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Building a Ryland Home? How to negotiate upgrades/ use a realtor?
Hello! We are thinking of building a Ryland home in Indianapolis. I've seen various posts where people talk about getting upgrades wrapped into the price of the home.
We have received a flyer with the promotion - free brick wrap ($10,000 value) + $5,000 in upgrades + $5,000 gourmet kitchen. So that's a $20,000 promotion.
The base price of the home is approximately $200,000. My question is does anyone have any experience with negotiating these upgrades? Because they have this promotion going on is there any chance of getting anything else included?
I've also read several times where people have said to ask for them to waive the lot premium. In the neighborhood where we're looking, there's not many lots left (maybe 15 out of 279) so the lot that we like is a $10,000 premium.
We're supposed to go speak with them this weekend to get an idea of what our ideal home would cost so we can compare it to existing homes on the market. I've also heard people say to use a real estate agent from the first meeting. Would this impact their willingness to negotiate if they think they have to pay a realtor as well?
Help please!
Thank you!
Jessica
Re: Building a Ryland Home? How to negotiate upgrades/ use a realtor?
I bought a house from a builder using a realtor once, but that's because I did not know how to play the negotiating game. If you think you are able to negotiate on your own, you don't need a realtor.
It's been a while since I bought from a builder, back then there were so many to choose from, so the cards we played were, there are other builders that are waiving th lot premium, etc. and if you are not willing to deal with me, I go to the next builder. These days there isn't as much new home construction so that may be a little difficult to pull off.
Their willingness to negotiate will entirely depend on how badly they need/want to make the sale. If this is a neighborhood where the lots are going quick you may not get any extra concessions, or if they are struggling to sell you may get several.
Upgrades are a popular thing to offer as concessions because the builder has a much larger profit margin on cosmetics. Things like bumpouts and extra rooms they have less wiggle room. So keep that in mind when deciding what you might ask for. You'll have better odds of getting better counters/a fancier bathtub/a nicer exterior than you will of getting a sunroom. You may also be able to request equal-value trades - if you don't really care about siding over brick you may be able to exchange that cost for something else you do want.
Offer to let them use your home for tours while it is under construction. We were able to get some leverage that way.
I think you'd be wasting your money to take an agent to a builder's tour.
Hooray! We built a Ryland home outside of Chicago and moved in almost a year ago! The upgrades you are already getting are amazing. We used a Realtor to help us negotiate a "free" garden bath in our master. It was no cost to us and she got paid directly from Ryland at the end. It was nice having another set of eyes. When searching for a Realtor, make sure they have experience in new builds.
We LOVE our Ryland home, went with the Ryland mortgage which was then sold off to another company. We really couldn't be happier. If you need any further info, send me a PM!