Selling new construction is not the same as selling a resale, yet most real estate agents are only trained for the latter. According to Bill Gaul, CEO of Builders Update and chair of the RESO Data Dictionary New Construction Subcommittee, the differences are fundamental and require a distinct skill set that is rarely taught.
In a resale, an agent typically shows a buyer multiple homes until one fits. New construction, however, presents a single community with multiple floor plans at various stages of completion, from finished models to homes not yet built. Gaul explains, "You go to a community, and there are twenty homes for sale, maybe three model A’s, six model B’s, eight model C’s." An agent who treats this like a resale, showing options in ascending order and gauging the buyer's reactions, is working against the format.
The stronger approach, Gaul argues, reverses the resale habit. Instead of saving the best option for last, a new construction specialist identifies the closest match and presents it early. This requires homework before the buyer even appears. Agents should visit every builder in their market to learn price points, construction quality, community demographics, and selling points, enabling them to match a buyer quickly. It also means distinguishing what a buyer needs from what they say they want.
"Understand what they need, not only what they want, then deliver the product that best matches their needs first," Gaul says. Homes shown after the best fit tend to meet fewer criteria, which can leave a buyer fatigued rather than closer to a decision.
New construction also introduces a party that resales do not: the on-site sales counselor, who has detailed knowledge of the builder's product. The agent's role is not to compete with that expertise but to bring the buyer to the right community and provide the trust the buyer does not yet have with the on-site team. At its best, Gaul says, the agent, buyer, and on-site counselor work as allies toward the right home, sometimes one that has not been built yet.
To address the training gap, Builders Update has created a course specific to new construction. It consists of six self-paced modules, each about thirty minutes long. The first module is free; the remaining five cost $149, or $129 for agents affiliated with participating MLS organizations. Agents who complete it receive a certificate designating them as a new home specialist, and Gaul indicates a more advanced tier is planned for those who have closed a set number of new construction sales.
The platform reserves its detailed listing information for licensed agents, part of what Gaul describes as an agent-centric model. "We consider our information privileged, and we only make it available to licensed real estate agents," he says. As new construction grows as a share of available inventory in many markets, the case for training agents to handle it, he argues, only gets stronger.
