The best-kept secret in Dallas new construction? Builders want first-time buyers—and they're willing to pay for your business. With relationships spanning 50+ DFW builders, I help first-time buyers access incentives that unrepresented buyers often miss.

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How I Access Better Incentives

Builder sales agents work for builders—not you. Their job is to sell homes at maximum profit. As your buyer's agent with 50+ builder relationships, I know what's negotiable.

What unrepresented buyers miss:

Inventory home price reductions not advertised publicly.

Extended rate locks during construction delays.

Lot premium waivers on less desirable homesites.

Structural upgrades (covered patios, extra garage bays) at cost. Appliance packages and smart home additions.

Warranty extensions beyond standard coverage.

What I negotiate for first-time buyers:

Based on 300+ new construction transactions, I've secured thousands in additional value beyond advertised incentives for my first-time buyer clients. This includes price reductions, upgrade credits, closing cost increases, and contract protections that builder contracts don't include by default.

Why Builders Pay Buyer Agent Commission

First-time buyers sometimes wonder: "Why would builders pay your commission?" The answer is simple—builders budget for it whether you bring an agent or not.

If you arrive without representation, the builder keeps the commission as additional profit. The price doesn't decrease. You simply lose free advocacy.

When you bring me, you get contract review protecting your earnest money, construction monitoring throughout the build, inspection coordination at key milestones, punch list advocacy before closing, and negotiation leverage I've built over 300+ transactions—all at no cost to you.

What Builder Incentives Actually Look Like

Builders compete on terms more than on posted price. That is the single most useful thing a first-time buyer can understand about new construction, because it means the number on the sign moves far less than what you actually pay. Incentives come in four shapes, and each one carries a trade-off that is easy to miss when you are looking at the headline.

Rate buy-downs

The builder purchases points to lower your mortgage rate, either for the first few years or for the life of the loan. The distinction between those two is the whole question. A temporary buy-down lowers the payment on a published schedule and then steps back up, so the payment you qualify on and the payment you will be living with a few years out are different numbers. A permanent buy-down does not have that problem and is usually worth less at the same nominal cost. Ask which one is on the table before comparing anything.

Closing cost credits

Frequently the largest single incentive, and almost always conditioned on financing through the builder's affiliated or preferred lender. That condition is not a reason to decline it, but it is a reason to compare the complete package rather than the credit alone: rate, points, lender fees and the credit together, against an outside lender's terms with no credit. Sometimes the builder's package wins clearly. Sometimes it does not, and the credit is doing the work of a rate that is not competitive.

Design centre allowances

A credit toward flooring, cabinetry, countertops and fixtures. The thing to know is that the allowance applies against the builder's design centre pricing, which is not retail pricing, so the allowance goes less far than the same amount would at a supplier. It is still real value, and it lets you take delivery of a finished home rather than renovating after closing. Just do not model it as cash.

Price reductions on standing inventory

Distinct from every other incentive on this list, and the distinction matters more than most buyers realise. A price reduction lowers the recorded sale price. A credit does not. That affects the comparables in your section for everyone who buys after you, and it affects your own appraisal. Builders are generally reluctant to reduce price for exactly that reason, and will offer credits well past the point where they would consider a reduction. Knowing which one you are actually asking for changes how the conversation goes.

What Determines Whether a Builder Will Move

Incentives are not a fixed menu and they are not the same across the street. What is available on a given home at a given moment is driven by conditions you can observe:

• Whether the home is standing inventory or a to-be-built. A completed home carries a cost every month it sits. A dirt start does not.

• How long that home has been finished. The pressure is a function of time, not of the buyer's negotiating skill.

• Where the community sits in its life. An opening release and a closing-out section behave in opposite directions, and the closing-out section is where a builder most wants to be finished.

• How many homes the builder needs to close in the period. Public builders report on a calendar, and the calendar is not a secret.

• Whether the incentive is being funded by the builder or by its lender. These come from different budgets and are not always negotiated by the same person.

• What else is standing in the same community. A builder with one completed home and a builder with nine are in different positions on the same street.

None of that is visible from a price sheet, and none of it is what a sales representative leads with. It is the part I actually do.

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Builders Active in the First-Time Buyer Range

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These are the builders most commonly in play for first-time buyers across Dallas-Fort Worth, grouped by where their product typically sits rather than by price. Communities change as sections open and close, so treat this as a starting point for a conversation rather than a current inventory list.

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Entry tier

• Bloomfield Homes — Forney, Princeton, Anna, Fate. Entry-level focus with efficient floor plans.

• History Maker Homes — Forney, Princeton, Royse City. Value-focused, with a steady supply of quick move-ins.

• Starlight Homes (Ashton Woods) — Forney, Princeton, Celina. Ashton Woods' entry brand, built specifically around first-time buyers.

• D.R. Horton / Express Homes — throughout DFW. The largest volume builder in the country, with a dedicated entry-level product line.

Middle of the range

• Chesmar Homes — Celina, Melissa, Anna, Forney. Higher finish level at an attainable price point.

• Beazer Homes — Little Elm, Celina, Princeton. Runs a mortgage choice programme, which changes how their lender-conditioned incentives work.

• Brightland Homes (formerly Gehan) — Forney, Princeton, Melissa. Wide floor plan range and frequent quick move-in offerings.

• K. Hovnanian Homes — Little Elm, Celina, Forney. Historically among the more aggressive on standing inventory.

• Tri Pointe Homes — Celina, Northlake, Little Elm. Runs distinct collections at different price points within the same communities.

• Meritage Homes — Forney, Princeton, Little Elm. Energy efficiency is their stated differentiator, which shows up in operating cost rather than purchase price.

Upper end of the first-time buyer range

• Highland Homes — Celina, Melissa, McKinney, Frisco. Move-up product that a well-qualified first-time buyer can reach.

• Perry Homes — Celina, McKinney, Prosper. Larger plans and a longer build cycle.

• Ashton Woods — Frisco, Celina, McKinney. Personalisation-focused, with a design studio process that carries more decisions than most.

• David Weekley Homes — Frisco, McKinney, Flower Mound. Build-quality reputation and a correspondingly firmer position on terms.

• Taylor Morrison — Frisco, Celina, Little Elm. In-house lending, which is where most of their incentive structure lives.

How to Use This

The useful question is not which builder offers the most. It is which builder's current position matches what you need — a fast close, a lower payment, a higher finish level, or a specific school assignment — and what is actually available on the specific home you want rather than on the community generally.

That answer changes month to month and section to section, and it is the conversation to have before you walk into a model home rather than after. Once you have registered with a builder, your position is set.

Get Your Builder Incentive Strategy

Before visiting model homes, let's talk strategy. I'll identify which builders match your budget, timeline, and priorities—then show you how to maximize incentives while protecting your interests under Texas SB 1968.

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Schedule Your Free Builder Strategy Session | Call 469-269-6541