New Build Extras

TrickyTree83

dannyrst wrote: »

Thanks for this! Do you know whether they offer to add the extras onto the mortgage? The flooring alone is around £5,000 for the whole house (cheapest options). When I did some rough over estimates, I worked out it would cost us £2,000 elsewhere. The office is closed today but we are hoping to go in and see if we can get something for free (stamp duty and flooring would be ideal). The turf is £495, which seems very overpriced, so I will happily arrange that separately.

We met with our mortgage advisor/friend yesterday and she said we can easily afford the mortgage (we would be borrowing £140k and can borrow up to £190k on basic salary, we both have guaranteed extra income though). The struggle is getting the deposit, stamp duty, extras, mortgage fees all paid for, so I'd be happy to skip all extras and use the time between paying the deposit and moving in (4 months) to save for flooring, fitted wardrobes etc. Even if it means paying a little more later on.

I would bear in mind that any extras you get such as gifted deposit, stamp duty paid, cashback, etc... will need to be disclosed to your mortgage lender and obviously your solicitor/conveyancer. I'm sure you already knew this but just wanted to be sure.

We've exchanged and will be completing in July now so I can run you through a few things, although you probably should be aware that they appear to differ throughout the regions and the plot you're buying.

- flooring as discussed is a golden goose for the builder, we managed to pick up better quality carpet, underlay and comparable LVT tiles for almost a third of the price the builder was quoting. Got a great resource for carpet and underlay, seems many of the big high street companies markup massively. Managed to get these high street companies to commit to their "we'll price match..." promises based on this. So we've ended up with a vastly superior product at around 33% of the price from the builder on a 3 year interest free credit deal.

- turf, whilst I've not done this yet I looked at the area we needed to turf and how to do it properly. Did some rough costs and they came out less than £500 (assuming I was doing the labour), and the builder wanted over £1000 so that was a no go.

- integrated wardrobes. Those on offer for us from the builder were Hammonds (not sure if you've heard of them or not, a bit like Sharps). We asked a designer to come out to the showhome and quote us at which point he asked if we were looking to beat the quote on the wardrobes. We obviously said yes and the desinger said they couldn't beat it. The builder isn't paying VAT on it (somehow, I don't know exactly how) and that they had a bulk buy deal so no matter what discount you got from Hammonds, you can't beat it. So we chose that as one of our incentives since the deal was unavailable outside of the builder. We also paid out of our own pocket for matching furniture, also at the discounted prices.

- spotlights, we got the spotlights on an incentive deal throughout the house since it was something the wife wanted and it would be a pain to sort it out after we'd completed and then re-decorate, etc...

- upgraded kitchen units - on incentive

- ceramic touch control hob - on incentive

- integrated dishwasher - on incentive

- external power points x2 - on incentive

- HDMI cabling through walls from kitchen to lounge - on incentive

The extras you get as incentives will not appear on your mortgage, they will appear on the final invoice from your conveyancer but they're just there for illustrative purposes, if they are incentives you don't pay a penny.

The extras you pay for you will need to do at certain stages during the build. So it's highly likely you could end up paying for extras that are not incentives before you exchange, at which point you are still at the mercy of the builder and they can pull the deal from you (if you go over the reservation period deadline, which seems to be common in my experience).

Noctu

We arranged for carpets in our new build as our developer wouldn't budge - we'd already negotiated a reduction in the house price, and an increase on our part exchange. Our next door neighbours got carpets out of them, but after a year they are looking terrible - the developers just put in the cheap stuff. On the stairs in particular they are looking very worn. Not great.

We went for decent carpets with 11mm underlay and after 1.5 years in the house they genuinely still look new, all our guests comment on the nice feel underfoot when they come in!

Oh and to add, neighbours also got Amtico flooring in their kitchen/diner and had a problem with it, but the company who fitted it on behalf of the developers refused to sort it as their contract was with the developer and not her....

dannyrst

Sounds like I need to try and bargain on stamp duty and only get the essential extras, like the double oven and a better hob. I'll get carpet and tiled floor myself as well as turf. If only we could add this to the mortgage. We will have no issues with the repayments, it's just getting the money together now that's a pain!

dannyrst

BTW, with a new build house, how much am I looking at for solicitors fees?

TrickyTree83

dannyrst wrote: »

BTW, with a new build house, how much am I looking at for solicitors fees?

My conveyancing was about £1,400 with a member of the Quality Solicitors chain.

They seem reasonable.

And money for the 'little things' is always a problem. Especially when you're wife wants a new corner group, chandelier style lighting, antique mirrors, etc...

Anything for a quiet life.

TrickyTree83

dannyrst wrote: »

Sounds like I need to try and bargain on stamp duty and only get the essential extras, like the double oven and a better hob. I'll get carpet and tiled floor myself as well as turf. If only we could add this to the mortgage. We will have no issues with the repayments, it's just getting the money together now that's a pain!

Double oven is a standard option for us.

Take a look at myredrow.co.uk or ask the sales consultants what is included and what isn't.

dannyrst

TrickyTree83 wrote: »

Double oven is a standard option for us.

Take a look at myredrow.co.uk or ask the sales consultants what is included and what isn't.

Oven/Microwave is standard. Double oven is £15 extra. No brainer.

Would you think it's unreasonable to expect for the below to be paid for to get us to sign?
Stamp Duty - £1139
Oven - £15
Outside Tap - £160
Toilet Roll Holders - £120 (will leave these out if tiles aren't surrounding the toilet)
Upgraded Hob - £320

TrickyTree83

dannyrst wrote: »

Oven/Microwave is standard. Double oven is £15 extra. No brainer.

Would you think it's unreasonable to expect for the below to be paid for to get us to sign?
Stamp Duty - £1139
Oven - £15
Outside Tap - £160
Toilet Roll Holders - £120 (will leave these out if tiles aren't surrounding the toilet)
Upgraded Hob - £320

Interesting.

We have the double oven as a free option.

We had the outside tap as standard also.

Do you really want to pay £120 for toilet roll holders?

The reason we upgraded the hob to an electric hob was two fold, it's easier to clean and our house has solar panels so running it on electricity as opposed to gas is more efficient for us.

I wouldn't have thought it would be unreasonable, I would probably be pushing for about 2% in incentives. Based on what you've put that would put your purchase price at £87k which looks highly unlikely.

I've not seen you put down how much you're buying for, but if we assume it's between £180k and £250k I would be looking for something in the region of £3,600 - £5,000 of incentives rather than £1,754.

dannyrst

TrickyTree83 wrote: »

Interesting.

We have the double oven as a free option.

We had the outside tap as standard also.

Do you really want to pay £120 for toilet roll holders?

The reason we upgraded the hob to an electric hob was two fold, it's easier to clean and our house has solar panels so running it on electricity as opposed to gas is more efficient for us.

No, but I thought it would be safer than trying to drill holes into tiles to attach cheaper ones. If the walls aren't tiled around the loo, then that will be off the list!

I've no idea how the extra plugs work, how many do you get standard? Might have to add those into bargaining too.

TrickyTree83

dannyrst wrote: »

No, but I thought it would be safer than trying to drill holes into tiles to attach cheaper ones. If the walls aren't tiled around the loo, then that will be off the list!

I've no idea how the extra plugs work, how many do you get standard? Might have to add those into bargaining too.

They will go through all the plug sockets with you, there will be construction plans that you will need to look at, and in our case sign to say you're happy with the requested changes - if any.

Drilling into tiles is ok with the correct drill bit and some duct tape so the glaze doesn't split. There's some videos on youtube showing you how to do it.