Advice on buying a brand new home > General discussion
Walker Group (Scotland)
New Home Expert:
Taking out the "Scottish" Stamp Duty that means legal costs amount to £1,413 which seems high.
Using the Legal fess calculator here, it works out at £950 legal fees and £2,230 Stamp Duty to buy a £223,000 house in England.
anthyboy:
My house is not due to be ready till April/May and the stamp duty in Scotland changes come into force by then! Also I am using the Help to Buy 1
Charges seem correct as per the Scottish government website, though if the solicitors made the application via Automated Registration of Title to Land (ARTL) then charges for Registration Dues of Disposition will drop from £480 to £360, and the other charges drop from £60 to £50. This would save me about £150 overall.
Not sure why you would have a Registration dues of Second Charge Security?
I have emails stating what exactly I will be getting, I have my discount in writing as well. Mortgage broker answers question correctly to which I know the answers to, solicitors seem comparable in price terms, I can find no bad comment about Walker group anywhere!
Have I found the only half decent new build company or am I being naive and not looking hard enough?
Will keep people posted & updated!
New Home Expert:
You need to knock on doors of existing buyers of Walker Group new homes.
That is the only way you will get an honest and fair reflection of what this company is really like.
Trusting to luck and what you have been told by them is being naive!
anthyboy:
I thought I would give an update on my dealing with Walker Group!
I have been to see the site and the show home which is the same style of house I am buying and I was very impressed. It is a lot bigger than I was expecting (yes I know the tricks they use to create the illusion of more space).
I was also handed a copy of the Plot Reservation Form, Reservation Checklist, detailed floor plans, Walker group customer charter booklet with FAQ in it, Consumer Code for Home Builders & details of the NHBC warranty plus aftercare information.
I spoke the site manager (who had been with Walker group for 30 odd years working his way up from when he started out). He answered questions correctly that I knew the answers too (from this site), seemed relaxed and not stressed out at all. I asked about using a professional snagging inspector prior to me taking ownership and he didn't appear to have a problem with it!
I took my time to go around the area and talk to people already moved in and everyone appeared very happy and more than content with their aftersales care!!
My only gripe at moment is the sales lady didn't mention about the yearly charge for common areas prior to my reservation fee being paid a few weeks ago! But reading other stories, maybe I shouldn't be to picky.
Missives are going through at moment which will then tie me to a contract to buy.
Also sent a few questions to their sales office, just to see how they respond, PSB:
--- Quote ---Jan,
Really good to finally meet you and see the site and show home!
I have a few questions for your site manager to confirm to me about plot 26
1) Timber frame has been fully preserved in line with current building regulations, including drill holes & cut ends?
2) Moisture within the timber frame was at 20% or below prior to being covered?
3) Confirm plot 26 has and will be built in line with current building regulations, including where it states "should be" this will be taken as a "must be" (for example: DCP should be of a minimum height of 150 mm above ground level)?
4) Confirm estimated completion date either April or May 2015?
I will also be using a professional snagging inspector at the pre-inspection meetin. I spoke to the site manager about this, please confirm it will not be an issue?
5) I require a copy of building control inspector's notes that have been done so far, plus full report at the pre inspection meeting.
Jan, I also spoke to site manager about having a door put in from hallway to garage. He stated that the build was too far advanced for this. Can you ask him again about this as it seems a bit stupid to complete a really good finish in the hallway in the full knowledge I am going to need to spoil it! I haven't really had any choice on this house yet and looking at the build stage, I can't see it being too much of a stretch of issue to achieve this!
I have funds ready to be transferred to Warner's once my questions have been answered, this if we act quickly should have the Missive's completed prior to Christmas which would be great!
Finally just confirm that there are no other costs that I don't know about? Such as maintenance of common areas!
Looking forward to hearing from you Jan, I'm in all day tomorrow!
Kind regards
Anthony
--- End quote ---
Should be interesting in what they come back with!!!!!!!!!
I will keep everyone updated as process goes through.
New Home Expert:
Clearly, you have found out and learned a great deal from reading the information on this website.
Thank you for your kind donation.
The information Walker have given you is no more or less than the standard required. They have already breached the Consumer Code for Home Builders by failing to disclose pertinent information before you reserved, namely maintenance charges to common areas. So you are not being picky at all!
When looking for a snagging inspector, I would recommend Martyn Maxwell at www.brickkickers.co.uk.
It is not a good idea for the snagging inspector to carry out his inspection at your "pre-inspection meeting" with the site manager. For one thing, his inspection will probably take at least a couple of hours.
In addition, the "pre-occupation" visit is for the site manager to show you where everything is how the heating works etc and for you to satisfy yourself that the home is in fact ready for you to move in.
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