The Ins and Outs of Buying New Construction

Speaker 1: [0:00] Hello, hello, and welcome to another edition of the Seat- whoop, nope. The Seattle Is Awesome? No, that's not what it's called.

Speaker 2: [0:07] Seattle Is Awesome.

Speaker 1: [0:09] Nice.

Speaker 2: [0:09] Now you got me all- Third time's the

Speaker 1: [0:10] charm … all flustered, guys. Geez. Hello there, and welcome to another edition of the Awesome in Seattle podcast. There you go. I said the name correct. I almost said it wrong, but it's Awesome in Seattle. That is what we are. This is the Awesome in Seattle podcast. This is your host, Christian Nossum, with the Awesome Nossum Group at Wilson Realty, and I am joined by the rest of the team. First off, we got Charlotte Reynolds.

Speaker 2: [0:41] Good afternoon.

Speaker 1: [0:44] Sarah Kate Davis.

Speaker 2: [0:45] Also, good afternoon.

Speaker 1: [0:47] And the one and only Jason Saldarriaga.

Speaker 3: [0:50] As always.

Speaker 1: [0:53] And if you know, he always says that, and it always makes me laugh. Today's episode is all about new construction, and if you've ever contemplated or thought about buying a new construction house, then you definitely want to listen to this whole episode. It will get you up to speed on what you gotta do. Uh, it is different than buying a resale home or a traditional home that's already been owned. Uh, there are, is a lot of little things that change the process and how things work. So this is gonna be a great overview, overview for you if you are buying a new construction home. So, uh, first off, let's talk about kinda the, some basic differences in the types of properties. So in Seattle, often there aren't very many large developments. So I'm talking like a big 40 to 200-home development. That's kinda out in the suburbs more. But there's a big difference between those and kinda what you'll see in city of Seattle, uh, and that's more like a four to six, maybe eight-unit townhouse, or even just a single family home that's brand new. So you really gotta understand what those differences are. First off, let's talk about shopping for new construction, Jason.

Speaker 3: [2:10] Yeah. So the first question really is, where do you find these homes? Um, obviously most of the time when, when it's completed, it's gonna be on the MLS usually. Like, that's how most sellers wanna list their house, and they g- they get good marketability from that, and that sort of thing. But, uh, if you're really looking only for new construction, there are little tips and tricks that might get you in the door a little early, such as looking at the builders' websites directly, because you'll see that a lot of times they'll market the neighborhood- Not the neighborhood, but the development, um, before they're ready to list it. Maybe they just, uh, got the permits and, um, they're starting to build the foundations. A lot of times they'll start having stuff online about that, and so you can get your foot in the door, start doing your research, um, let your agent know that you're interested in this and that might help when the property's finished, you might be the first to know, um, which is always helpful. Another, uh, little tip here, there's an amazing website called seattleinprogress.com, and this is a website for only Seattle proper, but it's every building permit, um, on a map that you… And you can go through and see everything that's being permitted. A lot of the, these permits end up not being built, but, but so you will have to weed through that, but that's a great way to see things before they even start clearing the land, quite frankly. Um, so that's a, that's a good way to, way to get information way in advance. So like Christian said, I'm just gonna, like, kind of extrapolate something that he mentioned. So with new construction there, there's really, like, three categories here. Number one, there's the flipped home, and there's a ton of flippers in Seattle, from large scale companies to mom and pop shops. And generally speaking, a flipped home is pretty similar to buying a non-flipped home. They don't really have warranties, which we'll talk about, because they don't impact the structure generally. They don't really get building-- uh, builder walkthroughs, which we'll also talk about. So I'm, I'm, uh, preempting a lot of what we're gonna discuss today, but I just wanted to make clear. So this doesn't necessarily apply to flipped homes. Some of this does that we'll discuss today, but not all of it. The second thing is what we see a lot of in Seattle, which are the new construction, generally, like, townhouse developments. Um, a builder might go and buy a rundown house, a single family home, and tear it down and build, you know, five townhouses. If they're really lucky, they might buy two adjoining properties and combine them. You see a lot of this, um, in Seattle, and a lot of times these are moderately sized companies. They might have good capital because they've been doing this a while, but they might do, like, one or two developments at a time. They're not something like D.R. Horton, which is the third option, which are the large scale subdivision size developments. Like Christian said, you generally don't see this in Seattle. I don't know if you know, but we're surrounded by water. Land is a premium here. So you don't see many large scale developments in Seattle proper, but, like, in Mill Creek and that sort of thing, you'll see these, you know, three hundred home developments where they have a sales office and huge marketing campaigns. They might even buy bill- pay for billboards on the freeway and that sort of thing. So touring homes, it can be different depending on the type of property we're talking about. So if you're looking at like a townhouse, it's gonna be very similar to looking at just any other house on the MLS. You're gonna have a, an agent that's gonna key you in, show you the property. There, uh, might be multiple units that you can tour. A lot of times the way that these townhouses are marketed, they might have like two standalone units in the back, and then in the front they might have three identical units that are not standalone, let's say. And the, the, uh, listing agent oftentimes will list one of the standalones and one of the other units that there's three of, and they will sell… only market those two and sell all the other units through those two listings In other words, what, what does this mean for you as a buyer? If you go online and you see that there's two townhouses available at this one, you know, little development of townhouses, there very likely are more, and you might, if you, especially if you look quickly, like be one of the first people on the si- on site before they start selling the units, you might be able to really determine which unit you want. One might be a corner unit, which will generally be a little more expensive, generally speaking, because it lets in more light. That's, uh, most, more people, you know, it's more desirable.

