How much did you knock off the new build asking price?

Ruthie_v

I'm looking at buying a new build house and thought it would be interesting for people to share their experiences - how much discount you managed to get on your new build purchase?

Having searched forums, everyone has an opinion on how much you can get off, but I'm wondering how much you actually got off!

I became curious about this when I saw a mortgage adviser yesterday, who told me about a lady who managed to get 10k off the asking price plus stamp duty, equating to about 19k in total!

Just how desperate are builders to sell? I have been advised by estate agents that new builds are like new cars - expect the price to drop straight away, so to bear this in mind when buying new.

Interestingly, the new build i'm looking at was originally on the market for 299,995 in May this year (they don't know i know this), and now they're telling me its 310k!

Thanks!

PasturesNew

I know of one in 2009 that got £30k off (13%), plus wooden floors laid, plus front/back gardens turfed/stoned, plus an extra 3' of land included which covered shared drains, plus a shower over a bath. If they'd signed 1-2 weeks earlier they could have got some built-in wardrobes as the carpenter was still on site, but they missed that. Might have also had some fees paid, not sure about that ...

caeler

I got 10% off the list price with carpets, garden laid to lawn, choice of tiles bathroom/kitchen and power to garage.

thegirlintheattic

Great thread. Looking to buy a new build but the general opinion around here was that because it's eligible for a government scheme there won't be any negotiating room. This has given me a bit of hope - at least for fees to be chucked in.

martinsurrey

Biggest percentage I've seen lately (3 months) is 21% on one of the last units in a phase.

Biggest numercial drop was £58,000 bit that was only 11% of the price.

Discounts are so development dependant.

caeler

thegirlintheattic wrote: »

Great thread. Looking to buy a new build but the general opinion around here was that because it's eligible for a government scheme there won't be any negotiating room. This has given me a bit of hope - at least for fees to be chucked in.

I should have said what I posted was based on 2 years ago and wasn't part of any gov scheme.

michaelbella

I feel like a mug. I've just put down a reservation fee today on a new build Lovell homes development, with a completion date of Friday 28th September.

Asking price was £151,995, and I asked for it for £150,000 as we wouldn't have to pay stamp duty due to it being in a deprived area. They said they couldn't do this, but could carpet it through at a cost of £1,200 for free.

And that's it. Nothing else knocked off, no legal fees paid etc..

We have an agreement in principle, so we're pretty much there (we first viewed the show room and then got the AIP within five workings days, crazy fast), but we are still eligible to cancel within the next 24 hours and receive a full refund.

Legal fees letter came in today, and we're looking at £1,100 for fee's and checks etc, and that's going to pretty much cripple us for the first 6 months (we had budgeted for them, just had secretly hoped about no stamp duty).

They are the final two properties of this phase, though they do have five others on a difference phase ready to sell, and will be starting the next phase later on this year, so I guess it's not like they have the last few left.

They are paying 15% of our deposit, we're paying 5% and getting a mortgage for the 80%.

I'm just wondering after ready people's posts above, about whether or not to go in and talk about cancelling given the high cost of fee's etc, just to see whether I could get another 'sweetner'..

thegirlintheattic

If it's the end of the phase you should be able to get something but from what you said are you not on a FirstBuy scheme or similar? If so, we're looking at a similar thing and people we've spoken to have said it will limit our negation power.

MiddyMum

michaelbella wrote: »

I feel like a mug. I've just put down a reservation fee today on a new build Lovell homes development, with a completion date of Friday 28th September.

Asking price was £151,995, and I asked for it for £150,000 as we wouldn't have to pay stamp duty due to it being in a deprived area. They said they couldn't do this, but could carpet it through at a cost of £1,200 for free.

And that's it. Nothing else knocked off, no legal fees paid etc..

We have an agreement in principle, so we're pretty much there (we first viewed the show room and then got the AIP within five workings days, crazy fast), but we are still eligible to cancel within the next 24 hours and receive a full refund.

Legal fees letter came in today, and we're looking at £1,100 for fee's and checks etc, and that's going to pretty much cripple us for the first 6 months (we had budgeted for them, just had secretly hoped about no stamp duty).

They are the final two properties of this phase, though they do have five others on a difference phase ready to sell, and will be starting the next phase later on this year, so I guess it's not like they have the last few left.

They are paying 15% of our deposit, we're paying 5% and getting a mortgage for the 80%.

I'm just wondering after ready people's posts above, about whether or not to go in and talk about cancelling given the high cost of fee's etc, just to see whether I could get another 'sweetner'..

Could you not save up for your own deposit? This looks like some sort of government scheme. You need to realise that the 15% deposit they are " paying " does not exist as newbuilds are over priced anyway. Can you back out at this stage or not?

HELIMONKEY

I recently managed to get a 20K reduction from the asking price of a new build property by negotiating with the developer - they wanted to push for completion in 3 months, I ideally preferred 4 months down the line - so out of the blue they asked me to put an offer in to enable completion on their terms. I went in at 20K below the asking price and secured a deal.

I am buying the house on a standard mortgage - so not on a scheme such as Firstbuy, I think that funding the house purchase through a standard mortgage has allowed room for negotiation. We have also managed to get all appliances and fittings included for free as part of the deal clincher.

My advice is - buying a house should always be negotiated, remember as the buyer you hold the power of the prospective sale, if you don't negotiate - then you'll never know how much you could have saved in the long term.

Have a budget plan in mind and have sound rationale of why you are offering below asking price - its all about mutual benefit for both parties.

You can always walk away if your not happy with the offer on the table.

Hope this helps.

gazzabboi

As said above, its all area dependant and how fast they are selling. You can see on rightmove the prices of previous phases (if you can get the street name). I just got £5k off a £200k house, but when I consider that I am paying the same as the same house types that sold this time last year, and 90% of the plots I can see have sold at full asking price, with rising prices Im fairly happy. There will be the lucky people who get 20k off etc, but generally they are the less desired plots that nobody wants. In todays market aim to get between 2-5% off.