First home - new build or project?

[grumpycat]

With value, I think the saying is buy the worst house on the best street as you can always slowly do a home up and gain value rather than be at ceiling height straight away

I believe new builds don’t gain much value because there is less demand and typically they can be smaller

From personal experience, I’d never buy new build again. We had a new build in 2013 and we had so many issues from plastic pipes on incorrectly causing a leak across the whole bathroom and downstairs, the hidden management fees of being on a development, the walls being paper thin - it was really terrible and the money you pay you expect better

We went on to buy a house that was liveable but we’ve ripped apart to do it the way we like. It’s really not cost us as much as we thought, perhaps 10/20k tops spread over a few years. I know we’ve put about 30k value on our house.

It’s all down to your preference but don’t be worried about trades, stuff like facebook/check a trade really helps with finding people and they’ll often find or link you to people they recommend too!

 

[Pixipoppy]

FTB here - basically can either afford a cheap older house or a new build on help to buy scheme.


pretty much everyone I’ve asked IRL has said to buy a run down house and do it up. This is also my boyfriends preference as he sees a house as an investment and he’d be looking to flip it and move on quickly. I’m not so fussed, I’d like to gain value on a house but I’d also like somewhere comfortable to live for the next few years.

I’m not a handy person and I have no connections in the building trade at all - can barely change a lightbulb. My boyfriend is slightly better but I think our limit would be painting a wall Of course no one knows much about renovating at first but I do think it helps to at least know of a few people in the trade or have family that can help etc. The types of houses we could afford would be 2 bed terraced houses in a pretty poor state - likely needing new kitchens and bathrooms fitted. We also don’t have anywhere to stay while work is being done (neither of our parents live in the same city as us). We would have a bit of money to start things off but I’ve heard it’s always much more than anticipated.

On the other hand if we did HTB (which is another can of worms in itself...!) we could get a bigger 3 bedroom semi with a garden - yes we’d be borrowing more but we wouldn't have the stress and uncertainty of renovating. I’m not a huge fan of new builds and I much prefer an older style but it just seems like a much easier option at the moment. I also think it’s somewhere I’d be happier to stay for longer etc. While the older house would likely be in a not so favourable area.

or we could just do neither and rent for another couple of years but I do just feel like I’m throwing my money away at this point!

Any experiences or advice would be welcome!!

 

[Pixipoppy]

Or an existing non-new build

Wanna give me a few grand for the old deposit and reno? Think of it as an act of environmentalism

 

[Be More Pacific]

Not to go off topic..

but does anyone know much about borrowing money when it comes to buying something run down? We can borrow up to £350k but are currently looking at a house which is £280k but is old and in need of new everything! How would we go about borrowing that extra bit for renovating? I’m so confused and don’t want to buy something old and then be left with no money to do it up

Speak to an independent mortgage adviser to see if there are any specialist lenders/schemes available. I've been out of the game for a while but there used to be lenders who would do stage payment mortgages where you'd do some work, get the property inspected, then the lender would release money to allow you to do the next stage. That's how self build mortgages work. There has been so much change though. I don't know if they're still around.

As for the OP, I worked in the industry for 24 years (the last ten in new builds) and I would never buy a new build. I would always, always, always buy old and renovate. I wouldn't give those greedy, ruthless bastards a penny.

 

[Forfoxsake]

I don't know much about HTB but just from reading what you've writren I would say in your heart of hearts you already know you want the new build option.

I would say that with either option, research the location very carefully as you can renovate and paint all you like but you can't plonk a house into a different place if you come to realise that transport links are crap or you're next to a dodgy estate etc.

 

[101d]

Perhaps not the answer you want to hear but I would say neither, save longer and buy something in the middle!

I've heard awful things about HTB so a doer-upper would be the better option, but it can be costly! Good luck

 

[MotherofDragons]

Personally, I went down the new build route, for several reasons. There's no worrying that next month you'll need a new roof or boiler etc. Even when you've renovated an old house is a much bigger project to upkeep. I liked the idea of starting on a blank canvas - we've been in our house for 18 months now and are just starting to paint and wallpaper (you have to wait for everything to dry out properly and settle first) but because everything is painted white to begin with it hasn't bothered me.

 

[ShowMeYourFeline]

I’m going to say it: new builds are destroying what little remains of our green belt, destroying nature and destroying farmland needed to feed the country. Unless it is one if those rare houses built on a brownfield site, ethically you should buy an older house.

 

[Platypusfattypus]

I love older properties. They are more solid and have character but a small job quickly turns into a big job. New builds can also have their issues though, my husband works in new builds and he has a list of companies to avoid (I think there would be three we could buy from ). I think doing up your own place is really rewarding but if you are going to be unhappy living in a building site a new build is probably best for you.

