Portland New Homes: Builder Deals & Incentives

I'm going to walk you through what builders are actually using to move houses right now, talk about the communities, the locations, the styles. I've even got a sleeper for you: a place within 30 minutes of Portland I bet a lot of you have not heard of. Maybe you can add this to your list if you're thinking about moving here. I'm also going to show you why just walking into a model home and working with the builder might leave some money on the table for you. The builder will have salespeople or representatives that will assist you, but they ultimately work for the builder, not for you. It's not a knock on them, it's just their job.

Where are you going to see some of this? Well, you see a lot of this stuff advertised on websites. I've put together a guidebook that covers a lot of the larger builders and what they're currently offering, especially before the end of the year. A lot of these offers can be home specific. Some of them will be kind of community specific. Some of them, you know, there will be kind of a mix of maybe a hybrid of both in some cases. But there's also things that can be negotiated beyond that, and that's what I want to talk to you a little bit about here.

The thing that surprises people the most with their builder experience is they were kind of surprised that the red carpet didn't necessarily proverbially get rolled out for them. You think, you know, biggest purchase of your life, you know, there's, they're going to schmooze you or whatever, you know, that's usually just not the case. It's a lot more transactional, and there is a lot of negotiating that happens, not just initially before you get under contract, but there's going to be negotiations throughout the process.

And it's really important to know where the builder is going to bend. When you buy a resale, it's already been built and purchased before, and you're buying it from the average person, Joe Blow. Sometimes emotion comes into play. Sometimes the seller cares about who follows in their footsteps and purchases their home and continues whatever they perceive that legacy to be. And so with that comes emotion, whereas with new builds and new construction, it's usually a lot more transactional. But builders will have places where they might not say that they're going to, but they actually will bend or flex a little bit. And it's important to know where those places are.

The biggest thing with builders when they're working with buyers is they just don't want somebody that is constantly going to be asking the builder to concede certain things. And if the builder concedes enough things, they always feel like it's a slippery slope and the buyer is just going to constantly be asking them for stuff, specifically for homes that are dirt builds, meaning you're starting from the very beginning, you're going through the entire process, you're picking all the finishes, picking out colors and all those things.

And sometimes you might want to change things, and builders will sometimes allow you to change things with a fee. And sometimes that fee is very high. It's usually high because they're trying to incentivize people not to make changes, because more than anything, that's what makes it difficult for a builder. So builders really actually don't mind having a broker to guide things along and to kind of represent the buyer. And if the buyer is really unhappy, we can convey that to the builder. And we can make that known and we can get that fixed. But sometimes the builder actually prefers an intermediary to do that.

And to do that, you're going to have to have an inspection. So you will have a home inspection, a normal home inspection. If you're doing it from the dirt up, I would recommend actually doing a pre-drywall inspection. Not only are you probably going to get your money back because the inspector is going to find certain things that they ask the builder to fix that are going to cost more than the cost of the inspection, but it's also nice to have something documented to see where everything is in your walls, all your wires and studs and stuff like that, in case you need to go back. You can also pass that along in the future too.

Repairs and craftsmanship, you're going to get a 1-year warranty with all new builds. And kind of knowing like what is the expectation, where is a builder going to be willing to like fix something or maybe put some grout down or something like that? How often is the builder going to be willing to come out and honor warranty requests? All of that is going to also come down to negotiations, and myself, the broker, can assist you with that, and oftentimes we'll need to assist you with that.

Have you heard of Scappoose before? You tell me in the comments, you tell me if I'm wrong. It's just about over maybe 31, just over 30 minutes, 31, 32, 33 minutes just outside of Portland depending on traffic. And David Weekley Homes has got 2 new communities right now. There's a lot of opportunities there for a dirt buildup. So if you want to start from scratch and pick all of your finishes and your floor plan and all that, you'll be able to do that both now and in the next couple of years. I'm not sure when they finish, but I think they're earlier on in their phases.

D.R. Horton , larger top 10 builder. Kind of like I mentioned with these larger builders, a lot of them are going to work with rate buydown. I haven't seen D.R. Horton doing a whole lot of price drops recently in the Portland metro, but I have seen national data in which they're doing quite a few price drops, so that might be a possibility. Really focusing on Bailey Meadows , they also offer $6,000 towards closing costs with their preferred lender. I think the question would just be what homes are going to qualify, and can you stack that closing cost with the rate.

Let me walk you through a few more builders and what they're offering right now, because this is not all of the builders. In fact, some of the best builders, in my opinion, are going to be some of these local smaller builders that don't do the volume, that you're not going to see this kind of stuff advertised online. And so that doesn't necessarily mean that they don't have incentives. Again, this is where I come in. So if you see another builder out there that you're interested in and you want to maybe dig into what might be some possible incentives that you can get, get in touch with me.

