New Construction
New Construction Mortgages and Builder Incentive Audits
Kyle, Buda, San Marcos, and the rest of this corridor have more new-build inventory right now than almost anywhere else in Central Texas, and most of it comes with a preferred lender attached to the incentive. That lender is not automatically the best deal on your file. Send me what the builder is offering and I will audit it against my own panel of more than 40 wholesale lenders, so you know for certain whether their number is the best one or just the easiest one.
The short version
A builder's preferred lender is priced to protect the builder's own numbers, not shopped against the open market on your behalf, and their tax and escrow estimates often run light on new developments. I run your builder's exact loan estimate against more than 40 wholesale lenders, check the real tax rate for the district, and tell you in writing whether their offer or an outside one is actually the better deal.
Side by side
Builder lender vs. an independent audit
Same file, same builder incentive, run two different ways. Here is what actually changes.
| Builder Preferred Lender | Nook Lending, Wholesale Broker | |
|---|---|---|
| Loyalty | Works for the builder first | Works for you, across the whole file |
| Real cost of incentives | Incentive is priced into their own rate, rarely shopped against the market | Same incentive, checked against 40+ lenders so you know its real value |
| Tax and escrow accuracy | Often estimated off the developed lot, not the MUD or PID rate that actually applies | Verified against the district's real tax rate before it becomes a payment shock |
| Extended lock terms | Standard lock windows, rarely built for a builder's construction timeline | Extended locks with float-down options, built around your actual build schedule |
| Product selection | Whatever that one lender offers | Conventional, FHA, jumbo, and more, matched to your specific file |
What an audit actually gets you
Four things a builder's in-house lender will not offer
Free Incentive Audit
Send me the builder's loan estimate and I will tell you honestly whether it holds up against the open market. No cost, no obligation.
Extended Locks with Float-Downs
New construction can mean a 6 to 12 month runway before closing. I structure locks built for that timeline, with a float-down if rates drop before you close.
Escrow Shock Protection
New developments in MUD and PID districts often carry tax rates well above what a builder's lender estimates. I verify the real number before it becomes a payment surprise a year in.
Negotiating Credit Redirects
If the builder's incentive is not the best use of that money, I can show you how to ask for it redirected instead, toward a rate buydown or your closing costs, whichever actually helps more.
How it works
The comparison, start to finish
Send me what the builder is offering
The loan estimate, the incentive terms, whatever they have given you in writing. I do not need anything more than that to start.
I run the same scenario across my panel
Same loan amount, same property, same credit profile, shopped across more than 40 wholesale lenders to see what is actually available on the open market.
You get an honest side by side
Rate, fees, and the real value of the builder's incentive, compared against the best outside offer. If the builder's deal wins, I tell you that directly.
You decide, with real numbers either way
No pressure toward one option, just the actual comparison so the choice is yours to make with full information.
A different situation
Building on your own lot instead of buying builder inventory?
This page is about comparing offers on new-build homes already going up in a development, spec homes and builder inventory. If you are working with a custom builder on your own lot, that is a different loan structure entirely, one that funds the build in stages before converting to your permanent mortgage.
See how construction loans workAlso worth knowing
If the builder is offering a rate buydown
Builders in the newer developments around Kyle, Buda, and Dripping Springs often have buydown programs already built into their incentives. Before you assume the sticker price is the only number in play, run it through the calculator and see exactly what that buydown is worth in real dollars.
Try the buydown calculatorWhere I am seeing this most
New construction across Central Texas
These are the developments I see most often, by city. If yours is not listed, the same audit still applies, this is not an exhaustive list, just where most of the activity is right now.
Questions people actually ask
Before you decide
- Do I have to use the builder's preferred lender to get their incentive?
Almost never, but always get it in writing.
- Most incentives are a credit that follows you to closing regardless of lender
- A handful of builder contracts do require their in-house team, so ask directly
- Get whichever answer they give you in writing before you assume either way
- Will shopping around slow down my closing?
Not if we start early.
- The comparison itself takes a few days, not weeks
- Once you pick a lender, the timeline runs the same as any other purchase
- I build the schedule backward from your contract date either way
- What if I already signed with the builder's lender?
Send me the numbers anyway.
- If you have not closed yet, there is often still time to compare
- Even if you stay with their lender, knowing the alternative is useful information
- There is no cost or obligation to find out
Keep going
Worth a look while you decide
Getting Pre-Approved
What you need before you can put a real number in front of a builder.
Read moreLoan Programs
Every program I work with, compared side by side.
Read moreCalculators
Run the builder's numbers, and your own, before you decide.
Read moreService Areas
See the Central Texas communities I work in most.
Read more
Tell me what you are trying to do
Send me the situation in your own words. I will tell you honestly what it can do and what it cannot, before anybody pulls your credit.