Buying a new built house

macsauce

I am currently in the process of buying a new build as part of a large development. At the viewing of the show house we were told that a number of items are included in the purchase price (these are still included on the developments website).

I understand that these don't form part of the contract but the extent of the U-turn the developer is making on what is included is staggering, running into the thousands.

I have now asked my solicitor to ensure that these are included in our contract. I'm sure others must have made similar requests recently, I would be interested to hear how successful these attempts have been.

(apologies for hijacking the thread a little but thought it relevant to this thread).

Utah

macsauce wrote: »

I understand that these don't form part of the contract but the extent of the U-turn the developer is making on what is included is staggering, running into the thousands.

I have now asked my solicitor to ensure that these are included in our contract. I'm sure others must have made similar requests recently, I would be interested to hear how successful these attempts have been.

Would these be appliances?

dori_dormer

macsauce wrote: »

I am currently in the process of buying a new build as part of a large development. At the viewing of the show house we were told that a number of items are included in the purchase price (these are still included on the developments website).

I understand that these don't form part of the contract but the extent of the U-turn the developer is making on what is included is staggering, running into the thousands.

I have now asked my solicitor to ensure that these are included in our contract. I'm sure others must have made similar requests recently, I would be interested to hear how successful these attempts have been.

(apologies for hijacking the thread a little but thought it relevant to this thread).

Id be careful as to what your contact says and what the auctioneer said. Ours def had a few things slightly wrong. Like he said downstairs flooring was included but it was actually only the kitchen flooring. No bother to him but it cost us 4k.
Estate agents are there to make sales. I'd chat to your solicitor if the builder is back tracking on things in the official paperwork.

mollybird

I agree with you Dori. The EA's are on a mission to sell sell sell. We were told that we would be able to talk to the wardrobe suppliers as we thought we had one or two choices for our wardrobes but they told us we don't and that's going by what the builder has told them. So i def would double check some of these things you are being told for your own sake.

Utah

Is it ok to go over the EA's head and talk directly to the builder?...if so, how do you find the person to talk to in the building company?

lawred2

Bought a new house last year - was a dream process. Fixed price so no room for dodgy agents and phantom bidding wars.

Bit of advice I'd give is to build up personal relationships with the seller's agent, the site foreman and the snagging foreman if there is one. This is important. You'll have loads of little jobs that need doing and having a direct line to agents and foremen will get people to your door much quicker. Also they tend to use a handful of handymen so no harm getting to know one or two of them too. Quick call to them can get stuff sorted too.

Even the most comprehensive snag list will miss the stuff that only appears after the house has been occupied for a while.

Of course; all this presumes that there are still builders on site. If the site is fully finished then it's much harder.

Our internal spec was exceptional. Everything was in place bar for flooring and window dressing. That was left to the buyer. My advice would be to arrange flooring and window dressing suppliers for as soon as you are expected to get keys (earlier if the seller agrees - which they did in our case)..

IKEA and NEXT are definitely enough to get anyone started with regards to furniture... One bit of advice I'd give is not rush out buying expensive items (beds and sofas apart) until you've lived in the house for a while. You need to get a feel for your house first. A showroom is not the same thing.

If you're not bringing furniture with you and you're not buying IKEA beds (we didn't) - then you'll need to order your beds in advance - they can often take months. Same for sofas and armchairs.

I know one couple who bought new in 2006 and the developer included nothing but the shell of the house. It was their own kitchen, sanity ware, tiling etc Crazy considering what was included in our fixed price.

All in all - enjoy the experience. It's great.

lawred2

dori_dormer wrote: »

Was down at our new place this morning. Kitchen tiles going in, snag list being rectified! Place looks amazing we are so pleased.
Appliances arrive tomorrow, final snag this Friday and hopefully keys next week!

Also fyi the most boring thing to shop for is carpets.....

Good for you...

What neck of the woods are you buying in? (No need to be exact)

dori_dormer

Utah wrote: »

Is it ok to go over the EA's head and talk directly to the builder?...if so, how do you find the person to talk to in the building company?

Just say you'd like a chat with the builder before you commit. After the open houses we made a private appointment with ea to pick our house ( there were 4 of our type to choose from, different aspects etc) the builder turned up to chat with us at that point.

dori_dormer

lawred2 wrote: »

Good for you...

What neck of the woods are you buying in? (No need to be exact)

North kildare

Utah

dori_dormer wrote: »

Just say you'd like a chat with the builder before you commit. After the open houses we made a private appointment with ea to pick our house ( there were 4 of our type to choose from, different aspects etc) the builder turned up to chat with us at that point.

