Frequently Answered Questions
Click on the link below to find the answer to your FAQs:
About New Homes Direct and our service to property investors
- Who is New Homes Direct?
- What do you do?
- Is New Homes Direct a House Builder?
- How do private buyers/investors find your web site?
- How does New Homes Direct help property investors like me?
- How does new Homes Direct help residential purchasers?
- Do I need to join your Property Investor Club?
- What happens once I become a member?
- What happens once if I only subscribe to your service?
- What will you do with my personal data?
- What types of properties do you source?
- Do you only have new properties?
- How do you get such big discounts from property developers?
- How do I know that discount and rental incomes are real?
- Is there a buyers or finder fee and how do you earn your fees?
- How do I buy property through you?
- How often are your property listings updated?
- How do I find out about the deals you are offering?
- How often do properties get sent out?
- What information do we get before we decide to buy?
- Do we get a chance to view the properties before we say we want one?
- How do I reserve a property from you?
- Can I use my own solicitor and/or mortgage broker?
- Can I put my own home for sale on your site?
- When is the best time to buy?
- Can you help me get a mortgage or finance for my investment property
- What if I don´t have any money to invest?
- What is equity and can I remortgage my house to buy an investment property?
- How do I re-mortgage?
- Why in some cases do I not have to pay a deposit on the property purchased?
- What about changes in property prices?
- What if interest rates go up?
- What happens to fees/deposits if I pay them and decide not to go ahead?
- If I want to introduce a friend to the New Homes Direct Property Investment Club will I get any benefits?
- If I find properties for New Homes Direct and negotiate the discount, will I get a referral fee?
- If I find the property but don´t negotiate the discount, will I get a finder´s fee?
- I already act as a agent for a number of property developers, can I use your web site to help sell these properties?
About New Homes Direct and our service to property investors
- Who is New Homes Direct?
- What do you do?
- Is New Homes Direct a House Builder?
No, New Homes Direct works in conjunction with leading House Builders and property developers across the U.K. providing a highly targeted marketing service. We also have specific deals with international developers, either directly or via our partner agencies. - How do investors find your web site?
New Homes Direct advertise internationally in a wide range of recognised media titles. Our main strength is our online presence. We have used search engine marketing techniques to get high visibility in the search engines, we also offer an affiliate marketing scheme so our banners ads are found on hundreds of property sites. - How does new Homes Direct help property investors like me?
- How does new Homes Direct help residential purchasers?
- Do I need to join your property investor club?
- What happens once I become a member?
- What happens once I subscribe to your service?
- What will you do with my personal data?
- What types of properties do you source?
- Do you only have new properties?
- How do you get such big discounts from property developers?
- How do I know that discount and rental incomes are real?
- Is there a buyers or finder fee and if not how do you earn your fees?
- How do I buy property through you?
- Once you have become a member of the club you will have immediate access to the details of all our properties.
- If you are a first time buyer with New Homes Direct, you can submit your mortgage application for a Decision in Principle to our partner brokers, either online or by phone. This is the lenders´ initial approval to loan you funds, should you require a mortgage.
- You will receive weekly emails alerts of all new properties.
- You can arrange a viewing of the show-home via the web site.
- Should you decide to reserve a property, you select the specific plot and complete the online reservation form, you pay a reservation fee (normally £1000), the valuation fee (£500-£750) and a deposit towards the disbursements (£250).
- The reservation fee is sent to us, the developer, the broker and our solicitor - this starts the process rolling.
- The solicitors draw up the contracts to exchange between you and the developer
- The contracts are then sent to you to sign and return those contracts to your solicitor with your deposit (normally 10% of the asking price) - normally exchange has to take place within 28-days
- Prior to completion, we would advise that you begin sourcing letting agents and organise the furniture packages for those that are furnishing the property.
- At this stage you will also be invited in to discuss what you should do post completion should you wish to further increase your portfolio.
- Approximately 1 month prior to completion, the letting agents will begin to market your property to secure your first tenant.
- Prior to completion you will need to organise any remaining funds to be paid to the solicitor and also consider other fees and charges including stamp duties. Your solicitor will provide you a detailed list.
New Homes Direct (Registered Company Number 5281819) is registered in the United Kingdom. New Homes Direct or ´NHD´ is a property buying club that specialises in off plan or newly built buy to let property.
We specialise in providing properties at up to 20% discount off the purchase price and provide our clients with a range of added value property services.
The strength of our organisation comes through developing deep relationships both with our clients and property developers.
We ask property investors like you to join our Property investment club. We offer members off plan and new built property with discounts ranging from 10 - 20%. We do this by negotiating with developers and vendors on a "no sale - no fee" basis. We can do this because of the collective buying power of our members. In effect we act as a wholesaler, offering investment property for sale.
We also target areas that show high capital growth, this allows investors to maximise their returns in the shortest possible time frame. We believe what we can offer you is the most capital efficient way of building up a property portfolio that will allow you to build wealth over the long term and remember, investment property advice is available at all times.
New-Homes-Direct.com is our property portal that offers information and instruction, backup and ongoing support in all matters relating to property acquisition.
