Spec Homes and Quick Move-Ins: Buying One Already Built

Not every new house is bought from a plan. Some are already built, or nearly so: finished, standing, sometimes furnished, available in weeks rather than seasons.

These go by various names, and the practical description is the useful one. Somebody else made the decisions, the house exists, and you are buying a product rather than commissioning one.

For a certain kind of buyer that is not a compromise at all. It is the whole appeal. This article extends the new-construction guide and sits beside the new versus resale article, which frames the broader choice.

What you gain

CERTAINTY IS THE BIG ONE. You can walk the actual house, on the actual lot, at the actual time of day you care about. No interpreting a plan, no imagining a room, no discovering that the outlook is different from what you pictured. The gap between expectation and delivery, which is the source of most new-home disappointment, largely closes.

SPEED IS THE SECOND. A buyer with a lease ending, a sale closing or a job starting can act on a real timeline. The whole set of problems described in the completion and delay article shrinks considerably when the house is standing.

NO DESIGN-CENTRE SPIRAL is the third, and it is underrated. Option decisions are relentless, they arrive early, and they cost more than most buyers plan for, as the options article describes. A finished house has already absorbed those decisions and their cost is in the price.

A KNOWN NUMBER is the fourth. The price is the price, rather than a base price that grows through a series of appointments.

What you give up

CHOICE, obviously. Flooring, cabinetry, finishes, fixtures, layout options and everything else were decided by someone else, to appeal to a general buyer rather than to you. Changing them later is a renovation on a brand-new house, which is an expensive and slightly demoralising thing to do.

THE LOT MAY BE WHAT WAS LEFT. Not always, but it is worth thinking about. Orientation, outlook and position are permanent, and they are the subject of the lot premium article. Stand on the ground at different hours before you decide.

YOU MISSED THE STAGES. Nobody inspected the framing on your behalf, and nobody photographed the walls before they closed. The one-time opportunity described in the pre-drywall article has already passed, which raises the value of a thorough inspection now.

Check how long it has been standing

A completed house that has been empty for a while is a slightly different proposition from one finished last month, and it is a fair question to ask.

Ask when it was completed and whether it has been occupied, used as a display, or empty. Ask what maintenance has been done: systems run periodically, drainage clear, landscaping watered. An unoccupied house is not damaged by sitting, but it is worth confirming that somebody has been looking after it.

If it has been used for display purposes, ask specifically what happens to anything installed for that purpose. Furniture and staging usually leave. Some fittings may or may not. Get the list in writing, because a display house and the house you take delivery of can differ in small, memorable ways. The model home article covers why that distinction matters.

Inspect it properly

New does not mean flawless, and a finished house hides its own construction. Commission a full inspection, not a walk-through with a friendly eye.

Then run the walkthrough with the discipline in the walkthrough article. The leverage point is identical: an open item before closing is something that stands between the seller and being paid; the same item afterwards is a warranty claim.

Ask for the warranty documentation up front and read the procedure, not just the coverage. Whether any period has already begun running is a question worth asking on a house that has been standing for a while, and the warranty claim article covers what to do with the answer.

The negotiation is a little different

A completed, unsold house is inventory. It has been paid for, it is carrying cost, and it is not producing anything until it sells.

That does not mean the headline price moves, for the reason set out in the negotiation article. It does mean the appetite for a clean, quick, certain closing may be real, and that the flexible currencies are worth asking about.

Ask what is included that would not be included on a plan sale. Window coverings, appliances, landscaping and any display-related items are all worth naming individually rather than assuming.

Do the ordinary diligence anyway

Everything else still applies. Read the contract before signing, with the questions in the contract-reading article. Read the association documents if there are any. Understand who represents whom. Compare financing rather than accepting the first arrangement offered.

Buying something already finished removes the waiting. It does not remove the paperwork.

Who this suits, honestly

It suits a buyer working to a real date. A lease ending, a sale closing, a school year starting, a job that begins on a Monday. Certainty is worth more to that buyer than the ability to choose a cabinet door, and a house they can walk through today beats a better house they can walk through in nine months.

It suits a buyer who does not enjoy the choosing. Design appointments are exhausting for people who do not find them fun, and there is no prize for having selected your own tile. Somebody with reasonable taste already did it.

It suits a buyer who wants the number to hold still. A finished house is priced once. A plan sale starts at a base and grows, and the growth is entirely legitimate and still surprising.

It suits it less if the specification is the point. If you have strong views about layout, finishes or how a kitchen should work, buying somebody else's decisions and then changing them is the most expensive route to the house you wanted. In that case the waiting is the price of getting it right, and it is usually worth paying.

Where to go next

Return to the hub above for the full sequence, then read the inspection article, which matters more here than on a house you watched go up.

If you are considering a finished new home in Claremont and want your own representation, get in touch. Anthony Grynchal has been licensed in California since November 2009.