Speaker 2: [7:06] Mm-hmm.

Speaker 3: [7:06] Um, so keep that in mind. In these large scale developments, though, on the periphery of Seattle, a lot of times you have site agents. So then some of these properties even have sales offices, especially the large scale ones on the periphery of Seattle. Um, they might, um, have a sales office in, like, the clubhouse that is going, at least in the future, going to be the clubhouse for the, the neighborhood, um, or the subdivision. A lot of times also they'll just put the sales office in the first finished house that's fully upgraded, and they use it also as a model home to show. Um, and I-- Just to be clear, these are the subdi- these subdivisions that you drive through, and you see, like, all the signs. It's, like, a huge area of land that's been clear-cut, and they're starting to build foundations a lot of times, and you'll see signs saying, like, "Sales office," directing you to, like, the one house that's standing in the middle of the field. And if you go in, you can go in by yourself without an agent, and generally, the first thing they should ask, they usually ask is, "Do you have an agent?" Because what happens here is you need to register if you're represented, and if you're not represented, they will gladly represent you. That does not mean that you want that, right? Because you don't necessarily want the seller's agent or the builder's agent to represent you as a buyer. But they try to do that because it saves them money, and it makes it easier for them. The other thing to keep in mind, every one of these developments has a different rule that's, uh- Actually in, uh, listed in the MLS that agents can see. Every cons- uh, builder has a different, like, rule set. So if you, for example, see a h- one of these developments by yourself without your, without your agent, even if you have an agent, your agent might not be able to get their full commission, and so you, uh, risk your agent not being fully paid. You also risk potentially not getting the representation you want at the end of the day because, again, you don't necessar- it's not in your best interest, generally speaking, to have the listing agent also write up the contract for you and represent you. So too long, didn't read. If you're looking at these large scale developments, really any… it's the same rule for any property. You always wanna reach out to your agent and make sure that they're aware of the property. They'll let you know information that you aren't necessarily privy to because it might not be public. And they'll also make sure that you're doing things in such a way that you'll make sure you protect your representation moving forward. Of course, if you want, you can always put us down. You can also really quickly just email us. Our website's awesomenossum.com Reach out to us and we can get you s- uh, scheduled to sh- see stuff very quickly, same day. I say same day because I don't know about y'all, but I'm seeing all these Redfin billboards around the city that say- … uh, same day showings in Seattle. And I'm, and every time I'm in my car with my boyfriend I'm like, they say like, they say it like this is a huge-

Speaker 1: [10:15] Some revelation.

