We have had a lot of enquiry on what are benefits of buying off the plans and I can name quite a few but the article wouldn’t be fair without looking at the other side of the coin of what can go wrong.
There is a lot of negative media about the “developers going under” and rightly so, but it’s good to look a bit deeper of what can cause a fall in developers.
I’ll start off with explaining what buying ‘off the plan’ real estate really means. This means committing to buying a property that hasn’t yet been built. This means looking at a set of plans, 3D renders, sample boards and in the case of big apartments looking at the show home to make a decision of buying.
Pros of buying off the plans
Suited for you - Buying early off the plans means you can reap the benefit of buying the best apartment to suit your size, need and budget and you may have the option of interior customization
Sale price – In the early stages of the presales, sale price tends to be lower than when the apartment is complete. This could be due to underestimation of the cost of construction, rise in the cost of construction and simply demand once development is complete as buyers and now truly see the product they are buying
Return on deposit – If the property market is on the rise you can gain a great return on a deposit by the time the development is complete
Smaller deposit – the deposit requirement for every developer is different but generally, you can hold an apartment anywhere from 5% deposit to 10%. This is generally held in a Lawyers trust account which is not released to the developer till the development is complete
Maintenance-free – The property is brand new and generally maintenance-free for a long time. In an apartment/unit situation, if there is maintenance to be done this is taken care and monitored by the body corporate which is hassle-free
No reno’s - There is no renovation to do, there is no cleaning and tidying up to do when you move in as such and everything “should” come with a warranty (in our case it does!)
Lock up & leave - Most of the apartments are a lock up and leave scenario, where they may be in a block so you can leave the apartment without thinking too much about the lawns
Specialised experience - Every development can be unique and therefore you can have a truly unique buying experience. This can range from the look of the development, the events and updates hosted by the developers and the experience of when the keys are handed over to the buyers.
