Buying a new built house

dori_dormer

PhoenixParker wrote: »

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.

Our builder said when we manage to get carpets in upstairs, they'll come, remove the doors, shave off the bottom if needed, paint touch up, then put door stoppers everywhere.

dori_dormer

Tazium wrote: »

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?

Our house was at second fix when we bought and from signing, took 3 months. But kitchen took 3 weeks from ordering which you could do sooner. We also werent in a terrible rush and let some things slide a bit which we could have rushed a bit. Our floor also took 3 weeks and then they had to come back 3 times to fix bits

mollybird

we finally got a rough estimate on closing date. its now looking like it will be the first week in Oct and the kitchen is only going in 3 weeks later than first stated but it does go in the day of my bday so guess it will be something to celebrate. Couldn't have picked a worser time. hubbie has 2/3 managers coming over the 2nd week in oct and ill prob have to go out for a night our two with them and ill be up to my eyes getting stuff sorted for the house. don't want to be going out when im wreacked tired. :mad::mad:

mollybird

More thoughts going through my head and no idea what the answer is.

would anyone know what the craic is with ordering the big pieces of furniture bed, table and chairs and sofa. Looked up on a calender and it seems like we won't be getting the keys for about 8 weeks. Can we go pick out our furniture and put a deposit on it for them to hold it at all or am i talking out my behind??

i don't want to leave it to nearer the time and find out the piece we want won't be in for 10 weeks or something.

dori_dormer

mollybird wrote: »

More thoughts going through my head and no idea what the answer is.

would anyone know what the craic is with ordering the big pieces of furniture bed, table and chairs and sofa. Looked up on a calender and it seems like we won't be getting the keys for about 8 weeks. Can we go pick out our furniture and put a deposit on it for them to hold it at all or am i talking out my behind??

i don't want to leave it to nearer the time and find out the piece we want won't be in for 10 weeks or something.

I think most places will hold your stuff. I know ez living and power city held our stuff til we were ready for it. We only paid deposit and then in full right before delivery

SarahMollie

mollybird wrote: »

More thoughts going through my head and no idea what the answer is.

would anyone know what the craic is with ordering the big pieces of furniture bed, table and chairs and sofa. Looked up on a calender and it seems like we won't be getting the keys for about 8 weeks. Can we go pick out our furniture and put a deposit on it for them to hold it at all or am i talking out my behind??

i don't want to leave it to nearer the time and find out the piece we want won't be in for 10 weeks or something.

My place wasnt new but obviously I was waiting for a completion date and didnt want to have to sit on the floors for weeks either. I bought my bed at Diamond Furnature and they agreed to hold it for me until I was ready, no issue there. DFS, where I got my sofas were less accommodating. They make stuff to order, and when its ready it will be landing on your doorstep whether you're ready for it or not. I had to guess when I thought I'd be in and ultimately was out by about a week, so we'd no sofa for the first week.

Thankfully Diamond furniture delivered the bed the day we moved in, because no sofa and no bed would have been a nightmare.

PhoenixParker

Most places we talked to were happy to hold furniture for 4 weeks but got antsy about anything longer then that.
In the event it was more like 6 weeks before most stuff got delivered but that was close enough that there was no hassle.

With a new build bear in mind that there's quite a lead up to actually getting the keys and being ready to move in.

You'll be asked to snag.
That typically takes 1 - 5 days to organise.
Then you get the report and the builder has 2 weeks to complete the snags, often there's an additional few days there as you go back and forward until you're happy.
Once that's all good to go you pay over the money and sign the final bits of paper.

Then you get the keys but . . . you'll have no floors and you'll probably want to sort those before either getting furniture or moving in (for dust supression if nothing else).

We snagged on about the 1st June.
We had the flooring and blinds picked at that point and paid the deposits around the time we had a week left to snagging.
The flooring and blinds measurements took place at the same time/in the same week as snagging and final orders were placed with rough dates.

Between re-snagging and finalising the mortgage it was the very end of June before we got the keys.
The floors and blinds went in the first week of July and the furniture was delievered the second week.

In total you're talking about 6 weeks there between knowing snagging was imminent and furniture delivery.

jfor

Hi All,

Seeing that a number of people have gone through the process already maybe somebody can provide a little advice if possible please? I'm in the process of buying a new build. The contract is with my solicitor (who has just gone on holidays for 2 weeks!) and completion date is in one months time. My solicitor received the Building agreements, contracts,house plans and specifications. The question being, when do I need to get an Engineer involved?