Speaker 3: [10:16] Like, oh my God. Like, most good agents I know are available very quickly. Yeah, exactly. So, okay. Um- Just text us. Yeah. We will,

Speaker 1: [10:25] we will

Speaker 3: [10:25] help. I just, I always laugh. I roll my eyes a little bit and I'm scared they're gonna get stuck in the back of my head. Yeah, so there's a lot of dynamics at play when you're, uh, buying a new construction, becau- because again, there's generally multiple units available. And so, knock on wood, a lot of times things aren't as competitive in new construction as they are with like a home, um, in like a random Seattle neighborhood.

Speaker 1: [10:51] Like a resale home.

Speaker 3: [10:52] A resold home, yeah.

Speaker 1: [10:53] Yep.

Speaker 3: [10:54] Ag- again, because there's multiple units available. Mm-hmm. And they will h- a lot of times have different prices, slightly up and down based on if one's, you know, has better views, is maybe standalone, has, is a corner unit, that sort of thing.

Speaker 1: [11:08] Yeah. Um- I think this is an important thing to highlight too. Like, in a competitive market like we're in right now, if you're used to competing against, you know, three to 10 offers on every house that's available for sale, with a new construction townhouse, let's say, in Seattle, there's often, you know, at a minimum generally four units. They usually only list or put one of them up for sale online, but there's three others available. You could potentially go in, try to make an offer on that one. Even if there's more than one offer on the table, there's three other units that you could go, "Oh, well I like this one next door just as good, so I'm gonna go with that one instead." Like, it's less competitive. You have more chance at getting your offer accepted.

Speaker 3: [11:53] Yeah, and a lot of times, let's say it's like a l- a moderate size, like, townhouse. I, I dealt with one in Wallingford, it was like 12 units, and they got like three offers for one unit, like the most desirable one. And basically what ended up happening was the listing agent kind of found the right unit for each offer- Mm-hmm if it made sense, you know. And at the end of the day there were a lot of happy, happy customers in that, in that regard. Yep. And then an- one last little tip. So- Oftentimes, not all the units are gonna be modeled or staged. A lot of times they'll finish one at a time, and then as they sell the units, they'll prioritize finishing up, uh, the units they sell in order of their closing date. Um, and so, uh, just keep that in mind. A lot of times the listing agent or the se- or the builder wants to prioritize. They have different strategies. A lot of times they wanna prioritize other units other than the model, or sometimes depending on the situation, they wanna prioritize the model. That's… So every situation's a little different, and that's where a good agent comes in. But yeah, that's my spiel.

Speaker 1: [12:59] Cool. All right, so let's, uh, let's say, Sarah Kate, that you kinda found one that you wanna make an offer on. How does that whole process plus negotiating work?

Speaker 4: [13:09] Um, well, a lot of builders have different contracts and paperwork. Mm-hmm. So if you've purchased a home in the past, maybe you're familiar with the standard Northwest MLS forms that, that we use, um, for purchase and sale. But, um, builders can have their own paperwork, and it maybe doesn't look familiar to you. It essentially states the same things as a Northwest MLS standard contract, but they've written it up themselves, and a lot of times they write it up to protect the builder and the seller a little extra, just because sometimes there can be construction delays, and they wanna make sure that there's no pene- penalty for them maybe running behind schedule. Or maybe they have things that they're waiting on the city for, such as, like, occupancy, um, paperwork and such. So they really build that into the contract to make sure they protect themselves well in- Mm-hmm … in that scenario. Um, you know, as far as those kind of builder contracts, we always recommend that, you know, you get those reviewed by a lawyer Sometimes they can be really legalese and jargon and stuff, and sometimes that's a little outside of our scope. So it's really good to protect yourselves and to know that. Um, you know, the more in-city builders, we see a mix of Northwest MLS contract paperwork as well as builder addendum. And, um, you know, again, that's just to protect themselves and to, um, make sure that there's an out if things, you know, go wrong or delayed. And sometimes buyers can have an out as well. For instance, if the builder goes over the extended agreed upon date, um, sometimes, uh, the buyers will have the right to walk away with their earnest money, so.

Speaker 2: [15:11] Yep.

Speaker 4: [15:11] And, yeah, and so just with negotiating those contracts and stuff, um, it's good, it's good to know all of these things and just to read the contracts really carefully and to know what your rights as buyers and sellers are.

