New build support chat thread?

[notheragain4]

There seems to be a few of us buying new builds at the moment. I thought it would be good to get a thread going where we can chat about the specific issues we deal with when buying a new build, like incentive negotiation, help to buy if using, exchange deadlines, long stop completion dates and snagging.

We are selling our house to a FTB and reserved a Barratt new build. Stressed out atm as we are 4 weeks passed our exchange deadline as buyer didn't instruct solicitors until his mortgage offer came through which took 7 weeks, we are waiting for his searches this week and praying it won't be long after that. We are getting keys to a rental today and house is built in November.

I will leave it there in case no one responds and I am talking to myself!

[notheragain4]

@Poppiesandnettles DH is RAF too, he goes every 2 years or so, this is the first Christmas he'll be away so not looking forward to that. We've been told to write a cheque for FHTB, I'm really apprehensive about that knowing how slow they might be to cash it! Yikes those blinds are expensive, I would try a local company. We need to get some too.

@Maybenexttime08 we are over a month delayed, our last extension was to the 31/7/20 but no one has questioned us lol. They said so long as they can we progress they are mostly happy, I think because we are so close to the end they aren't overly concerned. I'm sure you'll get an extension. With our tricky mortgages are to get at the moment I don't think developers will be too fussy atm.

So we had a bit of a shocker tonight, our house might be ready in September?! It's due to be ready in November, but the house is actually done, flooring is going down this week, it's the externals (garage and driveway) that's next and he skipped September. But one document says November, so he needs to check. No idea whether to move into the married quarter now or just make the buyer wait a few more weeks?!

[MyDucksArentInARow]

We did it! We got the reservation

Still feeling unsure about the garden but decided to book a site visit and see it. I am creative enough I am sure I can make it into a beautiful garden.

We also got a lot of incentives, the ones mentioned previously + Quartz kitchen and a shower pack. So I'm pretty happy, even if I still think it's over priced (And the looming crash + new build depreciation... eek!!) But we can ride that out with a 5 year fixed mortgage.

BUT disaster. Things got too serious for our buyer when we told them 28 days to exchange... they dropped out

We're back on the market this week with two weeks to find a buyer or lose the plot. Wish us luck!

[notheragain4]

@MyDucksArentInARow yay for the reservation, boo to the buyer! Just as well they did it now before you got too far down the line, how frustrating though! I'm jealous you're allowed in site, we aren't and our house is pretty much done! Jealous of the quartz worktops too!

[Maybenexttime08]

@MyDucksArentInARow Congratulations! How big is the garden? I keep worrying about the size of ours but it is approx 12m x 12m so hope that doesn't feel too little once we're there!

[notheragain4]

@Maybenexttime08 ours is quite a bit smaller than that! I think ours is only 80m2 it's quite disproportionate to the size of the house really, but I love the location on the estate, it's end of cul de sac with more parking spaces than the same plots with bigger gardens so I keep trying to reassure myself! I'm really worried we will hate it when we see it!

[ChocoTrio]

I'd recommend anyone getting a new build to get a professional snagger. Home Snag are decent enough.

12 x 12 (149 square metres) is not bad for a new build garden.

I was keen on a plot that was not overlooked too.

[ChocoTrio]

*144 square metres

[ChocoTrio]

@notheragain4 I think 80 square metres is average. It's classed as a small garden, but not tiny.

Over 100 square metres is supposed to be medium sized.

[MyDucksArentInARow]

We're not sure exact dimensions, the larger plot is 13m×11m and ours is shorter and has more garages taking chunks out of it.

We're still excited for the plot, and I will love the garden once I've got it the way I want. I just hope it's big enough for Ddog and not too shady

[notheragain4]

@ChocoTrio thanks, hopefully we can make it work for us. It's south west facing so that's nice, and not too overlooked.

Yes we are definitely getting a snagger, we haven't had to pay for a survey so I'm just seeing it as a survey! Will check them out.

