new build and the ever growing extras list

leesimpkin

i guys, need some advice.
i have recently (3 months ago) negotiated to buy a new 4 bed det in derbyshire from a good (if there is one) national house builder Morris Homes.
price at the time was 269,950 we liked the plot so i set about negotiating with the sales team for a price. they couldnt budge on the price but after serious bartering we came down to same price with stamp duty paid (£85000 ish) carpets included (£3000 ish) thought wed got an ok deal (weve since had a fall in house prices thou) so gave £500 deposit.
my question is this, the extra's that the house builder is now asking if we want gives me no negotiating powers what so ever, stupid thing like silver sockets instead of white will cost over £1000, having to upgrade from white cooker to silver will cost over £500, it just keeps going and going.
met up with site agent today to be told i need to pay for a fence between my property and next doors and i think this is a step too far (they want over £300 for a 7ft fence!)
i have made a threat of pulling out from the sale, ok i know ill lose the £500 deposit but the sales agent basically said i didnt ask for any of the extras at the time of negotiating with, i feel really cheesed off, my wife thinks that we should just pay up, i came here to seek help, what you do? theres a possible chance that if we pull out and renogotiate a deal we might still get our desired plot but my wife doesnt want to risk it, for me it is a matter of principle, im sorry for woffling, i could do with some sound advice.

TTMCMschine

House builders are in dire straights & are struggling to survive, so the last thing they should be doing is alienating their customers that they do have. If I were you I'd say it as plain & simple as that & that I wanted the silver sockets, cooker, fence, & anything else you care to throw in, PLUS a discount on the price or you're pulling out. Tell them you'd rather lose £500 now than several £tens of thousands in 12 months time.

That should give you some bargaining power, because although they might not budge on the price if ypou've already signed, they will probably throw in the extras rather than lose a sale.

Personally I would walk away & then revisit in 6-12 months time - you'll probably get all of the extras & a big discount as well.

arealbasketcase

Stick to your guns,they will probably try to convince you that you can't change things now but you most definitely can. We bought a new house years ago (the last time builders were struggling), we were the end of the chain, everyone beneath us kept chipping away at our price and we desperately wanted to complete. Every time someone asked for a change we went back to the builder, McLean Homes, and every time they added something to our extras list.

all the carpets
curtains
landscaping
I can't remember what else.

The day before exchange/completion (it was ONE of THOSE deals were the two ended up being planned for the same day), the first people in the chain tried to get the price reduced on the house they were buying, it came all the way up the ladder to us, we rang our builder and their sales agent dropped the whole kit and caboodle, honestly can't remember how much but it was enough to scupper the deal we just couldn't have afforded it.

Stay firm if you can, it's a buyers market, the builder and their sales staff will know that better than any of us.#

Good luck