Part Exchange for a new build, try and sell privately or give up??

[Spirael]

I've posted around here before... My house is still on the market as it has been since last summer, and we've had a grand total of 0 viewings so far. :(

It's a 3 bed semi, we've recently reduced it down to £127,500 and are hoping to get £124,999 thanks to the damn stamp duty barrier. Comparable house on the street sold for £134,999 a few months ago - but it was empty so had no chain.

There is a lovely off plan new build house in the perfect location for where we want to move to. The company has offered us £124,999 for part exchange...but the new build house is listed as £250,000 - slightly out of our budget, but overpriced as all new builds seem to be.

Similar sized houses with no guarentee but including carpets, etc, are about £220,000. We could afford £230,000 with no extras, or £240,000 if they'll throw some bits in.

Problem is, because we're part exchange, they're digging their heels in and refusing to negotiate on the cost or adding in extras.

So my choices seem to be:

1. Play hard-ball with the new build people to reduce their price. Is it likely to work..? Has anyone had any experience of getting them to reduce or throw things in for a part exchange?

2. Sit on our hands, hope the price drop gets us some interest and try to sell privately, at which point we might be able to negotiate better.

3. Fire the estate agents, get the bathroom done and think about relisting again in the future.

So, what do people think? Any words of advice??

Hi - sadly, no-one has a crystal ball and can give you the best advice that will prove to be correct.
Always always negotiate as hard as you possibly can with the potential part-ex if that is what you want.

Is the bathroom the weak point for your house? How much would it cost to make it look really good, and would it realistically make a difference, if you're not even getting viewings?

Mostly I'm just unsure whether or not to even attempt to negotiate for a part exchange. There's not much point me pursuing it if all I'm going to get for my efforts is a catbum face! Has anyone had any success in a similar situation?

The bathroom is a tragic peach shell shaped affair with taps that were once gold (coloured) plated and are now partially plated... It's not a disaster zone, but it's definitely showing its age. We've touched up, changed the horrible plastic bath side panel to a wooden one, etc...but the whole thing really does need ripping out and replacing. Best guess for cost is going to be up to around £5k.

Not sure whether or not it would make a difference, given the lack of viewings. Probably not... The bathroom we have looks ok in the photographs. Not great, but ok.

Hmm it is tricky. In my experience builders don't like to negotiate their prices if they are part ex'ing. But if they are not selling much then they would be silly not to look at your offer. So I think you will have to be patient and see how well their houses are selling. You might not get the plot you want but you might manage to get something.

As an example we recently part exed for a new build. Originally we offered £315,000 on one of their larger houses. we were flatly refused as the asking price was £329,995 and we were told they do not negotiate on p exes as they cost the builder money. In the end we took a smaller house and blow me a month later they dropped the price on the bigger one as they hadn't sold it ... To £299,950 .

So the builders prices do depend very much on what they are selling. Maybe backing off for a while may work. If we had we would have got a bigger house. Saying that we have a lovely corner plot.

Best of luck and remember the lovely bit about part ex'ing is that you are chain free which is worth a lot.

That information was really helpful, thanks. :) There are two possible plots with the same house type available on the site. I have a preferred one, but either would work with slightly different benefits for each.

We've gone in with a lower price (10% under asking) and had it refused, unsurprisingly. We've told them we can't proceed unless they're willing to negotiate and left them to consider it for a while.

So now we're just sitting on our hands! As long as they've only sold one house of the 20 or so currently available, and neither of the plots with the house type we're after, I'm hoping we've got a chance of them deciding to reduce the prices to get things moving on site. :)