Ever wondered why people buy Off-The-Plan?

If you are looking at purchasing your first property, either your first home or investment, it can be quite daunting with a whole new world of information being put before you. You’re up all night looking at locations all over the place, trying to stay within the budget you have set yourself. Sound familiar?

What if I told you there is a way you can tailor your property purchase to your own personal budget and specifications while saving money in the process?

• Buying off the plan gives you a lot more breathing room to plan out your finances and can actually provide you with capital growth prior to settlement. This is due to developers generally offering discounts and incentives before construction commences. Not to mention if the area you’re looking into has high growth you could be setting yourself up with a bargain price on a future property at today’s prices.

• Majority of people use the time before settlement to budget and save towards property expenses and legal costs which saves a lot of stress when everything is happening at once around settlement. You’ll definitely thank yourself at the end.
• Saving money prior to settlement enables you to borrow less money from the bank which greatly lowers your repayments each month which in turn increases your cash flow and saving you interest in the long term.
• Regardless if the off-the-plan purchase is being purposed for a first home or investment, financial institutions are loaning up to 95% of the property value and in some cases 100% loans with a guarantor. This in itself can make it easier to get a foot into the property market as you can get away with a smaller deposit.

Some developers provide a partial or full reimbursement of the stamp duty on settlement, which is one of the reasons property buyers consider this form of purchase. For example, in Victoria you could save up to $25,000 on a $500,000 property if purchased off-the-plan as opposed to an already established property. That’s quite a good chunk of change you can put straight back into the property and get ahead of interest.

Technology has also come a long way when it comes to display rooms and being able to see exactly what is planned before construction. This gives you the opportunity to customise floor plans to give you more living space or potentially change where windows are located, making sure you are getting a product that is exactly what you want. The amount that you are able to change will differ from developer to developer but you’ll generally have some amount of control over what materials and appliances are to be used.

So if you are currently in the market and shopping around, definitely check out your options in off-the-plan properties. You could find an opportunity that you never would have thought possible.