New build houses, yeah or nah?

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Count Steer
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Re: New build houses, yeah or nah?

Post by Count Steer »

The Martian wrote: Sun Oct 26, 2025 10:14 am Think the main thing to take from this thread is whatever you want, check it over well and make sure it's in order. Any age of house could be a potential money pit.

Funny how people have a 15 minute walk around and then commit to the biggest purchase of their lives. You'd spend more time deciding on a car.
Some say that, in many cases, the decision is pretty much made before the buyer steps through the front door. :shock:

So, if you're selling they always tell you to make it look as inviting/welcoming as possible at the door. Nice door in good nick, pot plant or 2, don't answer on the Ring doorbell, don't have to unlock the door when people arrive to view (if you're there at the time obvs).
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Re: New build houses, yeah or nah?

Post by Horse »

Count Steer wrote: Sun Oct 26, 2025 10:45 am
The Martian wrote: Sun Oct 26, 2025 10:14 am Think the main thing to take from this thread is whatever you want, check it over well and make sure it's in order. Any age of house could be a potential money pit.

Funny how people have a 15 minute walk around and then commit to the biggest purchase of their lives. You'd spend more time deciding on a car.
Some say that, in many cases, the decision is pretty much made before the buyer steps through the front door. :shock:

So, if you're selling they always tell you to make it look as inviting/welcoming as possible at the door. Nice door in good nick, pot plant or 2, don't answer on the Ring doorbell, don't have to unlock the door when people arrive to view (if you're there at the time obvs).
On a house-selling TV prog, they even cleaned the road sign at the end of the estate.

For me, with this house, it was the French doors with floor to ceiling windows either side and above that decided me.

For Filly, it was the hedge along the garden.

Doors, windows, hedge ... All gone now :D
Even bland can be a type of character :wave:
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Re: New build houses, yeah or nah?

Post by weeksy »

So in the interest of fun and boredom

Here’s what we viewed today
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/ ... el=RES_BUY
House is huge, garage even bigger than huge. But kitchen is tired, layout is pretty quirky/weird, en suite is only half a bathroom. We liked it, but not in love. Won’t be making an offer

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/ ... el=RES_BUY
Stunning house, great layout, impressive kitchen. But no utility room and parking not ideal. 50-50 but maybe 70-30

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/ ... el=RES_BUY
Absolute shit show of a place

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/ ... el=RES_BUY
Loved it in every way. No issues my side. Mrs Weeksy feels it’s too middle of nowhere, in truth that’s half its appeal to me

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/ ... el=RES_BUY
Really nice, but the road just outside killed it off for us. Not a huge noise but enough it’d be an irritation
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Re: New build houses, yeah or nah?

Post by MrLongbeard »

weeksy wrote: Sun Oct 26, 2025 9:27 pm https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/ ... el=RES_BUY
Loved it in every way. No issues my side. Mrs Weeksy feels it’s too middle of nowhere, in truth that’s half its appeal to me

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/ ... el=RES_BUY
Really nice, but the road just outside killed it off for us. Not a huge noise but enough it’d be an irritation
Go the the top on in my quote, 2nd has non-standard toilets so that's a no from me.
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Re: New build houses, yeah or nah?

Post by Yorick »

Blimey. The prices were much lower than I expected :)
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Re: New build houses, yeah or nah?

Post by weeksy »

Yorick wrote: Sun Oct 26, 2025 11:20 pm Blimey. The prices were much lower than I expected :)
Forest of Dean is on the cheaper side as it's not commuterville. Any of these would be £550k+ where we live. But we're in a place where non-commuterville is actually what we're wanting.
I was a little surprised that none of them were instant 'yes' from Mrs Weeksy. Although i think she could easily be talked into the 5 bed one with the massive kitchen as apart from utility room that ticks everything else. It's a tricky one though for sure.
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Re: New build houses, yeah or nah?

Post by Docca »

I like the last one you posted and the road wouldn’t put me off. Second was the one you liked.

Red flags all over the place for the rest. Some cosmetic ( archways?!) and I can’t do washing machine / tumble dryer in the kitchen ever.

