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Original poster

How do you buy a new build...

25 replies

mumtomaxwell · 29/04/2018 17:08

... when you’re selling a house?
We want to move and have found a new build that fits all our needs. However, it won’t be ready until Christmas!!!!! And they want to exchange contracts in about 6-8 weeks. How on earth could we say to a buyer “we want to exchange ASAP but completion won’t be until December”
The obvious solution is to rent short term, but surely not everyone who buys a new build does this??!

OP posts:
NoTNoShade · 29/04/2018 17:11

You don’t. You either find one that is ready in 8 weeks or you don’t put yours on the market until nearer the time. Especially as when they say Christmas they probably mean March!

goingroundandround · 29/04/2018 17:13

Or you sell, go into rented and then move in.
Or lots of new builds will buy your property from you, for a slightly lower rate, but no hassle of a chain etc.

OnePotato · 29/04/2018 17:30

You can’t have it both ways really. How long do you think it will take to sell your house?

If you have a property that will be snapped up in a matter of days then you either decide to delay putting it up for sale (and risk it not selling or falling through at the 11th hour and you still have to complete on the new build) OR you put it up now and if it sells quickly you offer to go into rented to keep your buyer (assuming they don’t also have a delaying chain).

If you have a property that won’t be easy to sell then get it up ASAP otherwise it may still be on the market unsold at Christmas anyway!

We’ve reserved a new build and got a cash buyer for our house within 4 days. We have gone into rented and put lots of our stuff in storage rather than lose a good buyer who paid £5k below asking price.

Ikeameatballs · 29/04/2018 17:35

I’ve part-exchanged. It’s made a stressful situation less stressful that it could have been. The builders put it up for straight away and sold it within a week so the couple who are buying it off them have waited over 6 months to get in whilst I’ve waited for mine to be ready. If I hadn’t done that I’d have moved into rented.

Original poster
mumtomaxwell · 29/04/2018 17:55

Thanks all.
I did ask about part exchange but they won’t. They are a smallish builder and seem to take ages to get houses built. This is the last phase, only about 8 houses to go but apparently they are not expecting to finish building until the end of 2019!!!! My parents have lived on the same development for the past 2 years, their house is now 5 years old. In those 2 years the progress has been very slow. The agent on site was regaling us with stories of people exchanging without ever having gone inside their new homes. It’s a new world to me, we’ve sold and bought a couple of times but never a new build. I guess we need to decide how perfect this house really is...

OP posts:
sausagedogsmakechipolatas · 29/04/2018 18:46

We thought about part-exchanging but we’re offered a significant percentage less than the value of our current house.
All the bigger builders here seem to want exchange within 4 weeks and won’t allow reservations unless your house is SSTC. I find the prospect of exchanging on, and being legally bound to buying, a house that hasn’t had a snagging report really uncomfortable tbh. We got close to exchange on a Bovis plot before they admitted the foundations on our plot were dodgy and the completion of the work would be delayed by 6 months! Luckily our house was SSTC so by then so we offered on something else.

Going into rented in between selling and the new house being ready seems to be fairly standard.

Slightlyperturbedowlagain · 29/04/2018 18:50

Having bought 2 new builds over the years, personally I wouldn’t exchange before I’d seen it at least almost finished. Both times we bought we have been very happy, but it is too big a risk IMO to tie yourself in before you can see something tangible.

Ikeameatballs · 29/04/2018 20:55

One of the issues is that you must have exchanged, or be about to within days in my case, in order to choose your options eg kitchen fittings and finishes, bathroom tiles etc etc. There is no way I’d want to buy a new build without doing that. However the builders will have really specific timescales for this. If you exchange too late then the house might have been specified by them, not you, meaning that you as committed to their choices not yours. The house next door to mine was specified by the saleswoman at the on-site office....let’s just say I’m pleased she didn’t do mine.

mustresistwine · 29/04/2018 21:02

We are moving to a new build

Sold our house stc & put £500 down to reserve our plot and chose our kitchen, bathroom & flooring

Now (12 weeks later!) about to exchange contracts at last (slow further down the chain)

Our buyers want to complete May 25th, our new place won’t be ready to move into j TIL mid June so our removals are storing things for 2 weeks & we are renting a holiday cottage with hot tub in our home town Grin still going to work & school etc

My friend lives on same development & they bought off plan & rented for 6 months

OnePotato · 29/04/2018 21:06

We have made all of our choices of tiles, kitchen colours, flooring etc and haven’t exchanged. Just the £500 reservation fee paid. Don’t know if that is unusual but certainly standard with our builder as they are doing the same for them all. The only one that is pre-chosen is the show home.

Blaablaablaa · 29/04/2018 21:14

In my experience you don't. I tried to buy a new build but they wouldn't let me reserve a plot until I sold my house. I didn't want to sell until I knew I had a house - I knew mine would sell very quickly ( it was sold within 2 days)

Ended up finding something loads better and took great pleasure I telling the estate agent that when they phoned me as one of their buyers had pulled out last minute.

