What Should I Know Before Buying a New Construction Home in Maricopa County, AZ?

With a resale home, you're negotiating directly with a seller (or their agent), the price is generally open to negotiation, and you're using a standard Arizona Association of REALTORS® purchase contract that most agents and attorneys know inside and out. New construction flips that. The "seller" is a builder with a sales office, a pricing sheet, and very little appetite for haggling on the base price, though there's often more room to negotiate on upgrades, closing costs, or rate incentives than buyers realize.

The contract is the builder's own document, usually much longer and more builder-favorable than a standard resale contract. And instead of walking through a finished home, you may be buying off a floor plan, a model home, or a home that's only partially built.

Yes, and this is the single most common mistake new construction buyers make. The friendly person greeting you at the builder's sales office represents the builder, not you. They're paid by the builder, and their job is to get the best deal for the builder, not for you. Here's the part that surprises people: bringing your own buyer's agent almost always costs you nothing, because the builder typically pays the buyer's agent commission out of its own marketing budget, the same way it would for any other sale.

But there's a catch that trips people up constantly: most builders require you to register your agent on your very first visit to the model home or sales office. If you walk in alone, browse the models, and only bring in an agent later, many builders won't honor that representation and you lose the benefit of having someone in your corner. If you're even considering new construction, line up your agent before you ever step foot in a sales office.

Most large builders have a preferred or in-house lender, and they'll dangle real incentives to get you to use it, closing cost credits, temporary or permanent rate buydowns, or design center credits. Those incentives can be worth real money, sometimes tens of thousands of dollars on higher-value builds. But "preferred lender" doesn't automatically mean "best deal." It's worth getting a second quote from an outside lender so you know whether the builder's incentive is actually better than what you'd get on the open market, or just better than the builder's own inflated base rate.

The loan type conversation is largely the same as it would be for a resale purchase, conventional, FHA, VA, or jumbo financing for homes above the conventional loan limit, which matters for a lot of new construction in the $600K, $1.2M+ range in communities built by luxury-oriented builders. One wrinkle specific to new construction: if you're buying a "to-be-built" home rather than a completed spec or inventory home, your rate lock timing matters a lot more, since construction can take months and rates can move in that window.

Ask about rate lock length and whether a float-down option is available if rates drop before you close.

Builder contracts are not the same document your agent is used to reviewing on a resale deal, and they're written to protect the builder. A few things worth reading closely before you sign: Estimated completion date language. Almost every builder contract treats the completion date as an estimate, not a guarantee, and includes language protecting them from delays due to material shortages, labor, weather, or permitting.

Ask what happens to your rate lock and moving plans if the date slips. Earnest money and deposit terms. Builder deposits are often larger than a typical resale earnest deposit, and many become non-refundable once you pass certain milestones or select upgrades. Change orders. Every upgrade you add gets documented as a change order, and those add up fast.

Get a running total in writing before you get to the design center, not after. Arbitration clauses. Many builder contracts require arbitration instead of allowing you to sue in court if a dispute comes up later. Know what you're agreeing to.

"It's brand new, why would I need an inspection?" is a question Stephanie hears often, and the answer is: because new doesn't mean flawless. Framing gets rushed, subcontractors make mistakes, and the builder's own quality control walk isn't the same as an independent, third-party inspection working only for you. For new construction, it's worth budgeting for inspections at a few different stages: Pre-drywall inspection, while the framing, plumbing, and electrical are still visible, before walls are closed up.

Final walk-through / punch list inspection, before closing, to catch cosmetic and functional issues while the builder still has an incentive to fix them. Eleven-month warranty inspection, most builders offer a one-year warranty, and having an inspection done around month eleven lets you catch anything (settling cracks, HVAC issues, grading problems) while it's still covered.

A rough path looks like this: choose your lot and floor plan, select structural and design options, sign the builder contract and put down your deposit, then move through the actual construction phases while checking in at key milestones. Depending on the community, the builder's current backlog, and whether you're buying a spec home (already built or nearly finished) versus a to-be-built home, the timeline can range from a few weeks to over a year.

