Why do people buy new builds??

alwaystryyourbest

I can't understand why anyone old buy a new build, they are basically made out of cardboard. The inside walls are not strong enough to hang a flat screen telly on. The room sizes are normally small.
I just don't get why anyone would buy them.

So if you are buying a new build ,,or have brought one why did you buy one??

My friend totally regrets buying one now , she fell in love with a show house but hers was nothing like the show home one..

browneyedbazzi

I don't think it is fair to judge all new builds as having small rooms and cheap build quality - if you're buying at the bottom end of the market that might be the case, but there are better out there. I've lived in a new build that was beautiful and very well designed/finished. The spaces all made sense (designed for the way we live, no wasted space, excellent built in storage etc), appliances were built in, it was well insulated and had an excellent energy performance and everything was shiny and new so no issues with plumbing/electrics or old bodge jobs to be uncovered. I was renting then, but if the same builder had houses available where we are buying at a price we could afford I would have jumped at it.

I've seen some old 'character' properties that were poky, dark, damp and just felt horrible....I don't understand why anyone would want to live somewhere like that!

lord_tyrannus

alwaystryyourbest wrote: »

I can't understand why anyone old buy a new build, they are basically made out of cardboard. The inside walls are not strong enough to hang a flat screen telly on. The room sizes are normally small.
I just don't get why anyone would buy them.

So if you are buying a new build ,,or have brought one why did you buy one??

My friend totally regrets buying one now , she fell in love with a show house but hers was nothing like the show home one..

The same reasons why I think that anyone who buys a old property that can have


1. chancel repair liability (the church gets a new roof on you wooohoooo)
2. Damp
3. Old electrics
4. subsidence
5. previous owners dead pets buried in the garden
6. The buyers camped out on your driveway at Christmas in a caravan :P see thread
7. poor insulation
6. dry rot/ wet rot
7. wood worm
8. house previously used as a cannabis grow house
9. Poor heating system


this is just a small snap shot of the problems people report on here with there "mint old properties"

bclark

These threads always make me laugh, there is so much rubbish spouted.

There are different standards of new build houses as with old build houses. Some are small and poorly built and are on badly designed estates. Others are very well built, well designed and life and airy.

I bought mine because it was very large with many rooms dual aspect and looking out over some parkland. The internal walls are all built of block, although there is then stud wall built off them to allow for insulation.

The house has all mod-cons and it has been designed with modern living in mind with a lovely family room adjacent to the Kitchen etc.

The insulation is also amazing and my utility bills in a 4 bedroom detached house are 40% less than they were in a 3 bed victorian semi.

PasturesNew

It can be nice that it's all new, but the downsides are that if you don't choose it soon enough you can't pick the finishes, there are no curtain poles/fixings, no lampshades, no floor coverings, no BT line installed. The niggles are yet to be discovered.

And you know you're paying through the nose for it.

moneyistooshorttomention

Another one who would say "It depends on the size and quality".

Another house I could have chosen was pretty darn brand new. People in it, but only a couple of years old. It had clearly been done to decent quality standard and certainly isn't a house I would be unhappy about having.

But I chose the 1970s one I am busily knocking to smithereens right now because I HATE HATE HATE with a vengeance having to do the modernising of the place, and think it will be dearer in the end than the "nearly new" one - but the older one is detached and the newer one is semi-detached. The location of the newer one is also marginally less attractive and noticeably less private. The newer one also had people in and the older one was available as soon as I "got through the process" (ie probate house). I was concerned that there would probably be a percentage of social housing near the new one and my intention was to swop from an area that was changing from owner-occupied over to a large proportion being rented and I want neighbours who own their homes thanks very much (as I figure they will maintain them better and fight any nasty Council proposals harder than tenants would).

My preference, all else being equal, would by far be for a new house (PROVIDED it was big enough/decent quality) but that was the way the cookie crumbled.

bclark

PasturesNew wrote: »

It can be nice that it's all new, but the downsides are that if you don't choose it soon enough you can't pick the finishes, there are no curtain poles/fixings, no lampshades, no floor coverings, no BT line installed. The niggles are yet to be discovered.

And you know you're paying through the nose for it.

Sometimes you pay through the nose for it, our house was cheaper then the equivalent new houses nearby.

Prothet_of_Doom

Picture the scene.

Young couple's first dream house bought in 1989, was built in 1936, and turns out to be a nightmare.
Husband gets a new job, 140 miles North, but luckily can spend Monday and Friday in his old office, but they get very little interest in their house because it is one of 15 in the same road for sale.
Eventually they reduce the price, and find a lovely house about 7 miles from new job, but it's taking ages because the seller has a problem with the house he's buying with some flying free hold.
Eventually the couple's own buyer says they'll pull out unless there is movement, so they go and see the sellers of the house they are buying, and leave with a vague promise that they intend to exchange within a few weeks.
Young couple foolishly sell their house, move in with parents, (with toddler) and pay building society £982 for the privilage as they are in negative equity.
The nice people they are supposed to be buying off, decide not to move.
So they find another similar house, have an offer accepted, and have a promise that "If we haven't found the house we want, we'll exchange anyway, and rent". 10 Weeks later it turns out to be a lie.
Young Couple start looking again, and will only buy off a seller who is a) a builder
b) Dead

Unfortunately all the dead people live in houses they can't afford.

Hence they buy a new build. It's small, but it's warm, doesn't need any work, and isn't the house of their dreams, but hey at least after 5 months of living in a 9 foot by 10 foot room with a toddler with in laws, it's all good.

ging84

Your issues such as build quality and room size have nothing to do with a property being a new build
it doesn't matter if you believe 60s, 70s 80s 90s 00s on average had better build quality and more generous plot sizes, then and now you get what you pay for.
If you buy the cheapest house from the cheapest house builder, it's going to be small and cheap, regardless when it was built, and it will still be small a cheap in 5 10 20 years time, unless it gets remodelled and extended

The only thing you have mentioned that has anything to do with a property being a new build is that your friend bought one that is apparently nothing like the show house.
Was it meant to be? what is not the same that she was expecting to be. How much of an effort do she make to find out what in the show room was standard, what was an extra and how well were the actual unique plot plans studied.
There should not be any differences from the plans.

Regardless of how well or poorly the plans are studied buying off plan may not be for everyone, some people just cannot look at a plan and envisage what it would be like complete. However buying off plan is not the only way to buy a property, sometimes you can get new properties built and ready to be bought, although these are increasingly hard to find if they are not being sold by housing associations, because so many people are happy to buy off plan.

Dan-Dan

lord_tyrannus wrote: »

The same reasons why I think that anyone who buys a old property that can have


1. chancel repair liability (the church gets a new roof on you wooohoooo)
2. Damp
3. Old electrics
4. subsidence
5. previous owners dead pets buried in the garden
6. The buyers camped out on your driveway at Christmas in a caravan :P see thread
7. poor insulation
6. dry rot/ wet rot
7. wood worm
8. house previously used as a cannabis grow house
9. Poor heating system


this is just a small snap shot of the problems people report on here with there "mint old properties"

10. Asbestos present almost everywhere

moneyistooshorttomention

I scored 3 on that one Dan-Dan.

- old electrics
- poor heating system
- some asbestos

All three have now been dealt with and a lot else....

Cue shattered. Where's that "fast asleep and snoring smilie" again when I need it?:cool: