You're looking at moving to Boise, Idaho, and Meridian keeps popping up as one of the top areas that you should be checking out. In this video, we're going to be covering all things Meridian, Idaho. I love living here in the Boise area, and Meridian is my top spot for where I like to spend my time. We spend a ton of time here. My daughter goes to a homeschool hybrid program here in Meridian, and we go to church in Meridian. Why Meridian? We have a ton of friends that live here as well, and we do a lot of our shopping in Meridian. If you're looking for somewhere that is very central, Meridian is certainly going to be the top spot for you. We're going to be covering the types of homes you can get in Meridian, the types of shopping that are here, how centrally located it is, and some of the top communities and builders if you're looking for new construction in Meridian, Idaho. My name is Curtis Chism, and I help people just like you make the move here to Idaho. I absolutely love it! If you're looking to make the move to Idaho, just give me a phone call, text, or email, and I'll help you make that smooth move here to Idaho. Location and Accessibility Meridian, Idaho, is so centrally located—it actually means "the center"—and it's located just to the west of Boise, Idaho. We pull up the map here, and you can see Boise and then Meridian. As you can see, it's really right in the heart of everything. You've got Eagle just to the north of it, Kuna to the south, and then out as you head west, Nampa, Caldwell, and Star, Middleton. If you're trying to get to any of these communities, you're going to generally be between 15 to 25 minutes, with 20 minutes being the average.  Living in Meridian A lot of folks that live in Meridian tend not to leave it too much because everything is right there for you. Again, you've got the shopping, schools, churches, parks, and great recreational activities. It's so close to much of the outdoor nature that we all love when we're looking to move here to Idaho. It's a big reason why I moved here—for the outdoor nature. Meridian Neighborhoods I want to give you a quick lay of the land of Meridian so you understand the different parts of Meridian. There really are three distinct areas of Meridian: Central Meridian, North Meridian, and South Meridian. Central Meridian is north of I-84 up to Ustick Road. North Meridian is north of Ustick up to Chinden. Beyond Chinden, you get into Eagle. Then, dropping back south, you've got I-84, the main freeway through here. Essentially, anything south of that is going to be Meridian before you hit Kuna. Shopping in Meridian Some of the top shopping that you've got here in Meridian is The Village. The Village is probably the number one most talked about shopping mall in the Boise, Idaho area. I really love spending time at The Village. There's a great theater here, a water fountain timed to music with cool lights during the winter, Santa, and ice rinks—great for the kids.  Corbin Maxey, a local celebrity from Caldwell, sometimes does shows at The Village with his rescue reptiles or reindeer during winter. There are also great restaurants, such as Sid's Garage, a taco place, and a good coffee shop. The Village has high-end boutique stores like Lululemon, Anthropologie, GAP Factory Outlet, Buckle, Lush, Sephora, and more—all in an outdoor environment.  Dining in Meridian In-N-Out finally came to Idaho, and they chose to go into The Village. It was bonkers when it first opened—people were camped out overnight, waiting in line for eight hours at a time. It has started to calm down finally. Californians, in particular, are super happy that In-N-Out is finally here, and you'll find it in Meridian at The Village. They are building a couple more In-N-Outs, one in Nampa and one in Boise itself. Grocery Shopping in Meridian Not far from The Village, you've got the Boise Co-op, a Whole Foods alternative with all kinds of natural and organic foods. Trader Joe's is also just up the street from The Village. If you're looking to stay within 5-15 minutes of a Trader Joe's, this is a great option. The only other Trader Joe's is in Boise.  Costco in Meridian Costco is in Meridian now, located in the north, almost northwest part of Meridian. If you're living in central or north Meridian, this will be the most convenient Costco for you. If you're more in south Meridian, it might be more convenient to go to the Boise Costco. Comparing Meridian with Other Areas Meridian is far newer than Boise, which has 275,000 people and is an older, more established city. Boise has beautiful Craftsman homes in the North End, with homes around a million dollars plus. Boise also has the Boise Bench with mid-century homes, some renovated with a modern touch. High-end areas in Boise include Harris Ranch and the Warm Springs area. Meridian, on the other hand, has homes generally in the 20-25 year range, although there are older homes too. The village mentioned before helped put Meridian on the map. You'll find homes from the 2010s onwards, with many