Ok, I might make some inquiries. Would be good to make acquaintances! I know there will be further phases on the site so further snagging and issue resolving should be ok for the next year anyway

macsauce

Thanks for the replies!

Utah wrote: »

Would these be appliances?

It's appliances, tiling and specs on the house.

dori_dormer wrote: »

Id be careful as to what your contact says and what the auctioneer said. Ours def had a few things slightly wrong. Like he said downstairs flooring was included but it was actually only the kitchen flooring. No bother to him but it cost us 4k.
Estate agents are there to make sales. I'd chat to your solicitor if the builder is back tracking on things in the official paperwork.

This is what i'm worried about and have asked my solicitor to request that these are put into the contract. I don't trust the EA at all. Did you have the downstairs flooring included in your contract?

I doubt i'll benefit at all from a maintaining a relationship with the but i will keep the lines of communication open. They are, after all, there to act in the interests of the seller.

Utah

We have no flooring included in our contract, that was made known to us.
We do have the appliances. The development brochure has not mention of a washing machine, just fridge, dishwasher, oven but our contract does have a washing machine listed - I will be making sure we get a washing machine!

dori_dormer

macsauce wrote: »

Thanks for the replies!



It's appliances, tiling and specs on the house.



This is what i'm worried about and have asked my solicitor to request that these are put into the contract. I don't trust the EA at all. Did you have the downstairs flooring included in your contract?

I doubt i'll benefit at all from a maintaining a relationship with the but i will keep the lines of communication open. They are, after all, there to act in the interests of the seller.

You should have the brochure from the ea, which will have some details ( read the wording carefully) then you should also have been given documentation from the builder. Once we paid our holding fee we never spoke to the ea again.
The documentation from the builder had ðetails of the suppliers for floor, tiles, kitchen, appliance bundle ( I got cheaper and better in the sales) paint options, staira, fireplace etc.
The foremen are the best to be acquainted with. The construction foreman is sorting all our snagging, he's been brilliant and is very picky about finishes which is great. There's also an electrical foreman on our site. Not sure about others!

Only the kitchen flooring was specified in the details so we didn't have any comeback. Sure the estate agent is just a man making a sale. We had 2 weeks cooling off after our deposit was put down. We had the contracts and read them, spoke to builder etc in that time and our solicitor, so we didn't have to sign if there was anything we didn't like. Or we could always have negotiated I suppose.

mollybird

We finally got our loan approval in writing from the bank. they also sent a copy to the solicitor. we were kinda hoping to get paper work signed by tommorow but both of us won't have time to get to the solicitor's office so it's just going to have to wait another week till we get back from hols.

in the paper work also has a list of conveger's that we choose from that need to check out the house. another €100 bills thank you very much

Irish_rat

My costs so far some ordered for next week to give an idea

Flooring 2300
Oven + hob 1100
Fridgefreezer 850
2 Bed frames + locker 1250
2 Matresses 850
2 breakfast bar stools 220
Blinds 1000
Paint +brushes 100

Just couch, TV stand, washing machine and dishwasher to order. Of course the small things like pots, pillows, curtains, duvets and mirrors will all add up. Gives a good idea of things but I have landscaping work to do yet so 15k does seem the standard nowadays to get a new house fully kitted out.

draiochtanois

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PedroDublin

That seems quite close to my budget, I have forecast 10K to cover all the initial furniture and fixings, but I will have the kitchen appliances included and bathrooms fully, which could easily go up to 5k.

A couple of expenses that we initially didn't count on: setting up the alarm, around 700E, and stair/flooring in the attic, another 500E.

Irish_rat

PedroDublin wrote: »

That seems quite close to my budget, I have forecast 10K to cover all the initial furniture and fixings, but I will have the kitchen appliances included and bathrooms fully, which could easily go up to 5k.

A couple of expenses that we initially didn't count on: setting up the alarm, around 700E, and stair/flooring in the attic, another 500E.

Yup mines not alarmed yet but there is security around while the builders are away. House is wired for it so eventually I'll do it for around 500-700 I'd imagine

mollybird

so looking like we won't be able to sign the contracts till we get back from hols mon week. Once we sign them any idea how long it maybe till we get the keys?

PedroDublin

mollybird wrote: »

so looking like we won't be able to sign the contracts till we get back from hols mon week. Once we sign them any idea how long it maybe till we get the keys?

