Buy New Established vs Off The Plan

Owning your first home is a major step and an aspiration for many. One of the biggest decisions is what type of property to purchase. Each option has their advantages and disadvantages that home buyers should be familiar with first before making a final decision.

The following is an overview of the three common types of property in Australia.

Building a New Home

A new home built to your own specifications is an ideal choice if you have a specific design in mind or want to be more involved.

Advantages

A new home can be made the way you want. With custom homes, you have complete control over the floorplan, paint, materials, and more. Top project builders have a range of home designs to choose from which can then be further modified for homeowners looking for their dream property at a great price.

New homes have all new appliances, construction, and are more environmentally friendly than established homes. Repairs and renovation costs are reduced. Another added benefit is that monthly bills are reduced since newer, environmentally friendly appliances and construction reduce energy needs.

Disadvantages

Building a new home takes months, which can turn off some homeowners. Patience can pay dividends though as you will be paying a fixed price at the time of purchase. This can translate to huge capital gains from day one if property values increase during construction.

Prospective homeowners may be worried about paying rent and a mortgage during the time the home is built. However, these payments can be reduced by a construction loan. A construction loan, also known as a building loan, takes approval from your lender but allows you to pay low, interest-only monthly payments during the construction period. When the property is completed, the loan will convert to a regular home loan.

Established Home

Established homes have traditionally been quite popular for home buyers.

Advantages

Buying an established home means being able to see what you are getting, and moving in soon after you’ve settled on the property you like. Traditional wisdom says established homes are usually priced well compared to new builds.

Disadvantages

Nowadays prices are high and good deals are hard to find in the established home market. With interest rates low, investors have snapped up property, pushing up the market further. Established homes are not nearly as well priced as before. With established homes it’s also important to get inspections done, as an old home that looks good on the surface may hide costly issues that only pop up after you move in.

Off the Plan

Buying off the plan means buying property, usually a dwelling unit, that has not been built yet but at a “discounted” price.

Advantages

Buying off the plan has traditionally been popular with investors since the purchase price isn’t fully paid until settlement, allowing clever investors to achieve capital gains with low initial outlay. Now that the First Home Owners Grant has increased to $10,000 for new homes in Western Australia, off the plan property is more popular than ever for the new home buyer.

Disadvantages

While attractive on paper, the same caveats exist for off the plan properties as they always have. Without seeing the built property, trusting your savings with an off the plan builder is a gamble. The off the plan builder will only start construction if enough investment comes in, meaning your home may or may not be built.

As off the plan developments don’t have display homes to check out like project home builders do, you will be at the mercy of the builders’ floor plans and promises and won’t really know what you are getting until opening day.

Get in touch with one of our consultants today if you have any questions about which type of property fits your circumstances.