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Signing the contract
Understand what you are agreeing to before the deposit.
Terms, deposits, and contingencies are on the table.
What matters right now
Once you sign, many structural choices and incentives lock — and permits often follow quickly, which closes the door on changes.
Three things to focus on
Three questions to ask
- “Exactly what incentive am I receiving — closing-cost credit, design-center or options credit, or something else — and is it in writing?”
- “When does the plan go to permit, and what structural items can no longer be added or changed after that?”
- “On the elevation I chose, is anything changing besides materials — footprint, square footage, or layout?”
Three things to check
- Your incentive language states where the credit can be applied and whether it expires if unused.
- Every structural option you want is on the signed contract, not on a verbal list.
- Inspection rights, selection deadlines, and schedule remedies are written into the agreement.
One common mistake
Signing without your own inspection rightsSigning before confirming what locks at permit is how buyers lose options they assumed were still available.Incentives — what was offered, and in what form+
- Ask which it is: closing-cost credit, design-center/options credit, rate buy-down, or a price reduction.
- Confirm it is in writing on the contract or an addendum — not in an email or a conversation.
- Ask whether the credit expires if unused, and whether it can move between design center and closing.
- Understand what the incentive is tied to: using the builder's lender, title company, or a closing window.
Structural items — chosen versus still open+
- Write out what is already committed: elevation, garage configuration, extensions, bay windows, fireplaces, baths.
- Decide now whether you plan to add or change anything before the file is submitted for permit.
- Confirm in-wall and rough-in items you may want later: outlets, gas lines, plumbing stub-outs, conduit, low-voltage.
Permit lock — what cannot come back+
- Once the file goes to permit, structural changes usually require a re-plan, a fee, and schedule delay — if they are allowed at all.
- Ask for the exact cut-off date for structural options in writing.
- Ask what a structural change costs in both dollars and calendar days after submission.
Elevations — materials versus real changes+
- Some elevation choices only change exterior materials: brick, stone, siding proportions.
- Others change footprint, square footage, roof lines, or interior layout — a different house on paper.
- Ask directly which type your elevation is, and have the answer reflected on the plan you sign.
Recommended next step
Sequence your selections before the appointment, not during it.
Plan your design center visitFinished with this stage?
Ask New Construction Intelligence™
What are you deciding right now?
Guided by NCI content — stages, checklists, mistakes, and decision paths. Educational guidance, not inspection, legal, engineering, or lending advice.
Test Drive covers three decisions today. More paths are being authored stage by stage.
Checklist
Contract review checklist
Work the contract in the order that protects you: inspection rights, warranty, deadlines, deposits, and change orders.
Your rights
Money and deadlines
Plans and specs
8 items left before you can mark this reviewed.
Decisions that matter now
Read the warranty and dispute terms first
The warranty section decides how your first two years of ownership feel.
Read the full explanation
Mistakes to avoid
- Assuming inspections are allowed by default
- Missing option deadlines written into the contract
Million Dollar Mistakes™ here
All mistakesWhere the build is
Learn for this stage
What’s next
Design center selections, usually on a tight deadline.
Continue to Design center