Buying new-builds

[AdamW]

I've been considering buying a new build property. There is a nagging thought in my head though.

The mark-up for a new property seems to be phenomenal. Round here you can't directly compare new and old: the new builds are generally spacious and well appointed, the existing houses are ratty terraces that were knocked up post-war. However the new builds generally attract up to a 50% premium in price.

They do all kinds of offers on "we pay towards your mortgage" etc. which reduces the cost in real terms, but you still end up paying considerably more.

So my question is this:

In the vast combined experience here, does buying a new build pay off in the long run? Obviously the "new car smell" dies off by the time you sell it, but have you found the nicer style, better fittings, building warranty etc allows the property to hold the price premium for a few years, or have you found that 2 years down the line it is valued the same as any other house in the area and you've really just thrown money away?

Obviously I would love a new house (although little chance for DIY), but I could buy a Ferrari and live in a same-sized terrace instead!

 

[Nige F]

You`re avin a laff.....New build ,apart from the neat brickwork.is the biggest pile o` **** going Period. Believe who or what you like, but I`ve been involved in and observed housebuilding for 40 years Warranty....Daley and Arthur spring to mind.........just ask anyone who`s tried claiming.

 

[petewood]

I agree with Nige here, we had a (nearly) new house once and it was pretty awful. Not well built and without character. I tried to claim on the warranty (is it NHBC?) when the chimney-pot fell off and damaged some tiles, but this wasn't covered or so they said.

The house would re-sell for what people want to pay for it and personally I would pay more for an older house that didn't have doors made from cardboard!

 

[masona]

Like me buy a property in a auction if you don't mind doing it up, anyway you're on the right forum for this!

Paid £17,000 for a bungalow in 1981, average price then was £26,000.

 

[Thermo]

old build good
new build bad

 

[Slogger]

bodge it and scarper

no kidding buy a white hard hat and a clipboard and a pen the go walkabout on any new build site make sure u have the obligitary green wellies then go about your mooching no one will stop u there are so many hidden faults to find some actually dangerous

leave new build well alone unless your building your own WHICH i might is a good thing to do if you can get the land cheap even if your not a diyer as there are a lot of tradesmen out there looking for cash in hand work

 

[AdamW]

So the consensus is "steer clear of new build" As was said, they do have very neat brickwork and look attractive (albeit without character)... I suppose it is like new car or secondhand car: a 1980s Jag might be a bit dented and scratched yet the V12 might keep on going for years, but a brand new shiny car might be rubbish.

Is the shoddy build quality always the case? Surely there must be some companies that do decent new builds. After all aren't most of the problems down to poor design, cheap material selection and unrealistic timescales rather than tradesman skill? Brickies being told they have to lay x bricks in y hours for example.

There is a 1980s estate round here that is notorious for being shoddy, they look tattier than the 1950s terraces. I've even seen one house with a totally original 1946 bathroom, still looks good and doesn't leak!!!

I might still have a look round (good idea about the hardhat Slogger ), thump a few walls and look at the mortar lines.

 

[jbonding]

could not agree more these new builds are definetly mutton dressed as lamb, everything is hidden ,ie laminate floors,downlighters to hide rough plastering, white or magnolia paint, its that bright and the so called trendy crome switches and sockets im sure have conned many a first time buyer. some of the kitchens look nice but i think may go out of fashion quickly because there nearly all the same. the cracks and nail holes start showing before you move in but are patched the day before. ive been on sites where theres gonna be a visit that day by the head honchoes and theyve layed turf outside the fronts of houses just to make it look like there well ahead, and believe me they wont move bricks,bits of timber or plasterboard they just flatten it and thats your front garden. silcone, decoraters chalk, filler and paint are hiding a lot off problems, look at any of these houses in hulme manchester and its getting hard to work out which ones are new or existing. but there again they go up in price the same as everyone elses but i cant see them lasting without considerable maintenance.

 

[masona]

Agreed with you there Jbonding, the problem today youngster don't like getting their hands dirty so rather walk into a new home all done up.

Adam, if you have the time, diy At least you know how it built.
Homebuilding or Self build

 

[WoodYouLike]

Is the shoddy build quality always the case? Surely there must be some companies that do decent new builds. After all aren't most of the problems down to poor design, cheap material selection and unrealistic timescales rather than tradesman skill? Brickies being told they have to lay x bricks in y hours for example.

Our experience (not by buying, but when installing floors in new builds):
try to find a new build by a small developer (small projects). They are very reasonable and with more quality build than the bulk ones on new big estates.
(our own shop is in a small new development: 4 commercial units, 4 apartments, 2 duplex houses and 7 normal houses: can't find any faults, beautiful styled in 'village' look)

 

[jbonding]

i agree w.y.l these big firms are knocking these houses out as fast as they can so going with a small developer, i think you have better communication, its more 1 to 1. I have probably been on most sites by all the big developers that spring to mind. ive been plastering flats with water coming through the ceiling because of the lack of a roof, seen an agent pull a window frame back in after he nearly fell out because it wasnt fixed, the amount of times ive seen plasterboarders put single skins of plasterboard, when the speck says two,not staggering joints,the wrong thickness boards, screws missing, insulation missing, ive seen plasterers turn up and skim a flat and wreck it but they sand down and paint.

 

[empip]

I have watched several sites grow down the years. I had the distinct impression that the initial build buyers could see the value of their homes grow as their gardens matured, and the builder raised the prices on equivalent homes at each new phase.
Quality seemed to be well down the list of the desparate, getting on the bottom rung was all !! It would be useful to find a web site with historical price data for large projects...

I guess one must pay for quality, sadly, it seems one must pay through the nose just to have something done right, but then what is right?
One thing I have learned hereabouts .. even the 'experts' argue like f at times .. confidence boosting isn't it?

 

[Freddie]

but i cant see them lasting without considerable maintenance.

Arrr but you see method in the madness as that will be the thing that keeps them employed when the boom has gone ------ maintanence

 

[countygardens]

I think that wherever you are in the country, they (new builds) will always have all the **** from the building works dumped in the garden, as jbonding says. Turf will last for about 6 months and you will wonder why its started growing at different rates. Its because the top soil (if they bothered with it at all) will be very thin and uneven.

 

[AdamW]

Self build, I'd love to do that!

The only thing that concerns me is that my DIY timetable is scuppered by my work timetable and (to a lesser extent) my social timetable. Of course you have to get proper tradesmen in too, but the more hours you can put in labouring for them the more you save, right?

I think I need to join a selfbuild forum too, I'll try that one Masona suggested