Hi Rob and Rob, Great and valuable content. I wish I had seen this video before losing a big chunk of money, £138K. I bought an off-plan property in Liverpool in 2015 with a phased payment plan. The completion year 2019 total £109950 now rented. In 2016, I purchased another off-plan in Manchester from the same developer, but this time, it was the biggest regret and mistake I have ever experienced; as you mentioned in this video, "only put down a 10% deposit". On the payment on this Manchester project, again, the cost with a phased payment plan: 1st payment was £60K 2nd, £60K, and the rest on the completion. Towards the end, the developer gave us the most horrible news that the projects had gone to administration. 271 investors lost money. Our deposit payment was supposed to be locked in Escrow, but they released the funds to Elliot Lawless Group. For some reason, He was arrested along with the Mayor of Liverpool but released. Sorry to rambling on about this. I thought people should know there are a few crook con developers. Just have to be careful. Thank you again for all the knowledge you both gave us.
when were talking about the deposit are we talking about the mortgage deposit or deposit to buy the porperty ie reservation fee. Im confused at who hold the deposit? The bank or the developer?
In my experience, and I can't speak to other areas than my own, new-build properties are often sold at a premium to market value. So even with a discount, be wary of a "first-owner tax". A friend of mine dipped in to negative equity in the first year or so post-purchase.
I need some perspective here. What are the absolute costs?. 1. The Legal Fees? 2. The Interest Rate ( if deposit opportunity cost)? 3. Surveying Fees ? 4. Capital Gains Tax ? 5.Any Stamp Duty? The liquidity of selling once the development is ready? Otherwise you would need to pay the full mortgage I presume which would increase the rate of interest paid?
Hi, what Rob says is to have the deposit is held is escrow which means money can't be touched by developers until the transaction completes. So inn the UK, escrow accounts are often used during private property transactions to hold solicitors' clients' money, such as the deposit, until such time as the transaction completes.
We wanted to keep this video more informative about the process for any newbies! But we've gone into more detail on buying off-plan, including the risks (markets falling, developers going bust, and so on) in this feature on Property Hub; propertyhub.net/off-plan-property/
Hi, Rob and Rob! Great advices, but it can be difficult to follow them in reality. I have a real life example. We would like to buy an apartment in Manchester Waters phase 3. I think this development has huge potential for future price growth. But! They demand 35% deposit and they will not hold deposit in escrow account. It is quite risky, but, taking into account reputation and size of developer, I hope it will not go bust and there will be a substantial price growth when it’s completed. What would you do?
Hi there, thanks for leaving a comment. With off-plan, we really do practice what we preach. Our due diligence when looking for deals needs to be spot on, and from what you've said above, this wouldn't be enough to satisfy us. That doesn't necessarily mean that there's anything untoward, it just means that we'd personally pass on this opportunity.
Good stuff! Though i slightly object to the view of leverage working only upwards! Leverage is sweet on the way up but pretty painful on the way down. There are plenty of examples in London of people who have experienced this recently. I'm not saying its certain but i think both sides of the leverage argument should be shown.
Thanks Bobby, that's a fair point. It's all about timing. Leveraging has it's risks, and if you leverage too much at the wrong time, then it's not a great position to be in. We talk a lot about the 18-year property cycle and have covered what's happened to the London market a fair bit on our podcast. We might need a deeper discussion on this though - stay tuned.
![Buying Property Off the Plan [Avoid these 6 Things]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/w3t10qsIzgs/mqdefault.jpg)
![Buying Property Off the Plan [Avoid these 6 Things]](/img/tr.png)
Hi Rob and Rob, Great and valuable content. I wish I had seen this video before losing a big chunk of money, £138K. I bought an off-plan property in Liverpool in 2015 with a phased payment plan. The completion year 2019 total £109950 now rented. In 2016, I purchased another off-plan in Manchester from the same developer, but this time, it was the biggest regret and mistake I have ever experienced; as you mentioned in this video, "only put down a 10% deposit". On the payment on this Manchester project, again, the cost with a phased payment plan: 1st payment was £60K 2nd, £60K, and the rest on the completion. Towards the end, the developer gave us the most horrible news that the projects had gone to administration. 271 investors lost money. Our deposit payment was supposed to be locked in Escrow, but they released the funds to Elliot Lawless Group. For some reason, He was arrested along with the Mayor of Liverpool but released. Sorry to rambling on about this. I thought people should know there are a few crook con developers. Just have to be careful. Thank you again for all the knowledge you both gave us.
when were talking about the deposit are we talking about the mortgage deposit or deposit to buy the porperty ie reservation fee. Im confused at who hold the deposit? The bank or the developer?
In my experience, and I can't speak to other areas than my own, new-build properties are often sold at a premium to market value. So even with a discount, be wary of a "first-owner tax". A friend of mine dipped in to negative equity in the first year or so post-purchase.
I need some perspective here. What are the absolute costs?.
1. The Legal Fees?
2. The Interest Rate ( if deposit opportunity cost)?
3. Surveying Fees ?
4. Capital Gains Tax ?
5.Any Stamp Duty?
The liquidity of selling once the development is ready? Otherwise you would need to pay the full mortgage I presume which would increase the rate of interest paid?
4:33 Deposit is held in a what cant hear?
Hi, what Rob says is to have the deposit is held is escrow which means money can't be touched by developers until the transaction completes.
So inn the UK, escrow accounts are often used during private property transactions to hold solicitors' clients' money, such as the deposit, until such time as the transaction completes.
Very useful information. But that flicking background is sending me bonkers!
I think I just found out I'm epileptic. Death to flickering backgrounds!
Ah - noted! Thanks for the feedback, we'll certainly take a look at this for future videos. Our aim really isn't to send people bonkers :)
A few words of advice: absolutely never buy anything off-plan from Fortis Developments.
You should have talked about the cons, like negative equity, value going down after built etc
We wanted to keep this video more informative about the process for any newbies! But we've gone into more detail on buying off-plan, including the risks (markets falling, developers going bust, and so on) in this feature on Property Hub; propertyhub.net/off-plan-property/
Hi, Rob and Rob! Great advices, but it can be difficult to follow them in reality. I have a real life example. We would like to buy an apartment in Manchester Waters phase 3. I think this development has huge potential for future price growth. But! They demand 35% deposit and they will not hold deposit in escrow account. It is quite risky, but, taking into account reputation and size of developer, I hope it will not go bust and there will be a substantial price growth when it’s completed. What would you do?
Hi there, thanks for leaving a comment. With off-plan, we really do practice what we preach. Our due diligence when looking for deals needs to be spot on, and from what you've said above, this wouldn't be enough to satisfy us. That doesn't necessarily mean that there's anything untoward, it just means that we'd personally pass on this opportunity.
Any update considering the current climate?
Good stuff! Though i slightly object to the view of leverage working only upwards! Leverage is sweet on the way up but pretty painful on the way down. There are plenty of examples in London of people who have experienced this recently. I'm not saying its certain but i think both sides of the leverage argument should be shown.
Thanks Bobby, that's a fair point. It's all about timing. Leveraging has it's risks, and if you leverage too much at the wrong time, then it's not a great position to be in. We talk a lot about the 18-year property cycle and have covered what's happened to the London market a fair bit on our podcast. We might need a deeper discussion on this though - stay tuned.
@@PropertyHubUK look forward to it!
@@PropertyHubUK I didn't understand the leverage point in the video. Was it the due diligence?