CRAIGFIN

As above...

I've recently heard about this and I am quite interested as I'm in no rush to buy my second home quickly. I've done a bit of googleing and it seems like a good option. Do you have to have a mortgage in place before putting the deposit down on the plot?

Any advice / thoughts / ideas on the matter from people who have done it?

Craig.

MJB2

I bought my house off plan, it means you can check it as its being built and flag up any problems.

I did not need to have a mortgage before putting the deposit down.

nik52wrx

Same for me. It was useful as i could make a few little tweeks by speaking to the site manager.
Nik.

Petem95

Know someone who bought off-plain in Spain, and instantly sold for a 20k profit once completed! He never even saw the place! I think you'd be lucky to do that now however.

The same guy has recently sold 2 out of his 3 BTL properties, and will be selling his 3rd once his tennants have completed their minimum term of 6months (or at least he'll given then their months notice once thats completed) - Ive had many an argument about house prices going to come down sharply at some point which he has always disagreed with, but he seems to have changed his tune recently and is getting his money out of property!!

Back on topic I believe this guy put down the deposit, and didnt start the mortgage payments (ie didnt start paying off the balance of the house) until it was complete.

Deep Singh

Pete, where is your friend going to invest the proceeds?

Deep

Olly

He must be skint and needs the capital: 10% growth this year, and most major lenders predicting another 5-10% for 2007...

Deep Singh

Pete loves to slip in the property doom mongering whenever he can.

richardg

buying off plan is the same as buying any other way, although there is usually a longer period of time between exchange and completion. you don;t need a deposit, just the reservation fee - note the time period for exchange if you want to avoid losing your reservation fee. Deposit only required at exchange - you could probably negotiate 5% deposit paid with many developer these days so you only end up paying 5% rather than the usual 10% at exchange.

Petem95

I don't really know to be honest, but whatever he chooses to invest in he seems to do really well. He spends about 1-1.5hours per day dabling with shares and he gets a return of 10-15% and I get the impression he plays with fairly large sums.

The stock market is certainly where he makes most of his money - I just wish I had the same success when I played it!

Just like they were in the US last year, but in the last couple of months US house prices have seen the sharpest falls ever in US history, and our market historically follows theirs by 12-18months - but the house price debate has been done to death on scoobynet - I think most on here think prices will keep rising forever because the forcasts from Estate Agents and mortgage lenders are rosy (funny that .... )

Fat Boy

The Exchange Bond worth a look if you would prefer not to put cash down as the deposit