newer options. Meridian's Established Neighborhoods If you're looking for more established neighborhoods, you'll find a lot of those in Meridian with homes built 10-15+ years ago. These neighborhoods have tree-lined streets with fully grown trees, beautiful in the fall, blossoming in spring, and green in summer. Comparing with Star and Nampa Star is growing rapidly with many newer homes, but not as many established neighborhoods. Nampa and Caldwell have older homes and many new communities. Eagle, Idaho, offers more established neighborhoods with mid-century homes and newer homes, but at higher price points. School System A big selling point for Meridian is its schools, some of the best in the Treasure Valley, in the West Ada School District. On niche.com and greatschools.org, you'll find many A-rated public, charter, and private schools. This is a big reason people move to Meridian, even if it costs more than in Nampa or Caldwell. Population and Traffic With about 130,000 people, Meridian has gotten busier, feeling a bit like Southern California. Eagle Road and Meridian Road are very busy during rush hour. Many Californians live in Meridian, so if you're concerned about "don't California my Idaho" comments, you'll feel safe in Meridian.  Parks and Recreation Meridian has many great parks, such as Settlers Park, Kleiner Park, and Discovery Park, offering tons of recreational activities like baseball, pickleball, football, wide-open grassy fields, playgrounds, splash pads, and fishing ponds. It's easy to access the Boise River, just 5-20 minutes away. The Boise River is a great place to cool off in the summer. Proximity to Mountains You're also not far from the local foothills and mountains, about 1.5 to 2 hours away, reaching Cascade and McCall, a huge attraction for people with cabins or for camping trips. We love camping in Cascade and experiencing outdoor activities in the mountains. Home Prices in Meridian As of early 2024, the median price of homes in Meridian ranges from $550,000 to $590,000. A 2,400 square foot home on a 6,500 to 8,000 square foot lot with four bedrooms averages about $650,000. A 2,000 square foot home on the same size lot averages about $530,000. Smaller homes at 1,700 square feet on a smaller lot with three bedrooms average about $450,000. The average price per square foot is about $264. Comparison with Eagle In Eagle, the median price is pushing a million dollars. You'll find a mix of builders in Meridian, such as Brighton, Pinnacle, Alturas Homes, Tresidio, Berkeley Homes, Toll Brothers, CBH Homes, and Hubble Homes. Top Subdivisions in Meridian Some popular subdivisions in Meridian are SpurWing, with a golf and social club, and homes ranging from multi-million dollar estates to smaller, million-dollar homes. Lochsa Falls, Century Farms in South Meridian, Fairbourne in Northwest Meridian, and the upcoming Prescott Ridge by Hubble Homes are other notable subdivisions. If you're looking to make the move to Idaho, reach out to me via phone, text, or email. We'll set up a Zoom call to find the right neighborhood and home for you. I moved from California and absolutely love it here.

  I made the move to Boise, Idaho, from San Diego, California, and I get asked all the time if I'm actually glad that I made the move here. Do I have any regrets? What are the biggest things that I miss about California? In this video, I'm going to dive into whether or not I'm actually glad that I made the move here and what those biggest things that I miss about California are. If you're thinking about making the move to Idaho, I, a local real estate agent, run one of the top relocation teams here in the Boise, Idaho area, especially helping people move from California to Idaho. If that's you, all you got to do is reach out via phone, text, or email, or you can book an appointment directly on my calendar. We'll sit down, have a consultation, and work out the timeline and the plan for you to make the move here to Idaho. Am I Actually Happy About Moving to Idaho? Well, I think just the fact I'm making this video for you to dissect whether or not I'm happy about Idaho probably indicates to you that yes, I am very, very glad that I made the move to Idaho with my family. A lot of people say, "Hey, why would you move from San Diego? I mean, that's a super conservative city. Why would you ever leave that? Plus, the weather is amazing." Well, I remind them that San Diego was conservative. San Diego is a military town heavily dominated, of course, by Navy bases, etc. However, the entire culture in the military is also moving rather liberal, if you haven't noticed. Very progressive. It's kind of an experimentation for a lot of the liberal policies going on. Not to say that's driving the culture in San Diego, but what is happening is that there are nine city council members on the San Diego City Council, and eight of those nine are Democrats with very liberal policies, including the Democrat mayor. The County Board of Supervisors is three to two Democrats that controlled