Anybody had any dealings with part exchange of a house in order to purchase a new build ? If so what are your thoughts ? Do you believe they gave you the full value of your house or do you think they undervalued it. I am considering purchasing a new build and am considering the part exchange scheme with Bryant builders, (I believe they are part of the wimpey group) I have been told that two valuers complete a valuation on the house then they give you a part exchange figure which you can either accept or decline within 24hrs of the offer being given to you. There appears to be a lot of people opted for part exchange. What do you think ? Surely they must win out of it somewhere along the line ? Any ideas or opinions would be appreciated.

I would get an independent valuation first from 2 or 3 local estate agents. At least then I would know what value to expect, although bear in mind that if you part ex, you won't have to pay estate agents fees.

I expect they can ensure they make money even if they give you full market value by either keeping teh property, renting it, or in certain cases redeveloping it.  Also chances are they will over value their new build too.

Do you believe they gave you the full value of your house or do you think they undervalued it.

It works for some and not for others.

What I would advise is that:

You decide what you want for your property ,( you can phone a estate agent and get an approx price but don't tell them about the trade in scheme as they will of course want your business)

Then add on what you will be saving by cutting out some of the legal fees ( there is still some legal fees as missive and title transfer must still take place) missive negotiation bash outs with multiple letters won't happen though, and also saving on estate agency fees and commission.

If their offer  still comes in a little short decide for the time selling etc and how "in demand" your exisiting house is  will give you the answer :-)

My house was already on the market when I part exchanged for a new build.  The builder offered me slightly less than my house was being marketed for but then knocked off the same amount on the new one
I was ultimately offered the same amount I would have accepted from a viewer through the estate agent with none of the fees.
Quite happy :)

I think a lot depends on your house, if they are likely to be able to sell it on quickly / easily then they will probably give you a better / fairer offer. We part-exed out house in 2000 for a new one on the same large estate, IIRC it was already for sale at £109k and they offered us something like £104k, we decided to go ahead, we figured that we had saved the estate agency fees and it also meant we could get the new house we wanted, when we wanted it. The sales rep was really nice and let us keep our old keys for a weekend after completion so we could move gradually so that was another plus. Bovis sold our old place 4 months later for £105k (we looked it up on the internet net house prices site) so with hindsight we are pleased we did the part-ex.

HTH

Good luck with the move if you go ahead!

Thanks for your replies...we have had the first valuer out who has valued it at about 3/4k less than we actually wanted...which is ok as we would be taking into account fees etc etc....the second valuer is due out - just getting the jitters as it is taking so long, we have been waiting since before Christmas and I want to know one way or another if we can afford our new house and it is all dependant on whether they give us a good market value on our house. I think that part exchange seems to be fair but will revert once my second valuer has been.....

I may be wrong and I'm certainly no expert but I have recently been considering a similar scheme with a different company. Having read the small print it appears thatthe price they will offer you will be based on a price at which they can expect to sell WITHIN A SPECIFIED TIME PERIOD.
I take this to mean that if your estate agent suggested an asking price of 200,000 allowing for some negotiation with potential buyers you would probably expect to sell for @ 180-190,000 but depending on the state of the market, you may have to wait for the right offer. If you opted for the Part Ex scheme they would probably suggest an asking price of 180,000 to begin with in order to achieve a sale within a short time frame. The question is probably whether or not you are prepared to hold out for the higher price or can you afford to let it go cheaper for a quick sale. They also ask for a deposit to secure the house you wish to buy and if your property doesn't sell WITHIN THE SPECIFIED TIME PERIOD they keep half your deposit.

I also note that on the scheme I am looking at, they want you to use their legal services etc so they probably take a percentage there also. They will be making a profit somewhere along the line but who doesn't in the property game? :)

Ooh that doesn't sound so good, is that with a new house builder?

With ours, it was a straightforward sale to Bovis with no strings, we exchanged contracts and that was it, it wouldn't have altered even if they ended up selling the old house for half what they paid us. We used our own solicitor too.

Just goes to show it's definitely worth scrutinising the small print!

Any deal like this would need to be reviewed/handled by the purchaser/seller and if this the deal some companies were doing I would really avoid it because all you would be gaining is the temporary reservation of a house. 

A deal like this is really not them part exchanging the house , as they are  only really taking over the role as an estate agent because they are not taking your house off your hands until a buyer comes along.

The house has still has to be sold before you can buy the new house regardless if the seller is selling it or the house builder so you would be better selling it yourself as the house owner. 

This is as I say not one I have heard off but a bit scam like IMHO.

The only benefit of doing this is saving time I think, especially if you live in a house which won't be quick to sell and you are desperate to move.
Financially the only winners will be the house builders otherwise they wouldn't do it.
Also, and I hate to sound too negative...is it a very big new estate ?. If so be careful. I had friends who bought on a huge estate. A year later they tried to sell (work moved) and of course they were still building so they ended up selling for less than the new identical ones were going for.....not ideal....it was just that people liked the idea of brand new. They lost all the money they'd spent on the garden/carpets etc as well.

I part exchanged my last house, the only drawback was that we had to complete in 21 days and we could not haggle over the price or any extras, but on the positive side we saved on estate agents fees and it is a whole lot less stressful than selling it yourself.  We found that on average, new property developers expect, if you are selling a property, you to exchange within 28 days (we have also had experience of this and it is extremely stressful :( )!

The only benefit of doing this is saving time I think, especially if you live in a house which won't be quick to sell and you are desperate to move.
This wouldn't be the case that middleton gave though but certainly for those builders who take the house regardless if they sell it quickly or not.

Thanks for your advice and suggestions...Prior to going for the part exchange we got all the independant surveyors in the area to value our house so we know what they previously gave us as a figure, the next valuer is due out next week hopefully so I know that they had the highest valuation on our house (all conf valuations prices by ltr) so we have some figures to look at and will know exactly what figures the building company are looking at to enable a decision to be made ! Will let you know if I think it is fair.
I guess it is a bit of a risk for the builders also as they may end up holding onto properties for months on end as they cannot sell them ? I have not been pressurised into using their solicitors or anything. Seems some may be better than others.