Many Californians who start looking at Las Vegas end up looking at new construction. The master-planned communities in Summerlin, Henderson and the southwest valley are still building, the floor plans are current, and a new home avoids the deferred maintenance that comes with a resale. What surprises California buyers is the paperwork. A builder sale does not run on the standard Nevada purchase agreement, the deposit rules are different, and some of the protections a resale buyer gets do not apply at all.
Jimmy Nguyen is a California real estate attorney and a licensed Nevada real estate broker. He represents buyers on Las Vegas purchases, including new construction, through his brokerage, Vegas VIP Me LLC. This is what he tells California buyers before they tour a model home. Vegas VIP Me’s guide to buying a Las Vegas home from out of state covers the market side of the same decision.
1. Bring your broker on the first visit, not the second
Most Las Vegas builders will only recognize a buyer’s broker who is registered on the buyer’s first visit to the sales office or the first time the buyer signs the guest card. Walk in alone, and many builders will treat you as unrepresented for the rest of the sale. This is builder policy, not Nevada law, and it varies by builder. The safe practice is simple: tell your broker before you tour, and have the broker register you in writing.
2. The builder writes the contract
A resale purchase in Las Vegas usually runs on a standard form that the real estate industry drafted and both sides know. A builder sale runs on the builder’s own purchase agreement, written by the builder’s lawyers for the builder. Before you pay anything, read it for these terms:
- The completion date. Builder contracts usually give the builder wide latitude to move it. Look for how far, for what reasons, and whether you have any right to cancel if it slips.
- Price and substitutions. Whether the price can change before closing, and whether the builder may substitute materials, fixtures or finishes of “equal or better” quality without asking.
- Financing terms. Incentives are often tied to the builder’s affiliated lender. Compare the rate and costs against an outside lender before you accept the incentive.
- Dispute resolution. Many builder contracts require arbitration and limit the remedies available for defects. Know what you are giving up before you sign.
- The warranty. What it covers, for how long, and what it excludes. The builder’s written warranty is separate from any rights Nevada law gives you.
3. Where your earnest money actually goes
Most new homes in Las Vegas are inside a homeowners association, which makes the builder a “declarant” under Nevada’s common-interest community law. For those sales, NRS 116.411(1) requires a deposit on the purchase of a unit to be placed in escrow with a licensed title insurance company, an independent bonded escrow company, or an insured institution, and held until closing, until it is released to the builder because the buyer defaulted, or until it is refunded to the buyer. The statute lets a builder furnish a bond instead of escrowing the deposit (NRS 116.411(3)), so ask which applies to your contract.
The exception is the money that matters most in a new-home purchase. Under NRS 116.411(2), a deposit or advance payment for an additional item, improvement, optional item or alteration may be deposited in escrow or delivered directly to the builder, as the parties contract. Lot premiums and design-center upgrades are usually where that money goes, and builder contracts commonly make it nonrefundable. Before you pay any deposit, ask in writing where each dollar will be held and under what conditions you would get it back.
4. A five-day cancellation right, if you did not inspect the home
When a builder sells a home in a common-interest community, Nevada requires a public offering statement describing the community, the association’s budget and the builder’s warranties. Under NRS 116.4103(1)(i), that statement must say that unless the purchaser or the purchaser’s agent has personally inspected the unit, the purchaser may cancel the contract by written notice until midnight of the fifth calendar day after signing it, and the contract must contain that provision. Whether the right applies to you depends on whether you or your agent inspected the home, so find the provision in your contract and calendar the date.
5. No Seller’s Real Property Disclosure, but soil reports instead
A resale buyer in Nevada receives the Seller’s Real Property Disclosure form. A new-construction buyer usually does not: NRS 113.130(2) exempts the first sale of a residence built by a licensed contractor. Nevada puts a different obligation in its place. Under NRS 113.135, when the builder signs a sales agreement with the first buyer of a home that was not occupied for more than 120 days after construction was substantially completed, the builder must:
- give the buyer copies of NRS 11.202, 11.2055 and 40.600 to 40.695, the statutes that govern construction defect claims;
- tell the buyer about any soil report prepared for the home or its subdivision; and
- if the buyer asks in writing within 5 days after signing, provide those soil reports free within 5 days after the request.
The buyer may then rescind the sales agreement within 20 days after receiving all the reports. That right can be waived, but only in a written document signed by the buyer, so read the builder’s contract for a waiver. The practical rule: send the written request for the soil reports the day you sign.
6. Inspect a new home anyway
New does not mean defect-free. An independent inspection before the drywall goes up, and again before the final walk-through, is the only way to see framing, plumbing and electrical work before it is covered. Some builders restrict outside inspections or require the inspector to carry specific insurance, so negotiate inspection access before you sign, not after. Build your punch list from the inspector’s report, and get the builder’s commitments to fix items in writing.
7. If something goes wrong after closing
Nevada handles construction defect claims through a separate process in NRS 40.600 to 40.695. Before filing suit over a constructional defect, NRS 40.645 generally requires the homeowner to send the contractor a written notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, describing the defects in reasonable detail. There is also an outer time limit: NRS 11.202 bars most construction defect actions brought more than 10 years after substantial completion of the improvement. Keep the builder’s warranty, your inspection reports, photos and every written communication with the builder. A defect claim in Nevada is a question for a Nevada attorney, and Jimmy will say so and help you find one.
8. Check the assessments and the association before you commit
New homes in master-planned communities often carry more than an HOA fee. Special or local improvement district assessments can add a meaningful amount to the monthly cost and appear on the property tax bill, not the HOA statement. Ask for every assessment by name and amount before you sign. Vegas VIP Me’s guides to Summerlin and Henderson explain the HOA and improvement-district checks on those master plans, and the luxury communities guide covers the guard-gated ones.
9. Selling in California to fund the purchase
If the new home is being funded by the sale of a California home, the California sale runs on the C.A.R. contract and California’s disclosure and deposit rules. A builder’s completion date that slips can collide with a California closing date that does not. Build in a cushion, and read Jimmy’s earnest money page before you set your California contingency dates. The relocation checklist walks through the order of the two transactions.