I just made a timeline with everything that needs to happen and I'd say bare minimum 2 weeks, most likely three, without having any delays

dori_dormer

Picked all the blinds today. Man it was hard! Got 6 blinds for 600 euro. Which was half the max budget so I'm pretty pleased! Will need a few sets of curtains which will eat into those savings a bit.

al_E_kat

Moved into our new build 2 months ago, loving it so far!!


Included in ours was tiling in all bathrooms and kitchen plus appliances (fridge freezer, gas hob, double electric oven, integrated microwave and dishwasher)

So far we've purchased;

New bed + mattress for ourselves 1100

washer and dryer 600

carpet on stairs and laminate in living room and bedrooms 2000

Stools for breakfast counter 80x3

Tv unit and bookcase 600

Cheap ikea roller blinds 30x3

2 sets of curtains 250

Kettle - gift

Toaster 35

Then small things like cutlery, cutlery trays, toilet brushes, place mats, pots and pans, glasses, mugs etc etc

The blinds and curtains will do the job until we have the money to get proper ones, gives privacy and a certain amount of light blocking out. Had a few pieces of furniture from renting down the years, nothing matches of course but it'll do for now.
My dad gave us an old sofa and armchair of his until we get sorted, heading upto Navan today to have a look at a few really excited for that!!!!



Still have so much to get, small things too like bathroom fixtures, medicine cabinets, rugs and so on.....seems endless but we'll get there.

My advice to anybody at snag stage would be don't expect them to be finished by the time you're moving in unless you're willing to wait. Luckily our builders are still on site so we're still having a few bits done, one of our original snags wasn't finished until about an hour ago though because they were awaiting a part lol but as mentioned previously there will be a few things you won't notice until you're in the place that no amount of snagging will pick up on.

Best of luck everyone, great feeling having your own home

Fiona44

Any advice on whether its essential to get a professional snagger in or will it be sufficient for us to do it ourselves?

I spoke to the foreman yesterday who told me not to waste my money paying someone to do the snagging. He said that anything we do notice after we move in can be fixed by the builders straight away as they will still be on site.
Also, the same developer completed a development across the road from us recently and from speaking to friends who moved in there their snag lists were very small with just a few minor cosmetic issues to be fixed so the houses seem to be finished to a good standard.

On the other hand, €100-150 is a small amount of money in the grand scheme of things...

Do most people do it themselves or pay someone to do the snag?

draiochtanois

This post has been deleted.

dori_dormer

Fiona44 wrote: »

Any advice on whether its essential to get a professional snagger in or will it be sufficient for us to do it ourselves?

I spoke to the foreman yesterday who told me not to waste my money paying someone to do the snagging. He said that anything we do notice after we move in can be fixed by the builders straight away as they will still be on site.
Also, the same developer completed a development across the road from us recently and from speaking to friends who moved in there their snag lists were very small with just a few minor cosmetic issues to be fixed so the houses seem to be finished to a good standard.

On the other hand, €100-150 is a small amount of money in the grand scheme of things...

Do most people do it themselves or pay someone to do the snag?

I'd definitly get a snagger. Cosmetic things you may see but there was loads of exterior stuff on ours that needed attention. The foreman could just fob you off saying its grand when it's not. Plus with an official snag you can make the corrections legally binding on closing.
We paid 150 for ours and then a follow up one was 100. Also you'll have no come back with the builder, on site or not. Once they have your money they're not obliged to do anything for you!

We are hoping to close and get our keys tomorrow!

mollybird

We are just about to head to our solictor now and sign the contracts for our house. Am beyone excited!!!! EEEEEKKKKKK!!!!!!! can't wait to finally have a final closing date. :)

Tazium

Our contract has a completion date in October. We visit regularly and are at the stage where the house is about to get it's roof. I'm thinking that it's unlikely the build will complete in time.

Anyone know roughly how long from roof to completion it takes?

mollybird

wish i knew taz. we all ready have roof, windows, first bit of plastering done and still no sign of a date.

Irish_rat

Beds in today and curtains in two rooms, very happy.

I recommend everyone to get blinds measured ASAP once you get the keys cause it takes ages to order.

PhoenixParker

We measured during snagging.
I scheduled that + floor measurers to come at the same time as the snagger.
It cuts down on wait times. They'll be ready around the time you get the keys.

Also check the bottom of your doors vs your floor finish thicknesses. We had to cut all the doors/get them cut which adds dust and hassle. See if the builder will sort em for you.