Ten advantages of buying off-the-plan
Your brand-new dream home comes with benefits!
At a certain time in life, the comfort and convenience of a brand-new luxury apartment becomes enormously tempting compared to the upkeep on a large house and garden.
And buying off-the-plan, from a reputable property developer, has a lot of benefits when you are downsizing.
What is buying “off-the-plan”?
Buying off-the-plan means buying a property that hasn’t been built yet or is still under construction. The vendor is usually a property developer.
You make your purchase decision based on the building plans and designs, marketing materials and display suite, plus increasingly these days there are interactive tools and even virtual reality walk-throughs.
You might think that buying a property without physically seeing it is a bit unusual, but many downsizers prefer to buy off-the-plan due to the benefits and incentives only a new property can provide.
What are the benefits?
Here are ten of the best perks when you buy off-the-plan.
- Easier purchase process
Buying off-the-plan is a straight forward way to buy a new home. You don’t have to traipse around open houses, you don’t need to pay for building and pest inspections, and you don’t need to bid at auction or engage in a private negotiation process.
New build properties are offered on the market for a fixed price on a first come, first served basis. If you are the first to offer the asking price — it’s yours!
Knowing that you have secured your new dream home, before even putting your current home on the market, delivers huge peace of mind.
It’s also supremely helpful in the downsizing process to know what the exact layout and dimensions of your new place will be. That way, you can right-size your belongings with confidence.
2. More time before settlement
Buying off-the-plan also buys you breathing space because there are usually several months (and sometimes more than a year) between exchanging contracts and settlement. This gives you plenty of time to get everything organised for your home transition.
Specifically, you get more time to prepare your current property for sale and organise your financial affairs, which is a big benefit if you are downsizing.
3. Lots of choice at the desired location
Developers usually build a range of dwellings in the same development which offers you plenty of choice without needing to compromise on the location to find something bigger or smaller.
4. Transparent locked-in price
Off-the-plan dwellings are offered for sale for a fixed price which is locked-in once you exchange contracts. This is in sharp contrast to bidding at auction or private treaty negotiation where you don’t know whether or not your offer will be accepted and so you can’t budget with confidence.
5. Savings on stamp duty
Around Australia, state governments and territories offer various concessions or exemptions for new build properties, including off-the-plan properties.
This can translate into big savings on stamp duty.
6. A brand-new architect designed home with high specs and all mod cons
Increasingly, off-the-plan developments have luxurious high-end specifications by professional architects and interior designers with all the latest modern conveniences.
Everything being new is one of the biggest perks!
7. Lower bills for power, repairs and maintenance
As your apartment will be brand new when you move in, you won’t be hit by unexpected and undesired repair costs in the months ahead.
Furthermore, all your appliances will be newer, more energy-efficient and in better condition than you would find in older homes, which equals cheaper utility bills.
8. Interior design options
Sometimes a developer offers you input into the interior design, for example, to choose from a limited range of finishes. You may get to decide between a light or dark colour scheme, wooden or tiled floors, and other choices.
9. Builder’s guarantee
The law requires developers to meet certain obligations when they do building work. New build properties typically come with a builder’s warranty (backed by insurance) to protect the new homeowner against a defective build.
The warranty covers you against inadequate or unfinished work.
The specifics vary from state to state.
10. Flexible deposit options
The traditional way to pay your deposit is by cash but it’s not uncommon for high-end property developers to want a 20% deposit on exchange of contracts.
That’s likely to be more dollars than you have hanging around in loose change!
And in any event, if you are downsizing, your current property probably has enough equity to cover the deposit. So how do you bridge the financial gap? Do you raid your savings … or go into debt?
With off-the-plan dwellings, there are alternative options such as the cashless Downsizer Deposit Bond.
Check with the developer what they are happy to accept on exchange.
The Downsizer way to your new home
Downsizer offers a new way to make your home transition. You can buy off-the-plan dwellings with no cash deposit. You just need to have sufficient equity in your current owned home.
You can instantly see what’s possible by playing with our snapshot tool.
All the properties listed on the Downsizer.com marketplace are eligible for the Downsizer Deposit Bond.
Interested to learn more about downsizing to an off-the-plan dwelling? Head over to Downsizer.com to search by state, suburb or post code to find off-the-plan homes to make your downsizing dream come true!
