The Utah new-build buyer's guide
Buying new construction in Utah
Buying a home nobody has lived in is its own kind of purchase. You sign the builder's paperwork, not the standard state contract. You put money down before there is a house. And the friendly person at the model home works for the builder. Here is the whole process in order, and the one move that protects you most.
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On this page
The short answer
Buying new, in one breath
Here is the whole thing in a paragraph. You pick a builder and a community, you get pre-approved so you know your number, and you go under contract on the builder's own purchase agreement rather than Utah's standard form. You put down a deposit, which on a new build is often larger and far less refundable than the earnest money on a resale. You choose your lot, your floor plan, and your upgrades, and the home gets built over a span of months. Along the way you hire your own inspector, including one walk before the drywall goes up, you do a final walkthrough to log the punch list, and you close when the home is finished and the certificate of occupancy is issued.
Most of how a new build turns out is decided before a single wall goes up, in the builder you choose and the contract you sign. The single most useful move a buyer can make is to bring their own agent to the very first model-home visit. The on-site sales rep is paid by the builder and answers to the builder. Your own agent answers to you. Builders often cover the buyer agent fee, and I put that in writing before you sign. The rest of this page walks the process in order, then covers what is genuinely different from buying a resale and where buyers most often slip.
The buying process
Seven steps, model home to keys
The names shift a little from builder to builder, the order does not. Each step links to its own deep guide.
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Bring your own agent first
Before you give your name at the model home, name the agent who represents you, or bring them along. Most builders will only recognize your agent if they register on that first visit, so this step comes before everything else. Choosing a builder.
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Get pre-approved
Know your number before you tour, so your offer is credible and you are not designing a home you cannot finance. Get pre-approved with a lender you trust, and weigh the builder's preferred lender against an outside one. Talk to me about financing.
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Pick the builder and the home
Tour finished and in-progress homes, compare builders on quality and reputation, and choose your lot and floor plan. This is where the deal is won or lost. New versus resale.
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Go under contract
You sign the builder's own purchase agreement, not Utah's standard REPC, and put down your deposit. Read the deposit, change-order, delay, and cancellation terms closely, because they favor the builder by default.
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Design and negotiate
Choose your finishes at the design center and negotiate what is on the table. Builders resist cutting the base price to protect their comps, but upgrades, design credits, and closing-cost help are often negotiable. Negotiating with builders.
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Build, then inspect
The home goes up over months. Hire your own inspector for a pre-drywall walk while the framing, wiring, and plumbing are still visible, and again before closing. The city inspector checks code; your inspector checks quality. The build timeline.
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Walk it, then close
Do your final walkthrough, mark every unfinished or flawed item on the punch list, confirm the warranty paperwork, sign at closing, and the home is yours.
What is different from resale
The parts that are not like buying resale
Start with the contract, because it surprises people. A resale in Utah runs on a standard, state-approved form, the Real Estate Purchase Contract, or REPC, with its built-in deadlines and buyer protections. A new build usually does not. You sign the builder's own purchase agreement, drafted by the builder's lawyers, and it is written to protect the builder. Utah's standard practice can layer in a new-construction addendum and, for assignments, a dedicated form, and the Utah Division of Real Estate publishes the state forms. But the core agreement is the builder's paper, which is exactly why a second set of eyes on it matters before you sign.
Your deposit behaves differently too. On a resale, earnest money sits in escrow and the REPC deadlines give you clean ways to walk and get it back. On a new build the deposit is often larger, and the builder's contract frequently makes it non-refundable once your due-diligence window closes, sometimes with the right to apply it toward construction. Many builder contracts are also not contingent on the appraisal, so if a finished home appraises below the contract price, that gap can land on you. Read those terms before you write the check, not after.
Then there is the inspection, and the myth that a brand-new home does not need one. It does. New does not mean flawless, and the city inspector confirms the home meets code, which is a floor, not a promise of careful work. An independent inspection is your own set of eyes. The smartest version is a pre-drywall inspection, scheduled after the rough-in and before the drywall is hung, while the framing, wiring, ducts, and plumbing are still open to view. Catching a missed connector or a crimped line at that stage is cheap and quiet; finding it behind a finished wall a year later is neither. A good inspector also feeds your final walkthrough punch list.
Finally, the warranty. Most reputable builders back a new home on what the industry calls the 1-2-10 framework: roughly one year on workmanship and finishes, two years on the home's distribution systems such as the wiring, plumbing, and HVAC delivery, and ten years on major structural defects. These warranties are frequently administered and insurance-backed by a third party rather than resting on the builder alone, which matters if the builder is ever no longer in business. Read what is covered, what is excluded, and how you file a claim, and keep the booklet. Confirm the specific terms with your builder, as coverage and providers vary.
