Builders decide it by their own published policy. Some require your agent to be identified at your first contact with the community, and one major builder also requires the agent to accompany the initial visit. Separately, what your agent can collect is set by your written agreement with your agent.
There is a moment in a new construction purchase that decides whether your agent can be paid on it, and almost nobody knows it is happening while it happens. It is the first contact with the builder.
This article is only about that moment and the paperwork around it. It is not a comparison of new construction against resale, and it is not an argument that you need an agent. It is what the builders themselves publish, quoted from their own pages, plus what the required paperwork has to contain.
Written by Saleh Ihmoud, REALTOR®. Missouri license #2025005964, sponsored by Elevate Realty, 16141 Swingley Ridge Rd #201, Chesterfield, MO 63017. Illinois license #475.218785, sponsored by Elevate Illinois Realty, 6 Ginger Creek Village Drive, Suite A, Glen Carbon, IL 62034. Equal Housing Opportunity. This article is general education. It is not legal, tax, lending or insurance advice, and it is not a recommendation of any loan product. Talk to a licensed lender about financing and an attorney about contract terms.
Who pays your agent when you buy new construction?
Builders decide it by their own written policy, and those policies are published. Some of them require your agent to be identified at your very first contact with the community, and at least one major builder also requires the agent to accompany the buyer on the initial visit, including a self-guided or virtual one. Separately, what your agent can collect is set by your written agreement with your agent.
Those are two different documents, written by different people for different reasons, and the order you meet them in is what causes the trouble.
The person at the model home works for the builder
The individual who greets you at a model home is a sales representative for the builder. That is not a criticism and it is not a comment on their character. Many of them are excellent at their job and know their product far better than any outside agent does. It is a statement about who employs them and whose homes they are there to sell.
What that means for any particular visit depends on things a website cannot see: whether that person is licensed, what disclosures they are required to give you and when, and what has already been signed. Those are worth asking about directly rather than assuming in either direction.
What the builders themselves publish
Builders decide, by their own published policy, when a cooperating agent has to be identified in order to be paid on your purchase. These are not laws. They are the builder's own terms, they differ from builder to builder, and they change without notice.
Two builders publish theirs. Quoted from their own pages:
| Builder | What the page says |
|---|---|
| McBride Homes, a St. Louis area builder | "To participate in our real estate agent referral program, agents need to formally register a buyer prior to the buyer's first contact with McBride Homes." The page also states: "You must pre-register the buyer prior to their first contact with McBride Homes," and that "the buyer cannot have had any contact with any McBride representative or community prior to this registration." Registration runs through a Cooperating Agent Registration Form, and "Cooperating Agent Registration Forms are valid for 90 days or sooner if an updated Cooperating Agent Registration Form is required." The page also states: "Both broker and agent must be licensed, active, and registered in the state of Missouri." |
| Lennar, national, policy page published May 31, 2024 | The page lists five conditions that must all be met: "(i) Lennar must be offering a commission in the community; (ii) buyer must identify and register Broker on buyer's first interaction with a Lennar employee; (iii) Broker must accompany buyer on buyer's initial visit to the community, whether in person, self-guided, or virtual (if applicable) (iv) buyer and Lennar must execute a Purchase and Sale Agreement for a home within the applicable community within 60 days of the date of buyer's identification and registration of Broker (as may be extended pursuant to Lennar's Broker Participation Policy) and otherwise meet any timing requirements noted above; and (v) Broker and Lennar must execute Lennar's standard Cooperating Broker Agreement (available upon request), which makes the payment of a commission subject to certain terms and conditions, including Lennar's Broker Participation Policy and closing of the home." The paragraph closes with "Offer valid only in states where permitted." The same page states that "Broker co-op commissions and bonus opportunities vary by community." |
Three things in those two policies are worth reading twice.
First, the trigger is contact, not a signature. McBride's wording is "first contact." Lennar's is "first interaction with a Lennar employee." Neither is describing a tour with a salesperson and a handshake. A phone call is contact. So is a form filled in on the builder's website at eleven at night.
Second, Lennar's condition (iii) is an accompaniment requirement, not a notice requirement. It asks that the broker be with the buyer on the initial visit, and it names self-guided and virtual visits alongside in-person ones. Telling your agent in advance does not, on its face, satisfy a requirement written that way. That is a different and higher bar than registration, and only one of the two policies here has it.
Third, and this is the one almost nobody mentions, Lennar's condition (i) comes before all the others. The builder has to be offering a commission in that community at all, and the same page says co-op commissions vary by community. A buyer can satisfy every registration and accompaniment rule and still find there was nothing on offer in that neighborhood. So registration and compensation are two separate questions, and under a policy written that way the compensation one comes first. Whether a builder is offering cooperating broker compensation in a specific community, and what their registration policy says, are both things a sales office can tell you.
Fourth, both policies carry state limits. McBride's page states that both broker and agent must be licensed, active and registered in Missouri. Lennar's paragraph ends with the offer being valid only in states where permitted. In a metro that crosses a state line, which state an agent is licensed in is a condition inside these policies, not a side detail.
