Buying a New Build for Beginners

The_One_Who

I have recently relocated for work and I am now in the process of looking for somewhere to buy. There are a lot of new build estates in the area and I really have no idea where to start with them. With a traditional property sale it's more straightforward, but from what I've seen developers don't always make it clear what they have readily available, the completion dates of builds, what exactly is included in the price and just how flexible they are with specifications.

Can anyone provide me with a beginners guide of how to approach potentially buying a new build? Is it simply a case of going around each development (difficult when you work full-time and the days off I have are when the marketing place is closed!) and looking around show homes and asking the somewhat biased sales people? I assume I would need to pay a deposit on a plot and wait for them to build it?

Sorry if this sounds daft, I just really have no clue how to start this!

bclark

The_One_Who wrote: »

I have recently relocated for work and I am now in the process of looking for somewhere to buy. There are a lot of new build estates in the area and I really have no idea where to start with them. With a traditional property sale it's more straightforward, but from what I've seen developers don't always make it clear what they have readily available, the completion dates of builds, what exactly is included in the price and just how flexible they are with specifications.

Can anyone provide me with a beginners guide of how to approach potentially buying a new build? Is it simply a case of going around each development (difficult when you work full-time and the days off I have are when the marketing place is closed!) and looking around show homes and asking the somewhat biased sales people? I assume I would need to pay a deposit on a plot and wait for them to build it?

Sorry if this sounds daft, I just really have no clue how to start this!

It can be difficult but it can also be a really easy process.

If you are a proceedable buyer with deposit in place then they will be very helpful. Really it's about going around to the developments and having a look. They should be open 7 days a week and into the evenings, all the ones that I know do. You can do an awful lot of research in advance online too such as looking at site plans, virtual tours, floor plans etc.

Once you find one you like it's then about negotiation. Again this will depend on how popular the development is and what stage of the build it is. The nearer to completion the house the better the deal you will probably get.

From my experience they will be keener to throw extras and stamp duty etc at you rather then drop the price.

Then you put down a deposit and carry on the purchase as normal, although they will want to exchange as soon as possible. The whole process is definitely much easier if you don't have anything to sell.

HPowell

I totally agree with Bclark that it can be actually an esy process.

Vampgirl

Start by looking at the developments - not just the show homes, but have a walk/drive around the estate and local area to see if you like it. Most will be open 7 days a week including bank holidays - I'd be very surprised if they were only open business hours.

The show homes are nice to look around, but there are only usually a few of them - the sales office should have floor plans of all their house types. Have a good look through them and see which you like the look of/can afford.

Once you have an idea what you want, you need to talk to them to see what houses they have available and the prices (Rightmove/their own website are a good guide, but not always up to date in terms of availability). The sales team should also know which plots will be released shortly - different sites work in different ways, so if you're interested in a plot not yet released you need to ask them about how they work - don't assume they work the same way as another development down the road.

Assuming you find a plot/house that you like, that is available and within your budget you then need to reserve it - often its £500 or £1000 to reserve a plot (this usually counts towards your deposit when you exchange). In terms of completion date - they'll usually give you a window of a couple of months, but do be aware that this can (and probably will) change - ours went from July/August to September/October (we eventually completed end of September).

When it comes to what is included and what is extra - again you need to ask the sales office. Ours had a list of the basic spec depending on house type, and for the extras we just needed to ask them - some things are fixed price eg. an upgraded oven, others like flooring or kitchens depend on the size of the house (floor area, number of cabinets). Again, the best way is to ask the sales office how it all works.

In terms of negotiation on the price or for extras - difficult to to give advice here because it all depends on your local market. If they are struggling to shift houses then they'll probably be more open to offering you incentives, but if they have people queueing out the door then they have no need to and you'll probably have to pay full price for everything. So you need to research your local market - how quickly it moves and how the house prices compare to others in the area.

We didn't need to chose our extras until after we'd exchanged - we made loads of visits to look around the show homes and look at tile/kitchen samples etc. before making our decision. They should be able to provide you with a floor plan including measurements - use this to cost out what things would cost to do yourselves so that you can judge which of the extras are worth getting from the developer. We found that some upgrades were great value, whereas others were not. The kitchen cost us £200 to upgrade the cabinet doors: compared to a the cost to do this ourselves it was great value. But they wanted £600 to upgrade to a double oven so we sourced our own (and sold the one they provided on Ebay!). Carpets/flooring/tiling are another one to spend some time on: work out how much it would cost to do it yourself so you can decide cost Vs hassle which is the best option for you.

Don't be afraid to ask them questions - that's what they are there for and you won't be the first one to have asked that particular question ;-) You're spending a lot of money so make sure you understand what you're getting.

We found the whole buying process pretty easy, the snagging post-completion on the other hand is starting to get to me - its going well, but I'm just fed up of it LOL. I have to keep telling myself that if we'd bought an older house then we'd just be facing other issues instead ;-)