The members´ area to the New Homes Direct website is constantly updated with news and information about mortgages, the buy to let market, tenancy/landlord issues, the housing market, interest rate rises, hot spots and any other relevant information regarding property investment.
New Homes Directs´ members have access to detailed market information from partner companies and from the expertise of our staff.
Private buyers looking for a family home can access our services for free by registering as a subscriber. You can carry out a search and if there are no matches you can save your search and receive email alerts as new properties are added. We also recommend that you apply for a mortgage offer in principle from one of our partner brokers as soon as you subscribe. This means that you will be able to proceed quickly once you find your ideal home.
You can use our property search without the need to join our Property Investor Club. However, this will not allow you to see the deals and discounts. If you want to see our discounts and deals you will have to join our Investor club, this is free and gives you a range of other benefits.
By increasing our membership and the number of registered subscribers that use our site, more developers will offer us properties and better deals.
We will add your details to our database and keep you updated about our property investment opportunities. We will email you weekly with all the properties added in the previous week. You will receive this advance alert at least one week before the registered subscribers.
We will add your details to our database and keep you updated with residential properties.
Your personal data will be handled in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
Our prime focus is on off-plan and newly built developments. The long build time presents the opportunity for significant growth prior to completion. Most of the developments we source have a build time of about 3-18 months but may be as long as 3 years. You can wait for us to source properties that meet your criteria or you can talk with our Property Director and we can source properties on your behalf for a finder´s fee.
No. At present the majority of what we have are new properties, but we do get a small amount of second hand properties and part exchange.
We offer members off plan and new build property with discounts ranging from 10 - 20%. We do this by negotiating bulk discounts with developers. We can do this because of the collective buying power of our members. In effect we act as a wholesaler, offering investment property for sale.
We have strong relationships with lenders, letting agents, solicitors and furniture/furnishing suppliers.
We have, and are continually developing, strong relationships with developers and negotiate reductions from open market values. These reductions are passed on to you in various forms enabling you to purchase property with built in equity from day one. We are a "one-stop-property-shop" offering everything you need in order to be able to build a property portfolio that will give you exactly what you want.
We supply you independent surveys that are completed prior to each development being released. These valuations will normally be undertaken by the same valuers that the finance companies use. This ensures that the developer´s asking price is the same the mortgage company will use.
All discounts are off actual ´sworn valuation prices´, they are often referred to as ´true valuations´ rather than ´inflated valuations´.
All valuations are undertaken by a RICS (Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors) valuer. In addition, we use letting agents in the particular area to give us an indication of rental values. You will have access to these rental appraisals.
On reservation, you are required to pay the developer a non-refundable deposit (typically £1000-£2000). We can take that on your behalf by bank transfer and pay the developer immediately, this ensures that you do not loose your plot to someone viewing in the showroom. £1000 inc VAT towards the finders fee (non-refundable) is also payable at reservation. If the finders fee is being paid by the developer, we simply require a £500 + VAT admin fee at reservation, this is not refundable.
The remainder of the 2% + vat (of the list price) is paid at exchange. Normally we invoice your solicitor directly so they organise our payment within the whole transaction. We can take our fees via cheque, a bank transfer or a credit card, however there is a service charge of 4% to use the credit card facility.
The property club does not earn ´kick-backs´ from the companies that use our services.
Buying new properties through New Homes Direct
The process of buying property from New Homes Direct is a relatively simple one. It is best explained by our step by step process:
- No, New Homes Direct works in conjunction with leading House Builders and property developers across the U.K. providing a highly targeted marketing service. We also have specific deal with international developers, either directly or via our partner agencies. New Homes Direct advertise internationally in a wide range of recognised media titles. Our main strength is our online presence. We have used search engine marketing techniques to get high visibility in the search engines, we also offer an affiliate marketing scheme so our banners ads are found on hundreds of property sites.
- How do I find out about the deals you are offering?
- How often do properties get sent out?
- What information do we get before we decide to buy?
- Do we get a chance to view the properties before we say we want one?
- How do I reserve a property from you?
- Can I use my own solicitor and/or mortgage broker?
- Can I put my own home for sale on your site?
Yes, simply click on ´Advertise with us´ and enter ´Private Sale´ in the company field, we will contact you to obtain all the necessary details and pictures. Yes, simply click on ´Advertise with us´ and enter ´Private Sale´ in the company field, we will contact you to obtain all the necessary details and pictures. - When is the best time to buy?
- Can you help me get a mortgage or finance for my investment property
- What if I don´t have any money to invest?
- What is equity and can I remortgage my house to buy an investment property?
- How do I re-mortgage?
- Why in some cases do I not have to pay a deposit on the property purchased?
- What about changes in property prices?
- What if interest rates go up?
- What happens to fees/deposits if I pay them and decide not to go ahead?
- If I want to introduce a friend to the New Homes Direct Property Investment Club will I get any benefits?
- If I find properties for New Homes Direct and negotiate the discount, will I get a referral fee?
- If I find the property but don´t negotiate the discount, will I get a referral fee?