Spec and inventory homes move much faster since the work is already done or nearly done, if your timeline is tight, ask specifically about move-in-ready or near-complete inventory instead of a to-be-built lot.

A few patterns show up again and again: Visiting the sales office without an agent already registered, and losing representation as a result. Assuming the builder's lender incentive is automatically the best deal without comparing it to an outside quote. Skipping independent inspections because the home is new. Underestimating the cost of what's not included, many new builds in Maricopa County come with no backyard landscaping, no fencing, and sometimes no window coverings or garage door opener, which can mean a real budget surprise after closing.

Not reading the HOA documents and CC&Rs closely, especially in larger master-planned communities with multiple sub-associations and fees.

Buckeye, Queen Creek, San Tan Valley, Goodyear, Peoria, and Surprise all have significant active new-home construction right now, ranging from entry-level production builders to higher-end luxury builders whose offerings fit well within the $600K, $1.2M+ range. Before you fall in love with a floor plan, it's worth asking your agent (or the builder) about the community's Certificate of Assured Water Supply, HOA structure, and how build-out phasing might affect resale value down the road, details that matter more in a growing master-planned community than they do in a subdivision that finished building out years ago.

Scenario one: A growing family relocating to the Phoenix area for a new job needs to be in a home within 90 days. Rather than choosing a to-be-built lot with an 8-month timeline, their agent steers them toward a builder's move-in-ready inventory home in a Queen Creek community, already built, walkable today, and with a firm closing date instead of an estimate.

Scenario two: A buyer purchasing a $950K home from a luxury builder in Goodyear gets an attractive rate buydown offer from the builder's preferred lender. Their agent recommends getting a competing quote from an outside lender before committing, the outside quote ends up being close enough that the buyer keeps the builder's design center credit while still shopping the loan itself, capturing the best of both.

Can I negotiate the price on a new construction home? Base pricing is usually firmer than resale pricing, but there's often more flexibility on upgrades, closing cost credits, or rate incentives, especially near the end of a builder's fiscal quarter when they're motivated to close sales. Do I still need a home inspection on new construction?

Yes. An independent inspection isn't about distrusting the builder; it's about having someone working only for you check the work before you close and before the warranty clock starts. Is it always cheaper to use the builder's preferred lender? Not always. The incentives can be valuable, but they're only a good deal if they beat what you'd get from an outside lender.

Get a comparison quote before deciding. What's the difference between a spec home and a to-be-built home? A spec (or inventory) home is already built or nearly finished with the builder's chosen finishes. A to-be-built home lets you select your lot and customize options, but takes significantly longer to close. Does the builder pay my buyer's agent's commission?

In most cases, yes, but only if your agent is registered with the builder on your first visit. Bring your agent with you (or register them) before you tour any model homes. What warranty comes with a new build in Arizona? Warranty coverage varies by builder, but most include at least a one-year workmanship warranty, with longer coverage on major structural and systems components.

Read the specific warranty document for your builder before closing. Are new construction closing costs different from resale? They can be. Some builders roll certain fees or HOA capital contributions into closing that you wouldn't see on a resale transaction, so ask for a full breakdown of closing costs early, not at the closing table.

Whether you're weighing a spec home in Queen Creek or a to-be-built lot in a Buckeye master-planned community, having someone in your corner from the first sales office visit makes a real difference, especially for reviewing the builder's contract, comparing lender incentives, and knowing what to fix before you close. Reach out to Stephanie Pondevie at yourhomecomesfirst.com to talk through your new construction options in Maricopa County, in English or Spanish.

Stephanie Pondevie is a licensed real estate agent with eXp Realty, holding ABR® and SRS® designations and serving Chandler, Gilbert, Scottsdale and the greater Maricopa County area.

With 12+ years of experience and over 100 homes sold, she specializes in move-up buyers and sellers who need the sale and the purchase coordinated as one plan. She speaks English, Spanish and French.