how much have you paid extra ti get your dream house ?

[Savemefromukweather]

Hi ladies

Is it worth paying extra 20k for your dream new build house ? As builder suddenly increased prices of plots that means i will not have any money left straightaway to do flooring , no silestone worktop , fitted wardrobes etc
I am not sure whether this will be good idea but my dh insisting get house and then we can complete slowly over time room by room .

please share any stories what have you done to achieve your dream house? does it worth it or any regrets ?
we are in love with the house and feel like our heart is deciding factor .

Also it will be our forever home . we have three children aged 10, 8 and 2.

Hi. no I would not. Where I live there are literally hundreds of New Builds going up but they are not selling. The developers did this to us to try make it look like there was a lot of competition for my house, so I pulled out instead of paying more. They came back to me and I got a better deal with fixtures and fitting and flooring included.

@ElephantMoth

Hi. no I would not. Where I live there are literally hundreds of New Builds going up but they are not selling. The developers did this to us to try make it look like there was a lot of competition for my house, so I pulled out instead of paying more. They came back to me and I got a better deal with fixtures and fitting and flooring included.

we were waiting for particular plot to be released. we missed all stamp duty period and it's getting frustrating now.

@ElephantMoth

Hi. no I would not. Where I live there are literally hundreds of New Builds going up but they are not selling. The developers did this to us to try make it look like there was a lot of competition for my house, so I pulled out instead of paying more. They came back to me and I got a better deal with fixtures and fitting and flooring included.

thank you for sharing it

This worries me, we are buying a new build and we are 1st refusal on a plot, not even reserved yet. We've been told an expected price but nothing definite, I really hope it doesn't go up as we've already sold. We have a contingency budget for options and new furniture and I'd hate that to be swallowed up by a price increase.

@Agadorsparticus

This worries me, we are buying a new build and we are 1st refusal on a plot, not even reserved yet. We've been told an expected price but nothing definite, I really hope it doesn't go up as we've already sold. We have a contingency budget for options and new furniture and I'd hate that to be swallowed up by a price increase.

i hope it won't happen to you. we accepted offer last year in order to secure plot when it comes available but plot came 4 months late than anticipated. market is hot now and ideally i should have put my property on sale this year and my property would have been sold for much better price. we had a choice to go for another plot in cul de sac 50k cheaper. feeling angry and gutted how its turned out . on top of it stamp duty

We rented a property that came up for sale. It was perfect for our family and during the buying process the vendor increased the price twice , £50k in total.
We were so far down the line with school catchments etc we bit the bullet and completed . There was no option to buy anything similar in the village.
Absolutely no regrets . The house , schools , location etc were perfect . My boys absolutely loved living here growing up .
House value increased from £550k to £850k and still increasing in a sought after out of London commutable country location .

What else is available if you don't buy this one? If you live there a long time and it's perfect, the extra cost over time will work out not much per month.

Can you negotiate a flooring and worktops you can live with for a few years as part of the price? Get something like Pax wardrobes from Ikea and you can even get a carpenter to infill gaps around them to make them look fitted for a fraction of the cost, fitted wardrobes are enormously expensive. Look at Ikea hacks.

Materials costs in the construction industry have skyrocketed so it's understandable that they've increased property prices.

@SpeckledyHen

We rented a property that came up for sale. It was perfect for our family and during the buying process the vendor increased the price twice , £50k in total. We were so far down the line with school catchments etc we bit the bullet and completed . There was no option to buy anything similar in the village. Absolutely no regrets . The house , schools , location etc were perfect . My boys absolutely loved living here growing up . House value increased from £550k to £850k and still increasing in a sought after out of London commutable country location .

yes makes perfect sense in long run

@BarbaraofSeville

What else is available if you don't buy this one? If you live there a long time and it's perfect, the extra cost over time will work out not much per month.

Can you negotiate a flooring and worktops you can live with for a few years as part of the price? Get something like Pax wardrobes from Ikea and you can even get a carpenter to infill gaps around them to make them look fitted for a fraction of the cost, fitted wardrobes are enormously expensive. Look at Ikea hacks.

Materials costs in the construction industry have skyrocketed so it's understandable that they've increased property prices.

nothing is available at the moment. We have been told no incentives at all. its like have it as it is or go somewhere else.

I paid less by moving 13 miles north of an affluent suburb with average 1930s semis to be semi rural and buy a very old house. My dream come true.

@MirandaMarple

I paid less by moving 13 miles north of an affluent suburb with average 1930s semis to be semi rural and buy a very old house. My dream come true.

our issue is school catchment too so our choice of area is very limited

So you have a choice between the school you want and the flooring/worktops you want, then it would seem obvious to buy the house and change the flooring/worktops later when you can afford it? I'm sure what is provided as standard is perfectly acceptable for the time being.

@BarbaraofSeville

So you have a choice between the school you want and the flooring/worktops you want, then it would seem obvious to buy the house and change the flooring/worktops later when you can afford it? I'm sure what is provided as standard is perfectly acceptable for the time being.

yes standard would be fine . its just flooring etc .

It depends on what 20k is as a percentage of the house price - on 400k not so bad, 100k that’s a bit much!
From what you’ve said you’ll be there for long enough for it not to really matter, it’s a plot you like and there’s not much else to choose from.
I’d go for location and the house you like over something you don’t like with a nice floor 🤷🏼‍♀️

It's not a trick to make the house look more in demand, the fact you are on a list pre release shows it is popular enough. Mass building sites that are built over a period of time have to increase in line with the market and it's been quite an unprecedented market of late, we bought a new build in September, 6 months prior our identical plot sold for £20,000 less than we paid, 6 months later an identical plot sold for £30,000 more. It's just timing as to when in the build you buy, it's unlucky you've already sold and now having to pay the newer price but that would be the same whatever you were buying, especially this year with the way prices have increased, the mortgage company wouldn't lend the money if it wasn't worth that much.

If you want the house and that is the price and you can afford it then it is what it is. There will always be a risk buying "top of the market" which it appears to be at the moment, but are you buying a home or an investment? If it's the former and it's a long term move I would focus on that rather than £20,000 which in a long term purchase (somewhat dependent on the price of the house) isn't much in the scheme of things.