New Builds

atsoc15

Is there such a thing as a standard percentage mark-up that builders put on new builds.

If it helps any I am looking at a Barrat built home advertised at 240k. The development is still in its early stages however I won't be looking to buy until it is probably half way through the development.

CloudCuckooLand

No doubt developers have in-house margins, that may be fairly standard. Some insider knowledge would be useful, if any insiders post here, but it may not help you decide whether your choice of plot on that site was priced to match those standards - it is difficult to know whether the price you see is the true price, as new site prices often fluctuate through the life of the site.

Install Property Bee for Rightmove, and take a look at your target site, and compare it to other new-build sites that are further along, to see the way they change the price through the course of a development's evolution.

You'd need to identify whether £240k is;

- the first price, which might appear fairly tempting - because they want to attract a few early buyers to get the development off the ground.
- the second price, which jumps up, when they have shifted a sufficient number early on.
- the third price, which is a drop, when they get stuck shifting any more.
- the fourth price, which is an increase, when they think they can shift the last few at a premium.
- the fifth price, which is a drop, when they want to shift the last couple that would allow them to close down the site.

etc, etc.

How this evolves in reality will obviously vary due to the popularity of any site, the developer's willingness to negotiate, the developer's financial position, whether its near a half-year or year-end and they want to boost their commission, close the site, etc etc...

Check for sold prices in the locality. See if you can find old adverts for developments, and tie them to the actual sold prices. To gauge whether they got close to asking price, or were marked down (often by surveyor/lender).

poppysarah

Have a look at "older" estates - see how much they go for on resale.

By older I mean new build estates from about 2006 onwards where repos may be 1/3 the price of the originals.

atsoc15

thanks for your advice.

Barrats has just sold 30% of the land to Persimmons, I am taking that as they either needed a quick buck or realised the development wasn't going to shift as well as they expected. However this could just be common practice I really don't know.

timmyt

the quality of uk new builds would put me off ever buying one...