New Home Purchase Process / Suggestions
 

We have selected our new home in the Villages and plan on contacting our Villages salesman’s shortly to place a deposit.
Could you please advise how the process works on the purchase of a new, never-lived in house? Any suggestions?
No mortgage, cash transaction.
Amount of down payment to hold property?
Time frame on closing?
Paperwork we will need to provide at closing?
Insurance required? Property, flood…
Taxes?
What to look for during walk-thru prior to closing?
Total fee’s added-on excluding the price of the home?
Thanks

We were told new homes must have 30 day closing. The realtor will provide all the paperwork and let you know about utilities/taxes, etc. They will also let you know about amount of down payment required. You should arrange for insurance but do not need proof unless you are getting a loan. We will be closing by mail in 10 days, our realtor is doing the walk through since we won't be moving in for about a month. If you are going to be there on day of closing, your realtor can go with you. There should be or have just done home inspection upon completion.

I would not wait a minute to put down a deposit. Good houses go very quickly here and if you wait a few days, it is highly likely that someone else will grab that house.

Don’t hesitate with letting your agent know. Like the other said, the houses go fast ! We closed in under 2 weeks back in August of 2017.

Since it's a cash sale you need very little to close, mainly just money. You will have to give some deposit money (a few thousand dollars) the day you sign the purchase and sale which will happen once to tell you salesperson you want to buy a particular house. A check is ok.

Even though you don't need it to close you should arrange for insurance before you close.

You will do a walk through on the day of closing prior to going to the closing office. The builder will be with you for the walk through. What to look for... everything. Cracked tile, dripped paint, light switch that doesn't work, dripping faucet and so on. Point out anything and everything that you think is out of place. Just about everything is guaranteed for a year so if you miss something you can get it taken care of later. One thing that is not guaranteed for a year are the shrubs and lawn... make you you spot any problems in the first 30 days.

At closing you will need pay off the balance. Easiest way to handle that is to open an account at Citizens First bank (though you could use any bank, things just go very smooth with Citizens as it is owned by the Villages) and move enough into it for the closing payment. Then you can do a bank transfer at the closing office on the day of closing. The people at the closing office will do this for you.

You MUST close within 30 days of purchase or pay a daily penalty. You may be able to close earlier if you wish, just ask you sales person. It mostly depends on how busy the closing office is.

Taxes... ask your sales person.

You also need to call and get the utilities transferred... your salesperson will tell you about that.

You will receive a timeline of what you have to do when you put down your deposit... it will tell you all the things you need to do to prepare for the closing.

You really don't need to pay for title insurance on one of the new homes. This land was were well searched for liens before they placed the first water line. If the Seminoles file a claim against any of the land here it will be in courts for decades, save the $2,500 or so for insurance as you will have to pay for it again if and when you sell your home.

Thanks for that information-
What about flood insurance and extended home warranty insurance ?
Any suggestions on obtaining an attorney or are all the sales contract exact copies of the prior closings ?

If you are buying new, TV handles everything from legal to walk thru, with your agent. If you found the house call your agent today, yep even on Sunday. You do not need an attorney, flood insurance is almost always Not needed. Your home has warranty in place, at your one year anniversary pay a home inspector, builder fixes whatever the problem. Landscape is only guaranteed for 30 days from close. First year taxes are on empty lot, so don’t get too excited on how low they are. Your first water bill, will have amenity fee, if it wasn’t explained it’s not your water,

As others have said, don’t wait if you found something you like unless there are multiple homes you like. Get $2500 to your sales person and the remainder of the 10% down within a week. Our closing costs for a $215000 Home were about $9000 but we had a loan and escrow to set up. Good luck.

If you are not going to be here don't forget to set up a lawn maintenance service. I don't care for Dean's but you don't have to sign a contract with them, just go monthly until you get situated. DO NOT USE GOOD NEIGHBOR they have a terrible track record down here.

easy process for a cash transaction, not to worry. The Villages has it down to an artform. 30 day close.