Compare builders side by side before you pick one

Score 1 to 5: ____. Ask for the builder's written registration rule and who is recorded as your agent in this community. Walking in alone on the first visit can cost you representation. Date registered: ______ Agent named: ______

Score 1 to 5: ____. Get a written line-item list of what the base price covers: appliances, blinds, lighting, landscaping, garage finish. Price the same list at the next builder. Base price: $______ Not included: ______

Score 1 to 5: ____. Structural changes close early. Ask which options are still open at your stage and the deadline for each. A plan you cannot modify is a different product. Cutoff date: ______ Already closed: ______

Score 1 to 5: ____. Ask for the warranty document, not the brochure. Years on workmanship, systems and structure, who performs the repair, how a claim is opened, and the exclusions. Years: ___ / ___ / ___ Notes: ______

Score 1 to 5: ____. Ask when your price locks, what can still raise it, the fee to change a selection after signing, and who pays if a material is substituted. Lock date: ______ Change fee: $______

Score 1 to 5: ____. Compare the builder incentive against a rate and fee quote from your own lender on the same day. Ask what the incentive costs you if you finance elsewhere. Incentive: $______ Rate gap: ______

Score 1 to 5: ____. Ask the contract completion window, what happens if it slips past your rate lock or lease end, what is refundable if you cancel, and what the builder keeps. Deposit at risk: $______

Score 1 to 5: ____. Ask how many homes this builder has closed in this community, the current average build time, and the superintendent's name. Then ask two residents on the street what went wrong. Notes: ______

Add the eight scores. Out of 40: ______. Circle one: strong fit, workable with conditions, walk away. The builder that wins is rarely the one with the best model home. It is the one whose answers survived being written down.