- I already act as a agent for a number of property developers, can I use your web site to help sell the
You can go to the web site at any time, log-on and click latest deals to view the newest properties. Alternatively you can wait for the weekly email alert.
We are speaking with developers on a daily basis. As soon as we agree the deal and a suitable reduction from open market value, we will load the properties on the web site. Because of the nature of our negotiations with developers it is impossible to say exactly how many developments or properties will get offered in any given period. We can say however, that we could be negotiating on anything from one to 30 different developments at any one time.
We will give you all the information we have. We endeavour to obtain details such as ground rent, maintenance charges (if any) etc. Where possible we will give you the full post code (on new developments this is not always possible) enabling you to do a lot of your own research about the area via the internet. Where possible we try and provide a 360 degrees virtual image of the show-homes and development. We also provide links to www.upmystreet.com for invaluable information about your chosen area.
All properties are offered on a first come, first served basis. It is up to individuals to satisfy themselves that this property is suitable. If you need to physically visit properties/developments, you are of course able to do so. You can arrange a viewing through the web site, where we provide contact details and opening hours for the show-home.
When you find a property you are interested it you can save the details. You can return to your saved properties by logging on and going to your member´s area. You can then reserve your chosen plot by clicking on the shopping cart and completing the reservation form.
We request that you use our specialist conveyancers who are experienced in managing these types of transactions. We also prefer that you use our brokers, as this helps to ensure that you exchange within 28-days. On some developments you will not have the option. This ensures that we meet the developer requirement for a quick sale and therefore they are more likely to offer us more developments.
Financial issues
The right time to buy is now! Doom and gloom merchants will always say that the market is ready to burst and optimists will always preach that the market is rising. If you wait for the ´bubble to burst´ or the ´market to rise´ you will just keep waiting for ´the right time´. If we look at property trends over the last 30 years or so, even with two major house price corrections (early to mid 70´s and 1989) house prices have doubled on average every five to seven years. When you buy is not time critical, when you sell is.
Yes, you can apply through our partner brokers either online or by phone.
You have a number of options, if you have equity in your home or other buy-to-let properties, you may be able to access this through a re-mortgage. We will refer you to our FSA accredited broker to advise you.
If you have no savings and no equity then you may be able to borrow the amount required (although this is not normally recommended) otherwise you will not normally be able to invest in property at this point.
Equity is the difference between the loan (mortgage) and the current value of the property. Therefore, if you sell, the equity is your profit. If you put a deposit down on the property, it also creates equity as it lessens the mortgage. If you purchase your property outright, then you have 100% equity. You can also access equity in your property and withdraw funds via a re-mortgage.
We have excellent relationships with finance professionals who can help with the re-mortgaging of existing property that you own. Typically you can borrow up to 85% of the total value of your property.
Some banks will lend against the valuation of the property not the purchase price. For example if a property is valued at £100,000 the majority of the banks will lend a maximum of 85% of valuation i.e £85,000. Some lenders will let you use part of the discount as the deposit. This means that you can build your portfolio with much less capital than conventional means. In a rising market investors will remortgage their investment properties to raise the deposit for the nest deal.
The ability to do this cannot be relied upon as lenders change their individual criteria with changes in the market. Normally we suggest you have a minimum of 15% deposit available on each investment.
Property prices are governed by supply & demand for each particular type of property in its own area. In general there is an under supply of housing in the UK at the moment which will hold up prices for the foreseeable future. Any fluctuations in prices would normally be covered by the discount achieved off the independent valuation by the surveyor.
Interest rates rise and fall, as part of a normal property cycle. We recommend that you do not over-extend yourself and that you consider this cycle as part of the normal course of business.
The reservation fee, valuation fee and disbursements are non refundable once received. If you pay a finders fee at reservation and do not exchange then you will receive a refund less £500 administration fee.
Working with New Homes Direct
Yes. When your friend or associate joins our Property Investment Club, in appreciation of that recommendation we will give you a £25 gift voucher.
Your referral fee will either be a fixed fee of £500 for every plot sold, or a percentage of the asking price, which will be agreed at the outset and be dependent on the advertiser fee paid by the developer (or finders fee paid by the buyer). If you want to refer properties to us then you will need to sign our referral agreement.
You will get a referral fee of £500 per plot sold, if we are able to negotiate a deal directly with the developer. If you want to refer properties to us then you will need to sign our referral agreement.
- How often are your property listings updated?
No, New Homes Direct works in conjunction with leading House Builders and property developers across the U.K. providing a highly targeted marketing service. We also have specific deal with international developers, either directly or via our partner agencies. New Homes Direct advertise internationally in a wide range of recognised media titles. Our main strength is our online presence. We have used search engine marketing techniques to get high visibility in the search engines, we also offer an affiliate marketing scheme so our banners ads are found on hundreds of property sites.
New properties are added as soon as we receive a new contract from a property developer. Our Properties are updated daily for availability and other changes.
- New properties are added as soon as we receive a new contract from a property developer. Our Properties are updated daily for availability and other changes.
Buying new properties through New Homes Direct
Financial issues
Working with New Homes Direct
