Oh, it’s exciting to buy something new!  A new car, a new TV, a laptop.  It’s the same when buying a new house, new houses look and smell so fresh and clean and you know that you are the first person to use it, it’s very exciting!  There are a few traps, however, and before you get dazzled by the new shiny object, you need to remember to keep your head!  We’ve recently had a few buyers that we have assisted to purchase a brand new property at their request.

Here’s a few tips we have:

Location

Regardless of whether you are buying new or established, location is key.  When people are buying new or off the plan, often the areas that these are in can be a long way out from the city and/or have a huge supply or potential supply of housing to come.  You need to assess the location of a new property with the same level of due diligence as an established property.  Is this a good area, will there be growth? A new property will often yield quite reasonably but if there isn’t going to be capital growth….well…it’s just not as shiny and exciting as it may seem.

Features

A new house is great, but if you’re in an area that is full of new houses, you really need to make sure that your property has some standout features or sought after characteristics that are going to make it appealing to renters and for potential resale.  For example, even if it’s brand new, a 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom, 1 garage, single living area house is not going to be that appealing if its surround by houses with 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2 car garage and dual living spaces. Make sure your property has features that will suit the local demographic and expectations.

Inclusions and Extras

When buying a new property, it is really easy to be caught out with what is/isn’t included in the sale.  Often new houses may have no security screens or no window furnishings.  There may be no or very limited landscaping, clothesline or letterbox.  If the property has already been built then you need to inspect carefully and enquire as to what is NOT included.  If it’s an off the plan purchase then you should go through the contract carefully as well as the inclusions/exclusions to know what you are getting.

Do a building inspection

Just because it’a a new house, doesn’t mean you should not worry about the building inspection.  There will often be quite a list of items that come out of this inspection and it’s your opportunity to have these items fixed or to identify any show stoppers.  One of the longest list of defects I’ve seen from a building inspection came from a brand new property.  If the property is off the plan you can actually engage a building inspector to attend and conduct inspections for you at each major stage of the build. If you are not experienced with the building process then we highly recommend this.