buying, selling property UK

Guide to buying and selling property in United Kingdom

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Buying a newly built home

Looking at catalogues and magazines most buyers are initially attracted to the lovely ancestral property or period home, which mostly does not account into a practical choice. The sky rocking price hike in UK property market makes it impossible to afford such high costs.

According to a research article in the Daily Star newspaper discovered that more than one third of home buyers throw away an average £2,500 in repairs when they buy a second hand property. The exclusive expense happens on repairing old windows, boilers and insulation being. Not any of which are a problem if you buy a newly built home.

There are many good reasons that point towards positive indications of buying property which is newly built. Purchasing a new construction also helps the environment and means you can rescue yourself from dealing with formalities of re sale and other complications.

Reasons for buying a newly built home

A new beginning

For any family unit a brand new home is really a fresh beginning. You're every single needs and desire can be met when it comes to decorating each single detail for a room perfectly to suit your individual needs. This has another advantage of not having to dig out old carpeting or wall paper you could not stand from the previous landlord.

Every single part of the interior decoration in your home can be tasteful and with choices which extend to include important and costly decisions such as carpets, curtains, bathrooms and even kitchen worktops. Make your own space of comfort in your new home.

A brand new home is very gentle and less financially burdening unlike any other property dealings. Newly built homes are much with improved shield and protection than older properties and consist of double-glazing windows as standard. You can retain heat in your property more easily than in an old building with less protection.

Environmental benefits

You have chosen wisely to invest in a newly built home which takes care of global warming as most new build houses are environment friendly as the efficient boilers, heaters and insulation mean you don't have to waste electricity and gas. The majority new homes in addition come with an energy rating certificate which means you can be in no doubt that you are reducing your carbon footprint and in return helping save the environment. A Good Night's Sleep

Now a days newly built homes are equipped with much better and sophisticated security systems which can let you enjoy safe and sound sleep. New homes are much secure and safer than older properties. Especially in fire safety is helped by the standard installation of smoke alarms, fire doors, and fire retardant materials.

The mention of the architectural design of new homes in the UK law which also applies to even new extensions must hold on to rigorous fire safety standards that to a great extent increases your chance of escape should a fire break out.

The newly built houses have done up by most builders will include security locks, burglar alarms and security lighting as part of your standard condition.

Top offer

There are a few extra undemanding negotiations you can manage when you buy your brand new property. You should be already aware about the offers.

Enthusiastic housing developers are proficient at perceiving what will encourage an enquiring buyer interested in a transaction. Financial incentives comprise of getting your stamp duty paid or a certain amount of cash back after you move in.

Although you can also negotiate for special additional benefit like wood flooring throughout the property, built-in curtains, carpets, special tiling in your bathroom or kitchen, and top quality landscaping for your estate.

Many of the builder's even include white products such as a fridge freezer, dishwasher or washing machine so make sure you ask for these benefits before you sign the deal.

No Property Chain

You are liberated of the frightening property sequence. You don't have to wait for the owners of your new property to come across somewhere new, and deal with the difficulties if they don't.

Once you have been in agreement on a contract, you get closer to being the owner of the property. If you have some queries to be answered, you can even ask your solicitor about getting the completion date written into your document.

Lets look at the negative points

You will hardly notice any major reasons of not going in for a purchase on a newly built property. However it is better to make your decision after careful thought and evaluation.

The Space Issue

A few of the new homes have a tendency to be less spacious and are smaller than old general constructions as most developers make an effort to squeeze as many as possible onto a piece of land.

By adding to the number of houses and reducing the area of driveways for parking the Developers leave you with a lot less common area you deserve around the house.

Garden area

If your new home comes with a brand new garden then you might face some worries in times to come. As newly developed gardens are at times just made up of packed in sub-soil which is then covered by turf, and looks great to begin with, but if the quality of the soil is very low, or the turf is not laid correctly, then the lawn will not root correctly. Just think twice about your brand new lawn which could have serious drainage crisis.

Weak wall unit

In older days most walls were built of rock-hard concrete but progression in construction preparation now indicate that plasterboard walls are more often than not a great deal cheaper and quicker alternative for builders.

Even as the appearance is generally the same as solid walls, plasterboard walls have a propensity not to support as much weight as a solid wall. This can have an effect on your future plans to extend your property. Plasterboard walls in addition are likely to do very slight prevention to put a stop to sound travelling throughout the property and also into next door. This could account to a slightly bigger negative reason against buying a new property.

Reaching an obstacle

Newly built homes can time and again be hurried to finishing stages by competitive and greedy developers. This reaches a consequence that they can end up with tons of little defects, or snags, as they are officially known. Snags can move towards a flipside in date by months causing immense annoyance and setback.