the policies during 2020 through 2023 when the state of emergency was still in effect in California. So, it certainly has shifted much more liberal even within San Diego, and of course, the entire state of California is just going crazy. Idaho is certainly much more conservative. Of course, there are liberal elements here in Idaho. Boise itself is a blue city, a blue dot in the middle of the red state. It's about 55% Democrat, 45% Republican, so there is some concern among Idahoans that the mayor of Boise wants to basically turn Boise into Portland. A lot of people are trying to prevent that and stop that, but she did just get reelected, so that's a little bit of a concern. However, Boise itself has the more liberal contingent, but the rest of the cities around Boise, around the Treasure Valley, right outside of it, like Meridian, Eagle, and Star, are much more conservative. So, I am certainly happy that I moved here. I just feel a lot more comfortable. I have no problem discussing and debating with people that disagree with me. I've done this my entire life. I'm very even-keeled. I'm easy to get along with, and I'm happy to have meaningful conversations with people. Unfortunately, as we know, that's not usually how it goes, and the government likes to ramrod all kinds of things down our throats back in California. So, I certainly am glad that I made the move here purely for that. Plus, there are just so many other freedoms. You don't feel oppressed like so many people feel like in California. It's so much more free here, and I absolutely love it. What Do I Miss About California? What are the biggest things that I miss about moving from San Diego? Well, certainly a big factor is some of the family that I still have in San Diego: my parents, my sister and her family, and some of my aunts and uncles still live there as well. So, I certainly miss them, but I do still travel back and see them. It's a short flight away. A direct flight, you're in San Diego in less than two hours. Right now, you've got Alaska Airlines and Southwest Airlines that typically have direct flights. Alaska is more consistent; Southwest really just in the summertime. So, you can get back and forth very quickly. I certainly miss my family, but they now come up and visit. I have relatives in North Idaho, so my parents make it a trip to visit us and then visit my dad's sister, my aunt, up in North Idaho. But certainly, the big thing is the weather. You just cannot beat the weather in San Diego. It's relatively dry, although compared to Boise, San Diego feels humid, believe it or not, because it's so dry in Boise, Idaho. But certainly amazing weather. You know, San Diego is 70 and sunny all year round. If you're in Southern California, similar weather. Of course, the more inland you get, the warmer it gets. So, if you're moving from more of an inland area of Southern California or California in general, the weather up here may be somewhat similar to what you're used to. Obviously, inland areas of California get very hot in the summer, 90 to 100 plus degrees. That's going to be like Boise. It is going to be in the '90s most of the summertime, potentially in the low 100s as well, but very, very dry heat because it is high desert in Boise, Idaho. I certainly miss the beach in San Diego. I love going to the beach. In fact, we love going to the bay in San Diego. We have inflatable kayaks. We brought those with us, and we would take those on the bay. They weren't ocean-worthy, but certainly in the bay, we could paddle around. Absolutely beautiful and gorgeous. Yes, I miss those things. I've replaced that with hanging out on the Boise River during the spring, summer, and early fall. You can float on the Boise River. In fact, during the summertime, that is the big activity. You start up at Barber Park, float down the river, it takes about three hours. You can stop, have lunch, eat a snack along the way, whatever it might be, jump in the water to cool off. When you're done, you pay about three bucks for a shuttle to take you back up to your car. The whole process is about five or six hours. Between renting the raft, or if you have your own like we do, then it might be a little bit faster. Plan about that. So, we've replaced the beach with the river. Certainly, there's a lot of great camping in San Diego and in California as well, but there is absolutely amazing camping and outdoor activities here in Idaho that we are transitioning over to and love. We love going up into our local mountains here in the Boise area. From where I live down in Nampa, to get into the mountains, you're looking at about two hours. Now, you can get to other spots closer than that, about an hour, hour and a half away, but the spots that we like to go to so far are really about two, two and a half, to maybe three hours if you're pulling a trailer. We have a camper trailer that we absolutely love camping in. It's this old camper trailer we renovated the interior on, and we love pulling that and going camping. There are a number of lakes