KAPPA -- New-home construction has slowed, but buyers who are able to jump in now are getting some great deals. Just ask Joe Bianco.

He and his wife, Carol, described as an "HGTV addict," wanted a truly custom-built home, finding the glut of existing homes lacking in features or too pricey. They did their homework, he said, and got their lot in the Wolf Run development in Kappa, listed at $95,000, for $57,000.

Working with builder Bloomington-based Stelle Homes, Carol essentially designed the Cape Cod-style house herself, complete with a "man-cave basement." They moved in in March, and Bianco said the couple will save thousands a in property taxes by avoiding a Twin City subdivision.

They sold all their old furniture to the young couple that bought their former house in Downs, then were "shocked" at the low prices for new stuff, Bianco said. To top it off, the Biancos planned to refinance this week -- from a 5.2 percent mortgage rate to an even lower 4.7 percent.

"(Existing homes) didn't have everything I wanted, and I knew I could build exactly what I wanted," he said.

The Biancos are what home-builders describe as a new breed of informed and aggressive new-home buyers.

As builders work on more custom builds and fewer specs, finding the best way to communicate with buyers -- do they prefer e-mail to calls? -- is key, said Marty Trunk, owner of Trunk Bay Construction, Bloomington.

"It's like inviting a third person on a date," he said. "On our side, we're used to doing things a certain way, and every time you have a presold, you have to figure out what a new client likes."

Buyers' aggressiveness has extended to price, though some warn the Twin Cities -- where the average price of a new home rose 4 percent from 2006 to 2009 -- did not see the same bubble in pricing like hard-hit Florida.

"Here, they're not finding those deals, because they're already being built and sold at a reasonable cost," said Todd Isaacson, president of Isaacson Concrete and Excavating.

Even with plenty of cheaper, existing homes on the market, low interest rates and the promise of fewer repair costs later keep new homes attractive, said Ed Larsen, an agent with Coldwell Banker Heart of America in Bloomington, who lists new construction.

"If you're gonna buy, now's the time," he said.

As for what may motivate on-the-fence buyers, he said incremental increases in interest rates may do it.

"People should buy as much house as they're comfortable with," he said.