The Fall Parade of Homes opens September 11 and runs through October 4, and for the next few weekends a lot of our clients will spend Saturday afternoons walking through model homes across the North Metro and the St. Croix Valley.
We love those tours. But we’ve also sat across the table from enough buyers after the tour to know that the questions that decide whether new construction works out well are almost never the questions people ask inside the model home. Nobody gets burned by the backsplash.
Here’s what we’d want you to understand before you fall in love with a floor plan.
The Price Gap Between New and Existing Homes Has Nearly Closed — With a Caveat
This is the genuinely surprising number of 2026. Nationally, the median price of a new single-family home in the first quarter was $403,200, slightly below the $404,600 median for an existing home — the fourth consecutive quarter that existing homes have out-priced new ones, according to NAHB’s analysis published in May 2026.
That’s a real reversal. But it does not mean a comparable new home costs less than a comparable resale. The gap closed largely because builders shifted production toward smaller, lower-priced homes while resale sellers trimmed asking prices. You’re not comparing the same house. Different national datasets that control for size still show new construction carrying a meaningful premium.
The practical takeaway is narrower and more useful: the entry point into new construction is lower than it was two years ago, and builders are working harder for your business. That’s worth something. It isn’t a free lunch.
Locally, here’s the backdrop as of this writing. In July 2026, the Twin Cities metro posted a median sales price of $408,000, up 3.3% year over year, with inventory at 11,586 homes and months supply at 3.0 — the most balanced the market has been in about a decade (Minneapolis Area REALTORS®, NorthstarMLS). The 30-year fixed mortgage rate averaged 6.66% for the week of August 27, 2026, per Freddie Mac.
More resale inventory means new construction has to compete. Which brings us to incentives.
Builder Incentives Are Real — Read How They’re Paid For
Roughly two-thirds of builders nationally are using incentives, most commonly mortgage rate buydowns, to keep contracts moving. A 2-1 buydown — a rate cut two points in year one, one point in year two, full rate in year three — is the most common structure you’ll see advertised.
Two things to check every single time:
- The incentive is usually tied to the builder’s affiliated lender. That’s legal and normal. It also means you should still price the loan with an outside lender and compare the full cost, not just the year-one payment.
- A buydown is temporary. Your payment in year three is the real payment. If the year-three number doesn’t work on your budget, the buydown isn’t solving your problem — it’s postponing it.
Incentives are often more negotiable on standing inventory (a finished spec home the builder is carrying) than on a home you’re starting from dirt.
The Model Home Is Not the Base Price
The home you toured has been merchandised to sell. Between the advertised base price and the number on your closing statement, expect to add:
- Lot premium. Walkout lots, pond or wooded sight lines, and cul-de-sac positions carry premiums that can run well into five figures.
- Structural options. Bump-outs, an extra stall, a finished lower level, ceiling changes. These are decided at contract, not later.
- Finish selections. The design center is where budgets quietly move.
- Site costs and landscaping. Ask specifically what’s included — sod front and back, or front only? Driveway width? Irrigation?
Ask the sales rep for the as-built price of the exact model you’re standing in. It’s a fair question, and the answer tells you a lot.
The Person at the Model Home Works for the Builder
This is the single most important thing we tell first-time new-construction buyers. The friendly, knowledgeable person at the model home is the builder’s representative. They are working, ethically and properly, in the builder’s interest.
If you want representation on your side of the table, bring your agent — and here’s the part that trips people up: most builders require your agent to be present and registered on your very first visit. Walk in alone on a Saturday, come back with us on Tuesday, and many builders will not recognize the representation. It costs you nothing to have us with you the first time. It can cost you the ability to be represented at all if you don’t.
Ask About the Lot Before You Ask About the Kitchen
Finishes are changeable. Dirt is not. Before you get attached:
- Grading and drainage. Where does water go in a heavy spring melt? Where is your low point?
- What’s platted around you. That tree line behind the lot may be phase three. Ask to see the full development plan, not just the current phase.
- Walkout, lookout, or slab — and what that does to future finished square footage.
- Utilities. In townships around Chisago County and parts of St. Croix County, you may be on well and septic. Ask about perc testing, system type, and long-term maintenance.
A Word on the Wisconsin Side
We hear this constantly: “We’ll build in Hudson because Wisconsin taxes are lower.” It’s worth being precise, because the assumption is half wrong.
Hudson’s effective property tax rate runs around 1.26%, which is actually above the Minnesota statewide average. The genuine Wisconsin advantage for most households is on the income tax side, plus lot availability and land cost in some corridors. That may still add up in your favor — but run it as an actual side-by-side on your own numbers, not as a rule of thumb. We’re happy to build that comparison with you.
Read the Builder Contract Differently
A builder’s purchase agreement is not the Minnesota standard residential purchase agreement you’d sign on a resale. Pay attention to completion-date language and what happens if the date slips, whether earnest money becomes non-refundable at a certain milestone, how allowance overages are billed, and what the warranty covers. Minnesota’s statutory home warranty (Minn. Stat. 327A) sets a baseline of one year on workmanship, two on systems, and ten on major structural — know what your builder adds on top of that, and what the claim process actually looks like.
And yes: get an independent inspection. New does not mean flawless. A pre-drywall inspection and a final walkthrough inspection are among the best few hundred dollars you’ll spend.
Touring This Fall
The Fall Parade of Homes runs September 11 through October 4, Fridays through Sundays, noon to 6 p.m., with the Remodelers Showcase October 2–4. It’s free, it’s the best possible way to compare builders side by side in one weekend, and it’s genuinely fun.
Go tour. Take pictures. Then let’s sit down and talk about which of those builders is right for your budget, your lot, and your timeline.
If you’re considering new construction anywhere from Blaine and Ham Lake out through Lake Elmo, Stillwater, and across into Hudson and New Richmond, we’d like to be with you on that first model home visit. Reach out and we’ll get it on the calendar — and we’ll bring the questions.