Bellway, negtiate for new build?

mysti77

Hi,

We have seen a property we are very interested in. It's a new build by Bellway but doesn't come with flooring, washing machine etc. The build has already started and they have put in standard tiles and kitchen cupboards which we aren't too happy with but not a deal breaker. It's a very expensive property £375,000 for a 4 bedroom detached in Elm Park http://www.bellway.co.uk/new-homes/thames-gateway/dunningford-chase/the-larch-4-det

I remember a while back developers were offering stamp duty incentive, help with legal fees etc. I don't see anything like this on their website so I don't want to sound foolish asking. Is it ok to offer less than £375,000? Is it ok to ask for flooring, upgraded sink, integrated washing machine, integrated dishwasher, fridge/freezer and turf for the garden. (hob/oven already integrated) and hope that we get at least a few of these included? Do I ask for this when I am about to put the reservation fee? I asked the lady about the costs of these things and she said she wouldn't be able to tell me as when I do the reservation at that point they will contact head office to get quotes. So I don't want to reserve and end up having to outlay so much more for these not knowing how much it will cost. If she did say outright no, we will not know if it's a yes or no depending on how much more it will cost yet she says she can't say until time to reserve.

Any advice?

Thanks

jk0

Yeah, I'd ask for all those, and £5k off the price also.

dumpallhere

You can ask for the sky but you'll only get it if the seller is willing to offer discount / incentive / freebies. And that depends on how well the development is selling or is the builder stuck with no one interested in buying!

Negotiate for anything and everything you want before you pay the reservation fee.

If the development has just been launched then the marketing office on site may not have the details and prices of the options (white goods, flooring, wall tiling, etc.) as the HO may not have finalized the prices yet for the site. So you'll have to take a call whether you want to reserve before getting a definite idea of the costs of extras or wait until the price lists become available.

Also, the sales rep. may not be wiling to share those price lists unless you reserve.

somethingcorporate

We just bought our new build. It was on at £335k with no incentives or anything. We got it for £310k, got them to pay stamp duty and do a few other bits and bobs that added up to around £1k.

Still had lots to do but rather save the money on us doing the flooring etc since no doubt they would try and cut corners and do it as cheaply as possible.

Soloistas

A friend of mine recently got a new build that was advertised at £249,995 for 15k less and had all their carpets and appliances included too. They didn't cover legal fees and stamp duty but they were lucky enough to get a mortgage through Halifax (who at the time were covering stamp duty on houses valued £250k or under)... I know they were pretty lucky.

Another friend got a home through Taylor Wimpey at £150k ish. They didn't get any reduction in price but they got some incentives - all carpets and floorings, all appliances, turf, fencing, curtain poles and curtains etc. They also got about £500 towards legal fees.

Important to note that both of the above were first time buyers and not part of a chain. I think sometimes they provide good incentives if people are able to sign up straight away. Not sure if you have a house to sell but I don't see this preventing you getting some incentives such as appliances and flooring.

5k off the price doesn't sound unreasonable since it is a tiny proportion of the £375k but I would try push for 10-15k off atleast.

Dogz111

You should agree the entire deal before you place any reservation fee. Once they have your deposit (usually £1k or £2k) you have weakened your negotiating position and you won't get another sausage off. If it was me I'd be really cheeky and offer something far lower. You can always come up but its very hard to go down. If the property is built you should be able to command a decent discount. I managed to get a £35k discount, stamp duty, carpets and floor coverings on a property c£100k less than yours. You just need to negotiate hard.

You might also need to bear in mind that should stamp duty be offered as an incentive then most mortgage lenders will class this as a cash incentive and knock it off the amount they are willing to lend. We had this issue. In your case, should you pay £375k, you might have to find an additional £11,250.

Best of luck and don't be afraid to put a crazy offer in to begin with - the worst that can happen is they say no!

m22kk56_2

We tried to negotiate with Bellway last week but they were very stubborn on the price of the house. They were adamant that they could only give a 5% deposit contribution in terms of financial help or discount however they did have around 15-20k to play with in terms of giving us FOC extras. This is probably why they couldn't give you a price...

We also tried negotiating with Miller homes and found the response exactly the same...

mysti77

Thanks everyone.

I think in the end if we got 5% off plus the extras we want we would be happy with that. We know it's over priced (i.e. new build premium) but this will be our 'forever' home so hopefully it will recover it's initial price dip in years to come if we do need to downsize when we retire.

I'll come back and post what happens after Thursday's meeting.

erucan

@somethingcorporate
we are inprocess of buying a new build. but they don't want to give any incentives or bits and bobs.
Which builder is it you could knock off the price?

mysti77

That was an absolute waste of time trying to negotiate. They said no negotiation on the price as they have sold almost all the available properties of the style we want since they opened the show home in July.

Asked for the 'extras', and was told they can only do flooring. Said if we wanted washing machine/dishwasher then we will have to choose between flooring or washing machine/dishwasher.

Still undecided if it's worth it. It's definitely got the 'new build premium' attached to the price but we would never be able to afford something as nice without the government help to buy. undecided and not feeling very much like a Money Saving Expert

harrys_dad

£26 a square foot? 4 bedrooms and only 1300 sq feet? I suspect that there are better value homes out there that you could afford without helptobuy.