Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa August 2018 | Page 26

DEVELOPMENT
The Ins and Outs
of Buying your First
Home Off-Plan
A beginner’s guide
BY TERESA SETTAS
B
uying a new home represents a new and exciting chap-
ter in your life. If you’re a first time home buyer and
you’re buying off-plan, you may find all the adminis-
tration, paperwork and new responsibilities overwhelming if
you don’t understand the reason for them or how they all fit
together.
Cosmopolitan Projects, one of South Africa’s largest devel-
opers of affordable housing, offers a handy checklist of essen-
tial tips associated with buying a home off-plan:
Work with an NHBRC registered builder/developer - The
National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC) is a
regulatory body of the home building industry. The NHBRC
certifies builders who meet the prescribed industry standards
criteria in terms of technical competence, construction expe-
rience and financial capability. The law also requires all new
homes to be enrolled with the NHBRC at least 15 days prior
to construction. Enrolling your home building project with the
NHBRC protects you against poor building practices.
Buying off-plan means you are buying a new home in a de-
velopment or housing scheme that has not been built yet. You
will choose your stand, home layout and finishes according to
what is on offer from the developer, and your home will then
be built for you subject to you qualifying for a bond. The de-
veloper may have one constructed unit as an example, or they
may have models and layouts of what the final property will
look like. Cosmopolitan Projects has show villages that depict
the products. Either way it’s really important to understand
exactly what you are getting. Ask questions, and don’t sign up
until you know exactly what you are agreeing to.
Applying for a bond - once you have agreed on your home
and plans, the developer will provide you with a formal quote
to review and accept. This quote is then submitted to the bank
in order for you to apply for a home loan. If the bank approves
your application, you will receive a bond