Buying a New Build Home : Things to Consider

I don't think I have mentioned before on this blog, but me and my boyfriend are in the middle of buying our first home. Working at a firm of solicitors , for which I deal daily with house sales and purchases, I knew quite a bit about what goes on behind the scenes. However, buying a new build and obtaining a Help to Buy Mortgage was still very confusing and daunting for me. There are so many things to consider and allow for when buying a house, the costs for purchasing are more too. You have to factor in allowing for solicitors fees, Stamp Duty Land Tax, any document fees the list goes on!

I have picked up a few tips along the way so wanted to share some that I hope will help anyone else in the same position we were in at the beginning of last year!

We put down our interest on a three bed property back in March 2016 (at this time there were no house types of this size, nor that we could afford), therefore we would be the first people to be called once the house type we wanted was due to be released for sale. It's not as easy as walking into a sales office and expecting a house you want to be available to reserve, so I would bear this in mind. We had to then wait 5 months to receive the call that it was available for release and only then were we told the exact price of the property - luckily for us it was in our price range!

At the point of release we were asked to go into the sales office and sign the reservation form and put down a reservation fee of £500 (this will vary depending on the company). This reservation fee also gets put towards your deposit!

Getting onto the property ladder is very difficult nowadays, so we opted to go for a Help to Buy Mortgage which meant that we could put a 5% deposit down. You can put more down if you wish! Help to Buy is effectively another mortgage that the government loan to you for 5 years, in which after the 5 years you must start paying it back on top of your normal mortgage.

The mortgage process was the most daunting for me. I never really understood it all until now! We were offered the use of their in house mortgage adviser, which we of course did, and I am glad we did. They practically did the whole process for us. They were able to tell us what mortgage we could afford and what monthly payments we could manage. The only thing we had to do was supply them with evidence of our identity, proof of our deposit and 3 months worth of pay slips - this is so that they can show the mortgage company that you can afford to pay the monthly installment they have offered. You have a time frame in which you need to secure a mortgage offer, else they will put the house back up for sale!

Once you have reserved the plot you want, applied for a mortgage (via the mortgage adviser), then contracts are sent over to your solicitor. Exchange of Contracts (this means that your 5% deposit, minus the reservation fee, is sent to the development company and held by them - meaning the purchase is secure) will take place 6 months before the estimated timescale for which your plot will be built by. This is to ensure that your Mortgage Offer and Help to Buy don't expire before that time (every mortgage offer has an expiry date, usually 6 months).

You will be given 10 days' notice for when you can move into the property. At this point your solicitor will ask for payment of the Stamp Duty Land Tax, their fees, document fees, any extras you have purchased through the development company etc.

Having dealt with development companies I know that if they are wanting a quick sale, they will more than likely throw in extras as part of the purchase. Don't settle for what they are selling the property for. You can try negotiating on the price, ask them to pay for your solicitors fees, pay for your Stamp Duty, carpets or even ask for money towards extras. If you don't ask you won't get!

I hoped this helped to briefly clarify the process of purchasing a new build property! I could go into more detail, but then this post would be very long and I feel it is long enough already!!

We haven't been to visit our home since September 2016 now, but have been receiving updates weekly and the roof should be on by the end of this week! Above is a picture of the last time we saw it. I can't wait to see what it looks like with walls, roof, window and doors! It will then look like a proper home. I will update you when I next get to visit!