For a FTB - Advice required on making an offer on a home

My partner and I have recently put down a holding deposit on a house in a town in the South East. For various reasons (work, family,etc) we are kinda constrained on where we can buy so we really cannot look beyond our chosen location. Despite the fact that houses in this development are not shifting there appears to be no room for manoeuvre on the price from the builder - essentially the price is the price is what we have been told. The property price is in the region of 290K.

We are looking for some advice along the following lines:
- is it worth holding off for a while and letting what looks like the inevitable happen and the prices of houses continue to fall?
- can our solicitor help in the haggling process?

We would appreciate any advice - we have already gathered some very useful information from other posts in threads on this board

if he won't negotiate, walk. You should be looking for a 25\30% discount on asking.

give it time and you'll get the same place or similar for a lot less - this is the new reality, the buyer is king

Last August (2007) we had a 10k refundable deposit down for a new build in the south east. The price as 320 for a detached 4 bed. When we told the builder we no longer qualified for the full mortgage amount, we were asked what the bank WOULD lend and that we could come to some sort of arrangement. Seeing as that was a year ago before things really went "south" I would expect a lot more from the builder these days in terms of flexibility. As long as your deposit is refundable, just say you are pulling out and request return of your deposit. I think the builder would change his tune very quickly. And if not, there are lots of new houses in schemes in the south east standing empty that would be happy for your attention!

Are you negotiating with the Builder himself or an agent? If it is the latter then try and talk directly to the Builder/Developer. Possibly you could negotiate something where the "price" stays the same but you get increased PC sums, all tiling and flooring done or some sort of a deal whereby the you get better value for your money. Ensure that the Builder/Developer knows that you are in a position whereby you have the cash ready and are not part of a chain (if this is the case).

No - we are not part of a chain - this is only the second house that we have actually gone to this stage where we put the holding deposit down. Just get the feeling that sitting and waiting for another month or two would be no bad thing - at least until things settle down a bit