Speaker 1: [15:25] Yep. Let's talk about price when you're negotiating and why that's, uh, I guess such a, a big hangup for builders in order to get the price they want. Why is that?

Speaker 4: [15:37] Uh, well, they, they put a lot of money into these new builds. They, most of the time, make sure that, you know, they're very state-of-the-art, they have quality materials, quality insulation, they're really efficient. Um, so they really wanna get that price because chances are they're building another home next door, let's say, and they really wanna be able to get that full price and use that as a comp to sell other town home units or other standalone family units. But if there are things they're willing to do, a lot of times new builders give credits to buyers at closing or will have some other sort of concession that you can negotiate, uh- Mm-hmm in your contract.

Speaker 1: [16:16] Yeah. Well, well, much… You're much more likely to get a credit or even maybe some upgrades within the home before the seller will drop the price, 'cause they wanna protect the price for the other units in the same development that are also going to be sold. Yeah. And they don't want those buyers to come back and say, "Hey, well, you just sold unit A for 10 grand under. That's what I want." They're gonna be like, "No, I don't wanna do that." Mm-hmm. So instead, what they'll do is they'll try to hide the, the negotiation that went on by giving credits or upgrades that aren't necessarily, uh, visible from the, from other buyers looking at units in there.

Speaker 2: [16:59] Yep, exactly.

Speaker 1: [17:01] Um, what about cost initially, new construction versus, you know, a, a resale home?

Speaker 4: [17:07] So the new construction homes are, like I said, just more state-of-the-art. They have, you know, modern finishes. Also, with new construction homes, they have brand new systems. Mm-hmm. You know, so you're paying for that upfront. You, within your lifespan of owning that home, will probably not have to buy a new water heater or a new furnace or anything like that. So you're paying for some of that stuff up- upfront, and that's why they're a little more expensive.

Speaker 2: [17:35] Yep.

Speaker 1: [17:37] Great. Charlotte, let's talk about timeframe for buying new construction. Uh, let's, you know, discuss when a home is being built, um, the difference between that and something that's already completed.

Speaker 2: [17:52] Yeah. So, uh, you know, a lot of the time, depending on how the market is, the builders will strategize what they're gonna do, uh, based on the market. So for example, if the market is a l- is a little bit slower, and it's more of a buyer's market, the developer will oftentimes put the homes on as presale. And by doing this, they can also allow you to do some minor customizations as a way to get you more excited about the house as well. Uh, so for example, if you're, you know, early on enough in the process, uh, of their building, they might be able to add on some extra things or change, you know, make a change in the original plans, uh, of the home. So for example, we had a client, uh, just a few years ago, um, who was buying some new construction and, you know, he asked the builders. And I think he w- yeah, he was looking when they were pretty much just pouring the foundation and getting the framing up. So what he asked them to do, uh, was put in, like, a little fridge at the top of the stairs. Um, I think they did some, uh, moderations to, modifications to the plumbing so they could put a sink up there. Uh, so kinda just like a little- Yeah … kinda wet bar set up almost.

Speaker 1: [19:07] Exactly. And this was, like, leading, or at the top of a townhouse leading up to the rooftop deck. So it was right at the- Yeah … landing at the top of those stairs.

Speaker 2: [19:18] So just adding in, you know, those little customizations, um, and then by putting it on as presale, it allows, you know, the time for that as a way to make it more appealing. Um, and then also what we see in, you know, more larger developments is that they'll have a basic kind of finishing package with, you know, the countertops, cabinets, floors, and all that stuff. Um, and what they'll do is allow you to upgrade to a different package to increase the cost. So say for example, you want, um, like a, a higher quality of hardwood floors, or you want, you know, a different shade of cabinet or something, you, you know, they, they allow some room for you to customize your home, of course, at an increased cost. Um, and same with those minor customizations that I mentioned earlier. Um, they're, you know, likely willing to do that, but at the same time, it will probably cost you a little bit extra. You know, on the flip side of that, if the market is hot and it's a seller's market, they generally are going to wait until it's fully completed so that they can kind of let the market go up while they're completing the instruc- uh, construction, uh, because, you know, things are pretty competitive, um, at that stage. So again, it depends a lot on what the market looks like. Uh, one thing to keep in mind is if you are buying presale, it could be months until the project is completed. So just be well aware, you know, when you're writing that offer of how much time the builders are gonna need to complete it, and make sure it goes along with your timeframe of your current living situation. Um, and then just be prepared for extensions, um, depending on who the builder is, uh, and things like that.

