buying a house that has been part exchanged house for another house?

karie

hello all

my boyfriend and I have recently viewed a house which the owners have part exchanged for a new build house on a development currently under construction.

the house is on the market for £169,995 - it is being sold by the house builder (David Wilson Homes), rather than the people who are living in it (their sale has already gone through and they have signed papers for their new house).

we have a couple of questions:
- if the house is on the market for £169,995, is there any rule of thumb to use which would suggest how much the developer bought the house off the people for?
- any ideas as to what sort of offer a developer would be open to, i.e. do they mind taking a low price in order to get rid of a house such as this?
- the new build house the people are going to move into won't be ready until nearly Christmas. we have no chain and would be looking for a quick sale so this isn't ideal for us. do you think that the developer would move the people into rental accommodation to facilitate a quick sale?
- if we couldnt move into the house until after Christmas, how long in advance of that should we look to exchange on the house? I am considering whether it would be better to exchange closer to the completion date in case the new build development gets delayed, and therefore also (i know not very ethical!) we could consider pulling out of the sale if house prices drop significantly between now and Christmas.

any advice welcome!!

samroo

If David Wilson are the owners of the house then surely they can sell to you now notwithstanding the timeframe for the completion of the new build. Reading your post it seems that they are not actually yet the owners but have agreed in principal to buy the property upon the sale of the new build.

karie

hi samroo,

thanks for your reply. perhaps you're right, but the people who are currently living in it said that their move-in date to the new build is in December, and I don't see how David Wilson Homes would leave them homeless for a couple of months between our completion and their completion on the new build!
I don't know exactly what agreement is in place but the current occupiers gave us the impression that their sale (and purchase of the new build) had completely gone through...

struggling-breadwinner

I don't know any advice to offer re - when the property changes hands

Howver as a insight I had friends who purchased a house which was a part ex for new build and it was on with the builder at £265k and they offered £230k and got it. When they got the deeds or papers it seemed the builder had paid £280k. I think it depends on what part ex stock they have to clear as to how flexible they will be on price although my guess is more flexible than a private seller!

karie

thanks breadwinner! that is an interesting insight. we were considering asking the occupier what the builder bought it from them for but it seems a bit cheeky!!

struggling-breadwinner

it might be too soon to appear on Zoopla or similar yet if the transaction has just gone through.

karie

Anyone else with some advice or ideas? xx

ciano125

We've just completed on a part ex'd house last month. Bloor Homes had "owned" the house for a year (check nethouseprices) and they paid £155k for it. Obviously they have a fair amount of profit to play with from the sale of the new house, in the end we got it for £115k and I got them to pay £1,000 towards our legal fees (which came to £950 so we got a cheque for £50 back as well!).

At the end of the day they had had the house for a long time and it wasnt shifting so I went in at £106k, then £110k and had decided that £115k was fine. It's all a bit of psychology, everyone wants to think that they've got a good deal. If I'd gone in at £115k I doubt they would have just accepted that. We completed within 4 weeks as well.

Floxxie

When we sold our house to Redrow, they put the house on the market for the price they paid us and actually made a loss when it was sold but they had of course made a profit on the house we bought from them.

My friend has just done the same with another company and they also did the same thing and made quite a loss on the asking price when they agreed a sale.

Georgie4

When you sell your house to a builder as a part exchange , you only (generally) get what estate agents value it as being worth for a quick sale. As a result you usually get less than you would havegot on the openmarket. The plusside to this for the person doing the part ex is that you stay in the house until the day your new one is ready whenever that may be and new housecompletion dates change like the wind !! I cannot see any way in which a builder would ask them to move out - in fact David Wilson will not have completed on the house until the sellers complete on their new one so they do not even own it yet. When Ipart ex'd mine in this way the buyers had the completion date changed 3 times because that is what suited me and I was the buyer of the new build so it was me the builder needed to keep happy:rotfl:

mumoftwins

karie wrote: »

hello all

my boyfriend and I have recently viewed a house which the owners have part exchanged for a new build house on a development currently under construction.

the house is on the market for £169,995 - it is being sold by the house builder (David Wilson Homes), rather than the people who are living in it (their sale has already gone through and they have signed papers for their new house).

we have a couple of questions:
- if the house is on the market for £169,995, is there any rule of thumb to use which would suggest how much the developer bought the house off the people for? That will be between the Vendors of the house and DWH and not for common knowledge
- any ideas as to what sort of offer a developer would be open to, i.e. do they mind taking a low price in order to get rid of a house such as this? Make a realistic offer and DWH will more than likely accept it.
- the new build house the people are going to move into won't be ready until nearly Christmas. we have no chain and would be looking for a quick sale so this isn't ideal for us. do you think that the developer would move the people into rental accommodation to facilitate a quick sale? No developer will move purchasers into rented accomodation, so you will have to wait for completion on the New Build which, I am sure, will be just before Christmas as it is DWH half year end.
- if we couldnt move into the house until after Christmas, how long in advance of that should we look to exchange on the house? I am considering whether it would be better to exchange closer to the completion date in case the new build development gets delayed, and therefore also (i know not very ethical!) we could consider pulling out of the sale if house prices drop significantly between now and Christmas. It is not up to you to decide the exchange date, you will be asked to exchange contracts within 28 days like a purchaser of a New Build.

any advice welcome!!

I used to work for several developers including David Wilson Homes, so I hope my answers help you to make the right decision for yourselves.