If you’re looking for a new home or just a new property, then you might have heard of those that are commonly known as “off the plan” properties. These are properties that are not yet fully built but are in the works, often as part of a planned community, typically catering to higher-income buyers. Given that you can rarely move straight into off the plan homes after buying them, why should you consider a property like these?
You can benefit from an easier sale
Rather than having to hunt and negotiate on the market, often competing with other buyers, off the plan homes tend to work rather simply. In most cases, you’re given the base price and can lodge your interest. Get in early enough and you can get yourself a home. There’s no need for haggling, no need for an estate agent and their fees, you can buy the home as simply as you would buy many other commodities.
Get in at a low purchase point
One of the reasons that people are willing to buy off-plan property, to begin with, is that it can make higher quality homes much more easily available to them. The sellers realize that not being able to live in or rent out the property is a disadvantage, so they offer it at a low purchase price to make sure that they generate interest in the homes and get those houses sold so they have their profit plus the rest of the capital needed to finish the project. For some people, these properties represent the best opportunity to get on the property ladder without having to buy something in the lower end of the market or a fixer-upper.
They can make for great investments
If you’re looking at a property as an investment opportunity rather than just a potential home, there could be even more reason to go off-plan with your capital. Off the plan apartments and houses can start to gain value rapidly if they are marketed well and buyer interest starts to come in. This could see the value of the property increasing even before it is finished and it moves in. If you really want, you can even sell off the equity in the home before it’s complete.
They don’t require large deposits
How you buy the home can be just as important as the home itself. It is true that it can be hard to find banks willing to offer mortgages for off the plan properties. However, to make up for that, off-plan developers tend to offer ways to make the property more accessible. This can include small deposits to start paying for the property, as well as staged payments so that you don’t have to get all of the money ready at once.
You might not be able to move into the property you buy immediately, but the benefits in terms of sale convenience, easier access to high-level housing, and a good foot on the housing ladder can be more than worth it for some.