For buyers · Central Ohio
Buying? Read the playbook first.
Searching builder comparisons online gets you blog spam. The playbook gives you the local read: what is actually selling, what each builder is offering this month, and what ownership really costs out of year one.
The process
Three steps, and the first two are free.
01
Get the Buyer Playbook
Free · sent within a day
The seven featured suburbs compared, the real monthly cost of ownership (PITI plus HOA, lawn, and maintenance), and how to make a winning offer. New-build shoppers get the New Construction Playbook too.
02
Buyer playbook session
Free · on your schedule
Lender, search criteria, the builder-versus-resale decision, and the financing math: rate, points, concessions, monthly payment. No pressure to tour houses that day.
03
Buyer representation
Builder or listing side pays
Standard buyer-agent representation. On most new construction, the builder pays. On resale, the listing side pays per the listing agreement. Prepared, direct representation to closing.
New construction
Every builder, evaluated the same way.
The salesperson in the model home works for the builder, not for you. Walking in without your own comparison is how buyers pay for a spec they cannot replicate. Here is how each builder gets evaluated, neutrally.
National production builders
Ryan Homes · Pulte · M/I Homes · D.R. Horton · Maronda · Arbor
They lead with financing: rate buydowns and closing credits through their own mortgage arms. The advertised rate is conditional on their lender and specific homes, so I run the math both ways before the showroom visit.
Regional builders
Fischer · Rockford · Epcon · Schottenstein · Trinity
Their lever is flex cash on contract-to-build deals, tied to option minimums and preferred lenders. The offers differ community by community and rotate monthly. Last quarter's flyer is already wrong.
Custom and semi-custom
Bob Webb · Romanelli & Hughes · 3 Pillar · Compass · Coppertree · Memmer
Nothing is published at this tier. Every term is negotiated at the table, which is exactly where having your own representation earns its keep. The builder still pays the fee.
First move
Get the Buyer Playbook.
Suburbs compared, monthly-cost math, and offer strategy. Free, in your inbox within a day.
Comparing builders or suburbs right now?
Get the New Construction Playbook before the showroom visit. The incentive math reads differently once it is written down.
Aaron Leddy · REALTOR® · Red 1 Realty · Serving Central Ohio