Where buyers slip
The mistakes that quietly cost you
None of these are dramatic. They are the quiet ones that cost real money or real protection on a new build.
Walking in unrepresented
Touring the model and giving your name without your own agent is the most common and most costly slip. Name your agent on visit one, before you talk price, or you may lose buyer representation for the whole deal.
Signing the contract unread
The builder's agreement governs your deposit, the timeline, delays, and cancellation, and it is written for the builder. Read the deposit and appraisal terms closely, and have someone who knows them review it before you sign.
Skipping the inspection
Trusting that new means perfect, and skipping your own inspector, leaves issues hidden behind finished walls. A pre-drywall walk and a pre-closing inspection catch them while the builder still has every reason to fix them.
Working the build with me
A buyer's agent who reads the builder contract
Here is the part a guide cannot do for you. Buying new is a local job, and it helps to have one person on your side of the table who has read these agreements many times over.
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Twenty years living in Southern Utah. I have helped buyers into new homes across Iron and Washington counties, through production communities and custom builds. I know which builders deliver and which ones do not.
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On your side at the model. The model-home rep works for the builder. I work for you, reading the contract, watching the deposit and the upgrades, and registering you as represented from the first visit. Builders often cover the buyer agent fee, and I put that in writing before you sign.
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Agent and lender, one picture. I am licensed in both. I can read the builder contract and walk through your financing options, including how the preferred-lender incentive compares, taking one role on your purchase and never both at once.
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Statewide, told straight. In Southern Utah I am your agent. Anywhere else in Utah, I connect you with a partner agent I trust in your area and stay involved, so you always have someone reading the paperwork for you.
Questions, answered
What buyers ask before they build
At a high level it is seven steps: bring your own agent to your first model-home visit, get pre-approved, pick your builder and home, go under contract on the builder's own purchase agreement rather than Utah's standard REPC, design and negotiate your lot and upgrades, let the home get built and inspect it including a pre-drywall walk, then do a final walkthrough and close. The process section on this page walks each step, and a good agent reads the builder contract and watches the deposit and timeline for you.
You do not have to have one, but you should, and you should bring them to your first visit. The sales agent at the model home represents the builder, not you, so having your own agent puts someone who reads these contracts for a living on your side. Builders often cover the buyer agent fee, and I put that in writing before you sign. Most builders require you to register your agent on that first visit, so name them before you tour or the builder may decline to recognize them later.
Usually not. A resale in Utah runs on the state-approved Real Estate Purchase Contract, but on a new build you typically sign the builder's own purchase agreement, which is drafted to protect the builder. Utah practice can add a new-construction addendum and a separate form for assignments, and the Utah Division of Real Estate publishes the state forms, but the core agreement is the builder's. That is the main reason to have someone review it before you sign.
Often it is not, which is a key difference from a resale. On a resale your earnest money sits in escrow and the REPC deadlines give you clean ways to recover it, but on a new build the deposit is frequently larger and the builder's contract often makes it non-refundable once your due-diligence window closes, sometimes applying it toward construction. Many builder contracts are also not contingent on the appraisal. Read the deposit and appraisal terms closely before you sign.
Yes. New does not mean flawless, and an independent inspection is your own set of eyes, separate from the city inspector and the builder. The smartest version is a pre-drywall inspection, done after the rough-in and before the walls are closed, when the framing, wiring, and plumbing are still visible and fixes are cheap. Pair it with a pre-closing inspection that feeds your walkthrough punch list, and you have caught problems while the builder still has every reason to fix them.
It is the common framework for warranting a new home, named for its coverage periods: roughly one year on workmanship and finishes, two years on the home's distribution systems such as the wiring, plumbing, and heating and cooling delivery, and ten years on major structural defects. These warranties are often administered and insurance-backed by a third party rather than the builder alone, which matters if the builder is ever no longer in business. Read what is covered and excluded, keep the booklet, and confirm the specific terms with your builder, since coverage and providers vary.
Keep exploring
Thinking about building it right?
I am Scott Buehler, and I have helped people across Southern Utah buy and build new, from production homes to full customs. Tell me the builder or the community you are weighing, and I will read the contract, walk the deposit and timeline, and go over the upgrade list with you, and tell you honestly where the value is. No pressure, and no obligation.
Not in Southern Utah? I will connect you with a partner agent I trust in your area, and stay involved.