Buying New Construction at The Reserve at Tequesta: An 11-Step Walkthrough

Buying new construction at The Reserve at Tequesta is a different process than making an offer on a resale home, and knowing the sequence before you start saves you from feeling like you're playing catch-up at every step. Here's the process laid out in order.

Step 1: Tour both plans before you fall for one.

With only the Centreville and Greenville to choose from, this is a short list—but see both in person rather than deciding from photos or a floor plan PDF. The roughly 100 square feet separating them reads differently in person than it does on a spec sheet, and most buyers who tour both come away with a clearer preference than they expected to have going in.

Step 2: Understand what's included versus what's an upgrade

Impact windows, a metal roof, 8-foot first-floor doors, and a 2-car garage come standard on every home. Cabinetry, countertops, and interior finishes are selected by the buyer during the build. Ask specifically what's in the base price versus what pushes the number up before you get attached to a specific quick-move-in home's finish package, since a model home or a staged quick-move-in unit is often showing upgraded selections, not the base package.

Step 3: Get real numbers, not listing-site numbers.

DiVosta's own site listed Centreville homes starting from $809,990 and Greenville homes from $834,990 as of this writing—but pricing on any new-construction community shifts as homesites sell and incentives change. Treat any number you see online, including this one, as a starting point for a conversation, not a quote. Third-party listing aggregators in particular can lag the builder's actual current pricing by weeks or months.

Step 4: Ask about the no-CDD, yes-HOA situation directly.

There's no CDD fee at The Reserve at Tequesta, which DiVosta confirms on its own site. An HOA does apply. Get the current monthly HOA figure, what it covers, and whether it's expected to change once the community is fully built out—HOA dues in a new community sometimes shift once the developer subsidies phase out and the association takes over full funding responsibility.

Step 5: Understand the warranty before you're under contract, not after.

DiVosta's 1, 2, 5, and 10-year warranty structure is worth understanding in detail—particularly the 5-year water infiltration tier, which is longer than what many builders offer for that specific coverage. Ask for the warranty booklet in writing and read the exclusions section closely, not just the headline coverage years.

Step 6: Line up financing before you need it.

New-construction timelines run on the builder's schedule, not yours, and having a mortgage pre-approval in hand before you're picking a homesite keeps you from losing a preferred lot to a buyer who moved faster on paperwork. Builders in a community this size often move through remaining inventory on a tighter timeline than a large master-planned community, so financing delays cost more here than they might elsewhere.

Step 7: Walk the site, not just the model.

If homes are under construction, ask whether you can see a comparable unit at the same stage as the one you're considering. A finished model shows you the design—it doesn't show you what your actual home site looks or sounds like relative to the street, the amenities, or a neighboring unit under construction nearby.

Step 8: Plan for the closing and move-in process

Ask the sales team what to expect at closing—what walk-through inspections happen beforehand, when keys are handed over relative to closing, and what the first 30 days of homeowner-warranty registration and orientation typically look like. New-construction closings have their own rhythm, and knowing what's normal versus what's a red flag helps going in.

Step 9: Ask to see the homesite map before you commit to a lot

DiVosta, like most builders, releases a homesite map showing lot positions relative to the amenities, the street, and neighboring units. Reviewing it before you pick—rather than after—helps you avoid ending up next to a shared wall you didn't realize you'd have or further from the pool than you expected. In a 69-home community, the map is short enough to actually study in one sitting rather than skim.

Step 10: Understand the design-selection timeline

If you're buying a home that's not yet built, there's typically a window during which you select cabinetry, countertops, and interior finishes before those choices get locked in for construction. Ask how long that window is and what happens if you need more time to decide—design-center appointments on a tight construction schedule can feel rushed if you haven't budgeted enough time to make finish selections you'll be living with for years.

Step 11: Compare against what else is available nearby.

Before committing, it's worth knowing what a similar new-construction townhome costs a few miles away. Water Pointe in Jupiter, for comparison, starts well above $1.1 million for a similarly sized townhome, largely due to its direct Intracoastal location—a useful data point for understanding what The Reserve at Tequesta's pricing actually reflects and whether the trade-off between location and price works for your situation specifically.

A realistic timeline expectation

New-construction buyers sometimes underestimate how long the full process takes from first tour to keys in hand, especially for a home still under construction rather than a quick move-in unit. Build times vary by how far along a specific home is when you go under contract, and Florida's permitting and inspection process adds its own timeline on top of construction itself. Ask for a realistic estimate tied to your specific situation rather than a general industry average, since a quick move-in home and a to-be-built home are genuinely different purchases with different timelines.

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