Buying a new build - tips & advice please

[RandomMess]

How much below the asking price is it worth offering? Shall we just say that we only have £x to spend and want a 4 bed house what could you offer us for that?

How do I find out if they are desperate to sell

On the basis of what you've said it's a 'how long is a piece of string' question. Without knowing where you're buying some things to consider:

• is it one of the last to sell on the development, especially if there is no building now going on they will be desperate to get the last couple of houses sold, get the sales staff off site and onto the next one. Margins in construction are tight and it's the last few houses that make their profit. We bought the penultimate one on a development - they'd knocked the prices down that week and were offering part-ex as they were very keen to get out of there. If it's one of the first and they've got people queuing up/it's in an area where the property market is good you'll probably end up paying list price

• the 'headline' land registry sales price matters a lot to developers especially in the early stages of selling, they may do some deals on things like part-ex value and less tangible freebies - we negotiated up the part-ex on our place

• are you an attractive and hassle free buyer - ie has your house sold and you've got your MIP sorted - we moved in less than 6 weeks after our first viewing - cash in the bank is worth a lot to developers. Most developers will put quite tight deadlines on you for Exchange and Completion - you may be able to use this to your advantage but if the houses are selling easily then it won't be worth much as the contract you sign will put tight deadlines on you in anycase eg if you don't Exchange within 6 weeks you lose the house.

• if you're buying off plan or a part completed house then you might be able to get extra value with things like 'free' turf, upgraded fixtures and fittings - these will save you some money/get you a more attractive house but aren't worth a huge amount often and a lot of developers are getting more stingy with these things

• again if they're keen to sell they might look at paying your Stamp Duty perhaps

They will be more desperate to sell if it's one of the last houses and/or if it's a half year/year end (look up the details online), quarter ends might matter for a listed Plc developer but not as much as half/full year. They will be happier to sell to you rather than Joe Bloggs if you're in a position to pay and move in fast.

They will negotiate hard with you whatever happens though, it's a lot more pressured than buying a car. Don't get emotionally attached to the house before you've done the deal as if they sense that they'll offer very very little.

We've only bought one new-build, others might have more experience/advice or different insight, this was just our experience last year in a property boom area buy buying one of the last houses on a development in a town where another new development was about to add another couple hundred houses to the market.

We bought new last year and the above sums up most of the main points. It does depend a lot on how desperate the developer is too. We managed to get all our legal fees and half of our stamp duty paid. As it was a popular development there was no room for negotiating the price. It seemed as if the prices were set by head office and that was that. We did also manage to get some of the nice furniture from the marketing flat for dirt cheap prices. Good luck!

I guess we'll find out more when we have a look!

Thanks for all your advice, now we just need to decide wether that specific area is somewhere we're happy to live -decisions, decisions!

My employer got a bargain by finding out when their "end of year" figures were finalised & got in just 2 weeks before this date. The company accepted a silly offer (27% discount) as well as stamp duty, flooring etc to meet targets.

turns out their financial year end was 30th June

Don't buy new build. Small rooms with paper walls. Everything is as cheap as possible

Bluevanman that's rubbish - might have been the case 20+ years ago but things have changed. I've lived in 2 2010+ new builds and the sound proofing is far better than in any older houses I have owned, the rooms are all a good size and the build quality and finish is good.

Sorry Rachel I was a child 20+ years ago!! My opinion is formed from working in all kinds of houses for the last 15 years. While it is true there are some "good" builds, there are no "great" builds.
I'm talking : MDF woodwork as a pose to real wood
Chipboard floors on the first floor as a pose to floorboards
Staircases so cheap that the manufacturer won't accept responsibility for squeaks if you have a carpet fitted on it (as if you had a choice because that's MDF too!!)
All wood held together with nails so thin you can bend them between your fingers.
Then there's loose radiators and lazy kitchen plumbing

If you haven't already then read the recent thread

new detached house not so detached

Oh will go have a read.

Although I've currently found a "project" much to dh's disgust!