New Construction - Sell Purchase Rights?

[Aaron Ru]

Hi All:

I tried to search for similar threads, but haven't come across anything so wanted to start a new thread to discuss.

Situation:

My wife and I put down a construction deposit of ~$50K for a new build in a small development here in the greater SLC area. We went through the design process, picking countertops, light fixtures, etc. and finalized the contract in early February. We got a pretty good deal for the area, and each new phase builders in the area release tend to go up $30-50K in base price before custom options. 

The builder came back to us recently and said although they had initially expected a delivery date of December, it would be pushed out to March and potentially even further given delays in lumber, concrete, getting framers, etc. Our contract stipulates they must deliver within 12 months OR we can get our deposit back (less any custom options we chose, which for us amount to ~$70K). They also offered to refund our construction deposit fully today...but we only have a week to take this option. Given we have no real recourse if the builder fails to deliver other than getting our money back (although our deposit is less than the custom options), we now have 3 options:

1. Take our money back now

2. Wait for the house to finish and move in

3. Keep searching for a house while this one builds

We'd like to avoid #1 as we believe appreciation has already occured as prices continue to skyrocket in the area. #2 isn't ideal given we'd like to move in somewhere by EoY. 

What I'd like to ask the Bigger Pockets crowd about is a potential option for #3 - has anyone seen or done a re-sale of a not yet completed new construction? I believe that by early next year when we have better line of sight to completion, property values will have continued to appreciate in the area. If we've found or moved into another home by then, I'd like to ideally sell this house before officially closing on it (avoiding dual transaction fees on purchase/sale). Worst case, we'll likely have enough liquidity where I could buy 1 house to live in during this buildout, and then close and sell this new construction afterwards, but wanted to see if anyone had any thoughts on a more creative structure.