Hansfield Wood

AGUSIA1

OfflerCrocGod wrote: »

It's basically built, I imagine it will be at snagging in November. We were thinking of putting a full size fridge in the fridge freezer spot and a freezer either under the stairs or in the utility. It's an obscene amount of fridge/freezer storage but I don't think the running costs will be much higher (might be €40 a year extra at most) and we should never be short of space. The 4 bed seemed poor value to me, €65K for an extra bedroom and a bigger kitchen was too much.

Ah thats great, sounds like a good idea with the undercounted freezer, ours won't be ready until early next year. keep us posted here on you's get on at handover time, Totally agree on the 4 bed been bad value, would have went for one had it been reasonably priced, not that we need the extra bedroom

bittihuduga

can the attic in the 3 bed semiD at hansfield wood be converted into room?
i asked the agent but they couldnt comment.

Eire_2016

OfflerCrocGod wrote: »

I imagine it will be at snagging in November.

Can the "snagging" not be completed before the 10% deposit is put down and contracts signed?

Pedro32561

December2012 wrote: »

Is the Technical House open?

What's going to be in the Technical House?

OfflerCrocGod

bittihuduga wrote: »

can the attic in the 3 bed semiD at hansfield wood be converted into room?
i asked the agent but they couldnt comment.

It might be more awkward than a normal conversion because of where the side window is.

OfflerCrocGod

Eire_2016 wrote: »

Can the "snagging" not be completed before the 10% deposit is put down and contracts signed?

Why would they let you snag a home you haven't even signed contracts for? It's normally done after contracts when the house is deemed ready by the builder.

OfflerCrocGod

AGUSIA1 wrote: »

Ah thats great, sounds like a good idea with the undercounted freezer, ours won't be ready until early next year. keep us posted here on you's get on at handover time, Totally agree on the 4 bed been bad value, would have went for one had it been reasonably priced, not that we need the extra bedroom

We were thinking of getting a full sized freezer and a full sized fridge, it will be more room than most American fridge-freezers in total. As I said it's probably way more than we need but the running costs aren't significantly more and it would allow us to bulk cook, and host Christmas meals etc without breaking a sweat.

Eire_2016

OfflerCrocGod wrote: »

Why would they let you snag a home you haven't even signed contracts for? It's normally done after contracts when the house is deemed ready by the builder.

Fair point. For the houses already built though i wonder when will they be available to move in I.e. For snags to be sorted etc

OfflerCrocGod

Eire_2016 wrote: »

Fair point. For the houses already built though i wonder when will they be available to move in I.e. For snags to be sorted etc

As I mentioned above probably November.

hw1234

Pedro32561 wrote: »

What's going to be in the Technical House?

From the floor plan brochure the Tech House is number 8 The Lawn... just at the end of the show houses row

Eire_2016

hw1234 wrote: »

From the floor plan brochure the Tech House is number 8 The Lawn... just at the end of the show houses row

What's the tech house?

Eire_2016

is there going to be solar panels on the roof of each house?

OfflerCrocGod

Eire_2016 wrote: »

is there going to be solar panels on the roof of each house?

No, they put in Air Source Heat Pumps instead.

OfflerCrocGod

Eire_2016 wrote: »

What's the tech house?

I think it's just a test bed for the builders.

Pedro32561

I see there are open viewings this weekend. Does anyone know if they're releasing another phase, or would it be too soon for that considering they have a lot of houses to finish yet from the first phase?

AGUSIA1

Pedro32561 wrote: »

I see there are open viewings this weekend. Does anyone know if they're releasing another phase, or would it be too soon for that considering they have a lot of houses to finish yet from the first phase?

I'd imagine they are still selling what's left in phase 1 as they can't really sell beyond 6 months in from cause people would need to reapply for mortgages if there left waiting too long.
Noticed there hasn't been much progress in new houses on the estate lately. Probably waiting on contracts I suppose.

OfflerCrocGod

AGUSIA1 wrote: »

I'd imagine they are still selling what's left in phase 1 as they can't really sell beyond 6 months in from cause people would need to reapply for mortgages if there left waiting too long.
Noticed there hasn't been much progress in new houses on the estate lately. Probably waiting on contracts I suppose.

We were told almost two weeks ago that contracts will be sent out so it would be a bit odd if they are slowing down due to contracts. Maybe they are focusing on finishing off footpaths, interiors, kitchens etc.

AGUSIA1

OfflerCrocGod wrote: »

We were told almost two weeks ago that contracts will be sent out so it would be a bit odd if they are slowing down due to contracts. Maybe they are focusing on finishing off footpaths, interiors, kitchens etc.

Maybe offercroc. Probably need funds from them to continue on.

