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Yappin Tappin · 08-04-2015, 01:41 PM

Hi everyone,

First off, if this is in the wrong sub-forum I apologize in advance as I'm not sure if Realtor 1 Real Estate is only meant for pre-existing homes. I also tried searching for a similar thread but could not find one.

My girlfriend and I have been looking into buying a house for the past few months. Throughout this process, we now believe we would prefer to build a home instead of purchasing a pre-existing home.

We have narrowed down our choice to two show home models, in the Nolan Hill area preferably.

My question is for those who have built a home in the past, what kind of negotiating were you able to do with the building company?

Right now given the desires of what we would like our home to be and based on our preliminary talks with the agents, I believe the houses would cost around 680-700k.

We would like to not spend anything over 650k however. Have people had success dropping the price by 30-50k in the past? The costs are well above the base price (around 60-80k in upgrades), so maybe there is more wiggle room for them including a combination of free upgrade costs and lowering the price to get it to our desired amount? I'm not sure if land costs have any wiggle room to allow them to drop the overall price, or if it is based solely on the building cost for home building companies.

Do you think if we can't initially get the price to the desired amount, if we wait a couple of months they may be willing to re-negotiate given the current state of oil prices and Calgary's current economic environment? I've noticed pre-existing homes are finally starting to look a bit more reasonable in price this past month, so that may be an indication that the market is really starting to slow down?

Basically I'm looking for anyone's opinions based on either their knowledge of the industry or their own experiences.

Thanks!

08-04-2015, 01:41 PM	#1
Yappin Tappin Farm Team Player Join Date: Jul 2009 Exp:	First Time Home Buyer - Building A Home Hi everyone, First off, if this is in the wrong sub-forum I apologize in advance as I'm not sure if Realtor 1 Real Estate is only meant for pre-existing homes. I also tried searching for a similar thread but could not find one. My girlfriend and I have been looking into buying a house for the past few months. Throughout this process, we now believe we would prefer to build a home instead of purchasing a pre-existing home. We have narrowed down our choice to two show home models, in the Nolan Hill area preferably. My question is for those who have built a home in the past, what kind of negotiating were you able to do with the building company? Right now given the desires of what we would like our home to be and based on our preliminary talks with the agents, I believe the houses would cost around 680-700k. We would like to not spend anything over 650k however. Have people had success dropping the price by 30-50k in the past? The costs are well above the base price (around 60-80k in upgrades), so maybe there is more wiggle room for them including a combination of free upgrade costs and lowering the price to get it to our desired amount? I'm not sure if land costs have any wiggle room to allow them to drop the overall price, or if it is based solely on the building cost for home building companies. Do you think if we can't initially get the price to the desired amount, if we wait a couple of months they may be willing to re-negotiate given the current state of oil prices and Calgary's current economic environment? I've noticed pre-existing homes are finally starting to look a bit more reasonable in price this past month, so that may be an indication that the market is really starting to slow down? Basically I'm looking for anyone's opinions based on either their knowledge of the industry or their own experiences. Thanks!