Buying a 1 year old new build

sharathp

Hello All,
We are a first time buyers and have an offer accepted on a 1 year old new build, could you please suggest:
1. Do's & Don't
2. Things to know
3. 2 years Developer warranty transferable?
4. 10 year warranty transferable?
5. Anything else to be accounted for please

RelievedSheff

Both the two year developer warranty and the ten year NHBC (or similar) warranty are transferable to the new owners.

The property should have dried out by now or almost dried out. Some take longer than others depending on the time of year they were constructed.

You can expect that there will still be some shrinkage cracking and initial settlement cracking to deal with in the next couple of years or so. This is easily dealt with and is  DIY job.

You need to check the paperwork for any estate charges which are liable and ensure that the previous owner is paid up to date on any charges that are liable.

Read the paperwork carefully for any covenants that apply to the property.

jimbo6977

sharathp said:

Hello All,
We are a first time buyers and have an offer accepted on a 1 year old new build, could you please suggest:
1. Do's & Don't
2. Things to know
3. 2 years Developer warranty transferable?
4. 10 year warranty transferable?
5. Anything else to be accounted for please

We did similar (6mths old rather than a year)

Do - approach it like buying any other property (perhaps friends/family can inform you if they have experience of buying "pre-loved" homes) - the fact it's new makes very little difference. 

Things to know - once he's got the money, the developer will not give a monkey's, and the warranties probably aren't worth very much, so anything you want sorted, get it sorted BEFORE you buy and be prepared to walk away if this doesn't happen.

The main problem we had was that the property had not been properly ventilated, and mold had been allowed develop. Try to check behind things like kitchen fittings if at all possible - we had the developer take the whole kitchen out, walls sorted, etc before we bought. Check in the corners of rooms for signs of damp/mould, use a torch to check for changes in colour in the walls and have a feel to check for changes in texture of the walls.

Make sure any shrinkage anomalies have been made good. 

I'm sure there are other things that people will be along with!

sharathp

RelievedSheff said:

Both the two year developer warranty and the ten year NHBC (or similar) warranty are transferable to the new owners.

The property should have dried out by now or almost dried out. Some take longer than others depending on the time of year they were constructed.

You can expect that there will still be some shrinkage cracking and initial settlement cracking to deal with in the next couple of years or so. This is easily dealt with and is  DIY job.

You need to check the paperwork for any estate charges which are liable and ensure that the previous owner is paid up to date on any charges that are liable.

Read the paperwork carefully for any covenants that apply to the property.

Thank you @RelievedSheff
paperwork does mentioned about the estate charges but not yet due to be paid and hence not paid by the current owner.

sharathp

jimbo6977 said:

sharathp said:

Hello All,
We are a first time buyers and have an offer accepted on a 1 year old new build, could you please suggest:
1. Do's & Don't
2. Things to know
3. 2 years Developer warranty transferable?
4. 10 year warranty transferable?
5. Anything else to be accounted for please

We did similar (6mths old rather than a year)

Do - approach it like buying any other property (perhaps friends/family can inform you if they have experience of buying "pre-loved" homes) - the fact it's new makes very little difference. 

Things to know - once he's got the money, the developer will not give a monkey's, and the warranties probably aren't worth very much, so anything you want sorted, get it sorted BEFORE you buy and be prepared to walk away if this doesn't happen.

The main problem we had was that the property had not been properly ventilated, and mold had been allowed develop. Try to check behind things like kitchen fittings if at all possible - we had the developer take the whole kitchen out, walls sorted, etc before we bought. Check in the corners of rooms for signs of damp/mould, use a torch to check for changes in colour in the walls and have a feel to check for changes in texture of the walls.

Make sure any shrinkage anomalies have been made good. 

I'm sure there are other things that people will be along with!

Thanks @jimbo6977
Mine is sold out from the developer and is occupied for 1 year by an old couple who wants to downsize.
also where to look for shrinkage anomalies please.

eidand

Selling a new build one year after buying it sounds pretty fishy to me.
Make sure you check everything in detail to avoid buying a terrible place.

RelievedSheff

eidand said:

Selling a new build one year after buying it sounds pretty fishy to me.
Make sure you check everything in detail to avoid buying a terrible place.

Not necessarily true. People's circumstances can change.

There have been a couple of houses come up for sale here shortly after they were built. There is nothing wrong with the houses or the area, just a change in circumstances has dictated that the houses have to be sold. One sold due to a relationship breakdown and the other due to a relocation for work.

Neil49

RelievedSheff said:

eidand said:

Selling a new build one year after buying it sounds pretty fishy to me.
Make sure you check everything in detail to avoid buying a terrible place.

Not necessarily true. People's circumstances can change.

There have been a couple of houses come up for sale here shortly after they were built. There is nothing wrong with the houses or the area, just a change in circumstances has dictated that the houses have to be sold. One sold due to a relationship breakdown and the other due to a relocation for work.

Agreed. We live in a new build and one recently came up for sale. It sold so quickly that the estate agent came put up his sign with Sold already on it. The big advantage is that you can see how the development looks now that it is completed, particularly with regards to people parking cars all over the place due to limited space, location of houses around you and how crammed in they feel, things that you can't see on a site plan. The heating and insulation is very efficient and running costs are low.

Watch out for ongoing maintenance charges which many new developments now impose for common areas. On older developments the council will do the work via the council tax but in these cash strapped days it's down to the homeowners. Ours is well maintained so we accept the situation. 

kingstreet

Be careful if you need a mortgage. Many lenders typically treat such properties as newbuilds and have lower maximum LTV limits. For example, there is little to no 90% lending available on newbuilds at present.

numbercruncher8

It does sound rather strange that an old couple want to downsize after just a year - not as if they didn't know what they were buying, and their circumstances are hardly likely to have changed much in that time. 

The other reason why new builds might shift very soon after completion is profit: in a rising market and where the development was sold out it is often possible to sell it on for more money.

Need to look carefully at your own time horizons and the price paying relative to other properties in the area, and also if there is future competition coming up. These properties tend to be priced at a premium to older properties, and potentially by quite a long way. If there is a fall in the market and you are thin on equity you could get stuck, as the few-year-old properties compare unfavourably to the brand new ones, as those have the incentives on them.

Don't know where in the country it is, but you can look up the prices on the land registry. It would be suspicious after a such a short time that it should diverge too much either to the high side or low side. 

sharathp

eidand said:

Selling a new build one year after buying it sounds pretty fishy to me.
Make sure you check everything in detail to avoid buying a terrible place.

We did think the same way.....but after having some friendly chat we got to know they have developed health issues and stairs have become a problem to them hence they were looking for a bungalow.