Builders’ Spec (Inventory) Homes are Currently Better Deals Than Even Foreclosure Homes in Tucson!

After having recently taken several buyers out to find homes in different parts of Tucson, I have discovered that the absolutely best deals are the builders’ spec homes. These homes are completed or almost completed, but unsold. Many potential buyers these days are hung up on the foreclosure deals, from which there are plenty to choose. However, after having negotiated several of each, it is obvious that the homebuilders around town have concluded that they need to move product fast. Banks, on the other hand, are tending to hold tight to their set prices on foreclosure homes and are willing to wait to find a buyer for their properties at that price.

Here’s another advantage of a builder’s spec home. The foreclosure properties are sold AS-IS. The buyer receives no warranties, disclosures, nothing. The buyer is on his own. Most of the foreclosures –about 99% of them — are in horrible shape and need thousands of dollars worth of repairs. On the other hand, the new home builder’s spec home is brand new. Most builders offer a 10-year warranty, and many times (if you can get it negotiated) will throw in special financing and/or options that you really want in your new home. So, for the same price, you tell me what makes more sense: to buy a beat-up, on-your-own foreclosure property or a brand-new, 10-year warranty super-clean home? I think the choice is obvious, yet many people who think they know where the “deals” are will only consider foreclosure properties. That’s what they see in the news, and that’s where their friends told them to find deals.

In Tucson, some areas currently have new spec homes that are just too cheap to pass up. In my opinion, Sahuarita new homes are absolutely the best deal for the money, all things considered. Homes in Sahuarita (20 minutes south of downtown Tucson) start in the 130K’s for a brand new, 3-bedroom single-family detached home! They go up from there, but the options are enormous and buyers should have no problem finding what they like for under 250K. The other area of town where homes are practically being given away is the SW side. It’s mired with dozens of foreclosure properties. The builders have had to get serious and lower prices heavily plus offer amazing incentives to move homes out the door. This is true for developments such as Star Valley, Eagle Point Estates (The Canoa’s), and several other new home areas throughout the SW side.

Across Tucson, the homebuilders that I have had contact with are being more reasonable than ever to move homes. All areas of town have new home communities that should be considered prior to making any purchase. I have seen several spec homes dropped tens of thousands of dollars when the builder was trying to entice the buyer to make a purchase. Homebuilders that seem to be currently dealing the most are Pulte Homes, Lennar, Meritage, and DR Horton. Builders who are putting up a lot of resistance toward making deals, like KB Home and Richmond American, are seeing potential clients take their business elsewhere. When these two builders did not want to make a deal happen, another homebuilder was more than willing to accommodate. Of course, these are just the builders and situations that I have recently run across personally. Depending upon community, floor plan, etc., you may get different results.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 24th, 2008 at 3:11 pm and is filed under New Construction, Buying. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.