Mtg offer rcv'd!| Prop Rsv'd | ukmonkey (a FTB)'s house buying help thread...

ukmonkey

Ok, so further to my post a few weeks ago, we've been to see a mortgage broker (independant, whole of market, non-fee charging) this morning. He has taken all our details and is going to see what he can do for us.

We may have a problem getting a "more than 100%" mortgage in that my partner is starting a new job on Monday. The broker asked her to check what it says in her new contract about whether she has to serve a probationary period (and more specifically, how it is worded in the contract)...

Hopefully we'll have some good news next week.

Just one question about that, which I stupidly forgot to ask the broker (even though it is a stupidly obvious question); When he comes back and says "I've found you these deals", does this mean those are the ones that we could deffinatley have if we wanted, or would we have to go through the crdit check/application process?




Ok, now my main questions:

We are going to view a house tommorrow morning, it is a new build, and is the last of this type on the development (all the others are out of our price range).

I'm wanting to know what sort of things we should look out for?
What to ask the salesperson?

I've asked their sales office what sort of incentives would be avilable to FTB's, her reply was "the properties are selling very well, so we are not offering any incentives, though we may be willing to give you a 'carpet allowance of £3k'". Should we take this as their word, or should we, if we like the property try and push for more (if so, what sorts of things could we ask for other than the obvious one - 5% deposit paid?!)

Obviously this is all dependant on whether we like it, seeing it for a 2nd time (1st time with your heart, 2nd with your head and all that!), what the mortgage broker tells us etc.


One more thing, we're going for a new property because I've been advised that we're more likely to get offers like 5% deposit paid, legal fees paid, etc etc, but a mate of mine bought his house from a "normal person" (as opposed to a proprty developer) and struck a deal with them where he offered the asking price, and they paid the 5% deposit. Is this unusual?


Oh, another thing, sorry! If, for example we found a house on the market that we wanted, and it was up for £100k (I wish), if we nogotiated the vendor/developer patying the 5% deposit, and we went for a 100% mortgage, would we be borrowing £100k or £95k?

Thanks in advance!

p.s Because it is a new build, do we HAVE to offer what they're asking (£26k-ish) or could we offer less? If so, what would you recommend as a starting point?

lynzpower

youd borrow 95, always borrow the least as mortgage interest is one big stuffer!

one thing I would do having lived in a new build myself is to a) bang on the walls ( some very thin) b) get one of you in one room and another stay put and move about making noise, see what it was like noise wise.

The 2nd thing Id find out about is snagging- how is it done? Do they have a managment company that will be dealing with any service charge issues (its not only flats that have SC) if so how is this managed? Etc. Is the build complete? If not when is it likely to complete etc? What compensation will they give you if its not completed on time etc.

Just a couple of thoughts from me.

ukmonkey

What is "snagging"?!

It is completed AFAIK.

It is a 3 bedroomed mid-town house (I believe it is a mid town house!)

ukmonkey

Thanks for your advice btw lynz.

BobProperty

Snagging is identifying and correcting all the (supposedly) minor points that have been missed, don't work properly, don't match etc. There's always something that's been missed on a project the size of a house. There was a link to a snagging service somewhere on here recently, I think.

rosysparkle

Snagging is where you have to get the blasted builders back, over and over again, to fix all the little things that they should have done and said they would be doing.

I've been in my new build seven months and it's a lovely house, but I'm on first name terms with most of the builders and not because I'm fond of any of them! :rotfl:

ukmonkey

Ok, I understand now what snagging is (I think), but I don't understand lynz' point about snagging?

She says to find out how it is done? Surely I'd do it? Or does she mean finding out about the arrangements for repairing things that "are snagged" (for want of a better phrase...!)??

BobProperty

ukmonkey wrote:

....She says to find out how it is done? Surely I'd do it? Or does she mean finding out about the arrangements for repairing things that "are snagged" (for want of a better phrase...!)??

The original builder may do it. He may have his own snagging team, he may subcontract it out, he may be trying to get the original subcontractors back to do the snagging as part of their contract. It could be useful to know so that you can short circuit the process and get multiple fixes done at the same time.

clairey_em

Hiya,

Congrats on embarking on buying a house, very daunting first time but great fun too!

The house builder who you are buying the house from would do the snagging, you would walk the house with the site manager and with the sales advisor and point out anything you find to be not completed, could be anything like door handles not working properly, poor tiling, poor decoration, wonky kitchen drawer, anything! The site manager will also be picking things out and the sales advisor will be compiling a signed list which will be carried out before you complete. House builders' customer care dept will look after any problems you have for 2 years after completion.

also I would at least try for incentives, some will give more than others, but give it a go, stamp duty and legal fees at least!!

hope that helps a bit

hex2

On a popular development they may not need to offer any incentives, the only time I bought one was on a small development and they just didnt offer them other than buying my house from me. If they offer that kind of deal to people with houses to sell then you may have room for negotiation - they sold our house for £3k less than they paid us for it plus they paid the agent fees. The only exception was to get the first house on the development occupied.

I have also as a first time buyer had the vendor pay the deposit - I offered the asking price but had him pay a 5% cashback on completion, the only way the Halifax would let me do it at the time (ten years ago). I borrowed the deposit from my mother and paid it back when I got the cheque for the 5% on completion. I think now most places will let the vendor pay the deposit. Your advisor will know who does this.

Get someone from your builders to go round with you within a couple days of completion so that you can complete the snagging list together. Easier to do when you have been ina few days and noticed the things that are wrong. Helps if you are not the last property so the builders are still on site, and the sales office so can make a big fuss preferably when someone is viewing the show home.....

Your advisor will simply be telling you which schemes in their opinion you are likely to be accepted by, otherwise you would have had lots of credit searches done in a very short space of time which can do a lot of damage.

Jorgan_2

Check with your broker that the lenders s/he has been looking at will accept a 5% deposit paid by the vendor, not all lenders will.

It isn't uncommon to find a vendor prepared to do this, some agents will tweak the price so that the vendor still gets the figure they want, i.e change the selling price from £100k to £105k so that the vendor still gets £100k. If the agent goes down this route, make sure the property will stack up on valuation.