Do you need an agent for new construction?
Short answer: you can buy without one, the same way you can go to court without a lawyer. The sales office will happily write you up. Here's what changes when you have your own agent, so you can decide if it's worth it.
The sales rep works for the builder
They're often excellent at their job, and their job is the builder's side of the table: hold list price, sell options, keep the contract as written. Nothing wrong with that. It just means that in the biggest purchase of your life, everyone in the room is paid by the other side unless you bring someone.
What a buyer's agent actually does on a new build
- Registers before your first visit so the builder-paid commission exists at all, and confirms in writing what the builder pays.
- Reads the builder's contract before you sign it. It is not the standard Maryland form and it was not written with you in mind.
- Compares the builder lender's incentive math against an outside quote.
- Pushes for incentives, upgrades and closing help at the moments builders actually give them.
- Schedules the pre-drywall and pre-settlement inspections and shows up to the walkthroughs.
What it costs
The builder pays the commission, and your price doesn't change either way; unrepresented buyers don't get a discount for showing up alone, the builder simply keeps the marketing budget. With us, half of that commission comes back to you as a closing credit. So the honest math is that having an agent costs less than not having one.
When you genuinely don't need one
If you've bought new construction before, enjoy reading builder contracts, plan to use the builder's lender regardless, and don't care about the credit, you'll be fine on your own. Most people aren't in that group.
The one deadline
Decide before your first sales office visit. After you've walked in alone and signed the visitor sheet, most builders won't pay an agent who shows up later, and the credit is gone with it.