One more thing to keep straight: these policies are terms between the builder and the broker. You are not a party to them. That is worth knowing before you rely on one.
What the written agreement with your own agent has to contain
Whatever a builder does or does not offer, what your agent can collect is set by your agreement with your agent.
Missouri puts part of this in statute. RSMo 339.780.3, the section as posted showing an effective date of August 28, 2025, reads in full: "Before engaging in any acts enumerated in section 339.010, except ministerial acts defined in section 339.710, a designated broker acting as a single agent for a buyer or tenant shall enter into a written agency agreement with the buyer or tenant. The agreement shall include a licensee's duties and responsibilities specified in section 339.740 and the terms of compensation."
Note the second sentence. Under that section the terms of compensation belong in the agreement itself, as a matter of Missouri statute.
The National Association of REALTORS practice changes add required contents on top of that. NAR's own guidance, published May 31, 2024, states: "As of August 17, 2024, an MLS Participant 'working with' a buyer is required to enter into a written agreement with the buyer prior to touring a home, including both in-person and live virtual tours."
The guidance lists five required contents. Four of them bear directly on a new construction purchase. The agreement must "Specify and conspicuously disclose the amount or rate of any compensation the MLS Participant will receive from any source, or how this amount will be determined." It must "Include a statement that MLS Participants may not receive compensation from any source that exceeds the amount or rate agreed to with the buyer." It must "Disclose in conspicuous language that broker commissions are not set by law and are fully negotiable." And, in the guidance's own words:
"The amount of compensation must be objectively ascertainable and may not be open-ended (e.g., 'buyer broker compensation shall be whatever amount the seller is offering to the buyer')."
That last one is the one written for exactly this situation. Builder co-op varies by community and is not knowable in advance, so "whatever the builder pays" is the natural thing to want to write into an agreement. It is the formulation the guidance gives as its own example of what is not allowed. So on new construction, how an agreement handles a compensation amount that is not knowable in advance is a live question rather than boilerplate, and any agent should be able to walk through how theirs handles it.
One scoping note. NAR describes the trigger for this rule in its settlement FAQs as follows: "The practice change requiring written agreements with buyers is triggered by two conditions: it only applies to MLS Participants 'working with' buyers and is triggered by 'touring a home.'" Builder communities may never appear in an MLS. How a specific brokerage applies the rule in that situation is a question for that brokerage, and asking yours is reasonable.
Where new construction actually is in this metro
New construction is not spread evenly across the St. Louis area. The Census Bureau's Building Permits Survey publishes, by county and by year, both the number of buildings authorized by building permits and the number of housing units inside them. Those are two different figures, and the gap between them is worth seeing.
| County | State | Buildings authorized | Housing units authorized |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. Charles County | Missouri | 1,324 | 1,661 |
| St. Louis County | Missouri | 503 | 957 |
| St. Clair County | Illinois | 349 | 463 |
| Madison County | Illinois | 349 | 435 |
Read that table for what it counts and nothing more. A permit is authorization to build, not a finished home, and these are 2025 annual totals rather than current inventory. The two columns differ because one building can hold more than one home: in St. Charles County in 2025, 1,270 of the 1,324 buildings authorized were single-unit buildings, and the other 54 buildings accounted for 391 of the units.
A note on where this number usually comes from, because anyone checking it is likely to meet the same trap. The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis republishes this survey as its BPPRIV county series, and those series are titled as structures while carrying the Census unit counts. A figure labeled structures in that database is the units column here. The figures above are taken from the Census file itself, where buildings and units are counted separately.
On either measure St. Charles County leads this table. It authorized more housing units than any other single county here, about 90 percent of the other three combined (1,661 against 1,855), and more buildings than the other three combined (1,324 against 1,201). Where permitting is concentrated is one input into where new construction inventory tends to be, alongside price band, product type and what is actually available when you look.
The builder's contract is not the contract you have been reading about
A resale purchase in this market runs on standard REALTOR association contract forms, which are revised periodically. A new construction purchase generally runs on the builder's own contract instead.
That difference is easy to underrate. General advice you have read about earnest money, inspection periods, appraisals, closing cost credits or walk-away rights was very likely written about the resale forms. It does not travel automatically onto a builder's paper. The builder's contract may treat any of those subjects differently, or not address them at all.
Reading a builder's contract and telling you what its terms would mean for your situation is legal work, and it belongs to a real estate attorney. What an agent can do is make sure you have the contract and its addenda in hand with enough time to have them reviewed.
Three questions that belong to somebody other than your agent
Part of doing this job honestly is being clear about where a real estate licence stops. On a new construction purchase it stops in at least three places.
| The question | Who answers it | What an agent can do |
|---|---|---|
| The builder is offering an incentive if I use their affiliated lender. Is that a good deal for me? | A licensed lender. There are also federal rules governing affiliated business arrangements, and a lender or an attorney can point you to them | Tell you the offer exists, make sure you know you are free to compare, and make sure the incentive terms are in writing |
| What does the builder's warranty actually cover, and what am I giving up by accepting it? | A real estate attorney | Get you the warranty document early enough for it to be reviewed before you are committed |
| How will this purchase affect my taxes? | A CPA or tax professional | Nothing. This one is entirely outside a real estate licence |
If anyone answers those three for you with confidence and no caveat, that is worth noticing.