Holt was originally founded as a local company, recently purchased by a larger international company, also under the same umbrella as Richmond American. So you're probably going to see a lot of the same offers pushing right now the 4.99% 30-year fixed rate. Haven't seen Holt do too many price reductions, probably same with Richmond American, but have seen them kind of concede on some closing costs. Or there's other things too that are usually going to be pretty important to people, like a big one would be air conditioning. AC these days is a lot more common here in the Pacific Northwest than it probably was 5 or 10 years ago. And I say this in early October, as yesterday I think we hit 80. I don't think we ever hit 80 in October as a kid. I've lived here my entire life. So you do see a lot more homes having AC lately, but the builders don't always necessarily put them in right away. Same with landscaping. Sometimes they won't put that stuff in right away because if the home sits for too long, they don't want to have to maintain it. That's something that we can oftentimes get negotiated into your deal.

Lennar is a top 10 builder, one of the bigger builders in the country. They probably wouldn't mind, I don't know exactly how they build themselves these days, but it's probably fair to say, you know, to think of them as a budget builder. So their prices are probably going to be about as low as any builder, pushing right now the 4.25% or 6.7% APR. So it's got a 4.25%, 6.7% going on right now. But you're going to see kind of that trend for a lot of the national bigger builders. It's usually going to be rate buydown because they have some sort of partnership with the lender, so they can sometimes make savings stretch a little bit farther with a rate buydown as opposed to lowering the purchase price of the home, which is the last thing they typically want to do, or as opposed to offering that towards something like upgrades.

Pacific Lifestyle Homes , which is also under the umbrella of Garrett Custom Homes , so when you go online, you'll probably see very similar offerings, up to $30,000 in savings which can be used towards design studio, closing costs, or base price reduction. There you go. Sometimes people just want the price reduced and you don't always have that ability with every builder, so that is nice. One difference here, Garrett Custom Homes being under the same umbrella, as the name implies, they create a lot of custom homes. They do also do spec homes, and they kind of specialize in larger lots. So you'll oftentimes find them in areas that are maybe a little bit outside of city limits, a little bit more rural, and also homes that typically have like a larger footprint because they do a lot of like single-level stuff. So unique, beautiful homes with Garrett Custom Homes. And to be able to have $30,000 in savings is a pretty good deal right now.

Stonebridge Homes Northwest , beautiful homes locally, $35,000 move-in ready, $25,000 off of pre-sale. So dirt build home, so from the dirt up you can get $25,000 off. Just a $10,000 difference. That's actually a pretty good offer for people that are thinking about starting from the dirt up. Need to be under contract by October 31st. I believe this is going to get released on October 10th, so you have about 21 days to make that happen. Now sometimes, like I mentioned, builders will extend those out. Usually those conversations happen between brokers. So if you're just Joe Blow, you call them up on the phone, hey, I saw this expired October 31st, it's November 1st, would you still honor it? I mean, the answer is almost always going to be no. But with the right conversation, with the right information, the answer could potentially be yes. They don't say that for Stonebridge Northwest specifically, that's just going to be the case with some of these builders.

New Tradition Homes , now I couldn't find this on their website, dug a little bit, sorry if it was on there. So if you're looking, if you're reading this, you look on their website and you don't find it, maybe you're like me. But they did say that they do have currently 5%. I think that's for the term of the loan. So that's a 5% fixed rate. And just looking at some of their homes listed online for sale, saw anywhere from $21,000 to $50,000 price reductions. So some pretty good price reductions and a pretty good rate with New Tradition Homes. We have worked with them before and they were great to work with.

FAQ

Are new construction homes really cheaper than resale homes right now?

Yes, for the first time in a long time, new construction homes are cheaper than existing homes in the Portland metro area. Builders can lower prices, buy down rates, and cover closing costs in ways that resellers can't. The data is showing a gap we haven't seen since before the 2007-2008 financial crisis.

Do I need a buyer's agent when buying new construction?

You don't need one, but it's highly recommended. Most builders will pay the buyer's agent commission, so it doesn't cost you anything. And having someone on your side who can negotiate repairs, incentives, and timelines can save you thousands of dollars. Just make sure you register with your agent before you contact the builder directly.

What kind of incentives are builders offering right now?

Builders are offering rate buydowns as low as 4.25%, closing cost assistance ranging from $3,000 to $6,000, design center credits, and price reductions ranging from $20,000 to $50,000 depending on the builder and community. Some builders are also covering air conditioning, landscaping, and other upgrades as part of the deal.

Can I negotiate incentives that aren't advertised online?

Yes. Just because you see something advertised doesn't mean that's everything the builder is willing to offer. We've seen builders cover all closing costs including rate buydowns through negotiation. Those conversations usually happen between brokers, not directly with buyers.

What is a dirt build and should I consider one?

A dirt build means you're starting from the very beginning. You pick your lot, your floor plan, and all your finishes. It takes longer, but you get exactly what you want. If you're doing a dirt build, I recommend getting a pre-drywall inspection so you have documentation of where everything is in your walls. It's also a good way to catch issues before drywall goes up.

Which builder is best for my budget?

It depends on what you're looking for. Lennar is a budget builder with the lowest prices. Toll Brothers is a luxury builder at the opposite end. D.R. Horton, Pulte, and Taylor Morrison are volume builders with strong lender partnerships that allow them to offer competitive rate buydowns. Smaller local builders like Garrett Custom Homes, Stonebridge, and New Tradition offer more flexibility and often specialize in larger lots or custom work. Let's talk about your budget and timeline, and I can help you figure out which builder makes the most sense.

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