It can also be more complicated because of the builders, as it is almost too difficult to catch them once they are likely to have moved on to a new job and request them for fixing the small problems. Buying at the end of the developer's financial year could cause you more worries about snags which means you should be further cautious on the subject. They will prefer to reach their targets and the builder may slash corners to speedily finish the growth.

Nevertheless as along with side of buying at the end of the developer's financial year is the fact that they may be desperate to meet their targets and might even offer generous incentives. Look out for developments that have a lot of unsold homes that are either finished or nearing completion mainly if you are on a budget.

Things to be done before buying a new home

Buying a brand new home can be a trouble-free course of action if you do your research well.

Ahead of signing anything, it can be really useful to check out the actual site first. Look to see how well the building site is managed and kept which can give an indication of the builder's stance to the job.

Furthermore knock on the doors of anyone who has moved into the estate already. They will be a source of useful information about the quality of the workmanship and customer care you can expect. It's also a chance to meet your new neighbours before you shift in.

Always bear in mind to check your house plans carefully. The artist's intuition should be taken with a pinch of salt and it's much more useful to find out things like the orientation of your garden so you know when you will have sun for instance.

Also check your plans for the size and orientation of windows, the ceiling height, and what storage is available so you will have a better idea of what your property will actually be like when you move in.

Examining your plans closely is also invaluable for knowing what furniture you have already will fit and what needs a rethink. Don't forget to look at the garage specifications either as they are often designed for small cars!

You do have some comeback, however, if you have been misled about the property specifications. Contact your local Trading Standards Office, who may prosecute the developer under the Property Misdescription Act 1991.

Beware of the Show Home

Unless you are buying strictly off plans then it is likely you will be shown around a show home. This is a property which is supposed to resemble the home you are buying so that you have a better idea of what your finished house will look like.

Although they can be useful guides, it is well worth knowing that developers often spend a fortune on making the show home look as good as possible. As well as using professional interior designers and landscapers, clever developers also use many tricks to make the property look better than it actually is. Here are some of the most common:

Every light in the house will be on to create the impression that there is plenty of natural light.
They may use smaller furniture than you would normally use to give the impression of bigger space. Some developers have been known to fit children's furniture in many of the rooms of the property!
They will remove all the doors inside to improve the 'natural' flow of the house.
There will be a lot of glass furniture and mirrors in the property to provide a feeling of space.
Bedrooms will only contain a bed and a small bed side table. The room will look entirely different when you move in your chests of drawers or wardrobes.
The lights and other fittings will be high-priced and not included in the specification you are buying.
Gardens will be professionally landscaped and which may not be in the standard specification you have bought.

What if there is a problem with my property?

More than 160,000 new build properties are built each year in the UK and the majority of these houses are built by high volume house builders.

Dealing with such a large number of properties can mean that developers struggle to maintain consistent standards in these houses - and small problems (snags) will often arise.

A handy way to deal with snags is to use an independent snagging company such as New Build Inspections. They will send professional builders around to your property to give it a thorough inspection for defects.

The best time to do this is before you finally sign off on the contracts. This gives the developer time to address the defects and snags you have identified before you move in.

Using an independent snagging company is well worth the extra cost but if your budget simply cannot stretch to the extra cost then you can do a DIY job by downloading a snagging checklist from Snagging.Org for £14.99.

What sort of guarantees should I look for?

All recently built houses come with a ten year warranty but don't forget to check that your house has this warranty in case you are dealing with a risky builder.

There are three main warranty providers in the UK which are: National House Building Council, Zurich Municipal, and Premier. The ten year warranties provided by these companies cover things like the builder going out of business before your home if finished, or the repair of any snags discovered within the first two years, and includes the ten year guarantee on structural defects in the home.

But check with your builder what service contract you will be given as each company proposes a slightly dissimilar package.

Remember these assurances don't guarantee that your home will be free from imperfection or short comings after you shifted in and can sometimes be primarily an insurance scheme for the developer and not the home owner. Even bearing that in mind most property experts advise never buying a new property without a warranty provided by one of these businesses. You be able to also get an architect's certificate which is a proclamation saying that your property has been constructed in accord with standard and accepted building principles. This is not a warranty and cannot act as one but you should ask your solicitor to check the architect's professional indemnity insurance as you can claim using the architect's certificate if a structural defect does take place.

Comfort of home in the new property

At the end of the day buying your new home is your opportunity for a brand new and stimulating new beginning. Undertaking some simple research and ensuring you have your contract and difficulties checked says that nothing is likely to go wrong. You can just come in with your luggage and convert your new house into a comfortable residence for your family.