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MORTGAGES - this is just where it begins.

Many deposits building a new home
Buyers often wonder why buying a new home seems so much more complicated than purchasing a re-sale home. For an existing home, the initial "earnest money deposit" is usually enough to take a property through escrow to the closing date, Why, then, do builders ask for more deposits along the way? To begin with, deposits for anything beyond the base price in a new production home will usually be necessary before the builder can proceed. Unlike the construction process of a custom home, production home builders put themselves at risk in many ways. When building your home on your own lot, as in a custom home scenario, contractors are able to take "draws" from an already funded loan to make these additions to the house. They can also feel confident that the home buyer will remain the buyer.

Production builders are vulnerable in the respect that they may have no guarantee the buyers will perform. They take the chance that they are individualizing one of, perhaps, several hundred homes they will build that year, and cannot proceed with a "deviation from the norm" without ample "good faith" monies from the buyers. Contractors, have to re-sell the home with your changes to it.

Why do these builders require all this money so soon? Your building superintendent has the responsibility to his builder to schedule each aspect of the home's construction as early as is feasible, A third stall on the garage will require a different permit from the city and more concrete from their supplier; a master retreat option will force him to communicate the change to framers, drywallers, electricians, and plumbers. Add to this fray the corporate office personnel who will need to generate detailed paperwork, and get pricing and communicate all this to the field. What seems like a simple request to you and I can create a whirlpool of activity behind the scenes.

The deposit monies you are required to pass through to the builder for your upgrades are usually a credit to your down payment monies. The clause in most real estate contracts dealing with "liquidated damages" should have been explained to you by the sales consultant as the vehicle by which both seller and buyer are protected should a default of the purchase agreement take place.

Exceptions to deposit monies automatically becoming a part of the down payment may be fees required by the builder for unalterable custom changes made to the house. These fees may not be re-couped by the builder in some cases (architectural fees for special work done, special permit fees charged by city or county offices, etc.) and may be deemed "non-refundable". Each builder has a different way of dealing with these issues, so you'll need to get a clear picture from your sales agent how the deposits will be designated. The addendums to your purchase agreement should state this clearly. If not, as they say, get everything in writing and signed by both you and the builder.