Therefore, for investors who commit early to the project there is often a very good price incentive. Because the payment schedule for your property will be tied into the construction progress, buying off-plan will place substantially less demands upon your cash-flow. The quicker you are off the mark, the greater the selection of properties within the development. One of the greatest benefits of buying off-plan is that, if you get involved at the launch of the development, you get to choose your property from all that is available within the project. For example, you might be able to purchase an apartment with a superior view or position within the site; typically penthouses, corner units and those with the best outlook will sell first. Another key benefit to buying off-plan is the possibility to have input to the finished product. Choice of the best unit within a development can then offer better potential for strong capital growth and increased rental returns. It is often possible to move around internal walls, put in extra doors etc, and in some cases even join together two apartments into a single property unit.

Before building any property you need to hold a building permit which is obtained from the municipality office. There are certain restrictions on the structure that you can build depending on the distance of your property from the beach. Also, each building cannot exceed an area of 75 square metres. Also, each building cannot exceed an area of 2,000 square metres. At this level, a single family home can be constructed on land that is 100 square wah or greater (if the land is less than 100 square wah, construction is prohibited). In all the levels above, where the slope of the land is between 35-50 degrees, only a single family home is permitted which cannot exceed 80 square metres in area and which must leave 75 percent of the land unbuilt (50 percent of the unbuilt land area must be ‘green’ with native trees). In addition, the land area must be 120 square wah or greater, otherwise construction is prohibited.

For any slope greater than 50 degrees, construction is also prohibited. When you purchase a property with a condominium title attached to it by the government, you receive by default a five year structural guarantee as well as a two year non-structural defects warranty. It is of course possible the developer may decide to improve upon this by offering more, although this is uncommon. Manufacturers – this is to essentially to cover all the other items a developer may put into your finished property, such as kitchen items, pool pumps, air-con units, etc.. With regards to other non-condominium projects, where the developer is not regulated by the government, it will be necessary to make sure you get the satisfactory guarantees yourself. Return to site policy – this is an important policy to have in place when buying a new property as things that go wrong often happen in the first few months. I would always recommend getting the developer to agree to a minimum of a 6 month return to site policy after handing over a new property.

Is the property unencumbered, i.e. free from any mortgages, liens or debts? If the property is being sold with a company, does the company have any outstanding debts or tax liabilities? Does the seller have the proper legal rights to sell the property? There is a possibility that the finished product will not match that as presented in the marketing materials or that the completion date of the property is substantially delayed. There is obviously a risk in buying off-plan due to the fact that you are not actually seeing the finished product when you buy it. However, with the quality of today’s computer generated renderings and a detailed contract covering material specification, coupled with careful choice of a reputable real estate developer, it should be possible to have get a finished property delivered to your satisfaction. When construction commences, and the developer has met their construction finance requirements, prices usually rise.