How does anyone in a chain buy a new build?

Ebany

We are looking at some new build houses going up locally to us, and have been waiting for them to release plots we are interested in. However it seems they want us to have a buyer lined up for our property before we can even reserve a plot (once they release it for sale). It seems unfair for us to expect a buyer to make an offer and then hang around for months waiting for our new house to get built, given the developers won't give us any sort of timeline until they release the plots for sale.

How are we supposed to get round this? I don't want to market my house when we may not have a house to move into until late this year, but we don't want to miss out on the specific plots we like. It seems insane that we need an offer accepted to even reserve a plot.

Also, even if we do get round that hurdle, if they then want us to exchange within a month or so (so potentially still some 4-6 months before they will finish building the house) are we supposed to expect our buyer to allow that long a gap between exchange and completion? That seems insane!

Am I misunderstanding something about the process? We had thought we would reserve a plot then put our place on the market, given things move pretty fast round here and the 4 months or so for them to build the house would give time to sort all that out, but now it seems thats not the way they expect things to work?

ashe

Short term rent, move in with parents

kingstreet

You are misunderstanding nothing.

You have to have an acceptable offer to be proceedable and if you aren't prepared to move out and break your chain, your purchaser has to be prepared to wait for your newbuild to be ready after exchanging contracts within 28 days.

You could always buy a newbuild on a site where it's already built, perhaps to someone else's spec who was unable to continue. You'll perhaps grab a bargain that way too...

harz99

A way round this maybe to partex your house with the builder IF they offer this facility. However that might not get you the price you expect for your current property, nor allow you any wriggle room in negotiating.

Thrugelmir

Ebany wrote: »

How are we supposed to get round this?

Does the developer offer part exchange on your existing property?

Ebany

I don't know yet, the developer is a small one and I'm not too hopeful. Moving into rented isn't really plausible as I wouldn't expect it to take more than the time it takes us to sell this house plus 6 months for a minimum rental term (to say nothing of the hassle of moving twice with a toddler), and family live too far away.

Looks like we will have to hope we can find a very patient buyer...

flashg67

I ended up renting for 6 months. Not ideal, but breaks the chain.

Kjd

It’s not easy!
Either your buyer needs a lot of patience, or you have to agree to get out and rent somewhere until your new house is built. Very expensive for storage and rental though.

warby68

We did it once and found that a few FTB's didn't actually mind the long completion date. Longer to save up and a perceived 'bargain' in a rising market, secure the price now but only pay in 6m or whatever.

However that was a long time ago and mortgage offer periods etc complicate things these days and not sure a rising market can be relied upon any more.

Silvertabby

Seems this has always been the case. When we bought our new build in the early 1990s one of the first things the saleswoman asked was how far along were we in selling our old house, as we would have to complete by xx/xx/xx.

When we said that we were in Armed Forces married quarters she nearly ripped our arms off (and gave us a discount).

middleclassbutpoor

My brother is in the exact same position - there is only 1 house he can find and refused to put his house on the market until he had seen the house he wanted.

He is now getting it ready to market and hoping it wont go to someone who has nothing to sell.

We are currently in a short term let having broken the chain so its very easy for me to say that you have to accept that when you want a house that you cant tie in, you need to accept that you may have to take the step of going somewhere else in between.

We aren't buying a new build but just trying to work with our vendors situation so slightly different in that we were able to exchange with them and put a long stop date in for completion so we had a move date to aim for with the hope it may come sooner.

When you buy a new build - you should also understand that build dates can extend due to weather as an example so you need to be prepared that you will be asked to exchange within 4-5 weeks of paying your reservation fee and then you have wait.

The other point to note is that it's also the same for a pre-owned house - no one will take you seriously until you have an offer.

At least with a new build you may be able to get a part ex deal - these are usually on plots where they are struggling to sell them, may want a quick boost in sales, or may be closer to the houses that are deemed more affordable and people avoid because they think people living in affordable housing are somehow a lower standard of neighbour.