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Printable resource
The new construction buyer checklist.
Print it, or save it as a PDF, and take it to the model home. Nothing here is an application. It is the list of things worth settling before a contract gets signed.
Before you visit communities
Two settled numbers change every conversation at the model home: the price range and the monthly payment you actually want.
- Preapproval in hand, based on reviewed documents rather than an estimate
- A comfortable monthly payment written down, separate from the maximum
- The amount of cash you want to still have after closing
- A rough upgrade budget, set before anyone shows you a design center
- Your timeline, including a lease end date or a home to sell
Write it down
- Comfortable monthly payment
- Target purchase price
- Cash available, and cash to keep after closing
- Earliest and latest move dates
Before you sign the builder contract
Questions worth asking out loud, with the answers written next to them.
- What is the deposit, when is it due, and when does it stop being refundable?
- Is there a financing contingency, and what are its deadlines?
- What is the expected delivery window, and what happens if it moves?
- Which features are included in the base price, and which are upgrades?
- Are upgrades paid in cash at selection, or included in the contract price?
- Is there a builder incentive, and what condition is attached to it?
- Who handles HOA dues, initiation fees, and capital contributions at closing?
- How are change orders documented and shared with the lender?
Financing setup
Documents go through Network Funding's approved secure process. Do not send Social Security numbers, full account numbers, passwords, or tax returns by email or text.
- Recent pay stubs and W-2s, or business returns if self-employed
- Recent statements for the accounts holding your down payment
- A plan for any large deposit, so the source can be documented
- Written understanding of the loan program being used
- Rate-lock discussion: lock length, extended options, and cost
While the home is being built
The quiet stretch. Steady is the whole strategy here.
- No new credit accounts, financed furniture, or vehicle loans
- No job change without a conversation first
- Keep the down payment funds where they are
- Send every signed change order as it happens
- Note each builder milestone and any change to the delivery date
- Ask the builder how and when they communicate delays
Costs outside the builder contract
Price the ones that apply to you, and keep the list in one place.
- Lot premium
- Structural upgrades
- Design-center selections
- Appliances not included in the package
- Window treatments and blinds
- Landscaping beyond the builder package
- Fencing, including HOA approval
- HOA dues and any initiation or capital fee
- Moving costs
- Furniture for rooms you did not have before
- Temporary storage or overlapping housing, where applicable
- Independent home inspection
Write it down
- Total estimated outside-contract cost
- Amount already set aside
The final stretch
Six to eight weeks out, the file wakes up again.
- Updated pay stubs, statements, and a refreshed credit pull
- Appraisal completed, with reinspection if required
- Rate lock in place for your delivery window
- Final walkthrough scheduled, punch list in writing
- Certificate of occupancy confirmed
- Closing disclosure reviewed, funds ready in the right account
Questions for Corie
Write them here as they come up at the model home, so they get answered in one conversation instead of five.
When the list is filled in
Bring it to the conversation, or tell me you have it and we will work from it. Loan options and approval depend on individual qualifications and program requirements.