The builders are always much more aggressive in pricing nad always will be. They have the margin to do so and most important they are unattached emotionally to the home and unencumbered financially. This fact will never ever change. I also agree that the MR and HOA fees are a big turnoff. Not to mention the possibility of a new private transfer tax that I posted about earlier. The builders make money no matter what. Resellers pretty much do not get it until it is to late.
Regarding the sales prices I absolutely believe those to be true. The current incentives at most 4s Ranch releases are identical across the board, 20k incentives IF AND ONLY IF you use the in house lender. People don’t believe that you can trade off the incentives for cash or reduced purchase price it does not happen. I am not saying you can’t try to negotiate the price down, I am saying that incentives do not mark down the sales price. There is not even close to a dollar for dollar value on incentives.
As much as most people posting don’t want to believe it, the builders will always scale back, slow down phasing, and price enough to sell. I do believe it will slow down in the summer and fall like last year.