Speaker 1: [21:05] Correct … Speaker 2: and then if there's a pandemic, then you just never know what the heck is going on. Yep, all bets

Speaker 2: [21:13] are off at

Speaker 1: [21:14] that point, that's for sure. Exactly. Yeah. Uh, one thing to note too, with new construction, interest rates are a big factor, and the unfortunate thing with when you're buying something that's a pre-sale or not done yet, generally you're not able to lock in your interest rate way ahead of time. So you run the risk potentially of interest rates increasing between when you make your offer and when the house is close enough to, uh, lock your interest rate. So that's one potential issue that you need to be aware of. On some of these newer, larger developments, if you go with their preferred lender on site, sometimes they will lock your interest rate way ahead of time. Uh, but just like anything, they're gonna charge you for it. Uh, it may not be an obvious charge, but generally they will charge you for that. So just be aware that, uh, you're not gonna be able to lock your interest rate in if your, your home is months and months away from being completed. Cool. All right, let's go on to, let's say now you're under contract. You, you know, you've gone through the negotiation, you've, um, figured out if you wanna do any upgrades, all those things are done. The home is pretty much completed. Now it's time to do your final walkthrough and get a home inspection. A misconception a lot of times with home buyers is with new construction, you don't need to get an inspection because, hell, it's new. Why would you need to get an inspection? Well, you need to get an inspection because it's new. And, and a lot of times, you know, there's a, a general contractor who has hired a lot of subs, subcontractors, and those subcontractors are working from-- They're going, you know, from one unit to the next unit to the next unit, and sometimes there's issues that pop up, and they just forget, and the next guy comes in and thinks it's all the way done, but maybe it's not all the way done. Um, they think the, the plumbing's, you know, set up and connected to the laundry room, or the dryer vent's hooked up, or the whatever, electrical outlets in the master bedroom, bathroom, whatever, aren't connected. This is why you hire an inspector. Obviously, there's not gonna be end-of-life issues with them, some of the appliances or furnace or anything like that. It's going to be more, um, did they do everything that they should do? And this is, uh, you know, looking a lot more detailed than the, uh, code inspector would do. The code inspector's just gonna go, "Okay, the rise and run of the stairs is correct. They did X, Y, and Z. Those things are done." They're not testing every appliance necessarily, or, or faucet or outlet. That's why you need to hire an inspector. It's very important. Some of… You know, in talking to inspectors, some of the worst homes they've ever done an inspection on often deals with new construction, where a contract- or a subcontractor completely blew it or didn't do their job. You know? And that's, that's where, you know, you're paying this inspector to go through and find these things. Often they're in the crawl space or the attic, where no one in their right mind really wants to go, even with even with new construction, 'cause no one likes to crawl under a house. So it's very important to do this, uh, regardless of it being new construction or not. Um- The timeframe for getting your inspection done. So when you make your offer, you don't want the clock on your inspection timeframe to start until the developer or builder tells you, "Hey, we are done. You can now do your inspection." Because otherwise, you're just gonna go through there and they're gonna be like, "Yeah, you haven't installed the countertops yet, and the sink isn't installed either because the countertops aren't in, and that means the plumbing hasn't been installed." And I mean, you're just-- it, it's, it's a stupid inspection at that point. It's worthless. So you wanna make sure that the contract is written with the language stating that the inspection period timeframe does not start until the construction has been completed, and the builder notifies you of that. Generally, you have, again, generally five to 10 days to get your ins- inspection done. You don't want that clock to start before they're done building it. Now, a, a separate item is a builder walkthrough. Now, a builder walkthrough generally is done about a week-ish before, uh, the closing date. Uh, this is when the builder walks you through the home, gives you an orientation on what systems are in the home, how to use those systems, um, and really teaches you all about the home. Some of these new construction homes have technology that's pretty new and a lot of people haven't seen yet, so it's a really good chance for you to ask questions, uh, get clarification and, um, and really understand the home that you're buying. Uh, they're very helpful. Uh, this is also where The builder or the builder's rep or whoever it is that's giving you this builder walkthrough, uh, towards the end, they will give you a little bit of time to walk through, and this is where you take blue painter's tape or any painter's tape for that matter, and you just mark any imperfections that you see. This could be anywhere from grout that is cracked between tiles, um, a nail pop in the drywall. That, that means like the nail or the screw, uh, now that the house is somewhat settled, um, that's where the screw or the nail head kind of pops out a little bit, maybe a quarter of an inch or less, uh, out from the drywall, and it looks just kinda ugly. These are things that when you're buying new construction, you can actually point out. I've actually had it where we found a dent in the brand-new refrigerator door, and they had to replace that because this is brand-new construction. You're buying brand-new appliances as well, and, um, I'm sure they weren't too happy about that, but that's something that they have to do. So, uh, those are the differences between the inspection and the builder's walkthrough, um, which kinda leads us into warranties that are involved with new construction. So, uh, Jason, let's, let's talk about that.

