New construction- negotiating and taxes

Two questions for anyone who bought a "to be built" house from a builder or anyone familiar with them.

1. Negotiating- what exactly did you negotiate? Most builders don't want to budge on the base price of the house and I understand why. What can you negotiate? Upgrades? Allowances for appliances? Can you ask them to pay X amount towards closing costs? Can you give dollar examples?

2. Taxes- I realize the builders only know the estimated property tax. How much did your taxes increase after the first year? Did you initially check with the town's assessor's office to get an idea of the taxes?

TIA

Re: New construction- negotiating and taxes

My mom just bought a new construction condo in the pre-construction phase. They didn't budge on price even when she offered all cash. She was able to pick out some finishes but no upgrades. Not sure about taxes yet 0 she just closed last week.

Re: New construction- negotiating and taxes

We bought new contraction mid phase. The builder had already ordered the cabinets for the kitchen and bath, installed the tile when we saw the house.
He let me pick out the stain for the wood floors. We upgraded the granite and split the cost. The same for the appliances. In NJ you do not need a fridge to receive the CofO. That is something to consider. Also, the basement wasn't finished.
We ended up paying asking price, but he was doing all the rough framing and plumbing for the basement, including materials and he was too level out the back yard for us.

As far as taxes go. He doesn't know what they will be. We closed on April 13th and just today actually the appraiser for the tax assessor came to figure out what they will be.

We really lucked out with the builder. He was a great person to work with and we really hit it off. My DH mentioned adding crown molding to the family room like the dining and living room and he went ahead and did it for us with no cost. We picked out a few light fixtures and he hung them.

I know he was wary to do certain things that were more of a personal taste because he was worried about the deal falling through, but he still did them. In the long run he ended up liking it thought.

Re: New construction- negotiating and taxes

we bought a new build and should be closing in the next few weeks. we will be the 2nd house in the development of 15 to move in. the builder was great! they don't budge on pricing but the add-on's my hubby was able to negotiate with. my husband brought the workers water & gatorade alot through out the process which helped too ;)
the taxes were quoted around 10k and the house that is already occupied which is about 300sq ft smaller than mine is paying $8700 so they are not too far off with the quotes. we have had a great experience so far & the quality is really good. we got to pick the tile, cabinets, finishes, etc., the leveled the property, seeded the whole thing put in the driveway,e tc