Strange tactics from estate agent

rossyamaha

We've been thinking about moving house recently so had some valuations for a part ex against the new place we've seen. 3 companies came round yesterday and 2 of them said exactly the same thing. Don't move!

Now the main reason for moving is our place needs a good bit of money spending on it to get it how we want. The new place is just that, brand new. They haven't even started building yet. It's smaller and in a nice area but not nearly as nice as where we are. Do they know something we don't? Is this normal for estate agents to be so vocal? In fact, not just that, we were very clear that if the part ex price was no good, we would sell with them direct so they get even more out of us. For them to say very firmly don't move just struck me as a bit odd. 

JDE

rossyamaha said:

The new place is just that, brand new. They haven't even started building yet. It's smaller and in a nice area but not nearly as nice as where we are. Do they know something we don't? 

It seems that you do know. You have answered your own question with your previous two lines. 
Fwiw, you can make your house whatever you want it to be with dedication, money and (most importantly) time. *You cannot change the area you live in, ever.* 
And from knowing what I know about the building industry and new builds, I personally would never buy or rent a new build without it being fully completed, ideally for a few years, and if it was a site with multiple dwellings, I would want other people living there first. Just my 2p.

But to focus on the original point, yes it is unusual for estate agents to do this. Maybe they don’t want to do a load of work only for the build of the new place to fall through......

Modulus_Amps

Did you ask them why?

Lots of reasons to not move somewhere or into something, however that means they get no commission... were they working their notice period?

dhaywood67

My brother-in-law moved into a new build last week and is now starting the battle of the 'snagging list'. Things from tiles on the roof cracked, external doors that don't fit properly, the occasional bit of crap plastering to lights off center and marked kitchen units. In total around 30 things that now need attention and that is on a £400k house in Nottinghamshire, so not an expensive place to live. Surely at that price it should be like the show home?????

Personally based on this I wouldn't move to a new build either. Maybe that's what they're warning against. Find somewhere a couple of years old where all niggley crap has been taken care of.

FreddieVanHalen

I’ve done the new place thing once and would never do it again.

Service charges, leasehold chicanery and smaller new build places all add to the hassle.

strtdv

I live in a 20 year old house and wouldn't go for anything much newer.
In older houses predictable things will go wrong (our boiler will need changed soon and the float valve on the cold water tank is starting to go) but in a new house you won't know where all the corners have been cut, and they will definitely have been cut.

Fretwired

rossyamaha said:

We've been thinking about moving house recently so had some valuations for a part ex against the new place we've seen. 3 companies came round yesterday and 2 of them said exactly the same thing. Don't move!

Now the main reason for moving is our place needs a good bit of money spending on it to get it how we want. The new place is just that, brand new. They haven't even started building yet. It's smaller and in a nice area but not nearly as nice as where we are. Do they know something we don't? Is this normal for estate agents to be so vocal? In fact, not just that, we were very clear that if the part ex price was no good, we would sell with them direct so they get even more out of us. For them to say very firmly don't move just struck me as a bit odd. 

Could be you're planning to move to a brand new home. Do some Googling ... lots of recent articles on the poor quality of new builds. You often expect a few snags but it seems these days things are far worse .... if you live in a good area and an older well-built house it will be worth doing up.

Here's an example of new build hell ..

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-46302905

And not all estate agents are shysters ..

rossyamaha

We have done quite a bit of research into the company. It's quite a large development with a few different companies there. There are definitely better and more expensive homes than the one we fancy but I won't pay an extra £80k for some nicer finishing. I expect that to be done to at least a good standard with any home. The company we're looking at has 50/50 reviews where as comparable companies are mostly bad reviews. 

I've been made aware about the snags. We're used to them. Our house is 1930's and there are tons of them! ;-)

I will say, the area we're looking at is far from bad. It's just one of them where if the house we want there is £X you can add 30% to the price to put it on our street. The problem we have is we could easily spend £20k on our place to get it close to being right and then always be doing something else as well but it does have a lot of potential. I do think though we are at or very near the ceiling price so any money spent would just be eating into the equity. 

A new house does appeal. Anything that goes wrong gets sorted. Garden takes 45 seconds to sort. Heating bill comes down. We don't pay an extra 4% on top of our council tax for the joy of living in that area. Theres a lot of good stuff about it. The biggest downside for me is that stamp duty alone is £8k! Add to that the other fees and we could have a new kitchen. Or bathroom. Or I could get the roof fixed. Or buy loads of new gear!

fretmeister

I'd never buy a new build.

Ever.

