Builder Offering Aggressive Incentive for Future lots
I’m under contract for a specific model with a National Builder (early-phase buyer) almost 1M. I have committed a earnest money deposit (15%) due to the policy, and we are about 3 months from closing.
Since signing, the builder has increased the price almost 50K for future lot in Feb but due to ongoing situation they have less conversion and dropped lot prices by -90K ( around 10k every week) now hitting my prices almost 40K less than my contract. I recently confronted the sales manager, and the response was:
- The manager claims previous lots closed at higher total prices than mine due to their specific upgrades, arguing my "total purchase price" is still in line with the neighborhood average.
- They admitted a current lot has sat unsold for 4 months, which is why they are now offering aggressive incentives that weren't available to me.
- Builder are now claiming prices will "go up soon" once these stagnant lots sell, yet they refuse to budge on my contract despite the valuation gap.
My contract has a clause stating I must pay the difference in cash if the appraisal comes in low. With the current drop in for newer lots, I’m guessing if there is appraisal shortfall am i cooked up? builder are very confident mentioning lot closing before us didn't have any incentive and lower model are closing similar to my price range.
I have one mortgagee application with builder and also shopping 1 in outside lender, despite with current situation i don't want to use builder mortgagee I need to know where I stand.
Questions:
- Since I’m not using the builder’s preferred lender, can I use a low appraisal as a "financing failure" to get my deposit back, even with an appraisal gap clause?
- Does the fact that they are offering aggressive incentives on lots that have sat for 4 months give me any leverage to argue "bad faith" or push for finance credits (rate buy-downs/closing costs) at this point builder saying No to all ?
- Has anyone successfully pushed back when a builder holds a massive deposit while simultaneously devaluing the community through price cuts for future lots?
I’d love to hear from anyone who has stood their ground against a big builder in a shifting market.