How much can you haggle on a new build?

HopeAndDriftWood

Can anyone give any advice on how to negotiate? I'm not quite sure how it works for houses!
It's one of two remaining houses on the estate, and it's been finished for at least a month. We viewed a four-year-old version of the same house that's a two-minute walk down the same street for £85k less on Tuesday, but that's now sold. It's been listed on Rightmove since the first week of March, and was listed on Zoopla/On The Market last week. 

Realistically we'd need to bring it much closer to the cost of the other three-beds, which is fairly substantial... Is it worth going to view? 

moneysavinghero

Unlikely you are going to get 85k knocked off unless it's a million pound house.

But no harm in trying. If only two houses left they may just want to get off site and will happy to take whatever they can get for those last 2 houses. Depends what other offers they get.

HopeAndDriftWood

moneysavinghero said:

Unlikely you are going to get 85k knocked off unless it's a million pound house.

But no harm in trying. If only two houses left they may just want to get off site and will happy to take whatever they can get for those last 2 houses. Depends what other offers they get.

Ha yes, I thought so. We'd be able to plug some of the gap, but not a massive amount. The house seems MASSIVELY overpriced... I don't think we'd want it for asking price, it wouldn't resell for that. I was just curious if they ever really reduce much. Some searches seem to say 15 - 20%, which is more than enough, but they tend to be older searches! 

Thanks for replying

HanPop

We got a good deal on our new build as it had been built for a while and they wanted it sold, however our good deal was knocking £13,000 off and not paying for any extras etc. What’s the asking price for the new build?

Getting_greyer

You could always view and argue that there's noway it's worth 85 more than the near identical one down the road, they may drop some off if you look a good buyer.  Problem is that with HTB available people need less mortgage on a 400k newbuild than 90/95 ltv on 350k older house. That's what gives them the power to demand a higher price. 

JJR45

I don't think you will get more than a few percentage points off in the current market.

RelievedSheff

It is a couple of years since we bought our new build but we got a cracking deal on it when we bought it. 

It was a plot that was built and ready to move into and has been stood empty for some while. It had already been reduced to £210k, previous plots of the same house type had sold for £235-225k. We got a great part exchange deal on our old house, £10k deposit contribution, stamp duty paid, legal fees paid, moving costs contribution and free flooring through out. On top of that we obviously didn't have estate agents fees and other associated costs with selling our old house.

We were more than happy with the deal. Two years on, one of the plots the same house type on an arguably worse plot, has just resold for £240k so it seems it was a good buy.

As said though this was two years ago and the market is very different today. You may have more leverage if the property is finished and stood empty. Developers like to get these properties sold on and often give better incentives on finished plots.

HopeAndDriftWood

It's on at £395k. Comparable three-beds are all selling around £310 - 330k. From research last night, I think it was finished in February, and it's been listed on Rightmove since early March, Zoopla since last week. It's one of the only houses that's been on Rightmove for longer than a week around here! It's a little more out of the way than we'd ideally like to be, but definitely manageable.
The development is finished now, these are the last two houses in the final phase, so I think we'll go view it today, see if we like it, and make a bold but not insulting offer. We could stretch to £330 - 340k, but we can't do more than that, so if they won't budge, we haven't lost anything... so I'm thinking we'll offer £320k and see if they'll negotiate into the middle? It's all finished, so there's no negotiation to be had on fixtures/fittings, and it looks like it has pretty standard spec kitchen/carpet etc.
We have a cash buyer who wants our current property, so we would be in a position to move pretty quickly. 

Worth a try, even in today's market, right?! 

Thanks for all the comments - and @RelievedSheff, you got a great deal! Good work. 

Chandler85

You are also comparing a new build house, so you are the first owner etc to a resale.  A second hand one so to speak.

There is always a premium on the new builds (some people like them and the thought of them being brand spanking new).

You are unlikely to get a brand new house for the same price of a "old" one.