FROM THE BLOG

Unfortunately, many contracts for the sale of off-the-plan properties contain dozens of special conditions in favour of the vendor which remove most of a purchaser’s rights provided for in the common form of contract or by Australian Consumer Laws.  These special conditions will usually require the purchaser to reimburse the connection costs for electricity, NBN and water which can costs thousands of dollars, in addition to requiring the purchaser to use an embedded electricity network which will prevent you from connecting electricity through your own preferred supplier.

If you are obtaining finance to assist with your purchase, there is always the risk your finance will not be approved at settlement due to changes in lending criteria, changes in your personal circumstances, or low valuation of the finished property.

We also note some buyers are willing to pay a premium price for property based on the marketing materials, without consideration to the accuracy of those materials. Commonly purchasers are not satisfied with the actual size of the finished property, claiming it looked bigger in marketing materials where the vendor may have used smaller than average furniture to make the property look bigger.

The biggest risk of purchasing off the plan is not being able to see the quality of build. Notwithstanding Victoria’s shocking record with combustible cladding, we commonly see cases where fire-proofing and water proofing was not installed, and major structural issues which appear years after settlement.