around the Boise, Idaho area. Now, you do have Lake Lowell in South Nampa. However, I would not recommend swimming in that. It's kind of a big drainage area for the whole Treasure Valley. Now, we have a number of other lakes around the Boise, Idaho area, including Black Canyon Reservoir in Gem County near Emmett, Lucky Peak Reservoir, and we also have Arrowrock Reservoir, all just a short drive away from the Boise, Idaho area. Much better options for you than Lake Lowell, but great options for fishing, boating, swimming, whatever kind of water recreational activities you want to do. Embracing Freedom in Idaho I would be remiss if I didn't talk about the freedom around the Second Amendment and gun control here. It's so awesome to be able to go into a gun store and simply purchase a handgun with an instant background check and walk out with it. I just recently did that over Christmas time 2023. I went in and wanted to purchase a concealed carry handgun. I'd done my research on it, bought a P365, and I was able to check them out there in the store. I'd already gone to a local shooting range with some friends and shot a number of different concealed carry style weapons and went ahead and purchased this. I was able to walk out with it the same day. No 10-day wait period. Ammo is very easy to get here, a little bit cheaper than what you're going to find in California as well. A lot of my clients that move here are moving here with some pretty big gun stockpiles. It's pretty crazy what I see sometimes. Final Thoughts Those are the big reasons why I made the move here to Idaho. I'm still very happy I made the move here. If you're looking to make the move here to Idaho, all you got to do is reach out to me via phone, text, or email, or you can schedule a call with me on my calendar right down below in my contact information here. We'll jump on a Zoom call and figure out the best timeline and plan for you to make the move here to the Boise, Idaho area. If you're looking to make the move in one to three months, then there are certainly options for you, whether that's resale or new construction homes or spec homes. You can purchase new construction, or if you're looking maybe a year out, two years out, then we can plan for build options with a local builder where we can plan a semi-custom build or maybe even a full custom build for you. \

If you're looking to move to the Boise, Idaho area and you're considering new construction homes, consider this video your master class on everything you need to know about buying a new construction home in the Boise and Treasure Valley area.  My name is Curtis Chism, and I have a master's degree in construction management from the University of Southern California. I used to build high-rises and luxury apartments and condos in downtown San Diego. I also have my general contractor's license back in California, but I moved to Idaho a couple of years ago to find a better life for my family, and we absolutely love it. I love helping people just like you make the move here. I really do specialize in new construction homes. It's been a passion of mine my entire life—building things and then building homes, and now helping people buy new construction homes up here in Idaho. In fact, of the 12 contracts that I have open while recording this video, they're all new construction homes. About 90% of the buyer side of my business is new construction homes, so it's a huge specialty of mine, and I love talking with people about new construction and helping them get into these beautiful new construction homes. So if that's you, we’re going to be covering things like: - The incentives that are available when you're buying new construction homes- Whether or not you can make contingent offers on a home- The accountability that's needed for the builders when you're buying a new construction home here in the Boise, Idaho area Let's get after it right now. Terminology of New Construction Homes To start, let’s cover some terminology of new construction homes so you've got a good baseline of what I’m going to be talking about in this video. Builders are going to refer to two types of options for you with new construction homes, and it's going to be a little confusing because oftentimes they’ll use the phrase "when you build with us." Build Homes vs. Spec Homes Now, if you're buying a new construction home, you might think, "Aren't I building with you no matter what? It's a brand new home; I'm building it." Well, that’s not the case. When they refer to a build home or build project, or "when you build with us," they're referring to the process of you actually going and selecting the lot that you want, the model home that you want with the right floor plan, the structural options, the finishes, and then that goes into the city and you build a semi-custom home with them. That process takes a while—typically 6 to 9 months. Quick Move-In or Spec Homes Now, you're thinking, "What's the other option?" Of course, there are quick move-in homes, spec homes, or move-in