Buying a new house?

mini

We are viewing a newly built house tomorrow & the builder who built it, any tips of what I should be looking out for & downfalls of a new house?

I am trying to keep a level head & think about all the extra costs, such as flooring throughout, anything else I need to calculate for?

SnowyOwl_2

Hi Mini

I've recently moved into a brand new house, which I bought off plan.

Things that have been driving me potty are:

sockets in not quite the right place - ie in the alcoves in the bedroom beside the chimney breast but which are too far into the corner to allow built in wardrobes to be installed
electric doorbell chime which is stuck right in the middle of the hall wall, getting in the way of any mirror or picture I will ever want to hang
a wall light wire right in the corner, rather than mid way along the wall
the painted woodwork being really shoddily finished, eg around hinges they have consistently missed a bit. Also they only painted the edges of the doorframes which you can see...the bits that you need to crane your neck a bit to see are still bare wood, eg along the top of the door frame, and edges close to walls
my wooden front door only got one slapped on coat of paint. I think they had a work experience kid doing it as all the painting is dreadful - don't want the same people out to fix it, will do it myself!
a gutter pipe doesn't quite reach the drain it's supposed to feed into
my drive is laid with gravel as are all my neighbours' houses, however on a hill these are unstable - mine isn't too bad and I can park there, however next door can't - when she reverses out the pebbles give way and she skids. She should have hard standing to cure this problem, so the drive in effect isn't fit for the purpose it is intended
check that all the doors close properly - the show house's bathroom door was warped - and in my house in one door they have put the hole the latch goes into in the slightly wrong position so that the thing that goes in and out doesn't catch
if there is furniture in the house you're going to look at then look carefully to see if it is real sized or if it is a bit shorter than normal, thus making the rooms look bigger
ascertain if it is brick build or if it's timber frame construction
ensure that there is a guarantee on the house - should be a 10 year one
in the bathroom, if there is a shower over the bath ensure that if you put a shower screen in it doesn't go over the window - if it does then that's a waste of time, need to have the shower moved to the other end
the telephone point is in the hall as I requested, but they put it right in under the stairs along with electric sockets - I can't put a bookcase in there now as these plugs get in the way. Also find out where the telephone points are, so that you can use the internet where you want. Cordless phones are a blessing though, you're not stuck with having them fixed to one spot
if there is a garage ensure it is wide enough for you to actually get your car in and for you to open the doors on each side of your car
if there is a garden find out if it will be top soiled and seeded (mine isn't, nice deep rooted weeds have taken up residence, big sigh!)
double check about privacy/being overlooked from other houses
look at the direction the back garden lies, ie if it's receiving sunshine during the afternoon (should be south or west facing) - if it's in shade (ie north or east facing) then it's not quite as enjoyable during the summer months
find out where the ariel points are and if there will be more than one

Ummmm.....is that enough to be getting on with?

My house came undecorated - if I was going to do it all again I'd get it decorated, curtains up and flooring down before I moved in. As it happened my house was late by five torturous months, then in the end I had 2 days notice that the sale was going to complete - stupid builders just kept me dangling until it suited them to release the keys.

If you decide to purchase keep bullying them to do what you want to the house before paying them.
Good luck - I know I sound a bit negative in this, but it is lovely having a brand new house to live in and be able to have it exactly as I wish without someone else's weird taste all over the place.

Milky_Mocha

Snowy, who were the builders/sellers of your home?

We too bought a house off plan and found numerous things wrong eg

front garden was above the damp course

a switch for the back garden light was in the off position but was actually on so when DH was fixing the light to it it tripped and all lights went off. That was lucky - he could have been electrocuted

some doors didn't close properly, toilets didn't flush properly, keys to some of the windows were missing, radiators didn't work properly, the list was v long but I've forgotten many of them now as it's been two years now. We had to constantly be on their case and the issues dragged and dragged. A neighbour eventually had to get a solicitor to deal with them because it was taking up so much of his time.

Overall though I'd still prefer a new build. I also prefer these particular builds (Matthew Homes) because they sell homes totally undecorated and we had more room to put our stamp on it. We provided our own flooring (bamboo wood), fitted wardrobes, towel rails, toilet-roll holders, etc. Because they did not cover the floors it made access easier as we had spotlights fitted. We also had the garden landscaped from scratch (they did the front garden though).

Other builders a few metres away had sold homes totally done up and the price difference was in my opinion excessively greater. For that price difference one could get some seriously more expensive and tasteful decor plus more - not worth the extra money.

SnowyOwl_2

Hi Milky Mocha

I'm in N.Ireland, and my builders were Lavelle & McAlinden. I wouldn't buy a dog kennel off them now, their customer service was dreadful to the point of non-existant. I had to keep chasing them for everything, and they were difficult and unhelpful - if there was anything I didn't think of they just did their own thing. To say they were somewhat arrogant is an gross understatement.

I like my house but the joy of taking possession of it was completely destroyed by the builders fobbing me off for months and months, and being less than honest about the true situation. Oh I am getting cross just thinking about them...!!

Snowy Owl.

terrierlady

make a list of items that require attention just before completion and get the site agent to sign it, (not the sales negotiator) leave a copy with your solicitor and the day before completion vist your new home and check what is missing or not done, remember homes MUST built to nhbc standard and mass produced is not the same as bespoke.
Contact your solicitor before completion and list any remaining work to be done this will give you a stronger case if any problems occur.
There is nearly always some item that will need attention, take a radio or lamp with you to test ALL plugs to see they are working,
Download a snag list and go around the new home and complete the form
Lots of builders do have their own forms which they ask you to sign prior to completion but if your not happy don't sign, don't be bothered about offending that nice sales negotiator, its your new home and your money ,but as i said before you will not get a bespoke house at mass produced money.

apcorbett

Am finding this thread very useful (but also a bit worrying)... Does anyone have any experience of purchasign a home through Barratt's in particular...

The main questions I have are:

Do the housebuilders have flexibility to add things like additional phone sockets, electrical sockets etc. as the plans show a lack of them (and with modern computers, tvs etc. a double socket is about as useful as a chocolate fireguard)

I notice that the plastering is not covered under the NHBC guarantee - the show home had signs of the plaster shrinking - is there anything that can be done with this??

Thanks for that!

terrierlady

yes ,extras are available at extra cost ie more telephone sockets extra level of tiles in bathroom etc, PLEASE check with the sales negotiator how high the level of tiles will be, some show-homes are extra spec to the normal and could be misleading and somewhere there should be a notice to say this.Maybe the show-home is showing built in wardrobes which are not included , ASK<ASK<ASK< of anything you are not sure of, there will be a specification guide but that may not be clear,
Is there an electric point in the garage?
Always get a copy of the plan showing where your extra sockets will be placed, get the sales negotiator to sign it and date it, just in case the home is past that build stage.
Lots of smaller Developers don't want to know on Mass produced homes, thats how they keep the price down.
Bryant's /Westburys/Persimmon etc have a whole department set up to do the extras customers want.BUT!!!
No walls are moved so dont bother asking for bedroom sizes to be increased etc.
You are buying a Mass produced home at the end of the day and it is being built to the plans shown at the time of Reservation.
Make sure you keep the Sales brochure given and get the sales negotiator to sign and date it for you.
With regard to settlement cracks ie plaster shrinking thats normal good places to spot it are up the staircase and around door frames... no bother as long as you cant get a fifty pence piece in the crack, it will be sorted.