Unless you can sell yours and live elsewhere while it's built it's almost impossible

Ikeameatballs · 29/04/2018 21:18

That’s interesting. I’m sure that they wanted me to have exchanged so that I could spec extras eg granite worktops otherwise I would have been limited to their standard range.

It must vary between builders but worth the OP checking out.

OnePotato · 29/04/2018 21:25

That makes sense ikeameatballs. Our builder’s choices are all included in the purchase price so no “extras” to pay. Understandable that they wouldn’t let you ask for things that cost extra until your purchase was legally binding. Good luck for your exchange. Hoping ours will be in the next couple of weeksSmile. I’m so excited!

Original poster
mumtomaxwell · 29/04/2018 22:16

The agent wants us to pay £500 to reserve and then exchange in 6 weeks. I think our house will sell pretty quickly so we’d be looking at going into a rented house. We haven’t even been to the plot!

She did make a comment along the lines of “if you’re in rented you might be okay with the 6 month wait”

We like the house very much, but we don’t actually need to move so it seems like a massive outlay and inconvenience to move twice within a few months.

OP posts:
Original poster
mumtomaxwell · 29/04/2018 22:17

I didn’t ask about when choices need to be made.... clearly not much of the house has actually been built so I’m guessing there’s some time to go before that!

OP posts:
frostymorning1 · 29/04/2018 22:20

Our sellers bought a new build and it nearly caused the chain to collapse on more than one occasion. They went to live with family for three weeks in the end. If this house had fallen through we wouldn't have entertained another chain with a new build in it. Bellway were tossers. Most people wanting a new build do break the chain according to builders I've spoken to, but who knows how true that is.

RexManning · 29/04/2018 22:27

A lot of small developers won't even accept an offer unless you have sold your house and are in a position to proceed.

The only people I know who have moved into brand new builds, bought off-plan, fall into three categories: first-time buyers; those willing to go into rental accommodation for 3-6 months; those with corporate relocation packages which would if necessary guarantee to buy their old house. I don't know anyone who's done it as part of a traditional chain.

Onlyforthedogposts · 29/04/2018 22:28

We went into rented, the house we wanted was the only one left of the type on the development so although we couldn't formally reserve as we had to provide details of a proceedable sale, we let the site office know we were deadly serious, put the house on the market and accepted the first sensible offer and they held it for us in the meantime. Eventually sold to FTB (after one chain fell through in the first week), went into rented for 6 months. The developer said they wanted exchange within 6 weeks, in the end it was 8. It was a PITA but all worked out fine in the end.

Ikeameatballs · 30/04/2018 07:32

Another thing to bear in mind is that most mortgage offers are valid for 6 months. If you need to wait longer than this for your house to be built you will need to re-apply for your mortgage. For me this was after the point of exchange meaning that at one point I was legally bound to complete or lose 10% of the purchase price but I didn’t have a valid mortgage offer. The mortgage broker reassured me that he couldn’t see that there would be a problem with re-applying but it did give me a few sleepless nights!

TheChineseChicken · 30/04/2018 07:52

Our seller is buying a new build and it's been a bit of a pain. They initially said they would move into rented then changed their minds so we've all just been waiting for them. Our buyer has the patience of a saint. The developer's solicitors have been really slow and taken an age to respond to their queries, as if they aren't in a rush to exchange. Can't wait for the whole process to be over!

notangelinajolie · 30/04/2018 11:02

We put our furniture in storage and me DH and 3 kids lived out of a suitcase in a Premier Inn.

hardlysurprised · 11/05/2018 22:32

I'm about to commit to new build. Seems my £99 deposit is good value. We can't choose kitchen or baths tho, already fitted. No carpet down yet so that's good.

Financially, I'm going to max out the equity in existing property and partner has a lump of cash and we'll go for second mortgage together. So we don't have a chain. This got the green light.

Our new build estate has been slow slow selling tho much against the initial thoughts of Persimmon.... it's move in time is July with only 5 of 70 plots sold and another 8 ish reserved.

Can anyone discuss estate maintenance? Is this just normal with modern new build estates?

hoochymama1 · 12/05/2018 06:45

Good thread. All the best mum they sound like builders who take care to build good houses.
Completing next week on a redrow house. £1000 reservation and 12 weeks to exchange. We were too late to choose some stuff, kitchen already chosen but it was an upgrade and I'm ok with it. We were able to choose flooring and other bits before exchange but paid upfront.
We have to pay about £170 annual charge for green bit further into the estate but I'm ok with it. Wonder if this cost will change tho Hmm

hoochymama1 · 12/05/2018 07:02

Sorry it was 50 day countdown from reservation to exchange, my maths is pathetic.

Preparefortroublemakeitdouble · 12/05/2018 07:29

We did it. We had a small chain , but we choose a new build that had been built and was sitting empty. We did however have to get a offer on our house in 2 weeks. And complete within a month. It was very tight and we also had to lower the price of our house to sell quickly. But luckily the developer paid stamp and estate agent fees and upgraded kitchen and flooring. We are in the south if that makes any difference. Good luck with your move op

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