I love showing new construction. Fresh mechanicals, modern layouts, a garage that has never met a snowblower. But brand-new neighborhoods are also where buyers get surprised the most, because the newest streets carry the newest infrastructure bills. Ask these five questions before you offer and you will be ahead of most of the market.
1. What is the special assessment balance, and what is pending?
This is the big one. New developments are where specials are largest, because the streets, sewer, and water serving the lot were just built and almost none of the cost has been paid down yet. Ask for the certified balance, the annual installment, and, just as important, whether anything is pending. A pending special is a project the city has approved but not yet certified, which means the line item lands on a future tax statement after you own the home.
2. Is the price quoted with or without specials rolled in?
Builders in this market handle specials differently. Some price the home with specials included and pay them off at closing. Others advertise a lower price and leave the assessment with the lot. Neither approach is wrong, but two homes that look $20,000 apart on a listing sheet can cost nearly the same once you account for it. Make sure you are comparing apples to apples.
3. What does the tax statement look like after the home is finished?
A new build is often taxed as a bare lot the first year, so the seller's current tax figure can be a fraction of what yours will be once the county values the finished house. Ask what the projected taxes are on the completed home, not the dirt. Your lender will estimate this for escrow, and it is worth seeing that math before you commit, not after.
4. Who is responsible for the yard, and when?
Sod, sprinklers, trees, and fencing are commonly excluded from new-build prices here, and some developments have covenants with deadlines for finishing the yard. That can be thousands of dollars in the first year or two of ownership. Get the landscaping obligations in writing before you treat the list price as the whole cost.
5. What is the plan for the empty land around you?
That open field behind the lot might be a future park, or it might be a future apartment complex, school, or commercial strip. The city's development plans are public, and knowing what is coming affects both your daily life and your resale story. This is a question I run down on every new-construction showing I do.
Run the real payment before you offer
Once you have the specials figure, put it into my free Special Assessment Calculator along with the price and your loan details. Sixty seconds later you will know the true monthly payment, which is the only number that matters. And if you want a second set of eyes on a builder contract, reach out. I read these documents every week.