What to Ask at the Sales Office

Go in knowing what the appointment is for

A sales appointment is a presentation. That is not a criticism, it is simply what it is for: the community is shown at its best by people who know it thoroughly and want you to buy. None of that is improper, but it does mean the burden of asking the awkward question sits with you.

The questions below are the ones whose answers change either what you pay or what you are contractually owed. Everything else can be read later.

On price and what it includes

Ask which closing adjustments are capped in the agreement and which are open. Development and education levies are charged at the rate in effect at closing rather than at signing, and on a pre-construction purchase those dates can be years apart. A cap fixes your exposure; no cap leaves it open-ended.

Ask what the standard features schedule actually contains, and ask for a copy to take away. Standard is a real specification, not a placeholder, and reading it later is far easier than interpreting it across a desk.

• Which closing adjustments are capped, and at what figure?
• Is the deposit schedule negotiable, in amount or in timing?
• What is the assignment policy, and what does it cost?
• Which options are structural, and when is the deadline to choose them?

On timing

Ask for the current anticipated occupancy and what the agreement says about extending it. Every pre-construction agreement allows the builder to move the date within defined limits; the question is what those limits are and what happens when they are reached.

Ask what triggers your right to terminate, and what you get back if it is triggered. The answer is in the agreement, but hearing it said aloud tells you how familiar the person opposite is with it.

On the specific home, not the community

Presentations describe the community. The agreement binds you to one home on one lot, and the differences matter.

Ask what is actually on your lot: the grade, whether the basement is walkout or lookout, how the driveway runs, what is behind you, and whether any utility equipment is sited on or beside it. These are not upgrades and cannot be changed later.

• What is the lot grading, and is the basement walkout, lookout or neither?
• Where do the utility pedestals, transformers and hydrants sit?
• Which elevation is assigned to this lot, and is it fixed?
• What is being built directly behind and beside it?

Ask for the answers in writing

A verbal answer at a sales appointment is not a term of your agreement. Anything that matters should appear in the agreement of purchase and sale or in an amendment signed by the builder.

This is the single most useful habit at a sales office. It is also entirely normal, and a sales representative who deals with it comfortably is telling you something reassuring about how the builder operates.