New build home experiences?

[ChocoTrio]

Maybe just me, but I get a sense that there are some negative vibes about new builds (it feels like marmite - either do or don't like them) and I wondered why? Surely new build homes are still in demand, otherwise developers wouldn't bother, right?

What are peoples' personal experiences with new build homes? What about close family and friends who have bought a new build? Any observed Advantages/Disadvantages compared to 2nd hand homes?

If you have any tips for things to lookout for in the snagging list then that will be greatly appreciated too!

@NOTANUM - thanks, that's really encouraging, so really appreciated! Completion date has been delayed by 2-3 months because of covid and I'm starting to freak out a little about all this talk about house prices crashing!! So, yeah - keeping in perspective that it's a 10+ years home and good location etc. Chose for a reason and had no idea that there was going to be a potential housing market crash and recession!

We love ours!

Pros:-

Designed for modern family living
Spacious feel
Bright
Value for money
Low energy bills
Storage space

Cons:-
Honestly can't think of any!

@GreekOddess - great!

Who was your builder?

I'm pleased you've have such a positive experience. Fills me with confidence!

Did you go for it OP? We are about to buy off plan, via whatsapp....!! We live in a 10 year old house, it's great, can't fault it other than it's too small for us, but it was the only way we could buy a house with 2 toilets in our budget! I like the mod cons. We aren't over looked but it is a shared driveway which is a pain.

The house we are about to buy overlooks public space, has a double garage with loads of parking and is an "executive" estate with all detached and personal parking so I'm hoping parking won't be too bad but people do tend to avoid using their garages and spaces in our current estate?! It's Barratt which I think generally have a good reputation although I know there are some horror stories...

It's frustrating what doesn't come standard with Barratt, feels like everything needs to be added compared to another developer we were looking at, we are negotiating this week. We have flooring and upgraded kitchen thus far, most of stamp duty, hoping to get all.

@User202004 - Yes I'm in the process with a new build. Had a courtesy call today advising they are running behind schedule due to covid (closing for a while and now restarting but with social distancing and therefore working at a slower pace).

Just planning what to do etc. With my garage I'm hoping to make some simple adjustments and turn it into a home gym. Just looking into that.

What have you done about flooring? My builder charges too much so I have found an independent professional floorer. Just trying to decide on floor type.

Sounds like you have had a decent experience with new build. Your new home sounds exciting! How come it's via what's app?! That's a new way of buying a house lol!

Oh exciting! When is your completion date? Are you in rented in the meantime?

We need to move into rented to wait for it to be built which is a pain! But it'll be worth it in the end. So because we are too late in reserving to pick stuff flooring had already gone down so is now included in the price, a blessing and a curse, relieved we don't have to pay but I probably would have picked a bouncier carpet myself, I'm happy with the colours etc though.

Yes I'm not sure why we weren't offered an apt on site I think they are doing some, we had a video call via WhatsApp so he could show colours etc, our reservation apt will be over Teams!

I love my new build - rooms are generous sizes, loads of storage, decent garden. Not had a single issue and bought it 5 years ago (brand new).

I think there's great new builds out there but maybe do research

We have a new build Barrett. Lived here 2 years. Today we took delivery of a new electric oven. When the electrician took the old one out Barrett had not put it in properly. It just had a standard plug on it plugged into an extension cord. Don’t know why there was a big red switch on the wall.
Electrician was horrified.

New builds are like new cars. They drop in value once you sit in them but you get to pick your features.

@GemmeFatale that's BS and laughable, new builds are not like cars. Cars will always depreciate, new builds will depend on the area but will always increase eventually, because it's property, their prices are not inflated that much, it'll depend on the area how long that "eventually" is, if it does at all need any time. Yes some areas if you tried to sell within 2 years you may struggle to sell at the same price or higher in a normal market, but in my area all the new builds have increased in value as per the local trends, in fact my local city the values have increased incredibly well because it's a desirable area of the city that's brought a lot of new infrastructure with it.

So yeah, no.

@User202004 a new build six months after you buy it will almost certainly be worth less.

Will it’s price go up eventually? Maybe. Given we’re likely to go into a recession I wouldn’t bet on one right now.

@GemmeFatale why on earth would it matter if it dropped value in 6 months? How many people are looking to purchase and sell in that period of time? Mortgage lenders wouldn't lend if it was that risky.

But yes if you think you might need to sell in 6 months I wouldn't recommend a new build, or buying at all for that matter