ready homes. These are homes that are either on the market right now, ready to buy and move into within the next 30 days, or they might be under construction and are four, five, or six months from completion. Sometimes they’re not even under construction yet but are still considered a quick move-in home and might be 8 to 9 months out. With these quick move-in or spec homes, there are basically no customizations allowed. The builder has already pre-selected everything about that home: the types of garages, maybe an RV garage, the types of finishes in the home (quartz vs. granite), the type of flooring, and you really do not get a say. With the build homes, you get to select almost everything in that home. Benefits of New Construction Homes vs. Resale Homes Now, why would you want to buy a new construction home versus a resale home? I like to compare buying a new construction home to buying a new car, but there are some benefits with it. Value and Longevity When you buy a new car, as soon as you drive it off the lot, it depreciates 25%. New homes do not do that; they hold their value. You have a brand new home that no one has lived in before, just like that new car. With a new construction home, you know exactly what that history is because you're the first one owning that home. With a brand new home, you also get brand new systems like your HVAC system, AC, furnace, roof, flooring—everything is brand new. You're not worried about it breaking down in 5 to 10 years or less with a resale home. You’ve got some good longevity out of all those things—probably a good 15 to 20 plus years before you have to replace them, assuming you maintain them correctly. Modern Layouts and Energy Efficiency With brand new homes, you also get the most energy-efficient homes on the market and the most modern layouts with the most modern finishes. Even homes built 15 to 20 years ago might have finishes that were really popular at that time, like the Tuscan feel with lots of travertine. While that looks great, it’s starting to get a little dated versus the more modern white quartz that a lot of people are choosing now. Community and Warranties The interesting thing about new construction communities here in Idaho is that you get a wide mix of people living here. You have local Idahoans buying new construction homes, but you also have a lot of folks from out of state, like myself, living in these new construction communities. I bought a brand new home when I moved to Idaho, and my immediate neighbors surrounding me all came from other states as well. It’s actually really cool to move into a brand new community and not feel like an outsider because you're new to the area—everyone else is new to the area too. Warranties Another reason to buy new construction homes are the warranties that come with them. You're going to get a one-year standard building warranty with pretty much any of the builders that will cover almost anything that can go wrong with the home, except cosmetic finishes like if you bang a wall. Any of the main systems will be covered under that. Some builders will also offer an extended warranty on structural options, potentially 5 to 10 years, and major systems like your roofing, AC, and furnace might carry a longer warranty—anywhere between 5 to 20 years. The Process of Buying a New Construction Home Now, let's talk about the process of buying a new construction home. This section will refer to the build process where you are selecting the lot and building a semi-custom home with the builder. A spec home will be a condensed version of this. Selecting the Lot When you purchase a brand new construction home, you are contracting with a builder here in Idaho. You get to select your lot from the lots that have been released. Some things to keep in mind when selecting a lot: popular lots here are homes with a driveway facing south, as the sun helps melt off any snow, or a driveway facing west for the same reason. These orientations also provide better shade in your backyard. Probably the worst lot to have is one with a driveway facing north because that snow and ice in the winter take a long time to melt off. Selecting the Model and Structural Options Once you've selected your lot, you also get to select the model you want, the floor plan, and typically your structural options upfront. These options include choosing between a two-car or three-car garage, a flex room, an office or an extra bedroom, a formal dining room, or converting it into a bedroom, and more. These are your structural options. Showroom Appointment and Finalizing the Contract Once your structural options have been selected, we contract with a purchase price. Then you will schedule a showroom appointment and actually come to Idaho to see everything in person. During this appointment, you will select all your finishes in the home. While you can do this virtually, I recommend seeing everything in person to better understand the colors, textures, and feel. Finalizing and Starting Construction After your showroom appointment