Haggling, New builds and part ex
Discussion
I've had a few friends buy new builds in the last year or two, it seems those that had part exes got a great price for their existing house, but it was reflected in lower discounts on the new home, however all felt it was worth it for saving the hassle of having the worry of the existing house not selling or a sale falling through.
I don't know exactly what discounts most got, but I do know one of them got a £450k house for £375k, he haggled very hard, had nothing to sell and was able to move in immediately and it was one of the last houses on the site so the builders wanted to finish up and move out, I don't think that level of discount is anywhere near the norm.
No set rules really, as it depends on the builder, how many units in the site, how many still to sell, is it a desirable style/plot location etc, go in cheekily low and work from there. Remember it may be easier to get extras thrown in as these are at cost price to the builder, carpets, landscaping, upgrades, tiling will cost them less to give away than they'd cost you to purchase after you move in.
I don't know exactly what discounts most got, but I do know one of them got a £450k house for £375k, he haggled very hard, had nothing to sell and was able to move in immediately and it was one of the last houses on the site so the builders wanted to finish up and move out, I don't think that level of discount is anywhere near the norm.
No set rules really, as it depends on the builder, how many units in the site, how many still to sell, is it a desirable style/plot location etc, go in cheekily low and work from there. Remember it may be easier to get extras thrown in as these are at cost price to the builder, carpets, landscaping, upgrades, tiling will cost them less to give away than they'd cost you to purchase after you move in.
I managed to haggle Barratt down from £250k to £175k on a 2 bedroomed flat in Wimbledon. It was a couple of years ago, when the housing market was in freefall though.
We didn't take it in the end.
As someone else has already mentioned, and like a new car, it depends on your position. No part-ex, willing to use their financing solutions, and ready to move now will put you in the strongest position to negotiate a good deal.
We didn't take it in the end.
As someone else has already mentioned, and like a new car, it depends on your position. No part-ex, willing to use their financing solutions, and ready to move now will put you in the strongest position to negotiate a good deal.
A mate of mine, in late 2009, got a reasonable part-ex on his house and upscaled to a 4 bed. He got circa £30k off the 4 bed, originally priced at £300k.
Armed with this knowledge, last month I looked at a local new build with a different builder, up at £245k.
They offered me about 10% below 'list' for my place, which was fine, but would hardly budge on list price for theirs. The most I could get it down by was around £10k, so I walked as it wasn't worth that.
It really depends on the builder and where they are with the development. The plot I wanted hadn't officially been released yet, so they think they're in a strong position. Find a builder trying to flog off the last remaining plots and lose the part-ex and you'll be in a better negotiating position.
Armed with this knowledge, last month I looked at a local new build with a different builder, up at £245k.
They offered me about 10% below 'list' for my place, which was fine, but would hardly budge on list price for theirs. The most I could get it down by was around £10k, so I walked as it wasn't worth that.
It really depends on the builder and where they are with the development. The plot I wanted hadn't officially been released yet, so they think they're in a strong position. Find a builder trying to flog off the last remaining plots and lose the part-ex and you'll be in a better negotiating position.
Only a thought, but I would imagine that 18 months - 2 years ago, big housing developers had a glut of property they wanted to shift at the start of the downturn.
However, for the past 12 months they've really scaled back on developments, thus there may well not be so many properties being built. Supply and demand and all that I guess.
(I'm basing the above statement on what I know of friends who work in the roofing business, 2 years ago they were earning a fortune on price work, however this last year has seen a massive drop in their earnings and they have to travel a lot further for work)
However, for the past 12 months they've really scaled back on developments, thus there may well not be so many properties being built. Supply and demand and all that I guess.
(I'm basing the above statement on what I know of friends who work in the roofing business, 2 years ago they were earning a fortune on price work, however this last year has seen a massive drop in their earnings and they have to travel a lot further for work)
matts4 said:
Only a thought, but I would imagine that 18 months - 2 years ago, big housing developers had a glut of property they wanted to shift at the start of the downturn.
This as well. I think in the past new homebuilders just got cracking on and completed the site asap, certainly the case when I bought 4 1/2 years ago. Now they seem to be building to order so don't build on a plot until it's been sold, so the only way to get good deals may be at the end of the site when they have showhomes to sell or if there's been a sale fall through and they're left with an unexpected completed home they want rid of - in both of those cases however you may win or lose depending on if you like the spec of the completed house.It depends on the housebuilder's selling strategy also. I know of some housebuilders that will barely shift on sale price, but will include 'extras' such as upgraded fittings carpets etc, whilst I know of others that won't supply 'extras' other than standard spec, but will move much more on price.
I recently moved house into a new build using part-ex. I got a very fair price for my old place, a number of extras (built-in white goods, fireplaces, top spec carpets, curtains and gardens turfing), legals and £20k off the asking price, so deals are out there.
I recently moved house into a new build using part-ex. I got a very fair price for my old place, a number of extras (built-in white goods, fireplaces, top spec carpets, curtains and gardens turfing), legals and £20k off the asking price, so deals are out there.
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