The builder pays you. Most new-home communities offer a co-op commission to the outside agent who brings the buyer, paid at close like any other deal. You register your client on their first visit, the community’s sales counselor handles the builder’s paperwork, and your client stays your client.
The part agents are actually worried about
It is usually not the money. It is the fear of walking your buyer into a sales office, watching a sales counselor shake their hand, and finding out six weeks later that they signed a purchase agreement without you.
That fear is reasonable. It is also avoidable, and understanding why comes down to one fact: the sales counselor works for the builder. They are good at their job and most of them are straight with people, but they represent the seller. They are not there to tell your buyer that the lot premium is negotiable, that the completion date in the contract is an estimate, or that the options they just selected are not coming back out.
That is your side of the table. New construction is one of the few transactions where the buyer has no idea what they do not know, and the person explaining it to them is paid by the other party. An agent in the room is not a formality. It is the reason the deal closes clean.
The three things that decide whether you get paid
1. Register your buyer on the first visit
This is the whole thing. Nearly every builder requires that the outside agent be present, or be registered in writing, the first time the buyer walks through the door. If your client tours alone on a Saturday and signs the visitor card alone, the community may treat that registration as theirs, not yours.
So the rule is simple: before your buyer goes anywhere near a model home, send an email to the sales counselor with your buyer’s name, your name, your license number and your brokerage. That email is your protection. It takes two minutes and it is the single most common way agents lose a new-home commission.
2. A co-op is not a referral fee
These get confused constantly, and the difference matters to your business.
- A referral means you hand your client to somebody else and take a cut of what they earn. You are out of the deal.
- A co-op means you stay in the deal as the buyer’s agent and are paid at close, through your brokerage, the way you are on a resale.
Co-op terms are set by each builder and they change, so ask the sales counselor what the community is offering before you show it. Get the answer in writing with the registration. One email covers both.
3. You still have to do the work
Builder purchase agreements are the builder’s own forms, not the forms you use every day. There is no standard inspection timeline, the deposit structure is different, options and upgrades are selected on a deadline, and the closing date moves with construction.
Read the contract. Go to the walkthroughs. Ask what is standard and what is an option, because that list is where buyers get surprised. None of this is hard. It is just different, and the first one takes longer than the fifth.
What this looks like in practice
Northern California has a real spread of new construction right now, which means “new homes” is not one price point or one buyer. Across the communities NEXT New Homes Group sells, homes run from the $480,000s to just over $1.6 million.
Take Henson Ranch in Yuba City. Ten floor plans across two collections, from roughly 1,479 to 2,936 square feet, three to six bedrooms, single and two-story. Dual owner’s suites on one plan. Larger-than-average lots with backyards a family can actually use. No HOA. Solar is not included, which is a conversation to have up front rather than at signing.
That is a specific buyer: someone who needs room, wants a yard, and does not want an HOA telling them what to do with it. If you have that client on your books, you already have a new-home sale. You just have not registered it yet.
At NEXT Real Estate Group, ERA Powered, this is not something an agent has to go find on their own. NEXT New Homes Group is the company next door, and our agents know what is available week to week because the people selling those communities are down the hall. The agent in the office who has never written a new-home deal can ask someone who writes them for a living.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to be a new-home specialist to get paid a co-op?
No. You need to be registered and you need to be present. Builders want outside agents bringing buyers; that is the point of offering a co-op. Specialization helps you serve the client better, but it is not a condition of being paid.
What if my buyer already toured the community without me?
Ask anyway, immediately, in writing. Registration policies vary by builder and some will honor an agent who comes in shortly after an unaccompanied first visit. The longer you wait, the weaker the ask. Do not assume it is lost and do not assume it is fine.
Will the sales counselor try to cut me out?
A good one will not, because a registered outside agent makes their job easier. They handle the builder side, you handle your client, and the deal moves. If a community does make that difficult, you have learned something useful about that community before you brought it your next buyer.
When do I actually get paid if the house has not been built yet?
At close of escrow, like any other transaction. The difference is when close happens: a quick move-in home may close in weeks, while a home starting construction may be months out. That timing is your business as much as your buyer’s, so ask for the completion estimate before you write.
Does the buyer pay more for using me?
Builder pricing does not change based on whether a buyer brings an agent. The co-op is part of the builder’s cost of sale. Your client gets representation at no added price to them, which is a straightforward thing to tell them when they ask.
One small next step
You do not have to change brokerages or take a class to add a new-home sale to your year. Start with the inventory.
Send us a message and we will send you what is actually available across the communities we sell this week — plan names, what is finished, what is coming. No meeting and no pitch. Just the list, so the next time a client says they want to look at new construction, you take them instead of losing them.
Thinking about where new construction fits in your business long term? That is what Join NEXT is about. And if you want to see how the new-home side works day to day, start with the NEXT New Homes agent page.