How much to offer on a new build that never sold

Pennyb90

Seen a new build that I'm quite interested in, it was on for 285k, been reduced to 270k, still not sold. There are only 12 houses in the developement, all of which have been sold as they were all built 2-3 years ago! It has just sat empty that entire time!
Housing market here is very stagnant, houses can sit on the market for well over a year before selling.
How much would you start your offer with and what would be the top end you would pay? Similar sized 'second hand' houses are around 250, but again will sit on the market for a very long time before selling and most under the asking, but only a handful of houses have sold locally this year so definitely a buyers market.

G_M

*what did the other 11 houses sell for?
* are they of a similar size/layout?

* have any of the other 11 changed ownership since they originally sold?
* for how much?

prosaver

depends if its free hold ?

Pennyb90

The other 11 all sold a good while ago, one has since sold a couple of weeks ago, it was a bigger house and on for 290, unsure what it actually sold for as it hasn't gone on the land registry site, imagine it will be a couple of months before it shows up. The others are all the original owners, so don't really help me in my search for a good price idea.
If I'm honest I've no idea what free hold is? It would just be bought outright rather than 200year lease sort of idea if that's what you're meaning?
Within a few months the builders will have to start paying 200% council tax on it (not sure if this is a local thing or nation wide but it's a fairly recent change here) so hoping the large cost of it just sitting there will kick them into more of a flexible position?

ReadingTim

The fact it hasn't sold for 2-3 years suggests the builder/developer isn't in a hurry to sell, so if you think they're going to bite your hand off for much less than the current asking price, I think you're going to be disappointed.

Furthermore, I don't know how much 200% council tax will be per month, but it'll probably have to be empty for several more years for it to be comparable to taking (say) a £20k hit on the price now.

Finally, whilst it might be a buyers' market in general, you're not going to be buying that specific house if the seller ain't selling!

Wookey

If there set on there price you could ask for a few extras that are gratis like painted throughout, carpeting, garden done etc before you move in.

Crashy_Time

ReadingTim wrote: »

The fact it hasn't sold for 2-3 years suggests the builder/developer isn't in a hurry to sell, so if you think they're going to bite your hand off for much less than the current asking price, I think you're going to be disappointed.

Furthermore, I don't know how much 200% council tax will be per month, but it'll probably have to be empty for several more years for it to be comparable to taking (say) a £20k hit on the price now.

Finally, whilst it might be a buyers' market in general, you're not going to be buying that specific house if the seller ain't selling!

One way to frame it I suppose :beer:

ReadingTim

Crashy_Time wrote: »

One way to frame it I suppose :beer:

The only way to frame it. If they dropped the price to £1 they'd be shot of it by the end of the day.

Pennyb90

Yes I get that they will have a minimum amount that they will have to get for the house, but I was wondering if anyone would have any sort of idea what kind of percentage I could be looking at, to know whether it is worth considering or not?
I know the company that built it have had to demolish a commercial building that cost a few million to build simply due to the fact they were unable to lease it and the council tax would have cost too much, so I was hoping that they would be keen to sell a house that is simply sitting there costing them money, they have reduced the price by £15k, and have a flooring package available on the house, but other than that it's just sat there!
I think I will just wait and see, if no one has bought it by January I will just view it and see if they can budge the price down, and if not just carry on with looking for older properties instead!
A new build just seems so much easier to go into from renting, as shouldn't have the same sort of repair costs but then I guess that isn't guaranteed either.

Cheeky_Monkey

Are you absolutely sure that it has been sitting empty for 2 - 3 years? I find that very hard to believe.

I have just bought a new build house on a small development and the builders bought four of the houses for themselves and are renting them out so that could be an explanation.

Pennyb90

No it's a mile from where I live so I know for definite it has been empty this whole time, it is in a very small village and they are working on developments in larger, more popular towns (which all seem to be selling well given the market here). It has to be a pretty rare situation to be empty for so long, it actually has established grass haha!
A few years ago people were literally camping at a new developement so they could be the first in the que to buy a new house, but things have changed a lot here. Think I'll just put it to the back of my mind until after Christmas and then start again.