Persimmon Parent Payback

skinnyman9000

I’ve noticed alot of people on here have an instant dislike to newbuilds, and im not entirely sure why. Every house in the country was once a new build, someone has to buy them. And yes you’ll be in negative equity if you pay the asking price, but just don’t be stupid enough to pay the asking price!! The asking price is just that, you can go in with lower offers if you like.

There is a development near me, and the 2bed houses are up for £140k, but one is 2nd hand, less than 12 months old, and on the market for £120k, which immediately proves that its very unlikely that anyone will be paying the asking price for the new builds.

Please bear in mind that for ftb’s new builds offer convenience too. You can often get carpets, blinds, kitchen appliances included, these items can cost thousands when buying for a second hand house. If easy for existing home owners to shout about them being bad value, but we ftb’s have to buy EVERYTHING, not just the house. Existing owners can move their existing things into their new house. I own a bed, and thats it, I have to buy everything else when i buy my first house, right down to the place mats. So moving will cost alot of money and take alot of time, so if that can be offset with the convenience of a new build then so be it.

hazyjo

I'm not against new builds - ours is only 8 years old - but they are generally far more expensive. You say the 2nd hand one went for £120k and the new builds are up for £140k. Well, that doesn't mean they new builds will sell for the cheaper figure. You pay for the 'luxury' of buying a brand new house. It's like when you buy a brand new car - drive it off the forecourt and it's instantly 2nd hand and worth less.

I've moved tonnes of times, never to a brand new house, and it's never cost me thousands. We're spending quite a bit on stuff for our house now, but mainly only stuff we'd be buying in a new build (mirrors, furniture, bed, curtains, etc). All our appliances are built in, we were left several sets of fitted blinds, curtain poles, etc...

The people we bought off (and most others on the estate) paid a mahoosive top whack figure for their houses. We only paid £35k more than they paid 8 years later. Far less of an increase against other houses in the borough. And that's not cos the estate's not great, it's very popular with some of the larger houses going for near a million, and tiny flats for a quarter of a mil.

I wouldn't want to opt for a new build unless I had a massive deposit saved/equity from a previous sale.

Jx

firsttimetom

skinnyman9000 wrote: »

I’ve noticed alot of people on here have an instant dislike to newbuilds, and im not entirely sure why. Every house in the country was once a new build, someone has to buy them. And yes you’ll be in negative equity if you pay the asking price, but just don’t be stupid enough to pay the asking price!! The asking price is just that, you can go in with lower offers if you like.

There is a development near me, and the 2bed houses are up for £140k, but one is 2nd hand, less than 12 months old, and on the market for £120k, which immediately proves that its very unlikely that anyone will be paying the asking price for the new builds.

Please bear in mind that for ftb’s new builds offer convenience too. You can often get carpets, blinds, kitchen appliances included, these items can cost thousands when buying for a second hand house. If easy for existing home owners to shout about them being bad value, but we ftb’s have to buy EVERYTHING, not just the house. Existing owners can move their existing things into their new house. I own a bed, and thats it, I have to buy everything else when i buy my first house, right down to the place mats. So moving will cost alot of money and take alot of time, so if that can be offset with the convenience of a new build then so be it.

The problem (for me) is the quality of the houses.

The Victorian and Edwardian semi's and Georgian Terraces you see in many towns, are 'proper' houses. Well built, well laid out and sound. They lie on streets that actually go somewhere in straight lines, rather than bizarre curvy-for-no-reason cul-de-sacs.

These older houses were often built by small local builders who took pride in their work and the architectural merit of the house. Modern developments are bland, and quite often ugly. They are built by big national firms (local subbies will probably be used though) and like most national firms, they don't really care about the customer or the quality of the build.

It's not often a case of moving straight in, as you have snagging to contend with and if the estate is half finished, then roads will probably not be finished. We drove down one yesterday and the road is so bad (3 years after the first people moved in) and you have to crawl down the road because it is unfinished.

There is also the old adage of 'don't buy a house built during a housing boom' (so anytime since about 1999 - 2009) as they are just whacked up quickly as people will be falling over themselves to buy it.

F_T_Buyer

I think you need to judge new-builds individually. I have lived in many houses, a 1980s detached house, a victorian terrace, a 2004 house semi, and a 2009 detached house.

They all have good and bad points, the 1980s house had loads of land, the terrace had big rooms but was stone cold, the 2004 was so crap it was unbelievable, and the 2009 house - which is my first house of my own - is well built and very warm.

The only thing I would say is don't exchange on a house not yet built, it gives the builders the opportunity to let quality slip for profit.

Beckyy

Wouldn't touch it.

Save as much as you can yourself. If a family member is willing to help you out, and you are able to pay them back in the future, then great - but I wouldn't get anything like this involved.

brit1234

skinnyman9000 wrote: »

I’ve noticed alot of people on here have an instant dislike to newbuilds, and im not entirely sure why. Every house in the country was once a new build, someone has to buy them.

Hi I studied civil engineering at university. I worked on building sites during all my uni holidays time and then worked on them after uni. I also worked in the Royal Engineers and did demolitions amongst other things.

From the large builders I know the poor quality materials they use, the poor workmanship, the smaller dimensions, the greter density of properties in an area they provide. Our calculation for explosive charges on new builds required far less explosives. They are simply !!!!.

Yes there are some very good new builds provided my small builders on small plot who give a dam but they are a minority compared to the monopoly of the big guys.

At present I work in a rich area and I can tell you all the rich people live in older properties. Yes they have been updated radically inside but the shells are rock solid. Old houses were built to last, you can't say that of newbuilds.

I don't care if I get oatmeal carpets free and a crummy dishwasher for a overvalued newbuild. I want a old fashion terraced house with character and a normal garden. That is what I saved up a deposit and costs for. I am not dumb enough to fall for the developers buy now overpriced scams.

shortchanged_2

Big company property developers (aka Persimmon, Barratts etc) = Lets see how many poxy little dolls houses we can fit on a plot.