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What the builder's agent won't tell you
and why having your own advocate changes everything.
Most buyers walk into a model home excited, unrepresented, and unaware of the costly mistakes waiting to happen. This free guide gives you the insider knowledge to negotiate confidently, protect your investment, and close with clarity.
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What You Need to Know
Beliefs that are costing buyers thousands, and how to protect yourself from day one.
The on-site sales agent represents the builder, not you. Their job is to protect the builder's profit. You deserve someone in your corner whose only loyalty is to you and your family.
Even brand-new homes have defects. From grading issues to HVAC shortcuts, independent inspections routinely uncover problems that builders are far less likely to fix once you've closed without representation.
The builder pays your advocate's commission, not you. Choosing not to be represented doesn't save you a dollar. It only means the builder keeps that money while you sign a complex legal contract alone.
Builder contracts are written entirely in the builder's favor. Closing cost contributions, upgrade credits, timeline protections, and contingency clauses are all negotiable, if you know how to ask.
Once you walk into that model home unrepresented, many builders consider you "their" customer and will resist allowing an agent to represent you. You need an advocate before your first visit, not after. Read our Before You Visit a Model Home guide and REALTOR for New Construction guide.
The Real Picture
"New construction is one of the most exciting, and most misunderstood, purchases you'll ever make. The right guidance means the difference between a dream home and a very expensive lesson."
The new construction process looks simple from the outside. You pick a floor plan, choose your finishes, and wait for the keys. But beneath that polished model home experience is a layered legal and financial negotiation that most buyers enter completely unprepared for.
The Hearts to Homes Team has been guiding buyers through new construction in Plymouth and Metro Detroit for 7+ years, and serving this community for 28. We know where the traps are, and exactly how to help you avoid them.
Start with our flagship guides: Before You Visit a Model Home, Should You Use Your Own REALTOR?, Builder Contracts Explained, Design Center Upgrades, New Construction Inspections, New Construction Financing, and Final Walkthrough & Punch List, and Closing Day Guide, then download the full guide below when you are ready.
Follow a real Hearts to Homes build from an empty lot to a completed home.
Few parts of building a home feel as exciting as watching your lot transform stage by stage. Each phase has a purpose, and knowing what to expect helps first-time buyers stay confident instead of guessing. Every photo below comes from a real Hearts to Homes new construction project in Southeast Michigan—not stock photography.
Everything starts with choosing your lot. Once the homesite is selected, you can picture where the driveway, front door, and backyard will sit—and the build officially has a place to begin.
Crews dig out soil to create a level footprint for the home. This is often the first moment the project feels real: the lot goes from open ground to a clearly defined hole in the earth.
Wooden forms act as temporary molds that shape the basement walls before concrete arrives. From above, you can start to see the outline of your floor plan taking form.
Concrete fills the forms to create the foundation walls—the base that supports the entire home. Once this sets, the structure has a solid anchor in the ground.
The wood frame rises quickly, including pre-built roof trusses—the triangular framework that supports the roof. Walls, floors, and rooflines take shape, and room sizes become much easier to picture.
Inside the home, partition walls define bedrooms, hallways, and living spaces. If your builder allows walk-throughs, this is one of the best previews of layout and flow before drywall covers the studs.
Masonry crews apply brick veneer to the exterior—the decorative brick layer you see from the street. Scaffolding goes up as the crew works across each elevation of the home.
The exterior brick work is finished on this home, completing the street-facing elevations of the build. From lot selection to a fully bricked exterior, the same project has come a long way—and interior work continues from here.
Your Advocate
Hearts to Homes Team · Plymouth, MI
Hearts to Homes was built on a simple belief: every family deserves to make one of the biggest financial decisions of their lives with complete confidence, not confusion. What started as a passion for connecting people with places has grown into a real estate practice rooted in 28 years of serving this community, built on honesty, expertise, and genuine care for the people we serve.
New construction is a specialty we've developed deliberately. The process is genuinely different from a traditional resale transaction: the timeline, the contracts, the financing, the inspections. We've spent years learning every nuance so our clients never have to learn the hard way.
When you work with the Hearts to Homes Team, you're not just getting a licensed agent. You're getting advocates who will sit across the table from a builder's sales team and fight, respectfully and effectively, for everything you deserve.
Client Stories
My husband and I are expecting our first baby, so we knew we were ready to start the search for our forever home. Being first-time home buyers, we had no idea what to expect. Derica encouraged us to get a thorough inspection and radon testing. We found high levels in our basement and now have a system installed so our home is safe. She is extremely knowledgeable, kind, and cares about her clients on a completely different level.
We were first-time home buyers and had the most superb experience we could have hoped for. Derica and every person on her team exceeded our expectations. They made sure we understood everything step by step and communicated with us all the way. Her response time was typically within 5 to 10 minutes. I recommend Derica to any and everyone; she will not disappoint.
My wife and I had the best experience with Derica Wade and Hearts to Homes. She was there for us for over a year until we found the one, then worked very hard to help us get our offer accepted. Her listing and staging techniques got our old house sold in one weekend. She will have your back and always has her clients' best interest at heart. We gained a friend for life.
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Derica Wade · Associate Broker · Real Estate One · Plymouth, MI · No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.