I am a new agent and just started actively farming an area.. I have noticed this past weekend there have been several large signs put up advertising new large homes being built.. This just happened to be the same day i was working the neighborhood and it really caught me off guard. Is this a good thing for an agent or bad.. Is there anyway that i can get involved or learn more about these developments? I have done my research on the area and have not heard about this til now.
thanks

It is probably a builder advertising a new developement. Find out through your broker if you have a database you can search new homes in. Many builders will offer good co-op fees to agents that bring them buyers. So yes, it could be a great thing.

It's always good to have "inside" information when you are the expert.
You have some more research to do. Contact the builder and find out everything there is to know about the project. Find out Prices, How many, delivery time, etc. Next thing to do is check with whatever agency approves subdivision plans and see what else is in the works for your area.
You can't know too much.
Your City, County or State probably have regular public meetings where they discuss proposed projects. Go to meetings that affect your neighborhood or research it online.

I am assuming your talking about developer signs, not contractor signs. Contractors always put up a sign in front of the property they are working on.

Developers on the other hand will put up a sign saying something like "12 Deluxe homes coming Fall 2006" or something like that. The developer will usually have their info on the sign.

You can give them a call and see what their plan is for cooperating with outside agents. These folks usually have little use for agents other than their own.

R

In my area right now these builders are begging realtors to sell their new homes. Huge inventories are just sitting vacant. A year ago they wanted nothing to do with us, now the tides have turned. Definitely worth calling them and seeing how they want to play in your area.

Yup, the builders in my area are also begging for Realtors to show their homes. Some of them are even offering 5%, 6%, 7%, and 8% co-op fees to agents!

One thing that prevents me from working with builders is that they have CCD fees passed to the homebuyer usually families so I don't work with them. I don't care how much money is in it for me. Unfortunately some agents don't fully disclose this which does a disservice to many families. At least in Florida.

ok thanks for the input.. I have also lost two listings because they think they should hold out to see what happens.. How should i address this? I looked their street up in tax records and showed them that on their side of the street each house had a different owner and their were no plans as of today, hoping they would think it was highly unlikely.. I also noticed that there were three other spots in the area that i think will be torn down and rebuilt..

i guess im just more concerned about loosing existing houses in my farm area.. I have worked soo hard getting to know these people and in one day these two developments seemed to have taken over?