[ChocoTrio]

@notheragain4 re: snagger I would recommend you get that booked in early (you can always rearrange) as I struggled to get an appointment. They recommend up-to 7 days pre-completion for inspection, but you have to check with your builder as some don't allow it pre-completion. However, you can ask your conveyancer to put it to their lawyers because you've got a legal interest in the property (especially after exchange).

South-west facing garden sounds great. I'm a little envious of neighbours with same style house as mine because they have a south facing garden bought for a little less than mine (which is west facing) - but they had theirs on an early bird. However, their home/garden is very overlooked, but mine isn't so swings and roundabouts. West facing garden is decent too as I get the afternoon evening sun to enjoy after work, as well as the sun rising n the east to wake up to in the morning. :-)

[MyDucksArentInARow]

We're definitely booking a snagger. It took us a long time to find some of the faults in our current house, and by then they wouldn't touch it.

If anyone is like us and worried about shade on their plot you can draw objects findmyshadow.com/. Our plot will be almost entirely in shade, but it'll be private shade. Our DDog has a black coat and has struggled in the heatwaves this year so I'm convincing myself that it's beneficial to her! And we'll have the main open space right out the front so we can throw a ball for her there. Just have to limit ourselves to only entertain in the garden between 11.30 and 1600 when it'll be sunny/warm. And adapt my planting to suit

[Maybenexttime08]

Just been sent a photo showing our roof is nearly finished. Anybody know how long it normally takes to finish the inside?? We are told October / November that feels a bit optimistic :-(

[notheragain4]

@Maybenexttime08 have they given you a completion window? We were (originally) November and got weekly updates of what what going on and that they were still on track for mid Nov.

[notheragain4]

@MyDucksArentInARow that's will have a look, I think our patio area will be overcast but the bottom of the garden should get lots of sun. I'm pleased as our current patio is completely south facing which is lovely but too much in the height of summer, I burn too easily!

[notheragain4]

*thanks

[MyDucksArentInARow]

Our Roof is going on shortly and we have an estimated build finish of Nov/Dec/Jan. Our last one was estimated for a July complete but then sign off was delayed and we didn't complete until September! When we saw it in the beginning of July the kitchen was being fitted and the sanware was in the bathroom. It was just waiting for carpets, turf and then sign off!!! It really is a guessing game.

[notheragain4]

@ChocoTrio thank you, I think I am going to wait until exchange, sounds silly but I think once we have done that I feel I can demand more (we are over a month and a half passed our exchange deadline!) so trying to keep them happy, should be exchanging next week fingers crossed!

[Maybenexttime08]

Our Help to Buy has been approved - yippee. Now need to work out how we will manage the gap in our mortgage between selling and buying!

.. and ofcourse get the actual mortgage approved! One slow step forward..

[notheragain4]

Sorry this thread had fallen really far below. That's great @Maybenexttime08 I've heard that can be a bit tricky as the lending ratio is stricter than a lot of lenders!

So we finally exchanged last week after a horrendous week of Barratt threatening to pull out, to be fair it got the solicitors moving but it was awful for us! So we are in a half unpacked house (rental) for the next 4 weeks waiting for completion, hoping we'll have a moving date next week.

I am trying to find out if I can get a snagger in before completion, and need to get quotes to extend our life insurance and also to cover help to buy, I hate dealing with life insurance, I'm always so stressed I'm going to answer a question wrong and void the policy!

Also need to pay forces help to buy back today.

Oh and still no luck in getting buildings insurance for our new build but looks like admiral will let us break out the contract as they can't cover, I really like their policy though!

How's everyone else getting on?

[MyDucksArentInARow]

Greate news @Maybenexttime08 - we're now waiting for our ATP from HTB. We had Bovis threatening to pull our reservation too but got an offer on our house at the 11th hour. Hopefully this buyer will come through. Started committing the upfront money to our purchase now too, paid for searches, mortgage fees etc now so huge risk if our buyer pulls out now and we lose the plot.


