The Risks of Buying Off The Plan

On face value, the notion of buying something you haven't yet seen poses plenty of questions, but yet plenty of people will buy a property that hasn't yet been built and the decision has been solely based on the planned construction. Is this approach riddled with legal risks? In this podcast, Gold Coast Lawyers at OMB Solicitors' Cameron Marshall discusses the matter.

TRANSCRIPT

Dan: Cameron, is this a risky business?

Cameron: It can be, but as long as you do your inquiries and at the end of the day when the building is constructed you are happy with what's been built as opposed to what you thought you were going to buy, it can all work out very well and very happy for everybody.

Dan: So, where is the starting point for somebody that's you know, considering one of these buy off the plan proposals?

Cameron: Well the first thing you'd need to do is have a look at the plan and make sure you're happy with what's going to be built and then when you get to the end of the road and when it is built and you're about to settle, you need to make sure that was what built was what you thought you were buying, so I've seen a lot of examples where people have got to the end of the day, ready for settlement and what is built is not what they thought they were indeed going to get. Possibly one balcony might be missing I've seen before and other examples are where a lot owner doesn't even have access to their own property across common property, so they're the little things that can come up.

Dan: Cameron. In your experience are there things that you see that quite often occur?

Cameron: The main things are the common property areas and their exclusive use of those areas. They're often forgotten about or changed in the building process. It's something that's very important when you're buying, especially a unit of the plan, so you need to make sure again what you're buying at the end of the day is what you contracted to buy and if you haven't, you need to speak to a solicitor about it.

Dan: Yeah, I was just going to say that. Is getting advice even prior to signing the paperwork a smart step?

Cameron: Oh yes, very much. Especially when you've got a large amount of disclosure that's required in an off the plan construction contract, so you need to be fully aware of what can change and what can legally change through the process because the builder is allowed to make certain minor adjustments in the process themselves.

Dan: Cameron, thanks for joining me.

Cameron: Thank you very much.