window coverings to buy after closing, and often a newer area where the trees are young and future phases are still being built.
• An existing home gives you a finished house you can see today, mature trees, a street with mature trees, and often a larger or more varied lot. You also take on someone else's choices and the repairs and updates an older house can need.

Put the finished price of the new home, with every upgrade and every item you'll add after closing, next to the price of the existing home plus what it realistically needs. Plenty of buyers find the two numbers closer than they expected, in one direction or the other. Once you see both, the choice usually gets easier.

Most buyers treat the first model home visit as casual browsing. Builders treat it as the start of a sale. Your name, your email, and the date you walked in usually go into the builder's system that day, so a little preparation beforehand pays off.

Builders set their own policies about registering a buyer's agent, and the timing can matter. Ask the builder about their agent-registration policy before your first visit, not after. If you already know you want someone on your side, bring your agent along or have them contact the builder ahead of time.

A few other steps make that first visit more useful:

• Know your budget from a lender first. A pre-approval tells you what you can borrow. Your own monthly comfort number tells you what you should spend. Keep both in mind when the upgrades start adding up.
• Write down what the house has to do. Bedrooms, an office, a garage bay for the boat, a single-story plan, room to add on later. A written list keeps a beautiful model from rewriting your priorities.
• Decide how long you can wait. A house already under construction and a house that hasn't broken ground are two very different timelines. Know which one fits your move before a model home makes the decision for you.
• Bring a camera and a notebook. Photograph the model's upgrade tags and signs, and write down every price you hear. You'll want those notes when the paperwork arrives.

Builders draft their own purchase agreements, and those agreements put the builder's interests first. Plenty of buyers see one for the first time at the sales desk, and some sign at the model home the same day they pick a lot. Slow down at this step. Read every page, and ask about anything you don't understand before you sign, not after.

Every builder's contract is different, so we won't tell you what yours says. These are the parts worth reading twice:

• Price changes. Find out whether your price is fixed once you sign, or whether the builder can pass along higher material or labor costs. Look for the words escalation, adjustment, or cost increase.
• Delays. Look for what happens if the house isn't done by the estimated date. Many contracts give the builder wide room on timing. Know what that room is before you schedule a move or sell your current home.
• Deposits. Know how much you're putting down, when each payment is due, and under what conditions you'd get any of it back. Upgrade deposits are sometimes handled differently from the main deposit.
• What's included. The contract should point to a written list of included features and finishes. If a detail isn't in writing, don't assume it's part of the price.
• Warranty. Ask for the builder's warranty document itself, not a summary. Read what it covers, for how long, and how you submit a repair request.

If anything in the contract worries you, a real estate attorney can review it before you sign. We'll help you spot the questions. Legal advice is the attorney's job.

The builder's upgrade price sheet is where budgets drift. Each line looks small on its own. Twenty small lines later, the house costs far more than the base price that brought you in. The model home, filled with upgrades, makes all of them feel standard.

Sort every upgrade into two piles. The first pile is anything that's hard, messy, or expensive to change after you move in. The second pile is anything you could do yourself, or hire out, a few years from now.

• Usually worth doing during the build: ceiling height, room layout and structural options, extra windows, a larger garage, plumbing rough-ins for a future bathroom or outdoor kitchen, extra electrical outlets and wiring, blocking in the walls for TVs or cabinets, and insulation upgrades. All of these live inside the walls or the frame.
• Usually easy to add later: paint colors, light fixtures, cabinet hardware, faucets, a backsplash, most window coverings, and landscaping beyond the basics. Builder pricing on these often runs higher than doing them yourself later.

Resale matters too. When you sell, buyers compare your house to the new homes being built down the road. Buyers of a resale home tend to notice the layout, the kitchen, the flooring, and how the home was built. A pricey finish that suits only your taste rarely comes back when you sell. Kelli has a Bachelor of Interior Design from the University of Central Oklahoma, and her rule on upgrades is simple. "Before you spend money on that, let's talk about whether you're actually going to get it back."

Ask whether design-center selections have a deadline. Many buyers make a long list of choices in a single afternoon, and the pressure to decide quickly is when budgets slip. Get the full price list ahead of the appointment and make the big decisions at home first.

Signing the contract starts the part of the process where most decisions get made. Some are small and some are permanent. A written record and regular visits to the site keep small surprises from becoming expensive ones.

• Visit the site. Ask the builder how and when you can visit, since active job sites have safety rules. Take photos at every stage, especially of the framing, plumbing, and wiring before the drywall covers them.
• Make the site decisions in person. On a wooded or larger lot, choices about which trees to keep and which to clear come early and can't be undone. Be there, or have someone there for you.
• Put every change in writing. Any change to the plan, the finishes, or the price should be a signed change order with the cost listed. Keep your own copy of every one, along with emails and texts about the house.
• Consider an independent inspection. A new house can still have mistakes. Ask the builder whether they'll allow an independent inspector at key stages, such as before the drywall goes up and before closing, and get the answer in writing.

Many buyers ask how to sell their current home while they build. Waiting on a build can work in your favor, since construction usually leaves time to get your house ready and on the market without a scramble. Completion dates can move, though, so plan your sale around a range of dates, not a single day. Depending on your situation, the options can include a contingent offer, closings scheduled on the same day or close together, or bridge financing from a lender based on the equity in your current home. Our page on selling to trade up covers how we plan both sides of the move, and a home value review gives you the number to plan around.