So your search has begun for a brand new home. Each weeknight you scour the Internet and examine homebuilder web sites, and as you do, you mentally try each potential new home on for size. And every weekend you grab for the new home section of your newspaper to see the display advertisements complete with little maps that tell you how to drive to all these new areas you've never heard of.

Although you've done a lot of homework, you don't want to walk into these new home community's sales offices thinking you know it all – because you probably don't. By the same token, you also don't want the builder's salesperson to think you totally ignorant either, so that you leave yourself open to being “talked into” the purchase of a home that just doesn't fit your needs. What exactly is the builder's salesperson supposed to do besides be there to write up some ten-page purchase agreement and ask you to sign your name fifty times? What can you expect this person to know and just how much service are he or she supposed to offer you when you are making one of the largest investments you will ever make?

Having been involved in builder/developer sales for many years and recently coming off a year of sales training for the homebuilding industry, I can tell you what builders expect from their sales people in representing their new home communities. I can also assure you that it varies little from one state to the next. They expect their people to be the ultimate authorities on their homes and to give you excellent service, acting as a counselor, liaison, social host, and last, but not least, as a sales person.

Even though you may not be experiencing this kind of service while looking for new homes, here is a list of salesperson attributes you should expect:

Published: May 6, 2003

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