New Construction
The model home is beautiful. The contract is long. Walk it with someone.
Maureen Cappallo has walked more than 1,425 new construction homes from dirt to keys across North Texas. We love new builds, we respect the builders’ teams, and we know the process well enough to make sure you understand every step of yours.
Read the New Construction Buyer Path
How representation works on a new build
The builder has a team. You can have one too.
The community sales manager at the model home represents the builder. They are professionals, most of them are excellent at what they do, and we genuinely enjoy working alongside them. Their job is the builder’s side of the table.
Our job is yours. Reading the contract with your interests in mind. Making sure the design center stays inside your real budget. Sequencing inspections. Keeping the timeline, the lender, and the walkthroughs stitched together so nothing lands on you as a surprise.
One practical note worth knowing early: most builders register your representation on your first visit. Bringing us in before you tour keeps every option open. It costs you nothing to start with the conversation.
Dirt to keys, walked properly
Before the first model home visit
Community shortlist, builder research, and your real budget including the items the brochure doesn't show: taxes, HOA, MUD or PID, landscaping, blinds, the everything-else line.
The contract, understood
Builder contracts differ from Texas resale forms in real ways. We walk yours line by line, in plain language, so you know exactly what you are agreeing to before earnest money moves.
Design center, with a budget
The design center is genuinely fun, and it is where budgets quietly grow. We help you sort the upgrades that hold value from the ones better done later for less.
The build, watched
Independent inspections at the stages that matter, progress checks along the way, and clear communication with the builder's team. Everyone rowing in the same direction.
The finish line, coordinated
Final walkthrough done properly, closing timelines managed, and a plan for the warranty items that surface in the first year. Dirt to keys, nothing dropped.
Questions new construction buyers ask
- Do I need my own agent to buy a new construction home?
- The community sales manager at the model is skilled, helpful, and employed by the builder. That is their job, and the good ones do it well. Having your own representation simply means someone experienced is in your corner too, reading the contract with your interests in mind and walking the process alongside the builder's team. In most cases the builder is glad to work with your agent; the key is bringing us in before your first visit gets registered.
- Is a builder's contract the same as a normal Texas purchase contract?
- No, and this surprises most buyers. Resale purchases in Texas typically use TREC-promulgated forms. Builders generally use their own contracts, written by their attorneys, with different terms around timelines, earnest money, changes, and remedies. None of that makes them wrong. It makes them worth understanding line by line before you sign, and that is part of what we do.
- What about builder incentives?
- Builders regularly offer incentives, and they change by community, by month, and by inventory. Some are tied to using the builder's affiliated lender, which is a choice worth understanding fully before you commit. We help you see the whole picture: what the incentive is actually worth, what it is tied to, and how the complete offer compares. Specific financing questions belong with a licensed lender.
- Do new construction homes need inspections?
- In our experience, yes. A new home is built by many hands under real deadlines, and independent inspections at key stages, before the foundation pour, before drywall, and before closing, are how small items get caught while they are easy to address. Builders' teams generally expect and accommodate them. It is not adversarial. It is thorough.
- Why do property taxes sometimes jump in year two of a new build?
- In general, a brand-new home's first tax bill is often assessed on the land alone, because the home wasn't finished on January 1. The following year, the completed home is assessed, and the bill reflects it. Many new communities also sit in MUD or PID districts that fund the infrastructure. None of this is a trap, but it belongs in your math from day one. Your county appraisal district confirms the specifics for any address.
Maureen Cappallo is a Texas real estate broker, not an attorney, mortgage lender, or tax advisor. Contract terms are reviewed with your attorney where appropriate, financing questions belong with a licensed lender, and your county appraisal district confirms property tax specifics.
People first. Houses second.
Thinking about building or buying new? One honest conversation before your first model home visit keeps every option open. My team and I will walk you through it.
Talk to our team