and finalizing the contract price, including any lot premiums, the builder can draw up the final plans and submit them to the city. This upfront process of design and city permitting typically takes about two to three months. Once that is complete, you're ready to start construction, and the fun part really begins. Understanding the Construction Timeline Now, this next part is basically about four to six months, so that's how we arrive at generally about six on the low end to about nine months total construction time for a new build project. Now, with most builders, not all, but you're typically going to have a preconstruction meeting before you actually dig on the home, just to make sure that they've got all the structural options in the right place, the floor plan looks good, you give the green light, and then they start digging, usually the next day. Initial Stages of Construction Once the digging process is underway, things can happen fast. They'll dig, they'll pour the foundations, and then all of a sudden, boom, the house is framed, and things are progressing really rapidly. Things kind of slow down because there's a lot of progress right up front, and things just visually change slower as the plumbing, electrical, and HVAC goes in.  Pre-Drywall Meeting Before we hit the drywall stage, right after all the in-wall roughing is done, the electrical, plumbing, and HVAC systems, we typically have a pre-drywall meeting. That is actually on-site, in the home, walking through the home, checking everything, making sure that all the electrical is in the right place and everything looks good before they actually button up the walls and drywall. Again, that can be done virtually. Most of my clients end up doing it virtually, but you can also be here on-site and do it in person. Final Stages and Inspections After the drywall stage, that is really your last opportunity to do any sort of pre-inspection on the home. They rock and roll, and then as we head towards the finish line, usually about two weeks or so before closing, I highly recommend doing a third-party inspection. It does cost a few hundred bucks, depending on the home, usually between $400 to $550, depending on how big the home is, how many bedrooms it has, but that is where accountability really comes in.  New Homeowners Orientation Typically, the builders are going to fix all those things prior to the New Homeowners Orientation. The New Homeowners Orientation is going to be done right before closing, usually within three to five days. This is essentially your final walkthrough, verifying any repairs that you requested were made and walking through how your home operates, all the major systems of the home, and the warranties that are included with the home. After the New Homeowners Orientation, we're going to sign off on everything. You're going to go to the closing table, either here in Idaho at the title escrow company or, if you're still not here in your other state, then you're going to do a mobile notary, sign all the loan paperwork if you're buying with a loan. If you're buying cash, there's not much to do. You just have to sign everything over a DocuSign, typically digitally, and then the home is yours, and you get the keys. Quick Move-In Homes With a quick move-in home, a lot of this is condensed. You basically have an opportunity to do a third-party inspection, we'll do that New Homeowners Orientation, you'll sign your paperwork, and you get your keys. Much more condensed process, but a lot fewer choices as well. Financial Considerations Next, we're going to talk about some of the financials around buying a home and what to expect so you're not disappointed. I've had a number of times where people get into buying the home and then they realize some issues around contingencies that just don't quite work. Expected Financial Requirements Let's talk quickly about what to expect as far as the money that you're going to need to come into buying a new home with the builders. Generally speaking, you're going to be coming in, if you're buying a quick move-in or spec home, typically somewhere between 1% of the purchase price to 4% of the purchase price. Let's just say you're buying a $600,000 home; 1% is going to be about $6,000, 3% is going to be $18,000. Now, if you're building, so you're actually selecting your lot and the home and going through the nine-month process, usually you're going to be required to come in with more money, typically around 10% non-refundable. So again, if you're buying a $600,000 to $700,000 home, you're looking around $60,000 to $70,000. Additional Financial Requirements for Upgrades Also, they are going to require for any upgrades you make in the showroom, you're going to have to come in with a percentage of that. That could range from anywhere from 10% to 50% of the upgrades you make. So, if you make $100,000 in upgrades, you could be coming in with an additional $10,000 to $50,000 of the upgrade selections that you made. Promissory Notes and Earnest Money Deposits There are a couple of builders around here that also tack on a promissory note. What this means is they're going to have your deposit somewhere between 4% to 10% that you have to come in with, and then they're going to tack a promissory note on there as well. So, if you back out of the contract, they have the legal right to come after you for an additional percentage. And what I've seen typically is another 6%. One builder here requires a 4% earnest money deposit with a 6% promissory note. Another one requires 10% with a 6% promissory note, so you're on the hook for 16% plus any showroom upgrades that you make.  