You are not just buying a house. You are buying a position inside an unfinished neighborhood, and the sales office has answers to questions you probably are not asking.
Buyers touring a model home ask about the house. Finishes, elevations, lot premiums, incentives, closing timelines. All reasonable.
Almost nobody asks what the neighborhood will look like when the builder leaves. That information exists, the sales agent generally has it, and it is the difference between a good lot and an expensive mistake.
This closes out our series on Richmond land use, alongside how to check what is being built nearby and buying next to undeveloped land.
How many phases are left, and where are they?
Ask for the overall development plan, not the current section map. The recorded plan shows every planned phase, the lot count in each, and the order of construction.
Then locate your lot on it. A lot at the entrance of section one in a nine-section development will have construction traffic passing it for years. A lot in the final section has the shortest disruption and the fewest choices.
Communities like Harpers Mill and Hallsley in Chesterfield have built out over many years and many sections, and the experience of an early buyer differed substantially from that of a late one.
What is going on the lots immediately around mine?
Get specific. Which product line goes on the adjoining lots, at what price point, and in what size range?
Builders frequently mix product within a single community, and the transition between a line of larger single-family homes and a section of townhomes or villas has to happen somewhere. If it happens at your rear property line, you want to know that at contract rather than at framing.
Ask whether any adjoining lot is designated for a model home, a sales trailer or a parking area during construction, and what happens to it afterward.
Who maintains the roads, and has VDOT accepted them?
This is the question with the largest hidden cost, and it is almost never volunteered.
New subdivision streets in Virginia are typically built by the developer to state standards and then accepted into the state secondary system for maintenance. Until acceptance, maintenance falls to the developer or the association. Acceptance requires the streets to meet Virginia Department of Transportation requirements and generally requires a certain level of buildout and occupancy.
Ask directly: are the streets in my section accepted into the state system, and if not, what is the expected timeline and who pays for maintenance in the interim? If the answer is that the roads will remain private permanently, that is a long-term association expense that belongs in your reserve analysis.
When does the HOA transition to homeowners, and what happens to the budget?
While the developer controls the association, the budget frequently reflects a subsidy and a community that is not yet fully built. Assessments at transition commonly rise, sometimes substantially, because the association takes on the real cost of amenities and reserves for the first time.
Ask when transition is expected, how many lots must be sold to trigger it, and whether the current assessment reflects developer support. Then ask for the reserve study if one exists. Our guide to Virginia HOA disclosure packets covers what you are entitled to receive and the window in which you can act on it.
Get the Richmond closing-timeline checklist
New construction runs on a different clock than resale, with different deadlines around financing, walkthroughs and delivery. Our checklist lays out the sequence.
Which amenities are built, and which are promised?
Distinguish delivered from planned, on paper.
A pool in a rendering is not a pool. Ask which amenities are complete, which are under construction, which are permitted but not started, and what contractual obligation exists to build the rest. Amenity delivery is often tied to lot sales thresholds, meaning a slow-selling community gets its clubhouse late or not at all.
This matters most in the communities that market heavily on lifestyle. If you are paying an assessment that assumes a completed amenity package, you should know when you will actually have it.
What are the architectural controls on the remaining lots?
Ask about elevation repetition rules, the anti-monotony provisions, and how many times the same front elevation may appear on a street. Some communities have strict controls and some have none. Builder licensing and complaint history sit with the Board for Contractors at the Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation, which is worth a search before you sign.
Also ask what the builder has reserved the right to change. Development plans are commonly amended, and the right to modify future phases, including density and product type, is often retained. A promise about section seven made verbally in section two is worth very little.
Is the builder building anything else nearby?
If the same builder controls land adjacent to the community, the adjacent land will probably become an extension of it, which is usually fine. If a different builder controls it, the transition will be less coordinated.
Either way, this is the point where the parcel research from our land use checklist pays off. Verify what you are told against the county’s own records at Chesterfield or Henrico rather than the sales office’s site plan, which shows only what the builder wants to show.
In fast-growing areas like Short Pump and Twin Hickory, adjacent parcels change hands and plans often.
Two questions about your own position
Ask what incentives are being offered, and to whom. Builders adjust incentives by section and by inventory position, and a standing offer on a spec home in a nearly finished section can be materially better than the published incentive on a to-be-built.
Then ask what the last three closings in the community sold for, including lot premiums and options. Builders are not obliged to tell you, but recorded sale prices are public, and comparing them against your contract is the only way to know whether your price is in line. Our post on choosing upgrades without overspending covers which options hold value.
Whether you need your own representation for all of this is a fair question, and we answered it honestly in do you need a realtor to buy new construction. If you are browsing, start with new construction homes in the Richmond area.
Frequently asked questions
Will the builder tell me what is going on the lot behind me?
Usually yes, if you ask specifically and ask for it on the recorded development plan rather than the marketing site plan. What they may not volunteer is a retained right to amend future phases, so ask about that separately.
What does it mean if the streets are not accepted by VDOT?
Maintenance responsibility, including paving, has not transferred to the state and sits with the developer or the association in the meantime. Acceptance requires the streets to meet state standards and generally a level of buildout. If the roads are to remain private permanently, expect a long-term association cost.
Why do HOA dues go up after a new community finishes?
Because the developer typically subsidizes the budget while selling, and because the association assumes the full cost of amenities and reserve funding at transition. Ask what triggers transition and whether the current assessment reflects developer support.
Can the builder change the plan for later sections?
Frequently yes. Development plans can be amended, and builders commonly reserve the right to modify future phases, including product type and density. Verbal assurances about unbuilt sections are not enforceable. Get anything that matters in writing.
Is an early-phase lot better or worse than a late-phase lot?
It is a trade. Early buyers get more lot choice and often lower base pricing, but live through years of construction traffic and have the least certainty about what gets built around them. Late buyers get a finished neighborhood, known assessments and the fewest choices.
How do I check whether my contract price is reasonable?
Recorded sale prices are public. Look up the most recent closings in the community through the locality’s assessment records and compare against your contract including lot premium and options. Builders are not required to share this with you.
What happens to the model home lot?
It is typically sold at the end of the sales program, sometimes at a discount reflecting its use, and often with the upgrades left in. Ask when the sales office closes and whether the lot converts to a residence, because until it does you have commercial traffic next door.
Are the promised amenities guaranteed?
Not automatically. Amenity delivery is often tied to lot sale thresholds, so a slower-selling community can see amenities delayed. Ask which are complete, which are permitted, and what contractual obligation exists to finish the remainder.
Touring a new community this week?
We will pull the recorded development plan and the adjoining parcel records before you sit down in the sales office, so you know what they know. See how we work with buyers or call (804) 601-4960.
