New construction guide
Buying a new build? Bring your own agent.
Model homes are built to sell. Before you walk into one, here is what to know: the builder registration rule, metro districts, builder contracts, upgrades and the inspections that matter.
Before your first visit
Register your agent the first time you walk in.
Many builders only honor buyer representation if your agent is registered, or with you, on your first visit to a model home or sales office. Policies vary by builder, so check before you go.
Text Chris the builder's nameWhy bring your own agent.
The builder has a team on its side of the table. You should too.
The sales agent works for the builder
The friendly person in the model home is there to sell the builder's homes on the builder's terms. Your own agent is there for you: price, incentives, lot, timeline and the fine print.
The contract is the builder's
Builders usually write their own purchase contracts instead of using the Colorado Real Estate Commission's standard forms. Those contracts are written to protect the builder, so read every page with someone on your side.
Incentives are negotiable
Closing cost credits, rate buydowns, upgrade allowances and lot premiums can move. Chris compares what one builder offers against the next, and against an outside lender quote.
Your agent's pay is set up front
Since August 2024, what your agent is paid is written into your buyer agreement before you tour. A builder may agree to cover some or all of it, and anything you would owe is spelled out before you sign.
How registration works.
The first visit sets the terms. A two minute text before you go keeps your options open.
Text Chris before you go
Send the builder or community name. Chris checks that builder's registration policy and how they want agents registered.
Go together, or register first
Some builders want your agent with you on the first visit. Others accept a registration by email or an online form before you arrive. Policies vary by builder.
Name your agent at sign-in
Model homes usually ask you to sign in. Write Chris's name on that sheet or tablet, every time.
Careful with online interest lists
With some builders, a form on their website counts as your first contact. Check with Chris before you submit one.
Metro districts
Check the metro district before you sign.
Many new neighborhoods in Colorado sit inside a metropolitan district, a special district formed under the state's Special District Act (Title 32). It borrows to pay for roads, water and sewer lines and parks, then repays that debt with its own property tax on the homes inside it.
That tax shows up as extra mills on your property tax bill, often for 20 to 30 years and sometimes longer. A mill is $1 of tax for every $1,000 of a home's assessed value. Districts can also charge fees. None of that is bad by itself; it just needs to be in your budget before you sign.
1. Ask the builder for the metro district disclosure
For a newly built home in a metro district, Colorado law requires the seller to give you a disclosure before or when you sign the contract. It covers the district's maximum debt mill levy, an estimate of your property taxes and a copy of the current county tax certificate.
2. Look the district up
The Colorado Department of Local Affairs keeps a statewide special district map and each district's filings: service plan, budget and audit. Many towns, including Timnath and Loveland, also publish metro district information.
3. Read the tax bill
The county treasurer and assessor list every taxing authority on a property and its mill levy. Colorado purchase contracts carry a notice telling buyers to check special districts exactly this way.
4. Ask the right questions
How many mills for debt, and how many for operations? Is there a cap? How long does the debt run? Are there district fees on top of the tax? Get the answers in writing before you sign.
Builder contracts and earnest money.
The builder's contract is not the form you would sign on a resale home. Read these parts twice.
- Earnest money is often larger than on a resale home, and many builder contracts make it non-refundable once deadlines pass.
- Financing, appraisal and inspection protections can be narrower than in the state's standard contract.
- Completion dates are estimates. Read what happens, and what you can do, if the build runs late.
- Deposits for upgrades are often due early and may not be refundable.
- A real estate attorney can review the contract if you want a legal opinion. Chris reads it with you line by line either way.
Upgrades and lot premiums.
The base price is where the conversation starts, not where it ends.
Upgrades add up fast
Design center choices are priced one by one. Structural options like a bigger garage or a finished basement have to be chosen early, before the build starts.
Not every dollar appraises
Some upgrades may not raise the appraised value by what they cost. Spend first on what is hard to change later: layout, lot and structure.
Lot premiums
Corner lots, cul-de-sacs, views and lots backing to open space often cost extra. Ask what each premium is and compare it with the lot next door.
Compare incentives as cash
A rate buydown, a closing cost credit and free upgrades are not worth the same. Put each offer in dollars before you decide.
The inspections that matter.
New does not mean perfect. Book your own inspector at two points in the build, and a third if your warranty allows it.
Pre-drywall inspection
Once framing, plumbing, electrical and ductwork are in, and before insulation and drywall cover them. It is the one chance to see inside the walls.
Final inspection and walk-through
Before closing, an inspector checks the finished home, and you walk it with Chris and the builder to make a punch list of anything to fix.
Before the warranty runs out
If your builder offers a one-year warranty, a second look a month or two before it ends catches settling, drainage and finish issues while the builder still covers them.
New build questions.
If yours is not here, text Chris the builder name and the question.
Does a new home really need an inspection?
Do I have to use the builder's lender?
Is a metro district the same as an HOA?
I already visited a model home without an agent. Is it too late?
More guides.
Planning to visit a model home? Text Chris first.
Send the builder or community name. Chris checks how that builder registers agents before you go, so the visit keeps your options open.