Buying new construction? The builder's agent works for the builder.
That friendly person in the model home is very good at their job. Their job is getting the builder's price on the builder's contract. You're allowed to bring your own representation, and in almost every case the builder pays for it, not you.
Most buyers in the Iowa City and Cedar Rapids corridor walk into a new construction sale with no one on their side of the table. The contract is the builder's contract. The allowances are the builder's numbers. The walkthrough checklist is the builder's checklist. Everything is fine, until it isn't, and by then you've signed.
Hire a Realtor who builds homes himself.
Craig Kuepker is a licensed real estate agent with Skogman Realty and the owner of RK Development Group, a custom home builder, along with Topline, a site services company handling excavation, grading, and drainage across the corridor.
That means the person reviewing your builder contract has written builder contracts. The person walking your pre-drywall inspection has framed houses. The person questioning an allowance number knows what cabinets, flooring, and concrete actually cost in this market, because he buys them.
What a builder's eye catches in a new construction deal.
The contract, before you sign it
Builder contracts are not standard purchase agreements. Escalation clauses, allowance structures, change order pricing, deadline penalties that only run one direction. We flag what's negotiable and what's a trap before your earnest money is committed.
Allowances that are real numbers
A $5,000 flooring allowance sounds generous until you price flooring. Lowball allowances make the base price look cheap and the final price balloon. We check every allowance against what things actually cost in this market.
The lot and the site work
Premium lot fees, drainage, grading, what the yard will actually look like at closing. Site conditions are where new construction budgets quietly die. This is our home turf.
Pre-drywall and final walkthroughs
The walkthrough matters most while the walls are still open. We walk it like a builder walks a competitor's job: framing, mechanicals, insulation, flashing. Then again at final, with a punch list the builder takes seriously.
Change orders and the closing timeline
Change orders are where margins get made. We keep them priced honestly and documented. And when the schedule slips, and schedules slip, we manage your rate lock and lease timing around reality, not the sales office's optimism.
What it costs you.
In most new construction sales in this market, the builder pays the buyer's agent commission. It's built into their sales model whether you use an agent or not. Walking in without representation doesn't save you money, it just means nobody at the table works for you.
One catch worth knowing: representation has to start before you register with the builder. If you walk into a model home and sign in without naming your agent, many builders will refuse to pay for your representation afterward. Call before you tour.
Looking at a new construction home or community?
Tell me which builder or neighborhood you're looking at before you register or sign anything. I'll tell you what to watch for in that specific deal. Free conversation, no commitment.
Planning to buy land and build custom instead? That's a different process, and it's the one we know best. Read about buying land and building a custom home in Johnson County. Selling your current home first? Here's how we get it sold.