Speaker 3: [27:50] Yeah. So basically speaking, every new construction under state law is covered by a, an implied warranty of habi- habitability. And this is pretty limited, to be perfectly honest. It covers basically the structure of the, the house and the fact that there aren't any major code violations. If there are, then those need to be fixed. Outside of that, builders aren't necessarily legally obligated by state law to offer more warranty. That said, the vast majority do, and they offer a one-year warranty on a lot of different parts of the property. So when you go in and buy one of these houses, you sign, it's part of the contract, generally this multi-page warranty, and it breaks out every facet of the property from the foundation to the framing to the flashing to the decks and the plumbing and drywall, and they mention what is covered and what's not covered. And generally speaking, these warranties are about a year-- are 12 months, um, after close. And so you have 12 months to keep your eye out on anything that changes in the property, and when 12 months is over, you are not able then to reach out to the, the builder and say, "Hey, please fix X, Y, Z." So a little tip, when you go and buy a house Put in your calendar for 11 months after close a reminder to pop up and remind you that you need to get that list of all those things that over the last l- 11 months have kind of happened, the settling, the little, like Christian was saying, the drywall screws that are popping out, the drywall nails. Get that list, reach out to the builder and have them come by and look and, uh, fix them, assuming they're covered by that warranty that I was discussing. Um, because if you wait, you put at risk the, the fact that the clock's gonna run out on you, so that's no good. But yeah.

Speaker 1: [29:44] Yeah. And every house is gonna have settling. I mean, you're putting this giant heavy structure on a piece of land that possibly before had nothing built on it, and the house does settle over time. And these little, you know, like I said, grout cracks and nail pops and, you know, cracks in the drywall seams, and all these little weird things, they happen. It's natural. Um, sometimes it's flooring that's settled weird, and sometimes they gotta do a little more extensive work on stuff. So it's, uh, yeah, that's a great tip, Jason, to, to do that.

Speaker 3: [30:17] I try

Speaker 4: [30:19] My friend bought a new construction a couple years ago, and within the first year his dishwasher stopped working, and th- that was actually covered as well, so he was able to get that replaced at no cost to him, so.

Speaker 3: [30:32] That's a good point that you bring up, actually. Yeah. So a lot of these warranties, a lot of it actually isn't the builder that covers it. What they might do is they might facilitate the coverage, because it's probably the manufacturer. For example, the dishwasher, it's most likely the manufacturer- Mm-hmm that covered that. But the builder will, over that first 12 months especially, will help, like, "Okay, yeah, this… Reach out to this person, um, and they'll cover it," or whatever. "Reach out to this company," that sort of thing.

Speaker 4: [30:58] Yeah.

Speaker 3: [30:58] Um, so keep that in mind.

