When you’re ready to build your dream home, there are a lot of big and exciting decisions to make. The first major step in making your new home a reality is scheduling a home site tour. This may seem a little intimidating at first, particularly if you are new to the home building process. But for beginner and seasoned new home buyers alike, the first steps aren’t too hard to take. In fact, the first steps are pretty fun!
Home Building First Steps
Before you get started with touring potential home sites, it’s best to understand what your budget is. You can do this by getting pre-qualified for a home loan. This is not a requirement for scheduling a site tour, but it will give you a realistic idea of what kind of floorplan you can build. If you can provide this information to the home builder upfront, you may be able to tour the models that match your budget. You’ll also be able to get a better understanding of what home sites and options will be workable for you.
To take a tour – you can call, email, or even live chat with one of our Shea New Home Advisors. They can coordinate a time for you to visit a community, provide office hours and directions, or just help you get some questions answered before your visit. We’re available to help 7 days a week, to offer additional details about a community or area, and are happy to work with you to find a community that’s the right fit. A New Home Advisor can help with any of our Shea Homes or Trilogy communities nationwide – all with one call to 866-696-7432!
Overview of a New Home Site Tour
Touring a Shea Homes community is easy. In most cases, new home site tours last for about an hour, but the overall length of time is really up to you and the amount of questions you have.
On a Shea Homes site tour, you’ll get to see and learn about the following:
- Walk through the on-site model homes
- View available floor plan options
- View available upgrades
- Discover community features and amenities
- See the available lots for building your new home
- Learn about elevation options
- Build a home on paper (optional)
- Discover what sets Shea apart from other builders
Commonly Asked Questions for Site Tours
We’re more than happy to provide answers and guidance for all of your questions! It’s a great idea to write down all the questions you have now to make sure you get the information you’re most interested in while on the tour. But before you get started, take a look at these commonly asked questions and our answers.
Will all the home models be available to tour?
All of the models that are built will be available to tour. In some communities, we offer more floor plans than we can show as a model. In those cases, we will either have images of the offered floor plans for you to view or non-model inventory homes to tour. There may also be another community nearby that has a model with the floor plan you’re interested in. If this is the case, we’ll set you up with a tour to see the floorplan so you can get a better idea of the layout.
Is there a feature-sheet available for the neighborhood amenities and available building upgrades?
We’re happy to email you a feature-sheet upon request. Each Shea Homes community offers different features depending on the neighborhood, location, price point and home plans. We can also email you an option catalog of a particular floor plan, but this is best to do after meeting with your community representative and doing a preliminary build estimate on paper.
Is it required to bring a real estate agent on the tour?
It is not necessary to use a real estate agent in a new home building experience. However, if you would like to use an agent they are required to accompany you on your very first visit to the community so we can register them to be eligible for a commission.
Will we go over the build process in this initial meeting?
We can, but that’s typically a conversation that is discussed in detail at the contract appointment. The first visit is all about touring the available homes and seeing what floor plans match up with your lifestyle. Once we match you with a home, we can dig into the specific options for that home, your budget and finding the site that works for you.
Will there be a pressure to commit to buying a home while on the tour?
We take pride in how we treat our guests and work hard to provide a welcoming environment with no pressure to buy. We understand how big of a decision it is to buy a new home and we keep your comfort level in consideration throughout the process. Our priority is to work with each guest at their pace and to guide them through each step so they feel educated and informed about their decision.
Questions to Bring in with You
You likely have more questions that you’ve been wondering about than what we listed above, and it’s a good idea to bring a list in with you! It’s easy to forget even your most burning questions when the excitement of the tour begins. Print or pin our FAQ Checklist for a New Home Site Tour and add in your own questions to bring with you to your site tour:
Site Tour Takeaways
Once you’ve gone through the process of touring a new home site, the biggest takeaway should be that you can actually see yourself living in one of the models or floor plans presented. It’s also important to feel that you can trust your Community Representative, that the tour itself was informative, and that we answered all of your questions.
To learn more about setting up your new home site tour with Shea Homes, call a Shea community near you or call a New Home Advisor at 866-696-7432.
To get started, explore new homes available from Shea Homes in the following areas:
California
Bay Area, CA
Central Coast, CA
Los Angeles, CA
Orange County, CA
Palm Springs, CA
Sacramento, CA
San Diego, CA
West
Seattle, WA
Las Vegas, NV
Phoenix, AZ
Houston TX
Denver, CO
East
Central Florida
Northern Virginia
Charlotte, NC
Greensboro, NC
York-Lancaster, SC