Buy your new build with your eyes open

The honest answer, from a licensed Austin buyer's agent: the builder's on-site agent works for the builder, buyer representation is built into the price, and the builder pays it in most cases, disclosed in writing before you tour. Here is how it works and what your agent does.

Updated July 9, 2026

Builders protect the base price and compete on the incentive stack: rate buydowns, closing-cost credits, and design-center allowances. Here is where the real leverage is on Austin new construction, and how a buyer's agent works it.

Updated July 9, 2026

Many new Austin communities carry MUD or PID taxes that push the effective property-tax rate well above the norm. Here is how they work, what they cost, the Texas notice you are owed, and how to underwrite the true monthly payment.

Updated July 9, 2026

New construction or an existing home in Austin? An honest, buyer-side breakdown of the tradeoffs: warranty and efficiency and builder rate buydowns versus location and mature lots and a negotiable price, and how the 2026 market tilts the math.

Updated July 9, 2026

The builder design center is engineered to make you overspend. Here is which upgrades hold their value (structural and hard-to-change options) and which to skip, plus the 30-year financing trap most buyers miss.

Updated July 9, 2026

What a new-construction builder warranty in Texas actually covers, the 1-2-10 structure, who backs it, the arbitration catch, and why the 11-month inspection is the move that matters.

Updated September 1, 2026

Already toured a model home or registered without an agent? Whether you can still add a buyer's agent depends on the builder and how far you have gone. The honest answer, and exactly what to do before your next visit.

Updated September 17, 2026

Builders tie their best incentives to their in-house lender, which can be the better deal or can hide a higher rate and fees. Here is how to compare loan estimates the right way, net of the incentives, so you pick the genuinely cheaper loan.

Updated July 9, 2026

Yes, and usually more than one. A buyer-side guide to new-home inspections in Austin: the pre-drywall (framing) inspection, the final inspection before closing, and the 11-month warranty inspection, why the municipal inspection is not enough, and what each costs.

Updated August 25, 2026

The builder's contract is written to protect the builder, not you, and it is not the standard TREC resale form. A buyer-side walkthrough of the clauses that matter most on Austin new construction: earnest money and deposits, price escalation and change orders, completion and delay language, the appraisal gap, arbitration, and warranty limits.

Updated August 25, 2026

Buy a builder's finished spec (inventory) home, or build from a lot and floor plan? An honest, buyer-side comparison for Austin new construction: price and incentives, timeline, customization, mortgage-rate risk, and which one tends to win in the 2026 market.

Updated August 25, 2026