Using Your Own Agent With a Horizon West Builder: What the Contract Says (and Doesn't) (2026)

Checklist: using your own agent with a builder

1. Register before the first visit. Sign a written buyer agreement with your agent, then have your agent register you or come with you the first time you walk into each community’s model or sales office. Builders count an in-person visit to the sales office without your agent as a first visit.
2. Get the builder’s agent policy in writing. Ask whether the builder pays buyer-agent compensation, how much, and what the agent must do to earn it.
3. Compare incentives in writing. Ask for each offer as it applies to your home and lot: the dollar amount, the closing deadline and whether it requires the builder’s lender. Compare the builder’s Loan Estimate with an outside lender’s.
4. Review CDD and HOA before the deposit. Get the HOA disclosure summary, the current dues, any CDD disclosure and the homesite’s tax parcel before you sign or put money down.
5. Read the deposit terms. Check how much is due and when, whether it goes into escrow, and when it becomes non-refundable.
6. Know the timeline. Ask for the estimated completion date and what the contract says if it slips.

What do Horizon West builders require from your agent?

We only list builders whose own websites publish an agent policy. M/I Homes, Toll Brothers and Taylor Morrison all build in Ovation, at Lake Star, Westhaven and Harvest at Ovation, and each posts its rules.

Sources: M/I Homes Orlando agent policy; Toll Brothers agent FAQ; Taylor Morrison agent page; all checked Oct 2, 2026.

M/I Homes says “first visit accompaniment and presence at purchase contract is required to earn commission and/or bonus.” It offers a 60-day protected registration when the agent accompanies the buyer on the first visit, needs to know about any transaction fees at purchase, and requires a Florida license at closing.

Toll Brothers says the agent must complete an electronic registration at the client’s first visit to a specific community. If a Toll sales rep already registered the client on an earlier visit, the agent can’t be paid under the co-op program. Registration is protected for 90 days and can be renewed, and the agent doesn’t have to attend the agreement signing or settlement. Toll says commission amounts vary by community.

Taylor Morrison requires the buyer, the agent and Taylor Morrison to sign its community-specific Real Estate Broker Referral Agreement at the buyer’s first visit, and in all cases before the purchase agreement. A prior sales-office visit, a prior registration at that community, or telling Taylor Morrison you aren’t represented can make a buyer ineligible. Its referral agreement controls over the website’s summary.

What does the builder’s contract say, and what doesn’t it?

The builder writes its own purchase agreement, and the sales team works for the builder. Florida law sets a few things the contract must include. In an HOA community you must get a disclosure summary before you sign, and if you don’t, you can cancel within 3 days of getting it or before closing (s. 720.401, F.S.). A builder must tell you that deposits up to 10% of the price can be held in escrow unless you waive that in writing (s. 501.1375, F.S.). An initial-sale contract in a CDD must disclose the district (s. 190.048, F.S.).

Other things are up to the contract, so read for them: when the deposit becomes non-refundable, how incentives are applied, whether the price includes the lot premium and options, the estimated completion date, and the warranty. Builder incentives change often. On Oct 2, 2026, M/I’s 5.875% rate offer required its own lender, 20% down and a closing by Dec. 31, 2026 (M/I Homes). Our Winter Garden new construction guide covers more of the builder process.

Who pays the buyer’s agent on new construction?

Since Aug. 17, 2024, an agent who is an MLS participant must have a written agreement with you before touring a home, and that agreement states the agent’s compensation. Compensation is not set by law and is fully negotiable, and offers of compensation can’t be posted in the MLS (National Association of REALTORS®). A builder may offer to pay some or all of it under its own program. Ask in writing before you sign the purchase agreement. Our buyer’s agent guide explains the agreement.

How much new construction is selling in Horizon West?

Of 1,524 Horizon West single-family and townhome sales in the 12 months to Oct 2, 2026, 541 were homes built in 2025 or 2026, with a median of $600,000 and 13 days on market. Resales built in 2024 or earlier had a median of $580,000 (Stellar MLS, Oct 2026). Our new construction vs resale guide compares the monthly cost.