Non-Refundable Deposits Here's the big kicker with all these builders: typically, these are going to be non-refundable deposits. So, if you back out on the home for any reason, you're pretty much losing that deposit. Occasionally, they will allow financing contingencies, appraisal contingencies, but oftentimes with the builders, you just don't get that opportunity. You're really committed when you're going in on this. Contingent Offers Essentially, no builder allows contingent offers on the sale of a primary residence. So, if you're coming here and you're saying, "Hey, I'm going to buy cash with the proceeds of my home back in, say, California," most likely you're not going to be able to make a contingent offer. So, if you're unable to sell that home, you're on the hook to buy that home, and you're going to lose that earnest money deposit. Builders' Policies on Funds and Pre-Approval Some builders will still allow you to contract on the home and build over that nine-month process. They understand that you have to sell your home. It's not contingent, but they'll give you that time frame to sell your home and either have your down payment or your full cash purchase come from the sale of the home. Other builders will not allow that at all. They want to see that you have full funds or pre-approval for the full amount of that home. I've run into this a couple of times with folks with different builders where they get really frustrated by that process because they're planning to buy cash. They don't want to go through the whole approval process for a loan, but the builder has to see the money in a bank account. Now, it might be in your savings, your checking, or an investment account before they will allow you to contract on the home. So, just be aware that contingent offers are not really a thing on new construction homes here in Idaho. Builder Accountability and Quality Now, we're coming up on incentives that you can get here with builders here in Idaho, but I want to talk about accountability and what to expect when working with the builders here in Idaho. Now, we have a lot of quality builders here. They are building good homes. There are better builders, and there are not as good builders. You can go online and see all kinds of reviews about all these builders. Some are going to have horrible reviews, and some are going to have really good reviews.  Importance of Representation You have to keep in mind that a lot of people, when they are leaving reviews online, are usually doing it because there's enough of a drive to do that, and it's usually because they're frustrated. So, you're going to get probably the worst reviews in a lot of builders here. Take some of that with a grain of salt. Reach out to me; we can talk through what I think are some of the better quality builders depending on your budget. There are more budget-friendly builders here and certainly higher-end, more luxury builders. So, there's a wide range of builders that we can discuss. But no matter what, you want to make sure you have representation through an agent like myself who has experience in the construction trades, with contracts, and with working with the builders here in Idaho. Because you do not save any money by trying to go direct through a builder, and you will be frustrated through the whole process.  Builder Contracts and Customer Service I have had people reach out to me as they're midway through working with a builder on their contracts wanting me to represent them, but it's too late because the builders will not allow an outside party to come in and represent you once you've made contact with that builder. You have to know these builder contracts and what is in them. Some of the builders have their own contracts you have to sign; they don't use the standard Idaho contracts. Even if they do use the standard Idaho contracts, they likely have their own addendum or rider on there where you have to sign off that basically supersedes the main Idaho contract. Some of these builders actually pay their builder reps their commissions upfront. So, what happens there is, if you're an agent, you're a builder rep, and you're given your commission, what are you incentivized to do? You're incentivized to make that sale as fast as possible, --- By following this guide, you'll be well-prepared to embark on the exciting journey of buying a new construction home in the Boise and Treasure Valley area.