What to sort out before your first visit
Circumstances differ enough here that a general article cannot tell you what to do, and it would not be honest to try. What it can do is show you the questions, so that whoever you talk to next is answering the right ones.
| If your situation looks like this | What tends to be on the table | The question worth settling first |
|---|---|---|
| You have not visited or contacted any builder yet | The full range of options is still open, including registration where a builder offers it | Which communities are on your list, and what each one's published policy actually says |
| You have already toured a community, or filled in a form on a builder's site | Policies differ on whether a later registration is accepted. Some address it, some do not | What that specific builder says about it, in writing rather than at the desk |
| You have signed a buyer agreement and are now looking at new construction | What that agreement already says about compensation, and about properties not listed in an MLS | What the compensation term does if a builder offers nothing, and who pays in that case |
| You are considering going without an agent | Whether the builder's price changes with no cooperating agent involved, and who reviews the contract | Whether any discount is documented in writing rather than described |
| You are shopping on both sides of the river | Two states, two licensing regimes, and separate representation questions in each | Whether your agent is licensed in both Missouri and Illinois, because many are licensed in only one |
One disclosure, because you should be able to weigh it. I am a real estate agent, and an article that raises questions about representation is written by someone who benefits from representing you. That is a reason to check the sources yourself. The builder policies quoted above are published on the builders' own sites and you can read them without me.
Here is what a general article genuinely cannot do. Every row in that table changes meaning depending on what you have already signed, which communities you have already contacted, and what is actually being offered where you are looking. Those interact, and the combinations are specific to you.
That part takes a conversation, and that part is my job. When I sit down with someone, I am hearing their actual circumstances first, and only then working out what I would recommend for them specifically, as their adviser. Nothing on a web page can do that, including this page.
If you want to work through where you stand before you visit anything, start a conversation with me. No obligation and no pressure. If you are already registered somewhere and the right next step is finishing that conversation with the builder, I will tell you that.
More on what representation involves generally is on my working with a buyer's agent page. The comparison between building and buying existing is on new construction vs. resale, the full sequence is in the home buying process, and if you want the calendar rather than the paperwork, I wrote about how long it takes to buy a home in St. Louis.
Builder policies were read on the builders' own pages on September 8, 2026 and builders change these without notice, so confirm the current policy with the builder before relying on it. The Missouri statutory text was fetched from revisor.mo.gov on September 8, 2026. The NAR guidance quoted was published May 31, 2024 and the practice change took effect August 17, 2024. Permit figures are 2025 annual totals from the U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey county annual file, read September 12, 2026. Rules, policies and market conditions change, so check the linked sources before relying on any of this.
Frequently asked questions
Does the builder pay my real estate agent on a new construction home?
It depends on the builder, and builders publish this as written policy. McBride Homes states that agents need to formally register a buyer prior to the buyer's first contact with McBride Homes. Lennar lists five conditions that must all be met, and the first is that Lennar must be offering a commission in the community at all, with the same page noting that broker co-op commissions and bonus opportunities vary by community. Both policies also carry state limits: McBride states that both broker and agent must be licensed, active, and registered in the state of Missouri, and Lennar's paragraph ends by saying the offer is valid only in states where permitted. Two builders are not a survey, so read the policy of the specific builder you are visiting rather than assuming any of this carries across.
What happens if I contact a builder before my agent has registered me?
That depends entirely on the builder's policy, which is why it is worth reading before you go. McBride Homes states that you must pre-register the buyer prior to their first contact with McBride Homes, and that the buyer cannot have had any contact with any McBride representative or community prior to that registration. Note what counts as contact under wording like that. A phone call is contact, and so is a form filled in on the builder's website. It does not stop you from hiring an agent. It can change who pays for one.
Can I register my agent after I have already contacted a builder?
That is a question for that specific builder, and the answer is better had in writing than verbally, because the written policy is the document that governs when the file reaches accounting. The two policies quoted in this article do not address late registration the same way, and neither one is a rule that applies to any other builder.
Does the sales representative at the model home work for me?
That person represents the builder, not the buyer. They are there to sell the builder's homes, which is a statement about who they work for rather than about how good they are at the job, and many of them know the product far better than an outside agent does. Whether a particular representative is a builder employee or a licensee, and what disclosures they owe a visitor, varies. Those are fair things to ask about directly at the sales desk.
What does my written agreement with my agent have to say about compensation?
More than most buyers expect. Under RSMo 339.780.3, effective August 28, 2025, a written buyer agency agreement in Missouri shall include the licensee duties specified in section 339.740 and the terms of compensation. The NAR practice changes add that the amount must be objectively ascertainable and may not be open-ended, and the guidance gives its own example of what is not allowed: buyer broker compensation shall be whatever amount the seller is offering to the buyer. That matters on new construction, because builder co-op varies by community and is not knowable in advance, so how an agreement handles an amount that cannot be known yet is a live question rather than boilerplate.