The solicitor emailed me asking to provide the name of an engineer to liaise with in regards to the planning docs, Certificates of Compliance and other[font=Times New Roman, serif] specifications/plans which were provided . Also, a structural survey was advised. A structural survey is probably advisable even though it's a new build..but having an Engineer to check the contracts/plans/certificates etc..is this the norm? If so can anyone provide a ball park figure of what I should be expecting to pay...Thanks![/font]

Irish_rat

Normally you get an engineer to snag a new build when you receive the completion notice.

Went to IKEA today for first time, dunno how folks like the stuff there, most of furniture looks like it would fall apart after a few months.

Utah

We met the builder this morning.
He was brilliant. Was able to tell us so much more than the EA. We know exactly what we need to do for every aspect of the build now. It was an hour well spent!

mollybird

Irish_rat wrote: »

Normally you get an engineer to snag a new build when you receive the completion notice.

Went to IKEA today for first time, dunno how folks like the stuff there, most of furniture looks like it would fall apart after a few months.

we are currently renting a house (the last 4 years) that has alot of Ikea furniture and we have had not one prob with any piece. we are def getting alot of bits in there when we in the house. im not a fan of some of their style but def the furniture is brilliant and id recommend it no bothers. Def give them a try.

flyandrain

dori_dormer wrote: »

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!

Hi, just wondering about ur snagger, Would you recommend him/her? if you do, could you pm his/her detail to me,please?:D

Kellomatic

This might seem like a stupid question but here goes. With new builds (ie houses that have only been built with no previous owners) can you bid lower than the asking price or is it a given that you should just pay the asking price? The house we are looking at is in a relatively new estate. It's the last of that specific type of house in the estate but it has been on the market for a while. There was a buyer lined up but he backed out because he was unable to sell his old house. We're first time buyers and wanna get the best price/house we can.
Thanks in advance guys!

Gumbo

Kellomatic wrote: »

This might seem like a stupid question but here goes. With new builds (ie houses that have only been built with no previous owners) can you bid lower than the asking price or is it a given that you should just pay the asking price? The house we are looking at is in a relatively new estate. It's the last of that specific type of house in the estate but it has been on the market for a while. There was a buyer lined up but he backed out because he was unable to sell his old house. We're first time buyers and wanna get the best price/house we can.
Thanks in advance guys!

You can deffo bud lower. But will you get it is another question?
Most new homes are selling easily enough. New development in clontarf, not officially launched and 6 of the 15 houses are sold through people just making direct contact with the builder. That's just one example.

anyway, by all means bid lower. Worse the builder can say is no.

Dearg81

Kellomatic wrote:

This might seem like a stupid question but here goes. With new builds (ie houses that have only been built with no previous owners) can you bid lower than the asking price or is it a given that you should just pay the asking price? The house we are looking at is in a relatively new estate. It's the last of that specific type of house in the estate but it has been on the market for a while. There was a buyer lined up but he backed out because he was unable to sell his old house. We're first time buyers and wanna get the best price/house we can. Thanks in advance guys!

You can definitely bid lower. I know of at least 2 new houses in my estate that went for lower than the asking price and they were also on the market for a while too.

Innervision

We've just put a booking deposit down on a new build house, so have found reading through this thread really useful!

A couple of questions if anyone could help
Does the bank require a full valuation for a new house as well, i.e. for about €150 ish?
We'll definitely be getting a professional to do the snagging, if anyone has any recommendations for someone in Dublin that would be brilliant.

Utah

Innervision wrote: »

We've just put a booking deposit down on a new build house, so have found reading through this thread really useful!

A couple of questions if anyone could help
Does the bank require a full valuation for a new house as well, i.e. for about €150 ish?
We'll definitely be getting a professional to do the snagging, if anyone has any recommendations for someone in Dublin that would be brilliant.

Valuation - yes, even though the house may not be finished. They will go out and inspect it and make sure it's there! There's a chance they go back out once complete.

We haven't completed our snag yet so can't recommend anyone yet!

Tazium

The bank will want you to use one of their approved valuers, your mortgage advisor will suggest some names. I'm sure there's some nepotism going on, but it's necessary to be completed. We've been given an update to say we'll close in November.

mollybird

ya our bank gave us 5 pages of names of places all over the country for our valuator. ours said that if he went out before the house was finished, he would need to go out again once the house is finished and we would end up paying twice so we are waiting till our house is finished. Also not at the snagging list stage so can't give you a recommendation.

we went out to see our house today and seen our next door neighbours checking out their house so we finally got to meet them. Our tiles are taking a hell of a lot longer to go down than i thought so things are not going as fast as the builder was saying.

Gemma1982

kceire wrote: »

You can deffo bud lower. But will you get it is another question?
Most new homes are selling easily enough. New development in clontarf, not officially launched and 6 of the 15 houses are sold through people just making direct contact with the builder. That's just one example.

anyway, by all means bid lower. Worse the builder can say is no.

