The model home is
not the base house
By Justin Kelly
NJ Real Estate Broker-Salesperson
A model is a sample, and the state contract is unusually direct about what that means. Here is what it says about the room you walked through, and what to read instead.
At a glance
- The state form says the seller will clearly mark the options and extras in a sample that are not in the base price
- Furniture, flooring, cabinets, lighting and appliances in a sample come with the house only if a rider says so
- An option added after the addendum is signed is paid for when it is ordered, not at closing, unless both sides put something different in writing
Guide
Most people buying a new home walk a model first, and then price the house off it. The state contract anticipates exactly that, and it addresses it in capital letters, which is rare enough to be worth reading.
The addendum states that the buyer understands the seller's samples may contain options and extras that are not included in the base price of the house, and that the seller will clearly mark those extras and options in the samples. Two useful things follow. The room you walked is not a promise, and the marking is the builder's job, so asking to see what is marked is a reasonable request rather than an awkward one.
The form is more specific still on the contents. Furniture, decorations, wall and window treatments, upgraded flooring, cabinetry, lighting fixtures and appliances in a sample are for display purposes only and are not included in the sale unless separately agreed to in a rider. That covers most of what makes a model feel like the house you want.
There is a timing rule people miss too. An option or extra that was not listed when the addendum was signed, and whose cost is not in the purchase price, must be paid for when it is ordered, not at closing, unless the buyer and the builder agree otherwise in a writing signed by both. A late addition can therefore be a cash requirement months before you move in.
And what you may pick from is a defined set. Under the same form, selections are limited to those explicitly listed in the addendum, or on a selection sheet the builder provides, or on display in the builder's sample of that model type. That is the document to ask for early, because it is the honest picture of what the house includes.
One caution against generalising: what is standard and what is an upgrade is set by each builder and each community. There is no statewide standard package, so two builders quoting similar base prices can be offering meaningfully different houses. The sheet is where that difference is visible, and it is the fair way to compare two of them.
What is standard is set per builder and per community; there is no statewide standard package. Read the selection sheet for your own home. Written by Justin Kelly, NJ Real Estate Broker-Salesperson. More at South Jersey New Construction.
Our take
What is standard and what is an extra is set by each builder and each community, so the sheet to read is the one for your own home rather than the room you walked through. If you are comparing two builders, comparing their selection sheets is the only fair comparison.