Working out the maximum number of bedrooms you actually need would be helpful and make a difference. Our eldest at uni and we’ve just put a Murphy bed in the study for when he comes back in the holidays.
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Re: New build houses, yeah or nah?

Post by weeksy »

Docca wrote: Mon Oct 27, 2025 7:29 am I like the last one you posted and the road wouldn’t put me off. Second was the one you liked.

Red flags all over the place for the rest. Some cosmetic ( archways?!) and I can’t do washing machine / tumble dryer in the kitchen ever.

Working out the maximum number of bedrooms you actually need would be helpful and make a difference. Our eldest at uni and we’ve just put a Murphy bed in the study for when he comes back in the holidays.
The road was sufficient that when we stood outside it was a look between us that said Hmmmmm. In truth the rest of the property was spot on, couldn't fault it... but the location was just a bit too noisy that it'd be an issue.
It may be something you'd tune out after a while, but it was enough of a concern to write it off currently.

The one i like in Weston under Penyard isn't perfect either in some ways, with a small office/snug downstairs having very little purpose in the real-world. But maybe you could get that wall taken out and increase the living area accordingly. It's described as a study in the plans, but i'm not sure Mrs Weeksy would use that and may use a bedroom instead for it.. So it's almost dead space. The lack of utility room was a concern on that for her, but there's space on the side of the house or even in the garage to facilitate that arguably. But i don't think she'll get past the location side of things.
As i say, for me personally, the location bothers me 0%. But i can see why it would.
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Re: New build houses, yeah or nah?

Post by Count Steer »

MrLongbeard wrote: Sun Oct 26, 2025 10:00 pm
weeksy wrote: Sun Oct 26, 2025 9:27 pm https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/ ... el=RES_BUY
Loved it in every way. No issues my side. Mrs Weeksy feels it’s too middle of nowhere, in truth that’s half its appeal to me

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/ ... el=RES_BUY
Really nice, but the road just outside killed it off for us. Not a huge noise but enough it’d be an irritation
Go the the top on in my quote, 2nd has non-standard toilets so that's a no from me.
2nd has no onward chain so that's a + from me.

(What's non-standard about the bogs?)
The plural of 'anecdote' is not 'data'.
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Re: New build houses, yeah or nah?

Post by weeksy »

Count Steer wrote: Mon Oct 27, 2025 7:43 am
MrLongbeard wrote: Sun Oct 26, 2025 10:00 pm
weeksy wrote: Sun Oct 26, 2025 9:27 pm https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/ ... el=RES_BUY
Loved it in every way. No issues my side. Mrs Weeksy feels it’s too middle of nowhere, in truth that’s half its appeal to me

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/ ... el=RES_BUY
Really nice, but the road just outside killed it off for us. Not a huge noise but enough it’d be an irritation
Go the the top on in my quote, 2nd has non-standard toilets so that's a no from me.
2nd has no onward chain so that's a + from me.

(What's non-standard about the bogs?)
The onward chain aspect isn't a huge thing for us, the couple who own the house have split up so they're splitting assets, but we're not in a place where we can move until at least end of April due to A-levels so it's not like we're in a massive hurry on it. But these things take time anyway so it would arguably drag on a while either way. We have no clue at this stage whether ours will take a day or a year to sell, so it's not like we can just start throwing out offers... but we did obviously discuss the possibilities yesterday and they're not against our timescales.
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Re: New build houses, yeah or nah?

Post by Count Steer »

weeksy wrote: Mon Oct 27, 2025 7:46 am
Count Steer wrote: Mon Oct 27, 2025 7:43 am
MrLongbeard wrote: Sun Oct 26, 2025 10:00 pm

Go the the top on in my quote, 2nd has non-standard toilets so that's a no from me.
2nd has no onward chain so that's a + from me.

