Questions to ask EA about house in new development

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NineMoons

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My partner and I are going to see an estate agent tomorrow to put a booking deposit on a three-bed semi-d in a new development. We're quite in the dark about the property as we're buying off-plans and there isn't a show-house yet! The plans look nice - pretty standard layout - and the first phase of the development looks great. But we want to find out as much information as possible so that we know how much we're going to have to do to the place once it's finished.

We'll have six or seven months to save up for fitting the place out and while we don't mind eating off our knees while sitting on someone's second-hand couch, it's a very different story when it comes to washing-machines and flooring! So we want to know what we'll have to pay for ourselves.

We're making a list of questions to ask her about what's included in the price and so on. We don't want to make assumptions and find out that we were wrong (e.g. the brochure says "fitted kitchen as per showhouse" which I originally thought meant appliances were included but this probably isn't the case!)

We'd appreciate any suggestions about what we need to ask.

Thanks for your help! :)
 
make sure you find out exactly how many power sockets are included in price for each room, and where they are. if light fittings etc are included, where is attic access.

I know we looked at show house, as house actually buying was building site not allowed access and signed contract, when we saw our house, not as many power points as showhouse, or other fittings. A ceiling rose was included in over one light in hall but not the other.


Good luck
 
1. Ask if there is a fireplace fitted or just an allowance given so you choose your own.

2. Is the kitchen standard or is there an allowance to choose your own

3. Is there tiling in the bathrooms...standard tiling is usually inside the shower and at the sink. Is this standard tiling or do you get an allowance to choose your own tiles.

4. If you don't have a driveway, is parking communal or are there allocated spaces. How many spaces per unit?

5. Can you request additional socket and if so how much for each additional socket?

6. If there is a management charge. If so how much is it per year. What do you get for your money.
 
Also ask them about broadband and cable availablity - will they be provided by the more reputable providers such as NTL etc.
 
Ask about what a "standard fitted kitchen" means and what you get for it......

I have just discovered now that my kitchen is in that their meaning of a "standard fitted kitchen", is no top wall units.............if I want them I've to pay extra......
 
Dear all - thanks for all the help - the EA was very helpful and forthcoming and it was easy to ask the 25 + questions we had come up with!! We're still very keen on the houses, despite discovering:

We had the location of this phase wrong and the garden is both overlooked and not south facing (west-facing isn't bad though!)

We'll have to pay for all the appliances AND the flooring

They expect the houses to be ready in August/September, not around Christmas, as we were originally told!

So all-in-all, very interesting and useful and scary. :D Manymanymany thanks for all the great questions.
 
How do you go about finding out if someone is selling off plans? do you approach a building site or what?!
 
I haunted estate agents' websites. Some of them will say they have developments coming up and you can phone or email to get yourself put on a list of people they'll contact when they're going to sell off-plans.

They also advertise them in property supplements of papers.

I have heard about people sleeping out in front of estate agents the night before stuff goes on release in order to get the houses they wanted! And that was in Dundalk - not even Dublin!

AFAIK, the phase of the development we will (hopefully) be getting was only advertised by word-of-mouth, contact list and on the EA website.
 
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