Really interested to see the reference to people buying direct from the builder. There is an estate we are very interested in that hasn't launched yet. Due to launch in early October. I think the houses will be snapped up. Could we really approach builder directly now before the official launch to buy one? Would in person or by email be the best approach if so?

dori_dormer

mollybird wrote: »

ya our bank gave us 5 pages of names of places all over the country for our valuator. ours said that if he went out before the house was finished, he would need to go out again once the house is finished and we would end up paying twice so we are waiting till our house is finished. Also not at the snagging list stage so can't give you a recommendation.

we went out to see our house today and seen our next door neighbours checking out their house so we finally got to meet them. Our tiles are taking a hell of a lot longer to go down than i thought so things are not going as fast as the builder was saying.

If there is a show house hte valuer can go off that also. As long as the walls are up, electricity and plumbing done, etc and its habitable, the valuer can come. Tiles, carpets and any other decor even kitchens, he doesn't take into account because it's not what you are buying with their money.

mollybird

hey dori the kitchen is part of the money we are getting from the bank and the wardrobes. all of that should be completed by fri so im happy to wait.

mollybird

hey guys. so was over at our house seeing how it was progressing and was lovely to see the kitchen fully in. Got a massive shock when i saw the size of the microwave and the oven. They came with our kitchen. They are TINY!!! so if you can def put extra money into those things when you are picking out your kitchen. We will need to upgrade ours in 6 months and it means we won't be able to have the family over for xmas this year as we by no means will be able to fit a massive turkey in the oven. we will be lucky if we can get a chicken in it.

Irish_rat

mollybird wrote: »

hey guys. so was over at our house seeing how it was progressing and was lovely to see the kitchen fully in. Got a massive shock when i saw the size of the microwave and the oven. They came with our kitchen. They are TINY!!! so if you can def put extra money into those things when you are picking out your kitchen. We will need to upgrade ours in 6 months and it means we won't be able to have the family over for xmas this year as we by no means will be able to fit a massive turkey in the oven. we will be lucky if we can get a chicken in it.

I'd agree with getting a good oven and hob. Got a Neff one for 800 quid and its the business. Really quiet and has the slide door, self clean etc.

I hope to have a sitting room for Christmas :-D

mollybird

I'm going nuts here guys. We are at the final stage of getting our house and i swear i feel the builders are avoiding my calls. We were supposed to get our snag list done last wed and it got put back 2 days. Then on the thur (day before it was to be done) i get a call to say that it can't be done till they find out if the heating is working or not so it now won't be done till tue (today). I rang our builder yesterday afternoon to see if the heating got sorted and he said he has to find out and that he won't be around till thur so he would send me on the number of another builder i can get in touch with. Anyhow he never got back to me and never sent me on the name of the other guy i could talk to.

So this morning i got onto the main builder and he said he would be talking to our main builder at lunch time and would ask him and ring me back. of course he hasn't rang me back and ive tried to ring him 2 times this afternoon and now he won't pick up. im just about to try him again but i swear im going to bloody scream if someone doesn't give me a god damn straight answer!!!!

REFLINE1

What are the most common snags people are finding? anyone having big issues arise?

bittihuduga

i have a question about new build - the builder says - no change/modification allowed. is that common?
kitchen has electric hob and we wanted gas hob for cooking.
he is refusing for any modification.
what would be the cost to replace electric hob with gas - later on?
need gas pipe into the kitchen - so i guess major work involved.

unfortunately builder is not changing his mind

SarahMollie

bittihuduga wrote: »

i have a question about new build - the builder says - no change/modification allowed. is that common?
kitchen has electric hob and we wanted gas hob for cooking.
he is refusing for any modification.
what would be the cost to replace electric hob with gas - later on?
need gas pipe into the kitchen - so i guess major work involved.

unfortunately builder is not changing his mind

Well if he already has an electric one in and presumably thinks he can get someone to buy it as is, then why would he change it. Is there any other gas in the property? Actually is there gas in the development at all?

IMO "changes" are generally more decorative things. Something fundamental like whether or not a house has gas is usually predefined early on.

MissElle

We've just bought a new build too and our builder is the same, no changes possible at all! I just wanted a different counter top and would've paid for the difference but that isn't allowed either. A bit annoying but we love the house so have to just go with it I guess!

Quick question; Our house is due to be finished end March/beginning of April, when should we start ordering the furniture (e.g. couch / kitchen table)? I was thinking after Xmas to allow 10-12 weeks for delivery, don't want to have no furniture when we move in!

mollybird

miss Elle i would leave it till end of feb at least. we thought we would have had keys by start of this month and we are still waiting on a snag list to be done nearly 4 weeks later. last bits are massively dragging out and having not one builder give me a straight answer on things is delaying us massively!!!