Buying a brand new house

aj9648

hi

i am a first time buyer looking to buy a house on a brand new development. We have seen what we want, but wondered what other people's experience was with new builds?

Also is there a tendencey for house prices for new builds to fluctuate more than other houses?

One final question was that the house that we have seen - the plot next to it has a much bigger garden - do you think i will be able to negotiate price based on this? Do you think I will be able to negotiate pricce at all as its a new build? - any experiences?

Thanks

HugoSP

I suspect you will be able to negotiate on the price. They won't be flyiing out the door at the moment.

do a search on rightmove and get some idea of asking prices for similar houses in your area, then start from there.

Don't show the sellers your evidence, just use it.

aj9648

The price is £250K - should I start off with a cheeky 10% off or is that taking the pi$$ !!!! Not very good at negotiating !!!!

mr218

how much does an equivalent (but older ) size house cost in the same area? is the older house you are using for comparison in tip top condition or does it need a bit of work. basically work out the premium you are paying for buying new build.

in current climes, i would tell them that you can afford no more than 200k and they can give incentives like 5% deposit etc on top of that.

dmg24

in current climes, i would tell them that you can afford no more than 200k and they can give incentives like 5% deposit etc on top of that.

The current trend does not apply to all areas, so I would be careful to offer a significantly lower amount without researching supply and demand for the vicinity of the property.

aj9648

Well the price with the 5% incentive, stamp duty and caprets is £250K. The asking prices for the older houses are around £220K (a bit lower in some cases) and they are in top condition.

merlinthehappypig

aj9648 wrote: »

The price is £250K - should I start off with a cheeky 10% off or is that taking the pi$$ !!!! Not very good at negotiating !!!!

With a new build I would go in with a really cheeky offer. There is no one to upset, as with an owner occupier. New builds are always the first to suffer in anydownturn, the number of 'incentives' appearing in my local paper are evidence that they are starting to struggle to sell. The recent share prices of the likes of Barratt tell a story as well.

I agree with the post above and wouldn't offer any more than £200000 with the market getting edgy like it is. Say that's the best you can do and let them sweat. It's not like there aren't plenty of alternatives if you are after a new house.

Don't be swayed by the offers such as white goods, legal fees paid etc. It's money off you want, not a load of useless freebies. This is where many people suffered at the end of the 80's. Builders were 'giving away' stuff instead of reducing prices and when house prices reduced the extra money people had paid for these (by paying an over-inflated price for the house) really hurt in terms of negative equity.

Good luck!

aj9648

Shall I start off with £200K (or something even lower than that)?

merlinthehappypig

aj9648 wrote: »

Well the price with the 5% incentive, stamp duty and caprets is £250K. The asking prices for the older houses are around £220K (a bit lower in some cases) and they are in top condition.

That backs up my earlier post. The houses lose £30000 as soon as you move in - like driving a new car out the showroom. Instant negative equity if you only have a small deposit. If they won't negotiate on price, buy an older house, pay the stamp duty (which goes up to 3% over £250000) and carpet it yourself. You will have plenty of the £30000 left over.

aj9648

Our deposit is likely to be around £50K

IHateDida

I've just bought a new build - it was advertised at £xk but we got it down to £xk - they wouldn't go any lower at the time but the market has gone down since we made the offer. Depends on how other houses in the development have sold so far. We wanted a particular house out of 3 so we couldn't wait and let them sweat too much. But I would go in at £200k and rise no more than £210k.

Who is the developer? This also has an influence as some are more likely to budge than others.

But, I am happy with what I paid - I love the house, despite the paper thin walls (its ok as its a detached!) - everything is clean, I have added my own flooring instead of having to rip up someone elses - and we see it as a home, as opposed to an investment. You will never in the current climate, make any money from a new build, but only go as high on price as you think its worth. What did others in the road go for?