How early can I sell a new build house?

If construction is not complete, then you need to see the terms of the agreement of purchase and sale. Most builders don't allow people to assign the purchase of the soon to be built new property but it can be allowed if you speak to the builder and explain the situation. I'm sure you may need to provide evidence and something can always be worked out.

I've worked for a number of builders and though I've never encountered a situation like yours, most builders that I'm aware of will not allow you to sell a home before you close on it. This is a detached home right? If it's a condo, some builders will allow to you to assign your "deal" to another buyer - for a fee.

In your case, there's no harm in trying, but I'd expect them to be resistant to do anything and you having to get a lawyer involved, which still may not accomplish anything. The deposit could also be lost, or if they are really nice - ask you to pay a hefty fee for them allowing you out of the deal.

Either way, please follow-up here as I'm interested to hear their response.

Thanks for your replies. We went to the sales office today, and the lady said we for sure cannot change the names / sell the house until after the closing date (postponed to march 2012 from october). She said to call our lawyer,tell him the whole story, ask him to call the builder's lawyer and see if the builder will make any exception for us. I guess if we are lucky they will let us assign it to a new buyer, and the RE agent that was supposed to sell the old house can now represent the new build? I will update as I get more info..going to talk to lawyer this week. They are in a horrible situation and I'm trying to help as much as I can as they are immigrants and don't speak perfect english..and my aunt is literally doing worse than my uncle who is going thru chemo. *sigh*

You need to keep two things in mind:
A. you can not sell something you do not own, since the house has not closed as of yet, you can not sell it
B. when you try to sell a house in the new sub division, you are in a way competeing with the builder, and they do not like that
So, for those reasons you will have a tough time doing what you are trying to do.
The best option would be to go through with the purchase and take out a open 6 month mortgage for closing, once you have posession then you can flip and sell the new house.
I just hope you can afford and qualify to carry both mortgages, otherwise you may have an issue come closing time.
One last thing, if you do not qualify for the second mortgage, at that time you may be able to work out a deal with the builder to transfer the contract to anther buyer, most likely for a fee, and they simply take it over and pay you your deposit and you get to walk away with minimum loss in the process.
Good luck

Have you spoken with your lawyer?

If it's a hot seller's market, then it's possible that the developer will let you out since it can re-sell it at the same and perhaps even a higher price than the price at which your aunt and uncle bought it.

If it's not a seller's market, you will likely be stuck, or the developer might "compromise" and settle for the losses it incurs if it can't sell for a price that is at least the same as the price at which it sold the house to your aunt and uncle.

The compromise is that they can get out, but at a cost of ensuring that the developer isn't any worse off financially than if you they had gone through with the deal.

Most builders won't let you out because selling that home again can be difficult. Say it's Model A. It's on lot 4. That model has probably been sited with the powers that be for that site. Since the OPs relative bought the house, others have probably purchased lots and homes around Lot 4. This means that the only house that can go on lot 4 is probably Model A anyway. In the brick color that the original purchasers chose.

Municipalities have very strict rules on colors and models. i.e. no two houses the same color or model within 2 houses, or across the street from each other. No more than X models in any 10 consecutive houses. The list goes on.

People that buy later in a new home project often have little to no choice as to what they get. New home purchasers usually want to have their choice on what model and brick color. Not someone elses. Residential resale is a different animal.

I've seen where a purchaser defaulted on deposits and the builder took back the house. The salespeople then had to sell it again but had to be as the original purchaser chose. No variation. It was the last house in the development to sell and the builder had to be more flexible on price as a result. Yes, he got more than the original purchaser paid, but he had to pay taxes and other fees for the house while it sat vacant. Not to mention, he's still tied to a site that he had hoped to have been done with and moved on - well before the house finally sold.

The only pluses were that by then, the house had already been built so purchasers could see what they were buying, as opposed to a plan and artists concepts and a fast closing was not only possible, but desirable.

You may not be able to sell the house YET, but you can always sign an agreement with another party to sell the house to them on the closing date, for the exact same price you are buying it for. Your purchase agreement with the builder is just a contract and after the closing the contract is done, and the builder can't say you can or can't do anything else, you own the house. The builder can't stop you from shopping the house around to other people and signing your own agreement to sell to them after your closing date - it's just another contract. Of course this will cost you a bunch of lawyer fees, but if the subdivision is popular and prices have risen, it may not cost you a dime since you could re-sell your house for less than the new builds but still higher than your initial price, to pay for the fees.

Something to consider if you will be getting rid of the property as soon as it is built, you will need to add on the New Housing Rebate to your agreed upon purchase price. It is usually included in the builder's price as they assume you will be purchasing the property to live in as your principal residence, or as the principal residence of one of your relatives.

If you are able to find someone privately who wants to purchase the property, you may be able to work with a lawyer so that you are signing all the documents with the builder but the funds are coming from the new purchaser. You will then transfer the property immediately after the purchase from the builder into the new purchaser's name. However, this may be risky to do.