Redrow house price and extras

[Pdunc]

So I’ve fallen in love with a house in a fancy new development and the house is 580k with an additional 35k of extras. Now I’m happy for some extras but to have to buy toilet roll holders and basic things is scandalous. I think the propery is worth about 590k in realistic terms but redrow have me over a barrel as they are charging 580k for the house “the rest is extras” I’m so close to backing out the sale… I’ve asked them today what they can do with the sale price but she said absolutely nothing at all… take it or leave it. Has anyone else had a reduction in Costs after meaning such demands ?

Can't you decline the extras?

A relative of mine was very taken with the Redrow show house but after working out that they would need a 10% deposit, (no 95% mortgages on new homes over £500,000), stamp duty and then an extra £20,000 would have to be found for “upgrade” which appears to be just the basic tiles and flooring.

They have walked away as It did not make financial sense.

I bought a new Redrow home 8 years ago so things were different then. We got every extra going and for us it made the house. It was amazing getting a brand new house and all the special little touches. Redrow build quality houses, this is my third new build house and the best bu far. Out energy bills are tiny considering the size of the house. I’d say go for the house if you can afford it.

Some things with Redrow are worth it....others not so much. We added up everything we originally wanted and it was 20K. We narrowed this down to around £10k and in total only paid £2k as Redrow contributed the rest.
Toilet rolls holders? If you can buy them and fit them yourself you will save lots of money. We are still reasonably new to DIY in our house but things like that aren't too much of a problem.
Price up what is essential to you and see if it is still worth the money. People have different priorities but for us we did all with an external flooring company (more choice and saved a lot) but did get Redrow to do electrics/wall tiling etc. Though I wouldn't recommend getting them to turf. We did ours ourselves but some of our neighbours got it done and it was awful.

I might be missing the point here but isn’t the benefit of extras that they reduce the stamp duty

"I might be missing the point here but isn’t the benefit of extras that they reduce the stamp duty"

I don't know if that is sometimes the case (sounds a bit too simple and open to abuse?) but in the case of Redrow it is a just a case of this is what you get for the money and then it is up to you if you want to pay for the extras / upgrades at the time or do it yourself afterwards.

We are buying a Redrow home and the list of standard equipment is very good but of course there is a great long list of options / upgrades available.
We had a few items thrown in which when taken off the options list came to well over £10K! This wasn't really an incentive as such because we bought off-plan (foundations weren't even dug at that point) and at that stage we hadn't even got around to discussing options so we didn't know what was going to be given FOC. What it did mean however was that later on we could ignore those items and start to include some items which up until that point had been "would like" rather than "must have". Trouble is, as with all these things the list grew and grew and we ended up spending just under £24K!

I think the point that you have to work out what is better done by the developer during the build and what you are willing to have done afterwards. Pipes, cables, underfloor heating etc etc need to be done at the time otherwise you will be ripping up floor-panels and making a right old mess of your nice new home just to save a few £££.
Surface fixings however are a completely different matter and you can do these yourself at minimal cost.
Of course, if you want to be moving straight in with the minimal amount of work required then you will end up paying a lot more than someone who is willing to wait and / or do it themselves. We struck a balance and had all the concealed work done and made sure several rooms were 95% finished whereas in others we had a bare minimum done.

• P.S. I am fitting the toilet roll holders!

I pulled out of buying a Redrow house about 6 years ago partly because of the ridiculous amount they wanted to charge for “extras”. When you see them come up for resale some of them look really basic inside as you are just getting the shell. They made a big deal at one point of the fact they were going to include a dishwasher. This wasn’t standard at first in a £500k house. Having said that they all seem to sell when they go on the market

Correct, appliances like a dishwasher, washing machine or tumble-drier are not included in the standard spec and for the remaining ones (fridge/freezer, cooker, hob, extractor etc) there is a long list of options/upgrades.
Some time after we had reserved they told us that the dishwasher was now being included (we hadn't put one on our options list) so it wasn't an incentive as such, just an unexpected (and welcome) extra.

The other thing when I bought was you had to choose the “extras” from a horrible, clunky website. The last straw was when they changed kitchen supplier overnight and most of the kitchens were no longer available even though they still showed on website. We were then given about 24 hours to choose from a much reduced list. I just felt like they were horrible to deal with but could have just been that one site. If you want chrome light switches etc then they really have to be done at the right time in the build cycle so they really have you over a barrel.

@Caffeinefirst

The other thing when I bought was you had to choose the “extras” from a horrible, clunky website. The last straw was when they changed kitchen supplier overnight and most of the kitchens were no longer available even though they still showed on website. We were then given about 24 hours to choose from a much reduced list. I just felt like they were horrible to deal with but could have just been that one site. If you want chrome light switches etc then they really have to be done at the right time in the build cycle so they really have you over a barrel.

Stuff like fitting chrome light switches are an incredibly easy job. Wait for a discount weekend at your local diy store, go and buy what you need and just swap out the basic white plastic ones. Much cheaper than the premium you’ll be charged by a large scale developer.

*Tyrannosaursus

Yes I remember thinking at the time isn’t it just a case of switching the plates but they told me it would be hugely complicated to do after we’d bought. It was just another reason to pull out. I must say when I see them come up on rightmove I look at the light switches!

That was a bit of misinformation by the developer, whether it was deliberate or a lack of understanding will never be known.
We are having Redrow provide additional power points, downlighters etc as the cabling needs to be in place but as for upgraded switches, ceiling lights etc we will do that later.

Dougieowner

To be honest I was just overwhelmed by the whole thing. My husband was working abroad at the time and I felt like I was having to make lots of very expensive decisions on my own. In the end we bought a 7 year old house. It’s not been perfect at all but I guess we’ve been able to make changes more gradually. There are a few Redrow estates near me. They all sell when first built and on resale so people like them.