Buy without leaving home
It’s now possible to set your move in motion, even personalising the details of your new house from the comfort of your computer, says DEBORAH STONE
THERE’S nothing like the personal touch to boost sales, which is why developers are launching special services to help customers move into a new home. Redrow claims to be the first housebuilder to allow buyers to legally complete the reservation of a new home online, rather than face to face with sales staff.
My Redrow is an online resource giving buyers the chance to see all the documentation at home, with time to consult a legal adviser if they wish and complete reservations outside working hours.
It’s especially useful for those with young families, as Serena and Nick Parker confirm: “Going into the sales office with our two young boys was hard, because I was conscious of them running around and us being distracted,” says Serena.
“It was difficult for me and Nick to concentrate and make decisions on something so important.”
They used My Redrow to make specification choices and upgrades to their new home at The Oaks at Taylor’s Chase, near Warrington, Cheshire, while it was being built.
“It was fantastic.we could wait until our boys were in bed and then sit down together and go through every detail,” adds IT trainer Serena, 39. “The beauty of reserving and making your choices online is that you can do it in stages if you wish and go back to it.
“This will be our ‘forever home’ so we’ve chosen lots of upgrades, including the bi-fold doors I’d always wanted, the kitchen and fittings, tiling and carpets throughout which means it can be home the minute we move in February.”
The Oaks is one of Redrow’s Heritage Collection developments, with arts and crafts-inspired architecture teamed with modern interiors, half an hour by train from Liverpool and Manchester and close to the M62.
Three and four-bedroom homes are still available from £372,995 (01925 541558; redrow.co.uk).
SIMILARLY, Crest Nicholson’s Smoothmove aims to reduce buyers’ stress once they reserve a new property by arranging the valuation of their old home, organising viewings and paying the estate agent’s fee.
Niki and Mark Hall used the service after choosing a new four-bedroom house at Crest Nicholson’s Bowood Gate development in Wiltshire.
Mark, 49, is a building project manager who travels all over the country and Niki, 43, says: “The Smoothmove scheme made the whole selling process so much easier for us.
“It allowed us to spend our weekends wisely, rather than trying to arrange viewings on our old house.”
Smoothmove is available on a selection of two to five-bedroom houses at Crest Nicholson’s Arborfield Green development near Wokingham, Berkshire, where prices start at £455,000 (01182 177723; crestnicholson.com).
The development is on the former Arborfield Garrison site and part of a new garden village of more than 2,000 homes.
It’s four miles from the M4, near good schools, with easy access to Reading and will have three acres of new play areas, plus cycle and footpaths, bridleways and a green amphitheatre.
Finally, Perfect Match is available at CALA Homes developments in eastern Scotland and offers incentives that may include land and building transaction tax contributions, help with legal or moving fees and part exchange deals.
Ravelrig Heights, in Balerno on the outskirts of Edinburgh, offers Perfect Match benefits on several five-bedroom detached houses ranging from £690,000 to £960,000 (0131 516 8931; cala.co.uk).
“Every move is unique – and we all are looking for different things or face different hurdles and challenges in securing that dream home,” says sales and marketing director Philip Hogg.
“That’s why we have created the Perfect Match, to provide buyers with a tailor-made package to make sure the move brings excitement and not stress.”