Buying new build - prices

[Dogdilemma2000]

We are going to look at a new build on Friday, what’s the general rule of thumb on prices? A friend told me they massively over inflate prices so you should offer way lower. Is this right?

It depends on what stage of the build they’re at. If it’s near the beginning, they’re generally less likely to reduce the price, but if it’s nearer the end of the development and they want to finish and leave the site, they’re more likely to negotiate.

Having said that, lots of developers are offering incentives just now.

The site is about 3/4 complete, don’t think it’ll be many months until they are done.

We can’t afford the asking price, but 10-15% discount would put it at top of our budget

They can't massively over inflate prices otherwise people wouldn't be able to get mortgages on them - they're still valued for a mortgage! It's not the same as putting an offer in on a regular house, the price is generally the price with some small wiggle room in exceptional circumstances.

15% off is a huge ask, we found developers more likely to offer incentives (upgraded interiors, pay stamp duty etc) than price reductions.

As a general rule they carry something like a 10% premium for the fact that they are brand new and have a 10 year warranty. That doesn't mean you will be able to get 10% off though. A lot of people just accept that it may take a while for the property to be worth what they paid.
It's definitely worth trying to negotiate though if the development is approaching completion and some stock is left unspoken for. Just be careful because the left over stock usually hasn't been a first choice for a reason (on a junction, overlooked, slightly smaller land etc etc)

From what I have read on Mumsnet about new builds, they rarely knock much off the asking price. But you can haggle hard on getting “extras” for free like getting the garden landscaped for free etc

Depends on the builder, on the plot, on the site, on the lead time, but they dont "masively over inflate" prices 🙄but there are sometimes negotiations to be had, just like any property you would look to buy

Agree with others, price is usually only very lightly negotiable e.g. to drop below stamp duty threshold if close, most of the negotiation is around finish/ 'extras': flooring, upgraded kitchen/appliances, very minor layout matters, patio and turfing, fencing, integrated doorbell, tiling: having s feel for what you'd like important. 10-15% off list is unlikely unless they're near their sales year end and haven't met target.

It will be the end of Q1, so there might be a deal if they haven’t met their quota. I don’t think 10-15% though.

They’re reluctant to negotiate too much on price, unless development nearly complete, because that would then impact on the mortgage valuations of other houses that are still to be sold.

But definitely negotiate on stamp duty contribution, finish, carpets/ flooring, wardrobes, any upgrades you’d be wanting to do anyway.

Not worth going for turf as they don’t put enough topsoil down usually, you’re better off doing that properly yourself.

You might be better asking for stamp duty to be paid or carpets/flooring.

They didn’t budge at all with the house prices in our new build estate.

Yes that’s what everyone seems to say that actually has experience of buying a new build

I'd be wary if it's top of your budget.

Find out exactly what it includes. Our kitchen, bathroom, tiling, garden was all basic and we spent alot to make them more liveable with upgrades.

Eg. Bathroom only had one small drawer under the sink for storage, no mirrors, towel rails etc

No curtains or blinds or curtain poles.

There is a huge amount of purchasing to be done as you don't inherit anything from previous owners to live with or make do. Some are small like door hooks and others costly like blinds so be realistic about the extra costs

We've bought new builds in the past and so have lots of people we know. I've never heard of them discounting the actual price of the house, certainly not by 10-15%. But they do offer incentives up to the value of 5% of the house most of the time, usually either by covering stamp duty, estate agents fees or extras on the house.

We couldn't get any money taken off if the price if ours at all but did get solicitors fees, stamp duty, turf and carpets paid for. So swings and roundabouts

Agree with others, they’re unlikely to reduce the price but you can probably negotiate on incentives.

Yes to this. We have spent a fortune in our new build buying literally everything from scratch. Having all the bathrooms fully tiled. Getting better doors. Better kitchen. Carpets and LVT throughout! Blinds on all the enormous windows - new builds are very overlooked so you will want to do this immediately upon moving in.
Light fittings. Even simple things like hooks for your coats!

Can I just say, there will be a few people commenting about how 'crap' they supposedly are and that they're "thrown up" but I am very happy with mine (not a single snag and very well built. Also zero noise leakage from next door, astonishingly, despite being a semi) and I know many people who are also with theirs. Not just that, but as ours was only the second built, we saw the rest of the development being built and I can assure you, they're not thrown up at all. Quite to the contrary in all honesty. "They're thrown up" has become more of a tagline than being particularly accurate these days.

Fully agree SpringtimeBunny but it is far better to slag off newbuilds because "everybody knows they are rubbish" rather than actually accept that as with everything in this world, there are good, bad, indifferent and excellent ones out there but hey, let's just tar them with the same brush.🙁
Our development releases houses individually or in groups of 2-3 with build time being about 12-months so when you reserve there is plenty of opportunity to watch your house being constructed and no, they are certainly not "thrown up".

Agree about the asking price, they are very unlikely to haggle on that and much more likely to include some extras such as flooring, turf, appliances, kitchen or bathroom upgrades etc.

As others have said, it is easy to get carried away with the extras list so the way we did it was to have done what would cause the most disruption later on (extra sockets, lights, ethernet & TV points, bathroom & kitchen upgrades) and then things that we would want as soon as we moved in (flooring, additional bathroom tiling, fitted wardrobes etc). Everything else, we would get done afterwards.

Agree about window coverings, they can take a huge chunk out of your budget. We spent upwards of £10k on blinds, curtains (Inc poles), shutters etc which is a significant chunk of money whichever way you look at it.😲
Even the aforementioned coat hooks. We have a decent amount of downstairs cupboard space for coats (and shoes) but getting hooks for each location was another task to be added to the "to do" list. Likewise the bathroom and bedroom doors, it is nice to have a decent hook on each one.

I’ve bought three l, I didn’t get any money off, I did get extras though.

For the house I live in now I got carpets, marble kitchen work top, down lighters in the kitchen and all the bathroom, chrome light switches etc, a fireplace which I chose, a fully landscaped garden with an extra big patio (I closed all the trees and plants I wanted), burgular alarm, ceramic floor tiles in the bathrooms, small things such as extra mirrors in the bathrooms, stamp duty paid and solar panels.