Let some other poor sod deal with getting all the flaws fixed

ESBlonde

rossyamaha said:

We have done quite a bit of research into the company. It's quite a large development with a few different companies there. There are definitely better and more expensive homes than the one we fancy but I won't pay an extra £80k for some nicer finishing. I expect that to be done to at least a good standard with any home. The company we're looking at has 50/50 reviews where as comparable companies are mostly bad reviews. 

I've been made aware about the snags. We're used to them. Our house is 1930's and there are tons of them! ;-)

I will say, the area we're looking at is far from bad. It's just one of them where if the house we want there is £X you can add 30% to the price to put it on our street. The problem we have is we could easily spend £20k on our place to get it close to being right and then always be doing something else as well but it does have a lot of potential. I do think though we are at or very near the ceiling price so any money spent would just be eating into the equity. 

A new house does appeal. Anything that goes wrong gets sorted. Garden takes 45 seconds to sort. Heating bill comes down. We don't pay an extra 4% on top of our council tax for the joy of living in that area. Theres a lot of good stuff about it. The biggest downside for me is that stamp duty alone is £8k! Add to that the other fees and we could have a new kitchen. Or bathroom. Or I could get the roof fixed. Or buy loads of new gear!

You are sitting on a goldmine, you just don't recognise it as such. Selling up will release equity but put you in a poorer place to continue your life struggle.

So think 'outside the box' to coin a phrase from another recent thread. If you have a garden thats too big, let someone else garden for you and they get 50% of any fruit/veg produce and you get the grass cut and the boarders tended. Do you have a spare room? If the location is good what about a young professional as a boarder?  what about Air BnB? These things can provide value and enable you to update the property without undue hardship over a few years, net result is the place you want in the place you want.

monquixote

I was thinking of getting a new build until I looked at buying one that had been built a few years previously in the same location and by the same people. It looked really shabby and clearly had loads of problems.

I didn't buy either!

Phil_aka_Pip

new house = no no (Persimmon new house = nein non niet no way not ever). All that squared for one that hasn't even been built yet! Don't be so f___ing stupid!!

robwright

I'd have a 1930's home over a new build any day. Think of the small, boxy rooms, the paper thin walls and the lack of character (in most new houses). Like you say, the stamp duty alone could cover the cost of a lot of the work on your current house!

rlw

Ask what the new property might be worth if you wanted to sell within two years.  In York, I’ve seen fancy new builds at £400K+ back on the market for £300K plus.  A new house can be like a new car and depreciate early on.

thermionic

Isn’t it remarkable that a long list of problems that have to be fixed on a new build is so commonplace and actually expected, that there is a term for it? Imagine when you were  buying a car or an expensive road bike, knowing you’d have several pages of problems that the manufacturer tried to get away with after taking your money. Shoddy.

TheBigDipper

rossyamaha said:

<snip>

A new house does appeal. Anything that goes wrong gets sorted. Garden takes 45 seconds to sort. Heating bill comes down. We don't pay an extra 4% on top of our council tax for the joy of living in that area. Theres a lot of good stuff about it. The biggest downside for me is that stamp duty alone is £8k! Add to that the other fees and we could have a new kitchen. Or bathroom. Or I could get the roof fixed. Or buy loads of new gear!

The idea of a new house is brilliant. In larger estates, the reality is usually something much less. If you're stuck on the idea of new, then expect problems that you will have to fix and pay for yourself. Do not be swayed by the idea of an NHBC guarantee (or equivalent) because that is an insurance product built by a cartel of house builders, and a successful claim is hard work and stressful. 

A house in a small development built by a local small builder can be good, but never the big boys, as far as I can tell. 

revsorg

My sister bought a new build in Milton Keynes before it had gone up.  The developers said they would have good views  out of their back garden.  Inexplicably after they moved in a 3 story block of flats went straight up, about 20 feet from their back garden fence, and whenever you sit in their living room you have a bunch of windows overlooking you.  I suppose this sort of situation isn't limited to new builds, but my sister's experience would make me extremely wary.

shrinkwrap

Are you sure the new place isn't one of these Leasehold ripoff scams? You might think all houses are freeholds but some new builds are not - and they increase the ground rent and service charge every year. And then you'll find you can't sell it.

axisus

Modern houses are garbage. I couldn't believe the shoddy quality last time we looked

jdgm

From what you have written they are absolutely right and can probably see something in the future that you can't yet....so to speak. 

Believe me....you will be alright if you stay where you are - definitely - but you may not be alright if you move.

I speak from experience.

WiresDreamDisasters

No flaws with our new build so far. Three years in.