How off-plan real estate really works.

Off-plan real estate is property sold before it is built, often before construction starts. The buyer signs a purchase contract and pays deposits in stages, and receives the finished home at completion. Prices are usually lowest at the earliest stage, when the risk is highest.

Off-plan investors profit from the gap between the presale price and the price of a finished, visible building. They buy at the earliest stage, when risk is highest and prices are lowest, then sell the contract or the finished unit once construction has removed most of that risk.

An assignment is the transfer of an off-plan purchase contract from the original buyer to a new buyer before the building is finished. The new buyer takes over the contract at a higher price, and the original buyer keeps the difference without ever owning the property. Most developers allow it under conditions written in the contract.

Yes. The main risks are construction delays, a developer that cannot finish, and a market that falls before completion. Risk drops as the building rises, which is why prices rise with it. Checking the developer’s finished projects and seeing your exact unit before signing are the two strongest protections.

Look up the developer’s finished projects and compare them with what was promised at launch, for example with Google Street View. Ask for the view and layout of your exact unit, not the penthouse renderings. A developer who shows buyers precise, unit-level information usually has nothing to hide.

TheRealFlow is for everyone on the off-plan deal: developers who want to sell faster, brokers and marketers who sell presale projects, investors who buy early, and buyers who want to understand what they are signing. It is hosted by Mario Comando, who has worked with real estate developers for 20 years.