Pressure selling, the blight of the apartment boom a decade ago, is back with us, it seems. The question is, are we going to make the same mistakes all over again?
QUESTION: I am interested in a new development in the Eastern suburbs and I’m thinking of buying off the plan. I have paid a $5,000 deposit, refundable, to be on their list and to be amongst the first to have a look at the display unit.
However, I have been asking for the past two weeks to have a sample contract sent to me so my solicitor can look at it but the developers refuse. They say I have to turn up and sign it there and then. I will also have to sign a waiver reducing the five working days cooling off period to three days.
I really like the look of the artists impression (building hasn’t started yet) but is this practice legal? – Planman, Waterloo.
ANSWER: Buying off the plan is one thing – plenty of people do it because they trust the developer and have checked the contracts beforehand.
But ask yourself this, if these particular pie-in-the sky apartments were so good, would the developers need to employ pressure selling to shift them?
There may be a very good reason they don’t want you and, especially, your solicitor to have too much time with the contracts. New strata buildings have enough potential pitfalls without tying your hands and blindfolding yourself before you commit to handing over the best part of half a million dollars.
While I might buy off the plan, I would run a mile from any developer employing these sales techniques. They’re a very good sign that there may be other, bigger problems down the line.
At the very least you’d be sharing a building with people who are easily duped. So take a deep breath and sign nothing. You could be paying a premium only to discover you have been sold a pup.