Negotiate price on new build property?
- Thread starter Steedie
- Start date
We moved into a Taylor Wimpey house last December, have been very pleased with the quality so don't be too worried!
When negotiating we were unable to get any price knocked off due to them starting to build another site nearby and didn't want prices to affect these.
We therefore managed to get something like £13k towards extras and stamp duty paid. Bonus was when we moved it was around the time stamp duty reduced so we actually got paid £2k into our account once all the monies were sorted out.
Very happy with what we got and it is a forever home to wasn't too bothered about making money on the house short term.
When negotiating we were unable to get any price knocked off due to them starting to build another site nearby and didn't want prices to affect these.
We therefore managed to get something like £13k towards extras and stamp duty paid. Bonus was when we moved it was around the time stamp duty reduced so we actually got paid £2k into our account once all the monies were sorted out.
Very happy with what we got and it is a forever home to wasn't too bothered about making money on the house short term.
pretty good so far (touch wood). First week I just bothered the sales agent and site manager who hit stuff done. I contacted customer care once since because my smoke alarms were going off and I had to turn them off at the mains. They got a sparky in the next day to have a look and disconnect the faulty alarm. Still haven't received a replacement alarm though lol
Surely that would have them in pretty muddy territory should something unfortunate happen in the meantime.
Soldato
- Joined
- 13 Jun 2011
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- 6,053
Bought a new build flat off plan. Had endless problems first of all we moved in 6 months after the origonal completion date this caused our mortage offer to run out and we had to go thru the process again.
Will list some of the provlems we had.
When we moved in they were still building the estate around us
When the carpet fitter came to install our carpets none of the doors had been shaved to allow space for carpet
We have patio doors in both bedrooms the one in my kids bedroom the frame was so low there was no space for carpet so they had to take the frame out, take a line of bricks out and re fit the frame. Basically my missus and kid couldnt move in with me as the flat was a building site for 3 weeks. I had to stay there just to make sure the imbeciles turned up everyday to do the work And when they didnt i had to chase the site manager to find out why it wasnt being worked on. We then had to pay the carpet fitter to come back and fit the carpet.
We had no garden gate for a year
The back garden all the grass died in 6 months and when we lifted the turf up it was litterally grass turfed rolled out over all the building rubble and tin cans etc, they came back, put some dirt down and relayed the grass (which has died again) and now they are gonna have to pave or astro turf it. Weve lived here 2 years now and still waiting for this to happen.
I personally would never buy or recomend that anyone buy a new build off plan ever. The single benefit to buying out flat was that it was 20k cheaper than anyother 2 bed flats in the aera and now its worth 50k more than what we paid.
Will list some of the provlems we had.
When we moved in they were still building the estate around us
When the carpet fitter came to install our carpets none of the doors had been shaved to allow space for carpet
We have patio doors in both bedrooms the one in my kids bedroom the frame was so low there was no space for carpet so they had to take the frame out, take a line of bricks out and re fit the frame. Basically my missus and kid couldnt move in with me as the flat was a building site for 3 weeks. I had to stay there just to make sure the imbeciles turned up everyday to do the work And when they didnt i had to chase the site manager to find out why it wasnt being worked on. We then had to pay the carpet fitter to come back and fit the carpet.
We had no garden gate for a year
The back garden all the grass died in 6 months and when we lifted the turf up it was litterally grass turfed rolled out over all the building rubble and tin cans etc, they came back, put some dirt down and relayed the grass (which has died again) and now they are gonna have to pave or astro turf it. Weve lived here 2 years now and still waiting for this to happen.
I personally would never buy or recomend that anyone buy a new build off plan ever. The single benefit to buying out flat was that it was 20k cheaper than anyother 2 bed flats in the aera and now its worth 50k more than what we paid.
I think the previous posters have got most things covered.
As to street lights, if its a new estate the local council will have all the plans online inc road layouts etc.
A few extras to consider, shed, does it come with one, if not try and get them to put down a hardstanding for one.
Our TW has kitchen units by Hewsons, I'd like some extra shelves, but Hewsons only deal with builders, try and get some extra shelves.
Has it got any paved areas ie patio, ours has and we've got a few cracked slabs, try and get some spares as you may not be able to source any if they need replacing.
As to street lights, if its a new estate the local council will have all the plans online inc road layouts etc.
A few extras to consider, shed, does it come with one, if not try and get them to put down a hardstanding for one.
Our TW has kitchen units by Hewsons, I'd like some extra shelves, but Hewsons only deal with builders, try and get some extra shelves.
Has it got any paved areas ie patio, ours has and we've got a few cracked slabs, try and get some spares as you may not be able to source any if they need replacing.
Possibly, but right now I'd rather have no smoke alarms than smoke alarms that go off for no reason - better for mine and the neighbours sanity
@NoobCannon - that sucks. I'm currently living on a building site but I knew that would be the case. Did you get your own guy in to do your flooring? The only floor fitter I could find who would adjust the doors for me was the builders themselves, they done a good job I'd say.
Oh yeah, that's another gotcha with new builds. Basically the builders wouldn't let me or anyone else in to do any work prior to legal completion. So if I wanted floors down on move in day then I'd have to get them to do it. At least they were quite reasonable on price for that
Soldato
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- 3 Oct 2009
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Ask your solicitor to get plans for things like services, will be handy to know if you'll end up with a sewer main running through your back garden which could cause problems come extensions/sale.
Can't say I've dealt with that many new build purchases but generally they are not without headaches! Also 330k for a 3 bed, out
Can't say I've dealt with that many new build purchases but generally they are not without headaches! Also 330k for a 3 bed, out
With regard to street lighting etc, it's probably worth asking if the road you're going to live on is intended to be adopted by the council. These days a lot of builders save money by notbuilding to adoption standards and leave the road private. There are issues with this but your solicitor should explain, better to know in advance though
Man of Honour
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Good price for a 3 bed!