 

[Gembo]

Could a compromise be a smaller therefor cheaper new build or potentially even an apartment so that you’re not spending money on rent, but paying less on mortgage so that you can save more towards a bigger house? I’d be a bit reluctant about help to buy too, I have a friend who is coming up to the time that she needs to start paying it back. They bought the house with intention of selling up before the repayments kicked in but their sales keep falling through and it looks like they’re soon going to have to find the extra £ to start repayments. It’s just something to be mindful of long term. We purchased a new build and did make money on it so it can happen, although generally you will make more on a Reno. Sorry it sounds like a really hard decision to have to make x

 

[Upintheair83]

I think stick with a new build and use the HTB scheme. I’m in a new build and it’s not my first choice either but I realise I hate where I live! And can’t wait until we can move back to where I am from. I’d have been gutted if I had bought an old house, do it up lovingly and to my taste and then have to go! Plus it would drag the time out living here! But Iv learnt a lot about what I want from my home - the location, my tastes, what I should look for in a house etc. If you get a new build you can see what sort of things work for you, your style etc and then when you may want to move and find an older property you will know your tastes and what exactly you are looking for in a house.
When we moved in our new build we had no furniture or anything and even just buying that has been quite expensive! So I would save your pennies and just go for a new build for the mean time and then maybe go on and buy an older house that you can really pour all your love into! Make that your forever home.
That’s what I’m hoping we can do.
But I hope you are happy whatever you chose and enjoy owning your own home xx

 

[bottie1000]

Word of warning for new builds, a friend bought one of the earlier houses on a really big development with her partner. Unfortunately the relationship broke down and they had to sell the house about 2 years later. This meant there was still a few final houses being built on the estate. She lost money on the house, even though the asking price was what she paid for, as she needed a quick sell. Was awful for her but why would anyone want someones 'old' new build for the same price as a brand spanking new one, with fixtures and fittings of their choice?

 

[Kim Mild]

I’m going to say it: new builds are destroying what little remains of our green belt, destroying nature and destroying farmland needed to feed the country. Unless it is one if those rare houses built on a brownfield site, ethically you should buy an older house.

Round here the new estate have huge ditches (landscaping) built round them so the rain water that used to get absorbed by the fields has somewhere to run too.
Everytime i drive to a different town ,there are new houses that weren't there last time.

 

[NeighbourhoodWatch]

We bought a 2006 house in the summer, so it's not old but not fresh either. We had to do to work to it, well painting and a whole new bathroom. I still say now for all the effort of the stuff we done to it I wish we had just got a new build. It also depends if this is the house you want forever or just for a few years.

 

[JoeBloggs]

There will always be issues with new builds, they have a 12 month settling period where cracks etc can appear due to movement. It’s nothing to worry about but something to be prepared for. New builds generally lose value once bought, and then pick up. My friend is selling hers 3 years after buying it via the HTB loan, they have lost £10,000.

We bought a 1960s house with all original features so have gutted the place, it’s in an amazing road and saved us £75-100k from buying it done up and the new builds down are road went on for another £200k than ours. We were very luck as my dads in the building trade but it comes with it’s hold up, we still don’t have a finished kitchen 3 years later!

 

[ShowMeYourFeline]

Or an existing non-new build

 

[Pixipoppy]

I think stick with a new build and use the HTB scheme. I’m in a new build and it’s not my first choice either but I realise I hate where I live! And can’t wait until we can move back to where I am from. I’d have been gutted if I had bought an old house, do it up lovingly and to my taste and then have to go! Plus it would drag the time out living here! But Iv learnt a lot about what I want from my home - the location, my tastes, what I should look for in a house etc. If you get a new build you can see what sort of things work for you, your style etc and then when you may want to move and find an older property you will know your tastes and what exactly you are looking for in a house.
When we moved in our new build we had no furniture or anything and even just buying that has been quite expensive! So I would save your pennies and just go for a new build for the mean time and then maybe go on and buy an older house that you can really pour all your love into! Make that your forever home.
That’s what I’m hoping we can do.
But I hope you are happy whatever you chose and enjoy owning your own home xx

That is such a good point. I think I’d get emotionally attached to a house I’d put so much work into and find it hard to move on. I think my “forever” house will be the one that I’d like to make my own - which will be when we can afford an older house in a nice area. I do worry we won’t get much profit from a new build though, and will essentially have to move sideways rather than up the ladder!

 

[Lulu Goss]

Not to go off topic..

but does anyone know much about borrowing money when it comes to buying something run down? We can borrow up to £350k but are currently looking at a house which is £280k but is old and in need of new everything! How would we go about borrowing that extra bit for renovating? I’m so confused and don’t want to buy something old and then be left with no money to do it up

We’ve just bought our second home which will need a new kitchen and bathroom as well as some other work done. I was hoping to be able to borrow more on the mortgage to do this but we haven’t been able to. Basically it all comes down to the fact the bank will only lend in accordance to your salary and in line with the value of the property you’re buying. Definitely double check with your mortgage advisor but we were told that we’d need to pay for this separately.

 

[ShowMeYourFeline]

The types of developers who buy individual houses are not the same as land owners and multi-million developing companies.

You do need somewhere to live, but I assume you’re not homeless?

I would do anything rather than contribute to destroying the environment. Especially as we are soon predicted to have food shortages, land needs to be used for farming, not ugly red houses with six foot of AstroTurf for a garden.

 

[HankMcPrank]

I have a new build and had nothing but problems.