When considering to purchase a unit off plan from a developer, there is a lot you can do to make sure that your interest and deposit (if you pay it) can be protected.

RESEARCH
Do your research on the developer.

Find out where they have developed before and if possible, visit those developments and find out what the quality of the building work is like.

Find out if the banks have approved the development. Once the developer has prepared the plans of a development and established the pricing, part of the process would be for the developer to submit a ‘development pack’ to the respective bank to establish if they will approve bonds for the end users in the development. If they approved the development, then you can be more confident of the development.

A unit can be made up of:

• a section and
• an exclusive use areas (EUA) examples of which include garden areas, parking bays and store room and
• an undivided share of the common property.

This should all be reflected in your agreement of sale. Make sure you know what it is that you are purchasing.

Note – in some cases a developer might elect not to create a parking bay in the Sectional Title plans, but create it in the rules of the scheme. Be aware of this difference and how it impacts your ownership of your unit.

SIGNING AN OFFER TO PURCHASE
When signing an offer to purchase you have to keep in mind that you are purchasing a product that is not built yet so your documentation is important.

DOCUMENTS
Agreement of sale should contain the following annexures namely:

1. Site layout plan: This plan gives you a birds-eye view of the total layout of the development. It indicates where the gate entrance is, where the parking bays are, where the garden areas are etc and where the actual section is that you are purchasing.
2. The section layout plan: This plan shows you the actual layout of the section you are purchasing. Examples include where the kitchen, bathroom entrance to the section are etc.
3. Parking Layout plan: This might form part of the site layout plan but there are some cases where the developer has a parking layout plan.
4. Schedule of finishes: This is a schedule that indicates what finishes the developer will use in the development. Examples include which tiles on the floor, taps in the kitchen, taps in the bathroom,
5. Rules of the scheme: You are purchasing a unit in a communal scheme, so you will be sharing the development with other owners. The Sectional Title act does have a set of rules that will be registered when the Sectional Title Scheme is opened in the Deeds Office. These rules determine how matters will work in the development and all owners and occupants are bound by those. It is imperative that you familiarize yourself with the rules PRIOR to signing of the agreement of sale.
6. Payment of deposit: If you are required to pay a deposit make sure that the deposit is paid into the trust banking account of the Conveyancer AND that you earn the interest on the deposit. It might be that the deposit will sit in the trust account of the developer for a 12-to-18-month period whilst they are in the construction phase.
7. Consumer Protection Act: When you are purchasing a unit from a developer in most cases the CPA is applicable on the transaction. You as a consumer will be protected by the CPA and that means that the developer has an obligation to attend to all defects for a certain period after the new owner has taken occupation.