New Builds

LB25

We've had an offer on a new build accepted but now the sales lady is trying to use pressure tactics. She's saying that the offer is only open until lunchtime Saturday and so we have to come in on Saturday morning to pay the reservation fee.

What do you think of this? Just a bluff?

mercedes125

That happened with us we went to view a new build mid week then on the saturday the sales lady rang and said that they were knocking £10,000 off only untill sunday we then asked for another £5000 of and they did. Are they going to pay for the solicitors fees etc.

LB25

No, just a 10% discount. They are saying that is an "amazing" deal and I know it is a lot of house for the money but I just think they accepted our offer to easily and I'm worried we could have squeezed a bit more out of them.

mercedes125

LB25 wrote: »

No, just a 10% discount. They are saying that is an "amazing" deal and I know it is a lot of house for the money but I just think they accepted our offer to easily and I'm worried we could have squeezed a bit more out of them.

Just say something like you have worked things out and it is a lttle bit over what we can afford so then just say would they knock another £2,000 off are something if they want to sell im sure they will. We have a good deal really because they are paying our solicitors fees, hips, surveyer, and the house is carpeted, and has the washer dishwasher and fridge freezer.

Richard_Webster

The amount they knock off isn't really the point - the question is how will the property sell compared with others in the area in say 5-10 years time? If with all the reductions it is still £50K more than a similar 20 year old house in the same area then you are being had.

Of course what a lot of builders do is make sure that their houses are not "similar". They build "apartments" (which are meant to be different from flats because they have an en-suite), "link-detached"(2 bed terraces with a garage at the side and a third bedroom in the roof over the garage), and "townhouses" (3 storey terraces usually built now on greenfield/brownfield sites on the edge of towns). They can then invent a price and tell a buyer that they are getting this one for £30K less than Plot1....

zone

They must be desperate to sell if they are saying that to buyers.

ciano125

I wouldnt be pressured into a sale in this market. Tell them you've seen another that you want to go look at and see how they react.

poppysarah

Don't be pressured at all.

They aren't selling like hotcakes at all. There is no deadline. believe me the offer will be open for a lot longer.
they are judging how foolish and guilable you are. If you turn up with money to sign away on saturday they'll have you ...
Go but do a second (or third viewing) - seriously pull the place apart and pick out all the faults with the build, the location, the design, the parking, the council tax banding, the garden etc etc etc
Got a url to share so we can point things out?

Richard_Webster

I agree that in principle people should walk away from new builds. However there is the problem that some people can only buy a new build because they have little money to put down. They haven't been able to save the 20-25% of price needed often these days so can't buy an older house.

Say a couple can afford a £142,500 mortgage, have a 5% deposits plus legal costs etc and in previous times they would have been able to buy a perfectly acceptable older house for £150,000. Now they can't buy that house, but they can buy a new house for £190,000 with one of these builder 25% equity sharing interest free for 10 years loans. This is a trap that has been much discussed on this forum and the dangers are obvious - but what do the couple do? I would warn them that they may get trapped in effective negative equity because the house is not worth anything like £190K, but they feel they have no alternative.