We're looking at moving to get the catchment for a good school in the area and there is a new development about 400m from the school (2016 furthest distance was 1400m so well inside). We've had a few places before, 2 of which we've done relatively extensive renovations to with a lot of the work done by us. While I'm pretty happy with things to look out for in general , my research (thanks to various threads on Overclockers and the wider internet) as thrown up a few things around new builds specifically and I was wondering if anyone had anything else I've missed:
Price - we've been watching the market in our area for months and visited quite a few places and believe it or not, this isn't bad value given where it is. The plot is smaller than others, but not hugely so.
The house is actually finished and ready to go so will be sold as is, with carpets, appliances, flooring, turf, light fittings etc. No hidden extras I can see (famous last words).
Garden - Read the horror stories about how shocking the grass will likely get and what to do in order to try and save it. Given it is a new build the garden is small anyway so if it dies I may just swap out for artificial stuff anyway. My current garden is big and takes lots of maintenance - a small garden with no trees that have giant thorns on them will be very welcome
Broadband - apparently they have Virgin Media installed. Will need to push hard to check this will be available from day one. Also need to check if they have installed BT lines.
Freehold / Leasehold - Apparently freehold. Solicitor will need to check. Which leads me on to....
Use my own solicitor - Seems like I need to avoid using their one if they offer it
Common areas - Apparently it will not be adopted by the council, with the freehold to the common areas (road, grass verges etc) owned by the maintenance company. Cost per year will be £395 (at the start anyway). Need to dig into this to find out who the company is, what rights residents have over replacing them, how price increases are set etc etc.
Snagging - Seems to be a bugbear in every new build ever. To be honest, I'm happy to so some minor stuff myself anyway as I know it'll be done right. If it goes ahead I'll go round with a clipboard and examine every little thing before we move in.
What have I missed? Want to make sure if we go ahead (we're offering our current place part-ex, so some hurdles to jump yet) I go in with my eyes open.
Price - we've been watching the market in our area for months and visited quite a few places and believe it or not, this isn't bad value given where it is. The plot is smaller than others, but not hugely so.
The house is actually finished and ready to go so will be sold as is, with carpets, appliances, flooring, turf, light fittings etc. No hidden extras I can see (famous last words).
Garden - Read the horror stories about how shocking the grass will likely get and what to do in order to try and save it. Given it is a new build the garden is small anyway so if it dies I may just swap out for artificial stuff anyway. My current garden is big and takes lots of maintenance - a small garden with no trees that have giant thorns on them will be very welcome
Broadband - apparently they have Virgin Media installed. Will need to push hard to check this will be available from day one. Also need to check if they have installed BT lines.
Freehold / Leasehold - Apparently freehold. Solicitor will need to check. Which leads me on to....
Use my own solicitor - Seems like I need to avoid using their one if they offer it
Common areas - Apparently it will not be adopted by the council, with the freehold to the common areas (road, grass verges etc) owned by the maintenance company. Cost per year will be £395 (at the start anyway). Need to dig into this to find out who the company is, what rights residents have over replacing them, how price increases are set etc etc.
Snagging - Seems to be a bugbear in every new build ever. To be honest, I'm happy to so some minor stuff myself anyway as I know it'll be done right. If it goes ahead I'll go round with a clipboard and examine every little thing before we move in.
What have I missed? Want to make sure if we go ahead (we're offering our current place part-ex, so some hurdles to jump yet) I go in with my eyes open.