(What's non-standard about the bogs?)
The onward chain aspect isn't a huge thing for us, the couple who own the house have split up so they're splitting assets, but we're not in a place where we can move until at least end of April due to A-levels so it's not like we're in a massive hurry on it. But these things take time anyway so it would arguably drag on a while either way. We have no clue at this stage whether ours will take a day or a year to sell, so it's not like we can just start throwing out offers... but we did obviously discuss the possibilities yesterday and they're not against our timescales.
Chains collapse (often wasting cash on surveys etc) and agreeing dates/organising moves can be a logistical nightmare. Vacant possession is even more of a :thumbup:

Not the end of the world but, if you've moved a few times or know people that have, chain breakers are a definite plus.
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Re: New build houses, yeah or nah?

Post by Docca »

The other trap I fell in to from my own experience and largely being married to a mental wife was the ‘we could probably’ (something in the future to offer a compromise on existing build)

We could probably knock that wall down

We could probably extend the driveway

We could probably build a kitchen under the garden

We could probably put a gangway between house and garage



All above were actual suggestions. None of them happened of course. Partly because we spend the money we earn but partly because it’s daft. I’ve learned the hard way to have as few compromises as possible. Preferably none.
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Re: New build houses, yeah or nah?

Post by Noggin »

weeksy wrote: Mon Oct 27, 2025 7:36 am
Docca wrote: Mon Oct 27, 2025 7:29 am I like the last one you posted and the road wouldn’t put me off. Second was the one you liked.

Red flags all over the place for the rest. Some cosmetic ( archways?!) and I can’t do washing machine / tumble dryer in the kitchen ever.

Working out the maximum number of bedrooms you actually need would be helpful and make a difference. Our eldest at uni and we’ve just put a Murphy bed in the study for when he comes back in the holidays.
The road was sufficient that when we stood outside it was a look between us that said Hmmmmm. In truth the rest of the property was spot on, couldn't fault it... but the location was just a bit too noisy that it'd be an issue.
It may be something you'd tune out after a while, but it was enough of a concern to write it off currently.

The one i like in Weston under Penyard isn't perfect either in some ways, with a small office/snug downstairs having very little purpose in the real-world. But maybe you could get that wall taken out and increase the living area accordingly. It's described as a study in the plans, but i'm not sure Mrs Weeksy would use that and may use a bedroom instead for it.. So it's almost dead space. The lack of utility room was a concern on that for her, but there's space on the side of the house or even in the garage to facilitate that arguably. But i don't think she'll get past the location side of things.
As i say, for me personally, the location bothers me 0%. But i can see why it would.
How much actual traffic is on the road? Where I've moved to is pretty close to the main road through the valley, so Saturdays in the winter are going ot be a total nightmare - but I'm only ever going to be working or skiing (or leaving the house before the grockles get started and off to play motos somewhere else!!) on a Saturday, so it's really not an issue.

However, a couple of people have said to me that they couldn't live here for the noise - for me, I can hear the odd vehicle very very occasionally from inside (but the noise from my landlords' apartment upstairs is more annoying - and there's a factory across the road so there's often machine/truck/forklift noise as they shift windows and doors around!!).
Outside, ok, I can hear vehicles but it's not that loud and so it's not an issue for me - flip side is that I moved here from resort, even in the inter season there were trucks going past every day and in each season the noise was much worse that I appreciated at the time; the bin lorries at around 4 or 5 am most mornings in the seasons and a couple of times a week the rest of the year were the worst but I'd got used to it, so here I suppose the little noise from the road is minimal to me!!

Equally - if you both weren't happy when in the garden the first time maybe it's not something you can get used to :( Shame if the house is great but understandable, you don't want to end up somewhere that annoys you when you're outside!!


Shame MrsW doesn't like the location of the other one but I get that some people don't want to be too far removed from 'civilisation' (personally, being removed from civilisation is a bonus for me!! :lol: :lol: )
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Re: New build houses, yeah or nah?

Post by Dodgy69 »

Ross on Wye is nice. For me, any house will do, kind off. But the garden and location is the biggy for me. Make sure nice views will remain nice views. Don't rush. 👍
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Re: New build houses, yeah or nah?

