New Home Buying Expertise in Your Corner: Meet Steve Enchin
Your independent specialist for buying new construction homes across Los Angeles County, Orange County, and the Inland Empire—providing the expert representation you need at no cost to you.
A Different Way to Navigate the New Home Market
Buying a new home isn’t like a traditional real estate transaction—it’s a corporate negotiation. When you walk into a builder’s sales office, you’re meeting a team whose primary job is to protect the builder’s profit margins. Without an independent specialist watching your back, you’re essentially negotiating against a multi-billion dollar company alone.
I focus my practice on new construction communities in Los Angeles, Orange County, and the Inland Empire because I saw a recurring problem: buyers were leaving thousands of dollars on the table simply because they didn’t know where the ‘hidden room’ was in the builder’s budget.
My approach is simple: I act as your independent representative from the first tour to the day you get your keys. I don’t just find you a floor plan; I analyze inventory cycles to find opportunities for discounted inventory homes, interest rate buy-downs and closing cost credits that builders don’t advertise. I manage the milestones, ask the hard questions, and ensure your interests are the priority—all while the builder pays my compensation.
My Specialized Expertise Across Southern California
- Inventory Intelligence: Knowing which communities in LA, OC, and the IE are motivated to offer the best terms right now.
- Incentive Negotiation: Securing unadvertised credits for design center upgrades and financial buy-downs.
- Milestone Protection: Watching your back through the build process, inspections, and final walkthroughs.
Watch: The 2026 New Construction Homebuyer’s Guide
How I got here
Before real estate, I spent 20 years as a project and product manager in technology. That background turned out to be more relevant to new construction than I expected. New home purchases are essentially long-running projects with a lot of moving parts: contracts, milestones, contingencies, inspections, lender coordination, design center decisions, builder timelines that shift, and a closing date that depends on a hundred things going right. The skill set I built running tech projects translates directly to managing a build from contract to keys.
I got my real estate license in 2017. Within the first year, I started focusing on new construction specifically, and the reason was simple: I kept meeting new home buyers who didn’t realize they could bring their own agent to the transaction. They’d walk into a builder’s sales office, sit down with the on-site sales rep, and assume that person was looking out for them. They weren’t. The builder’s rep works for the builder. Their job is to sell homes at the builder’s preferred terms — and they’re good at it.
The buyers I met were negotiating against trained sales professionals with no one in their corner. They were leaving money on the table, signing contracts they didn’t fully understand, and accepting builder lender terms that weren’t in their best interest. That gap — between what buyers needed and what they were getting — is what pushed me to specialize.
Why new construction is different
A lot of buyers come to me thinking new construction will work the same way as resale. It doesn’t. The contract is the builder’s contract, written by the builder’s attorneys, and it’s not the standard California Association of Realtors form most agents work with daily. The contingencies are different. The inspection rights are different. The earnest money handling is different. The timeline is different — you’re often signing months before the home is finished, with a closing date that’s a moving target.
The upside is real, though. New construction comes with a 10-year structural warranty, the latest energy efficiency standards, and the option to customize finishes and floor plans during the build. The negotiation also tends to be more professional — you’re negotiating with a corporate sales team, not a homeowner emotionally attached to their property. That removes a lot of the friction that defines resale transactions.
The catch is Mello-Roos and CFDs (Community Facilities Districts), which fund infrastructure in newer master-planned communities and add to your annual property taxes for 20-40 years. Most buyers don’t know to ask about these, and most builder reps don’t volunteer the details. I make sure you understand exactly what your effective tax rate will be — base rate plus Mello-Roos plus HOA — before you commit.
Where I work
In Los Angeles County, I work the active new construction submarkets including FivePoint Valencia (the Newhall Ranch master plan) and its neighborhoods like Mission Village, plus Porter Ranch and Stevenson Ranch.
In Orange County, I cover Irvine — including Great Park, Luna Park, Orchard Hills, and Portola Springs — along with Rancho Mission Viejo and its villages (Sendero, Esencia, Rienda, and the new 55+ village Gavilán Ridge), and The Meadows in Lake Forest. In North and Central OC, I work communities including Pineridge in Fullerton, Towns at Orange, Mason, Tierra Walk, Essex, and Gage.
In the Inland Empire, the new construction communities I’ve helped buyers purchase in include Ontario Ranch, Narra Hills in Fontana, Eastvale Square, Alberhill Ranch in Lake Elsinore, Bedford and Arden at Bedford in Corona, Sycamore Heights in Rancho Cucamonga, Legado at Fleming Ranch in Menifee, and many more.
Builders I’ve worked with
I’ve represented buyers in transactions with most of the major and regional builders active in Southern California: Lennar, Pulte, Taylor Morrison, Richmond American, Meritage Homes, Toll Brothers, DR Horton, KB Home, Shea Homes, Tri Pointe Homes, Century Communities, Woodside Homes, Beazer Homes, Pacific Communities, Olson Homes, Melia Homes, Risewell Homes, Bonanni Development, Trumark Homes, Brandywine Homes, and RC Hobbs. Each builder has its own contract structure, incentive playbook, and lender relationship. Knowing those differences ahead of time is a significant part of what I bring to the transaction.
Credentials
I’m licensed in California (BRE 02051286) and brokered by eXp Realty of California, Inc. I hold the Accredited Buyer’s Representative (ABR) designation from the National Association of Realtors — the industry’s most recognized credential for agents who specialize in representing buyers, with required training in new construction transactions.