Pedro32561

Went to the viewing today. Really like the houses. There are still around 7 or 8, 3 and 4 bed houses available in the first phase. The smaller 3 beds were going for 310k and the larger 3 beds for 325k, which I think is a slight increase on the original prices. I was surprised though to still see houses available as I believe there were queues yesterday at Barnswell, and the few houses available were snapped up quickly.

I'll be ready to buy early next year which seems to line up with phase 2, which the estate agents said they expect to be launched in Spring.

AGUSIA1

Pedro32561 wrote: »

Went to the viewing today. Really like the houses. There are still around 7 or 8, 3 and 4 bed houses available in the first phase. The smaller 3 beds were going for 310k and the larger 3 beds for 325k, which I think is a slight increase on the original prices. I was surprised though to still see houses available as I believe there were queues yesterday at Barnswell, and the few houses available were snapped up quickly.

I'll be ready to buy early next year which seems to line up with phase 2, which the estate agents said they expect to be launched in Spring.

Did you just say that the larger 3 beds were 325k?

That's a 25000 increase.

Pedro32561

AGUSIA1 wrote: »

Did you just say that the larger 3 beds were 325k?

That's a 25000 increase.

Yes. I was asking about house type B4, which is the side entry 3 bed semi-detached (119 sq m), and was told the price was 325k.

OfflerCrocGod

Pedro32561 wrote: »

Yes. I was asking about house type B4, which is the side entry 3 bed semi-detached (119 sq m), and was told the price was 325k.

Which B4 is that though? There is one in particular that has a very attractive location if you like seclusion. Almost no neighbours able to over look you either in front or behind. That would probably command a premium. By the smaller 3 beds you mean the terraces, end of terraces?

Pedro32561

OfflerCrocGod wrote: »

Which B4 is that though? There is one in particular that has a very attractive location if you like seclusion. Almost no neighbours able to over look you either in front or behind. That would probably command a premium. By the smaller 3 beds you mean the terraces, end of terraces?

The end of terrace 3 beds were 310k. The B4 was the one at the very front of the development - seems to have a larger driveway and has no house to the right of it. Maybe that one does command a premium. But I thought the B4s were in the region of 295k last week?

OfflerCrocGod

Pedro32561 wrote: »

The end of terrace 3 beds were 310k. The B4 was the one at the very front of the development - seems to have a larger driveway and has no house to the right of it. Maybe that one does command a premium. But I thought the B4s were in the region of 295k last week?

You mean the first house on the road called The Lawn? No 9? It has a minuscule back garden and the Clonsilla road to the side of it with all the attendant traffic noise, I'm surprised that its asking price is €325K. I guess if you are a suitable first time buyer the house will cost you €310K if you stay there 5 years. I don't know, that's a bit rich. Another €10K to bring it to a livable condition (floors, blinds).

Pedro32561

OfflerCrocGod wrote: »

You mean the first house on the road called The Lawn? No 9? It has a minuscule back garden and the Clonsilla road to the side of it with all the attendant traffic noise, I'm surprised that its asking price is €325K. I guess if you are a suitable first time buyer the house will cost you €310K if you stay there 5 years. I don't know, that's a bit rich. Another €10K to bring it to a livable condition (floors, blinds).

Yes that's the one. Guess prices must have gone up then.

Pedro32561

Just got a call from the estate agent for Hansfield Wood. They've released another 21 houses today for sale.

AGUSIA1

was up there today, very large crowd around again.
All the 3 bed semis were gone except one or 2 with larger gardens so you can't compare the price of them to price of a standard one.
The next phase they released were mainly terraced houses so the smaller 3 beds.
Did anyone ask were they prewired for an alarm? I forgot to ask when i was up there.

OfflerCrocGod

No the houses don't come with alarm wiring. I guess the new houses they've released are from the square of houses that will be in front of the apartment blocks? That square contains 24 houses in the planning application. Are the ones with large gardens going for €325K? Don't get the appeal of a larger garden, just more to maintain.

AGUSIA1

think thats them all right offercroc,
Wireless alarm it is so ):
I agree larger gardens are useless unless they have potential for an extension.
Agent said contracts would be out next week.
Went up to barnwell show houses today too but i am happy with our decision.
Looking forward to seeing how the heat pumps work, getting mixed reports about them but thats fairly common.

RandomAccess

Its really quite odd how so many new houses with those heat pumps have traditional vent holes in the walls of each room.
Basically means the houses aren't then air tight at all, I presume its some cost saving measure instead of installing a full HRV system?

Some of the rooms did have extractor ceiling vents such as the bathrooms and utility room the estate agents usually can't provide very much technical information which is a bit of a shame really because some of the developers are building to a higher technical level and are failing to market this.