Speaker 1: [30:59] Yeah. And Sarah Kate, you brought up a good point. So appliances, that's what you were just talking ab- or chatting about. Sometimes all the appliances are not included with new construction. Very often a washer and dryer is not included. Sometimes the refrigerator is not included. So you need to really pay attention to what is in the home and what is listed in the contract, uh, as what's going to be added to the home after the fact if it's not currently there. Um, because those can be some pretty expensive appliances that you gotta buy. Uh, I mean, that's a few grand right there.

Speaker 4: [31:35] Yeah.

Speaker 1: [31:36] Another thing, blinds. Blinds are surprisingly expensive. It generally shocks most first-time homeowners or even- Thousands of

Speaker 4: [31:45] dollars.

Speaker 1: [31:46] Yeah, exactly. I mean, minimum 2,000, often close to 5,000, if not more. Uh, especially on these new modern homes that have these gigantic floor-to-ceiling windows- Yeah … that span the entire floor almost, uh, of, of a, of the, of the home, you know? It could be, you know, the entire half the living room is all floor-to-ceiling windows from one wall to the corner, and then that corner to another wall, to really let in as much natural light. But because of that, if, unless you want people staring at you, you gotta cover those things. Smaller things, shower curtain rods, they're generally not included. They're not expensive, but just be aware, you know, if, if you only have bathtubs in the home and not, like, a stand-up shower that has a glass enclosure or some sort of a door, you move in, you might not have the ability to take a shower unless you're going to be putting towels all over the floor and clean it up after all the water that spills out. If I

Speaker 4: [32:46] could interject here as well.

Speaker 1: [32:48] So

Speaker 4: [32:48] pay attention to that. Yeah. A lot of these new builds will have very large, almost walk-in showers, but they haven't placed glass up either. Mm-hmm. And they don't intend to. Mm-hmm. And that can be really expensive, especially if it's a really large space or you're looking at, like, a custom shower rod. So definitely be aware of that.

Speaker 1: [33:09] Yeah. Don't always assume that there will be a glass enclosure either, because sometimes there won't be. So, um, uh, I, actually I think you brought that up, Sarah Kate, 'cause it was just last week that you showed a house that had a really funky shower that it was, it was huge- Yeah but it didn't have a glass enclosure at all. And, uh, thankfully you inquired about it and found out, no, we're not gonna install one because of where we put this in, it would've been way too expensive to do. So-

Speaker 4: [33:39] Yeah, and it would've blocked certain other amenities in the bathroom. So it was just- Yeah … an odd, odd case, but I've seen that happen-

Speaker 2: [33:46] Yep

Speaker 4: [33:46] pretty often with new builds.

Speaker 1: [33:48] Uh, another thing too is on rooftop decks. So if you're in a townhouse, for instance, generally you, if it's not a standalone, meaning you're not sharing any walls, but if you are sharing walls, generally it's a, it's not a very private experience on the rooftop deck, and you might want to add some privacy down the road for that. So, you know, factor that in as well. It's obviously not something that you have to do immediately, um, but that's something that you might want to add. Same with additional lighting up there. Um, often they'll have, you know, one light right by the door to get up there, but that's about it. So if you're trying to hang out there in the evening, you might not have very much light. So just little things to add that, that's generally not included. Uh, anything else you guys have that you wanna add to that list?

Speaker 3: [34:36] No, not

Speaker 2: [34:37] me. No, that's pretty good though.

Speaker 1: [34:39] Great. All right. Well, I mean, obviously new construction is something that people really do love. It's move-in ready. It's turnkey. There is gonna be a lot less maintenance for the foreseeable future. There's, it's overall, it's just less stress because you don't have to worry about, you know, your furnace or your refrigerator or anything going out very soon. So that's why new construction is, you know, so popular. Hopefully our episode today really helped to explain the pros and cons and, and really some of the, uh, things to expect along the journey of buying new construction. If you ever are considering buying new construction or a resale home, you can always choose to chat with us. You can always schedule that right online at awesomeandawesome.com/schedule. We are always here to help. Again, if you're out and about looking at a new construction site that makes you sign in, feel free to add our names as the agent if you don't have one. If we're not a good fit, we're not gonna hold you to it, but at least you have some form of representation potentially on there, which could never hurt. So we hope this episode was helpful. Hope you're all staying safe, and we'll talk soon.

Speaker 2: [35:53] Bye. Bye.