Urgent advice re part exchanging!!!

Playboy7

Morning folks,

Really need some good advice in a hurry!

Looking at part exchanging for a new build with Bellway. Their house is £217k and is sitting built on a development which is about 90% completed. There are still some other houses which have not been sold, and have been available for months.

They have offered me £130k for my own house, which I believe is a fair offer. (My house is paid off and I am currently mortgage free). This would ultimately be my deposit, with me planning to get a mortgage for the outstanding £87k odds.

I reserved the house last week, and I have to call them with an answer either way by lunchtime today.

I just don't know if I'm getting a good deal. I have been told they cannot offer anymore for my home, but they have not discounted their property by a penny, and although the white goods are already in their home, I'll be getting charged for them. They have never mentioned reducing their price, paying for stamp duty or legal fees, or even flooring the new home for me.

With that being said, could you offer me your own feelings/thoughts about this scenario, as I haven't bought a house for nearly 30 years and am unsure about their "deal".

Thanks in advance.

Kayalana99

Playboy7 wrote: »

Morning folks,

Really need some good advice in a hurry!

Looking at part exchanging for a new build with Bellway. Their house is £217k and is sitting built on a development which is about 90% completed. There are still some other houses which have not been sold, and have been available for months.

They have offered me £130k for my own house, which I believe is a fair offer. (My house is paid off and I am currently mortgage free). This would ultimately be my deposit, with me planning to get a mortgage for the outstanding £87k odds.

I reserved the house last week, and I have to call them with an answer either way by lunchtime today.

I just don't know if I'm getting a good deal. I have been told they cannot offer anymore for my home, but they have not discounted their property by a penny, and although the white goods are already in their home, I'll be getting charged for them. They have never mentioned reducing their price, paying for stamp duty or legal fees, or even flooring the new home for me.

With that being said, could you offer me your own feelings/thoughts about this scenario, as I haven't bought a house for nearly 30 years and am unsure about their "deal".

Thanks in advance.

Without alot of details its hard to give you a decent answar but my gut instinct says no.

Is 130k really a fair offer? If you sold it on the market is that what you think you would get? If you wern't using your house as a 'deposit' would you of paid 217k for the house your buying?

Edit: sorry just realised the site is 90% built not your home. deleted this comment.

HouseMoo

Hi there,

We have just been going through the part exchange process and negotiations, and the developers usually offer you a better price for your old place rather than offer any price reduction on the place you are looking to purchase. e.g. Although they have offered £130k for yours, as there is always a bit of risk on their part so they likely value it / expect to sell for lower maybe £120k (as they will go for a very quick sale), and their way of giving you a discount is to offer you the full £130k.

However you should be able to negotiate at least some extras like carpets / flooring / tiling etc as this is usually where this is most flexibility, but this is usually done before you reserve, you mention you have reserved already so they maybe less flexible as you have already handed over a reservation fee.

And of course all of this depends on how "in demand" the house you want to buy is, as if there is lots of interest then they are less likely to do you much of a deal. But I have read of people getting great discounts on some part exchanges when the time is right (e.g. at the end of the developers financial year when there isn't much interest in the property). It seems like there is a certain amount of risk / game playing with haggling and being able to walk away if you don't get a decent offer with the hope that they will contact you a week later with a better offer.

- HouseMoo :www:

Playboy7

Kaya,

There are 2 similar properties to mine on the market just now. One is for o/o £120k and other is f/p £135k so think its a fair price.

I am more concerned at their lack of deduction from full price for theirs, and no mention of the incentives I've listed above.

Thanks again

harz99

Playboy7 wrote: »

Morning folks,

Really need some good advice in a hurry!

If you don't go ahead will you lose your reservation fee - assuming you have paid one?

LittleMax

Generally part exchange offers are not combined with other offers, so you would either get stamp duty and legal fees paid or get part exchange. It depends on your circumstances as to which offer is best. Whether it's a good deal comes down to how much extra you think you could get for your house and whether you could sell it quickly enough to exchange in the timescales the builder would be looking for. If the £130k is a fair offer, then it sounds like a hassle free move and that is your deal. Remember you are saving estate agent fees and the hassle of selling... I'd say that's worth a lot.

Playboy7

Thanks housemoo,

In hindsight maybe I shouldn't have reserved it, but I only lose a small part of my money if I don't proceed. In addition, I am in a really strong position to haggle for extras and think the sales staff feel the same.
If I don't ask I don't get right?!

Thanks

Playboy7

Harz,

I'll only lose a small portion of my reservation fee, which isn't the end of the world. I'm hoping that if I play hardball, they'll realise there going to lose out on a sale for the sake of a few incentives!

Thanks

Playboy7

Littlemax,

I genuinely wasn't aware that if I part exchanged, then they wouldn't consider paying for things like stamp duty and legal fees.

Surely they could still discount their home and offer to fully floor it etc?

Thanks, some food for thought.

HouseMoo

When we were looking at Bellway part ex, on top of the good offer they offered for ours, we also negotiated carpets throughout (except kitchen / utility / wet rooms) and full height tiling to main bathroom. However we eventually decided against Bellway for a number of reasons, mainly due to the location of the development!

So yes, there is no harm in trying for a better offer. The sales staff usually can't make decisions themselves as they will have to call their sales manager / hq, so don't take a no from them without them speaking to someone higher! Though due to you already having reserved, they think they already have you "hooked" so they will be trying to play hard ball too.

- HouseMoo :www:

harz99

Yes, you probably shouldn't have parted with cash, but you did so and if you still wish to go ahead now you need to go back and push hard for a better deal, the stamp duty would be my preference, but only you know what works best for you.

One thing to be aware of regarding your mortgage, is the possibility that the mortgage co. might value the new house lower than the price you are buying at, and offer less than you have applied for - not saying they will, but it happens.

Good luck, and please let us know how it goes.