Taylor Wimpey New Build

Duvaljones

Hi everyone

We're looking at a new build home from Taylor Wimpey and have had a bit of a wake up call today.

When we initially went in to the sales/marketing suite (and looked around the show home), the sales rep said the 3 bed home we were interested in was £225k (5k above our budget, but reachable with some serious saving). Great, we thought, so told her we'd be interested. She called a few days later, saying 6 of the 3-beds would be released soon and did we want one? Of course, we said. Good, she said, the price has gone up to £245k, but i'll do you a deal for £235k, no less. She did this, knowing our max budget, at a stretch was £225k. She's not budging and now we feel we've been lied to and basically taken for a ride, having consulted a mortage adviser in good faith to pin down what we could borrow and what the monthly payments would be, even had some credit checks done, which we passed.

Has anyone else had a situation like this? Having since researched Taylor Wimpey online, I can see that they're not really strangers to these kinds of tactics. I don't know, maybe i'm being naive, but I think it's way too much of a coincidence that price mysteriously increased a couple of days after we confirmed solid interest. My girlfriend even goes so far as to say she feels 'scammed'.

Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

anselld

Most newbuilds are undersized and over-priced.
They generally wont negotiate on price whilst they are still building.
Why not see what you could afford in the "pre-loved" market?

AndyPK

Be wise. Let them chase you.

As said you can do better than new.
And don't forget the extras like carpets curtains.

Duvaljones

Thanks, we've been looking at the 'pre-loved' market too, but nothing's grabbed us so far. We popped into the new-build site as we were passing anyway.

I've also heard that new builds (much like new cars) lose their value quite easily (at least based on what you pay for them).

New builds are attractive to us but digging a bit deeper, the picture is becoming a bit more 'real'!

seriousDFW

PLEASE can we have some balance? Not all new-builds are created equal and it's rubbish to make sweeping assumptions about losing value. I've done lots of research in this area and have seen using sold price websites many examples where a new build has sold for less than it was bought a few years previously, but I've also seen new builds which have sold for more than they did a few years previously, and this includes all types of houses.

Yes some new-builds have small rooms/gardens etc but that is also true of some pre-loved homes. Some new builds have massive rooms and massive gardens. I know lots of people who have been happy with their new builds, and lots of people who have lost money on pre-loved homes or had to spend lots renovating them.

Every single house has pluses and minuses and as a buyer you need to weigh things up and decide what you want. Yes, some people will never want a new build, fair enough. Some other people will only ever want new builds. Different people place different values on different things - what's right for one person isn't right for another.

Can we please just stick to answering people's questions rather than advising anyone who asks a question about a new build that new builds are evil: it is really tiresome!

As for the OP, yes I would be mightily annoyed by this situation. I would say that you are happy to pay the price originally agreed but that you can't stretch to any more. Then leave it because that is the reality of the situation! The salesperson will either accept that offer and move forward or not and you can move on to something else.

okborednow

Hi Duval,

That must have been so annoying! Playing devil's advocate for a sec I know in the development we've reserved in the plots were released and prices set by head office so it may have been a surprise to the sales person to that the price was put up that much. I'm guessing the initial prices may have been to test the market and when they found they were selling well or possibly reached a more desirable part of the development they increased the prices.

None of this helps you of course but if they are selling well i doubt you'll get them to drop the price 20k. The best you can do is wait and if they're still not sold in a couple of months walk in and say "you can wait for a higher price or for 225k you can have a sale today" It may work...

Good luck

anselld

seriousDFW wrote: »

Can we please just stick to answering people's questions rather than advising anyone who asks a question about a new build that new builds are evil: it is really tiresome!

I said "most" not "all" and I stand by that.
It is also perfectly relevant to advise that the OP compares new prices with used in the local market. Fortunately OP has already done so.

ging84

They have simply put their list prices up on a new release it happens, £20k on 6 plots is £120k, on what works out at nearly £1.5m worth of housing, do you really think your single enquiry has had any noticeable influence on this pricing decision?

There is no reason to give up though, you know they were sold/selling at £225k(or lower), and they know you know this. They know you said £225k was stretching your budget, but everyone probably tells them that so now you have got to convince them of this, and see if they still want to sell your a property or not. Get back down to the sales office and negotiate, be prepared for it to take some time.

F_Bear

Most newbuilds are undersized and over-priced.
They generally wont negotiate on price whilst they are still building.
Why not see what you could afford in the "pre-loved" market?

because of this some companies only go upto 80%LTV on new builds as they lose value.

it seems any new build estates after the 2000+ boom are on small plots as they can squeze more houses in. my estate is split into 2, one side built before the boom, with big gardens and drives and one side afterwards with postage stamps for gardens and parking bays instead of drives.

PierremontQuaker03

If I were you I would stay at 220k and don't budget - and just say the offer is on the table but in the meantime you are looking at other properties.
Unfortunately by comming across as keen they know you want the house and they want to get as much as they can from you.
From past experience its best to make your best offer and walk away (I know its hard) and just play the waiting game.

kempsey

I kind of agree with okborednow, I used to work for them before they merged with George Wimpey. I guess it wasn't a stock plot you were going for which means that it is available to move in now?

Typical sales tactics I'm afraid, as soon as someone is sniffing around at a certain house type which isn't ready, they normally inflate the price as they know you're interested.

If it's a stock plot then, believe me, there's room for a lot of negotiation. End of year is when we gave most of the discounts. The sales neg normally has around 5% to play with before going to sales manager.

They need you more than you need them. Persistence does pay as with what I knew, I used this to negotiate on new build purchases. When the sales neg said no whilst drawing breath through their teeth, I emailed the director and got the deal!!!

Believe me, there's a deal to be had.....Go get it!