NEW BUILD - what to offer?

mercman_3

We are looking at a new build that is on the market for £295k

I assume it would be the norm to still barter with the selling agents even if it is a new build

House prices for established properties are around the £275k mark in the area, so thought I might submit an offer of £275k :cool:

Do you think this is a good offer, or is it not the done thing to make offers on new builds?


Regards

Pete

MissMotivation

mercman wrote:

We are looking at a new build that is on the market for £295k

I assume it would be the norm to still barter with the selling agents even if it is a new build

House prices for established properties are around the £275k mark in the area, so thought I might submit an offer of £275k :cool:

Do you think this is a good offer, or is it not the done thing to make offers on new builds?


Regards

Pete

Difficult to advise on, depends on what price the other properties on the development have sold for and if they are selling quickly.

IME negotiating lower prices with new builds is often more difficult so you may struggle.

mercman_3

The site only has 2 houses being built on it.....idealy would like to get in quick (still at footings level) and make a few changes to the layout...nothing major, just create a master dressing room instead of 5th bedroom!

I dont supose there is any harm in asking anyway

Cheers

Pete

Doozergirl

There's no harm in asking at all

I'd say it would be easier if it were a larger development, but if you're looking to get it for £275,000, I'd start lower. Otherwise, £275,000 wouldn't be a bad starting point to try and secure the deal at around the £285/6 mark.

You have to be prepared to play hardball though as the developer will know how to hang out for the best price from you. Patience is the key - wait days between offers and make them small increments. Don't be afraid to ask for their bottom price after you've made one or two offers and then try to tie it up, but knock them down a bit on what they say!

nrsql

Depends what situation the developer is in.
They may want to get the properties sold as quickly as possible in which case will be happy to do a deal (a lot less than 275k maybe) or they might be happy to wait.

Don't just offer a price - ask them what their best price would be be for a deal now - then offer less than that.
At some point you will have to bring up the alterations you want - this should probably be late in the negotitions - as in "well that's more than I want to pay - how about if we lose one of the bedrooms in favour of a dressing room - could you bring the price down further?".

samspam

This is a tricky one if it a small independent builder only building 2 houses.

The best time to get the best deal is actually when the house is near completion and not at foundation level as the builder still has a few months to sell it.

You can't really compare second hand properties with new build though. New build prices are over inflated as you pay a so called 'premium' for being able to move straight in and not have to do any work. Kinda like buying a new car!

So long as you are in a proceedable position I would still put in an offer. Not sure you will get a 20k discount though.

I guess it depends on how quickly they want rid of them.

lilyann1

I would definitely offer lower. New Builds are always highly inflated as you are getting all nice new things in them. When we bought ours we were told they would not take an offer as they were taking our flat in part exchange.
I don't know if you'll get 20k off but it's starting point.

itsakidsworld

Approach the builder and ask him outright what he would take for an early sale?

If I were building and you approached me I would be prepared to negotiate. Why?

1. If I have bank money then I want to borrow as little as possible and by reducing my price for an early sale I obtain two objectives in a- less costs and b- an early sale.

2. Whilst building I will be looking at other sites for more build. Once I have started the build then this is when I will be most active in searching for other plots as all my homework on this site is complete.

However, if the builder has no borrowing and is rolling his cash to help his tax bill then he will be in no hurry to sell and so will not negotiate on a price at this stage!!!

But if you don't ask you will never know so go and ask!!!!

Dead_Eye_Jones

expect to pay a premium for a new build. Also expect to not be able to sell it on at that premium - you wont be able to compete with the real new builds just going up when you sell on. If you are planning a short term move you could well lose out, your house will instantly fall to the 275k of the established houses.

This was notable when we were looking, we saw about 20houses and 5 of which were recent "new builds" now 4-5 yrs old being sold for the 2nd time but still asking 10-20k more than the rest of the market??? Crazy huh? Needless to say they were dismissed instantly - especially since they are far smaller and flimsier than the Edwardian house we eventually bought! In comparison new builds seem like little boxes sold on the basis of a nice kitchen/bathroom, having rented one I know how easy it is to be suckered in only to find that the place is just not as big as you first thought, specifically we found the lack of storage a 'mare.

Get the price down or look elsewhere, unless you are going for loongterm in which case hopefully you will have low maintenace costs, although tbh some modern standards are inferior, seems corners are often cut...

GL!