Negotiating with David Wilson

Postik

It seems to me that more often than not, it's not easy or possible to negotiate.  Things might be changing now with interest rates climbing, but when I looked a couple of years ago they couldn't build them and sell them fast enough.  When they offer people stamp duty paid or free flooring without even asking, to me this isn't negotiating, they've just inflated the price and are bringing it back down in a different way to make you think you're getting a good deal.

Also bear in mind they are experts at pricing and selling, and probably have a much better handle on market conditions than me or you.

I think the one piece of advice I would offer to anyone is not to go into the showroom all stary eyed and make it plainly obvious that you absolutely love it.  But even then I'm not sure it makes much of a difference either way.

RelievedSheff said:

stevoh said:

How did you know it was a good deal though? Why would they offer you the best deal without negotiating?

Because the plot was sat around unsold. They needed it off their books.

How did we know it was a good deal. Well to start we looked at what previous plots of the same house type had sold for and then we did our own assessment of what we were happy to accept. The deal was a lot better than we were expecting and we have later found out was a lot better than most accepted. 

It's all a matter of being in the right place at the right time sometimes and perhaps it helped that we hit off a good rapport with the salesman. Who knows?

All we know is that we got a cracking deal on what has turned out to be a property that suits us perfectly.

Sounds like you did get a good deal based on your assessment.  Like you say, probably in the right place at the right time.

I don't think having a good rapport with the salesman helps, although they might lead you to believe that.  Generally I don't find sales people trustworth, estate agents even less so, and newbuild sales people are the lowest of the low - they make used car sales people look like angels.  Of course, they don't come across like that when everything is going their way.  To be fair on them their orders come from above, so all the lying and conniving is part and parcel of the national housebuilding companies.

RelievedSheff

Postik said:

It seems to me that more often than not, it's not easy or possible to negotiate.  Things might be changing now with interest rates climbing, but when I looked a couple of years ago they couldn't build them and sell them fast enough.  When they offer people stamp duty paid or free flooring without even asking, to me this isn't negotiating, they've just inflated the price and are bringing it back down in a different way to make you think you're getting a good deal.

Also bear in mind they are experts at pricing and selling, and probably have a much better handle on market conditions than me or you.

I think the one piece of advice I would offer to anyone is not to go into the showroom all stary eyed and make it plainly obvious that you absolutely love it.  But even then I'm not sure it makes much of a difference either way.

RelievedSheff said:

stevoh said:

How did you know it was a good deal though? Why would they offer you the best deal without negotiating?

Because the plot was sat around unsold. They needed it off their books.

How did we know it was a good deal. Well to start we looked at what previous plots of the same house type had sold for and then we did our own assessment of what we were happy to accept. The deal was a lot better than we were expecting and we have later found out was a lot better than most accepted. 

It's all a matter of being in the right place at the right time sometimes and perhaps it helped that we hit off a good rapport with the salesman. Who knows?

All we know is that we got a cracking deal on what has turned out to be a property that suits us perfectly.

Sounds like you did get a good deal based on your assessment.  Like you say, probably in the right place at the right time.

I don't think having a good rapport with the salesman helps, although they might lead you to believe that.  Generally I don't find sales people trustworth, estate agents even less so, and newbuild sales people are the lowest of the low - they make used car sales people look like angels.  Of course, they don't come across like that when everything is going their way.  To be fair on them their orders come from above, so all the lying and conniving is part and parcel of the national housebuilding companies.

Perhaps your blinkered views on people are one of the reasons that you don't seem to be able to broker a good deal?

The property we bought had already been heavily discounted. Prior plots has sold for £235k, 230k and 228k. We paid £210k (all in with the developer contribution). So what we thought was a good deal actually was a good deal.

Postik

RelievedSheff said:

Perhaps your blinkered views on people are one of the reasons that you don't seem to be able to broker a good deal?

The property we bought had already been heavily discounted. Prior plots has sold for £235k, 230k and 228k. We paid £210k (all in with the developer contribution). So what we thought was a good deal actually was a good deal.

I agreed with you that you got a good deal, I wasn't disputing it.  But as you pointed out yourself you didn't negotiate, they just gave it you on a plate because like you said, they wanted it off their books and you were in the right place at the right time.

They run incentives all the time, such as stamp duty paid, free flooring, etc.  But that's not negotiating, in the same way that buy one get one free from the local supermarket isn't negotiating, it's just an offer/incentive.

I did look at buying a brand new home and walked away from it swiftly due to the developer and their sales peoples shenannigans (mainly their refusal to sell unless I used their "recommended" solicitor).  I stand by what I said, you cannot trust the big PLC housebuilders as far as you can throw them.

stevoh

Hi All

Reporting back. I managed to get another 10k off from their special offer. 

lookstraightahead

stevoh said:

Hi All

Reporting back. I managed to get another 10k off from their special offer. 

Well done! New houses are like new cars, always inflated to start with, they expect customers to negotiate and that you did.

stevoh

lookstraightahead said:

stevoh said:

Hi All

Reporting back. I managed to get another 10k off from their special offer. 

Well done! New houses are like new cars, always inflated to start with, they expect customers to negotiate and that you did.

In all honesty, I probably could have got more off but need somewhere to move in to. The extra £10k was offered without me pushing too hard.  

fackers_2

Always ask to have any incentives OFF the listing price so that you won't be paying the extra over time including monthly at current interest rates. 

Avoid the waffle and smiles and just stick to cash off incentives... and maybe a new floor etc. (avoid the "we will pay your deposit or any monatary incentives). 

stevoh

Actually wondering whether this is a good idea now. An ex builder friends has strongly urged me not to buy a new build, saying build quality is shocking and it’s almost certain I’ll have issues 

fackers_2

stevoh said:

Actually wondering whether this is a good idea now. An ex builder friends has strongly urged me not to buy a new build, saying build quality is shocking and it’s almost certain I’ll have issues 

Posh sheds.

Sunsaru

fackers_2 said:

stevoh said:

Actually wondering whether this is a good idea now. An ex builder friends has strongly urged me not to buy a new build, saying build quality is shocking and it’s almost certain I’ll have issues 

Posh Shiny sheds.

Corrected it for you