Thanks for all the feedback. Very informative. What about writing a postal letter to the CEO of D.R.Horton expressing my desires and their loss of a sale? Would that cause some action to move this sale forward?

Secondly, how can the Broker have so much say when turning away money? Doesn't he have to answer to someone? This is all new to me, but it seems one in the hand is worth two in the bush. I can appreciate a builder constructing a custom home and upon completion the buyer's loan (or some other problem) falls short of the mark and he is stuck with a custom, but this is not the case here. I want their home (same as model which is not for sale) on a certain lot. Why not charge me more for the lot to begin with vs. simply saying no we won't build there yet?

This just doesn't make good business sense when I am willing to write and sign a non-refundable contract on a 1/3 purchase price down payment. No wonder some of these corporation size builders are having trouble. It is not all caused by the market place.

Have they given you any reason?

Michael hit most of the normal reasons below. (Good job there Michael!)

Builders do things for a lot of reasons of their own, and never tell anyone why. On my own house the lot was 2 inches too narrow for a 3 car garage, I know everyone at the city and could easily have received a variance, but the builder would not even ask. I told them I would do all the work and pay for everything. No dice. In the end they lost $6500 of price in the house we had built (for the extra 1/2 car garage) and we ended up with a 2 1/2 car garage and a 19' 10" side yard.. min setback was 15' and extra garage was 5'.

I think you should take Michaels advice and check back very regurlarly to find out when they will be releasing it. If it is right behind the Models, it may be the part they intend to build last. Could be for exposure, signage, anticipated higher price, more premium lot, they plan on buildin the next phase models there, or whatever.

Good luck.

Sorry about not enough information. I want to have D R Horton build me one of their homes on the lot I picked. It is located directly behind their 4 models and the last lot on a cul-da-sac. There are 4 lots next to the one I want making for a total of 5 lots on this one side of the street. The other side of the street is already built and has spec homes for sale.

If I am willing to put 1/3 down of the build price to commence construction, 1/3 at framing inspection and the final third at closing, why or why won't the Broker sell me one of his homes?

Thanks!

There could be many reasons, you didn't give enough info.
1. They have contractual time frames for completion, many 2 years, and they don't think they will be at that part of the project in the required time frame. And no you can't wave the time frame off, it may be a atate requirement.
2. They don't actually own the lot you want as of yet. Many builders have deals with developers that they are paid on at closing, and the developer and builder have a structured release date, by actual closings.
3.The infastructure isn't in to that part of the development.
4. The lot you want is not in the next "block" to be released. They aren't going to build one home and then let it sit alone for 2 years until they actually start that block/section.
5. Price. What happens if they sell it to you now for, a base price of $100k and in 2 years, it's worth $200k and lumber has doubled, etc. How do they build your house without a giant loss.
6. Price. What happens if they sell it to you now for, a base price of $100k and in 2 years, it's worth $50k and lumber has went down, etc. You would be asking for a price reduction.
7. They have price structures based on quantity sold with developer, example, if they sell 20 annually, the price is $40k each and if they sell more then 20 the price increases to $50k for the remaining lots.
There are many reasons, I could keep going. It could be one of these or it could be a hundred other reasons. Simply though, they can't sell it to you. Believe me, if they could they would and it's not because they don't want your money. If you really like the lot, keep tabs on it and don't just wait for them to call you to say it's available, as the person who keeps you updated may not always work there. Just give a call every month or two, until they say they are close to a release date. You never know, in the time it takes to be released, you may find a better lot/home, for a better price someplace else. As they say, Good things come to those who wait. Good Luck.

Well, right now builders are loosing money building new homes. They have a lot of other reasons why as well such as not having the manpower or materials possibly.