@notheragain4 Congratulations on exchanging!!! Stressful getting all those little bits sorted. I'm dreading getting to that point. Especially as we've offered to push our sale to completion to lock in our buyer before our plot will be finished - my parents get the joys of us for a few months!!! Upside is that should save us some money for some nice upgrades

We've chosen our kitchen too - marble effect quartz and shaker cabinets. I was actually really disappointed with the choice of cabinets, really limited colour. I was expecting to see a shake in a "bone" shade but it was cream shaker or grey glosses. We've ended up with sage green as it was the only shaker style colour that went with the marble. The sales guy thought I was crazy when I said I'd just paint the whole kitchen once we're in anyway! (Well after snagging - we'll have to live with it for a bit first) I love a 2 tone kitchen so will do a graphite or deep blue on bottom cabinets and lighter bone on top.

Same with tile choices, I didn't love anything so went for something very neutral. I'll probably jazz the shower up with something a bit more special later on.

We also found out our garden dimensions - 8.65m width and longest length is 10m, but that's only a short section, from the house to the garage that cuts off the top of our garden is only 7m. From a management point of view I can work with it and make it a beautiful and colourful walled garden. We both work so a big garden would be too much to maintain. I'm just disappointed for DDog as it'll be too small for her to run around in when she's fully grown. But hopefully they'll have done the open space to the front of the plot by then so we can take her out the front to play fetch!

I'm still in love with the floor plan and it's more spacious than other 4 beds in the area, so not doubting the purchase despite some negativity in the above! And they just put the next plots for our house type on, bigger gardens but also £55k more than ours!! They gardens aren't THAT much bigger...

[Maybenexttime08]

@MyDucksArentInARow - that garden sounds ok, especially if you have a nice open space in front. I've been doing a lot of 'pinteresting' on how to make new build gardens more interesting with sleepers and vertical planters, can't wait!

Things are slow for us - we went to see the build on Saturday and the windows are still not in, even though it is meant to be complete by October - that seems optimistic!

We still haven't exchanged on our sale so can't exchange on the new build but so far the developer hasn't hassled us. Hopefully they can see that we're doing all we can. Hopefully we will get our mortgage approved this week (and they've agreed a 5 month gap between completion on the sale and the new build so we can still port). Let's hope we all have a positive September!

[MyDucksArentInARow]

@Maybenexttime08 That's good of your lenders. We are lucky we're not facing issues with being in a fixed deal. Our current deal ends this month and our advisor moved us onto a tracker as a stop gap until the new house completes as we're changing providers. Very lucky to be dodging early repayment fees!!

October does sound a push if the windows aren't in! Our roof has just gone on, and the build is due to be finished in December. They said windows on in 2-3 weeks... But we also have to wait for the whole road to be finished together so there's probably time for that in our timeline too. Fingers crossed for you for September!

[notheragain4]

@Maybenexttime08 I'm pleased you've managed to sort your port.

@MyDucksArentInARow our garden sounds a similar size, I think we can make it work for us if we invest a bit of money and imagination! I only used the short bit of patio on our last garden! I'm jealous you've been able to make your choices, our house was too far in the process, I'd have love to have upgraded to a stone worktop and also I'd have gone for upgraded appliances. Although after 4 weeks in an MQ I think it's going to feel like a palace 😂 took me 40 mins to cook a meal that should have taken 20 on our rubbish electric stove last night!

[MyDucksArentInARow]

@notheragain4 yes - we were chuffed to get quartz in our deal! We wouldn't have paid for it as an upgrade though, it's quite overpriced and limited on choice, I'd have waited until we were in (maybe I should be buying a fixer upper - I'm sounding rather picky!!). Yes, as we can't decorate inside much project 1 2021 will be the garden. We're hoping we'll have party wall agreements with the neighbours for the garages so I can grow things on them and paint them how I please! Small patio, BBQ/Pizza Oven area, Pergola, small lawn and a big colourful raised bed! I'm just glad we only have a small bit of fence to put screening plants against - before we decided to move it was going to cost us over £3k to screen around our current very overlooked garden.