Shea Homes

The days of using new cars, landscaping, swimming pools, and other gimmicks to entice buyers to purchase a new home are all but over. Many builders are failing to realize what is truly important to their buyers, money, or lack there of. Buyers aren’t looking for anything other than a monetary incentive to buy, for example, the $8,000 tax credit for first time homebuyers.

Part of the problem lies in the fact that many builders are still sitting on large inventories. The good news, however, is that many of these homes have been reduced in price. Reduced to the point where they compete with foreclosed home pricing. Additional good news for buyers is that interest rates are at, or until just recently were at, all time lows. Still, very enticing rates can be found.

Many of the nation’s larger builders have geared away from offering material possessions as an incentive to purchase a home from them. In fact, builders such as Toll Brothers, Pulte, and Lennar, to name a few, are offering incentives which can really make a difference to a buyer. Builders have been following suit behind the auto manufacturers with offers such as employment insurance for qualified buyers.

According to the Arizona Republic, Toll Brothers has been offering a policy that will cover up to $2,500 a month in mortgage payments if you lose your job.

Enticements such as this, plus zero closing costs, and low interest rates are some of the incentives needed to get buyers to purchase a home in our current economic condition.

A couple years ago Shea Homes, was offering buyers of particular homes in select communities a free hybrid Toyota Prius with the purchase of their new home. But as the economy continued to worsen at a rapid pace, layoffs were escalating, and foreclosures were far more attractively priced, Shea and other builders started adding features that buyers truly wanted, including design features, upgraded materials, and high-end appliances.

The median price at the year end of 2008 for a new home was $214,397 in the Phoenix area. That is $28,000 less than it was in the end of 2007. These homes prices, interest rates, flexible finance plans and other financial incentives currently being offered by home builders could make buying a home an incredible opportunity if you are able to take advantage of it.

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