Good luck with negotiating, you can borrow BBx if you want, she's great at getting a bargain! to be fair I love to haggle too.
Has your solicitor done all the checks for flooding, infrastructure, oil/gas exploration etc?
Besides, if you don't ask you don't get!
Good luck with negotiating, you can borrow BBx if you want, she's great at getting a bargain!
to be fair I love to haggle too.Has your solicitor done all the checks for flooding, infrastructure, oil/gas exploration etc?
Besides, if you don't ask you don't get!
Thanks guys,
Yeah we've been given the 2 week deadline (which is set after reservation) to get the solicitors to do do all their checks now we've signed the paperwork. Any recommendations for good solicitors that people have used? We've been in contact with a few but obviously as we've not been able to pay to proceed yet, we're not committed to anyone.
We actually switched plots at the last minute. Again, buying off plan it's an identical property in terms of inside and out, but with a much bigger garden and a double garage (new home gym) and the drive is long enough to fit 3 cars on, so made sense, it's 5k cheaper too. It wasn't advertised yet as it's not available but they told us about it after we voiced some concerns when visiting the site and looking at the foundations.
The good thing about this new one is it's ready to move in for September too which is a bonus.
We did push for some freebies thrown in but they were adamant that because they are selling so fast and have such a high level of interest, they've been told to do no deals for people as someone else will come along and buy it anyway. I may try again next appointment where we finalise options but as it's cheaper anyway and has some added bonuses, I'm much happier about the price
Yeah we've been given the 2 week deadline (which is set after reservation) to get the solicitors to do do all their checks now we've signed the paperwork. Any recommendations for good solicitors that people have used? We've been in contact with a few but obviously as we've not been able to pay to proceed yet, we're not committed to anyone.
We actually switched plots at the last minute. Again, buying off plan it's an identical property in terms of inside and out, but with a much bigger garden and a double garage (new home gym
) and the drive is long enough to fit 3 cars on, so made sense, it's 5k cheaper too. It wasn't advertised yet as it's not available but they told us about it after we voiced some concerns when visiting the site and looking at the foundations.The good thing about this new one is it's ready to move in for September too which is a bonus.
We did push for some freebies thrown in but they were adamant that because they are selling so fast and have such a high level of interest, they've been told to do no deals for people as someone else will come along and buy it anyway. I may try again next appointment where we finalise options but as it's cheaper anyway and has some added bonuses, I'm much happier about the price
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Smart move going for the larger driveway and double garage. Having that extra space makes a huge difference.
Try and be a bit tougher on your next appointment and see what you can get. Get in to the process further and then be more forceful, they will be much more reluctant to use the "someone else will come along" line. My brother has just got a new build and has managed to get a decent discount on his flooring throughout, and his white goods thrown in after being told "no discounts on anything", he stuck his neck out a little after reservation deposits were paid, and they had sold their current place, the house builder was much more open receptive to sweetening the deal to keep them happy.
Try and be a bit tougher on your next appointment and see what you can get. Get in to the process further and then be more forceful, they will be much more reluctant to use the "someone else will come along" line. My brother has just got a new build and has managed to get a decent discount on his flooring throughout, and his white goods thrown in after being told "no discounts on anything", he stuck his neck out a little after reservation deposits were paid, and they had sold their current place, the house builder was much more open receptive to sweetening the deal to keep them happy.
Associate
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- 11 Apr 2006
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- 830
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- Yorkshire
Once you've paid a reservation fee is it non-refundable and if so what leverage would you have to negotiate?
It probably depends on the developer and what their terms say. I'm currently dealing with David Wilson and our reservation was refundable minus small deductions at certain stages. We're about to exchange contracts and I would lose around £250 of the £500 of the reservation fee if we pulled out before our reservation expiry date.
I negotiated on price after reserving but ended up moving to another plot for an incredible deal instead. I wasn't really sure at what stage you negotiate so just ask, see what they say and don't be afraid of walking away.
I negotiated on price after reserving but ended up moving to another plot for an incredible deal instead. I wasn't really sure at what stage you negotiate so just ask, see what they say and don't be afraid of walking away.
Associate
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- 23 Apr 2012
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- Edinburgh
Definitely negotiaite. If they reach their limit on cash or big ticket things like landscaping then focus on quality and level of fixtures/fittings. They love bulk buying cheap grade things like kitchens/bathrooms/bedroom but they simply do not stay good looking for very long - getting upgrades on this is worth far more in the long run.
Got to be cheeky, don't ask - you don't get. They needed the sale to complete the rest of the estate. (small private contractor)
Negotiate, then some more.
5k discount of house price - pretty standard I guess!
I did however negotiated the following outside of normal terms.
Landscaped garden
Flooring and tiling throughout - personal choice on floor/wall tiles, carpet, solid wood flooring etc in each room. (This cost them, I picked some really expensive stuff)
Lighting in plinths, cabinets etc.
Fitted wardrobes of our choice in each bedroom
Additional electric points in garden/garage
Extra radiators for airing cupboard, and clock room.
Network points
Negotiate, then some more.
5k discount of house price - pretty standard I guess!
I did however negotiated the following outside of normal terms.
Landscaped garden
Flooring and tiling throughout - personal choice on floor/wall tiles, carpet, solid wood flooring etc in each room. (This cost them, I picked some really expensive stuff)
Lighting in plinths, cabinets etc.
Fitted wardrobes of our choice in each bedroom
Additional electric points in garden/garage
Extra radiators for airing cupboard, and clock room.
Network points
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