Post by MrLongbeard »

Count Steer wrote: Mon Oct 27, 2025 7:43 am (What's non-standard about the bogs?)
Not the usual oval seats and small cisterns, just me being gun shy after trying to service a new trendy bog after it had been fitted for 5 or so years and struggled to find spares, and refused to pay the 5 x mark up on a new seat just because it wasn't oval.
YMMV of course, but first thing I'd do is rip 'em out and replace with regular non trendy sanitary ware, nope that's a lie, first thing I'd do is make sure there are, or install, shut offs / isolators on every water line
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Re: New build houses, yeah or nah?

Post by weeksy »

MrLongbeard wrote: Mon Oct 27, 2025 9:09 am
Count Steer wrote: Mon Oct 27, 2025 7:43 am (What's non-standard about the bogs?)
Not the usual oval seats and small cisterns, just me being gun shy after trying to service a new trendy bog after it had been fitted for 5 or so years and struggled to find spares, and refused to pay the 5 x mark up on a new seat just because it wasn't oval.
YMMV of course, but first thing I'd do is rip 'em out and replace with regular non trendy sanitary ware, nope that's a lie, first thing I'd do is make sure there are, or install, shut offs / isolators on every water line
Seems a bit bonkers.... Why don't you just wait 5 year or longer till it fails then replace it ? Replacing it for no reason at all seems utterly insane just because once in your life you couldn't find a part for it.
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Re: New build houses, yeah or nah?

Post by Mussels »

MrLongbeard wrote: Mon Oct 27, 2025 9:09 am
Count Steer wrote: Mon Oct 27, 2025 7:43 am (What's non-standard about the bogs?)
Not the usual oval seats and small cisterns, just me being gun shy after trying to service a new trendy bog after it had been fitted for 5 or so years and struggled to find spares, and refused to pay the 5 x mark up on a new seat just because it wasn't oval.
YMMV of course, but first thing I'd do is rip 'em out and replace with regular non trendy sanitary ware, nope that's a lie, first thing I'd do is make sure there are, or install, shut offs / isolators on every water line
I can second that, I needed a new bog and the only one that was a good fit was a squarish one. I was ok with spending £100 on the seat because I thought it was going to be a once only purchase from a premium brand, after all what can go wrong with a bog seat?
Three or four seats later and a different brand that almosts fits means there's no way I'm doing that again if I can avoid it.
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Re: New build houses, yeah or nah?

Post by MrLongbeard »

weeksy wrote: Mon Oct 27, 2025 9:44 am
MrLongbeard wrote: Mon Oct 27, 2025 9:09 am
Count Steer wrote: Mon Oct 27, 2025 7:43 am (What's non-standard about the bogs?)
Not the usual oval seats and small cisterns, just me being gun shy after trying to service a new trendy bog after it had been fitted for 5 or so years and struggled to find spares, and refused to pay the 5 x mark up on a new seat just because it wasn't oval.
YMMV of course, but first thing I'd do is rip 'em out and replace with regular non trendy sanitary ware, nope that's a lie, first thing I'd do is make sure there are, or install, shut offs / isolators on every water line
Seems a bit bonkers.... Why don't you just wait 5 year or longer till it fails then replace it ? Replacing it for no reason at all seems utterly insane just because once in your life you couldn't find a part for it.
If a house has multiple thrones and or limited occupancy then yes that's a valid approach, unless the last one standing is your own en-suite, but if you've only the one then you (I) don't want the risk of it going wrong and maybe / maybe not being able to get parts in a rush with everyone in the house doing the 'i need a pee' dance.

As said it's just a personal bug bear of mine from experience.
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Re: New build houses, yeah or nah?

Post by crust »

Liking the one with a big garage, room to park van + cars, end of a dead end road :thumbup:

The one near Ross is the one I'd go for, middle of nowhere-ish, you're only 3 miles from Ross. There's a pub in the village. Handy commute through the forest for James, easy access to motorway for travel. Like it.
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Re: New build houses, yeah or nah?

Post by weeksy »

crust wrote: Mon Oct 27, 2025 10:09 am
The one near Ross is the one I'd go for, middle of nowhere-ish, you're only 3 miles from Ross. There's a pub in the village. Handy commute through the forest for James, easy access to motorway for travel. Like it.
I'm with you :D

Ring the wife and let her know :D
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