The Property Planner, Buyer and Professor continue analysing off the plan purchases, and in particular, high rise apartments. This week, in the second of two episodes dedicated to this type of property, their focus is on the financial risks of purchasing off the plan. In this episode David Johnston, Cate Bakos and Peter Koulizos take you through: 1. The 'Pros' of purchasing off the plan. The team start off outlining a number of financial benefits of purchasing off the plan, however many are short-term and what you could call a 'catch 22'. 2. The risks of not being able to access finance (through no fault of your own). Lenders protect themselves by limiting their exposure to off the plans because they understand they are 'risky' securities - less likelihood of capital growth and hard to sell in a fire sale. That includes limiting the number of properties in a building or postcode they will take as security, limiting the loan to value ratio (requiring a higher deposit), and working to a minimum limit of the number of square metres in the apartment that they will lend against. 3. The contract can limit your re-sale options, with many contracts stipulating that only a particular real estate agent can on-sell your property. This is so the developers can maintain control of the sale prices within the block. 4. Homogenous dwellings of identical apartments in a building or houses in a development have significantly reduced scarcity value, and it is likely that sellers will have competition from properties that are similar to theirs. Buyers must consider what makes a property unique and desirable? 5. Over-supply can adversely impact the expected rental yield, particularly when many identical properties flood the market at the same time, causing a race to the bottom for landlords to find a tenant. 6. Limited capital growth prospects from low land to asset ratios, as the land component which is appreciating can make up only a small percentage of the overall asset value. 7. The likelihood that the value of the property will go backwards after you purchase, as the largest component of the asset (the dwelling) is depreciating. 8. The cost of management fees that are not certain upfront. Owners corporation and strata fees are not typically specifically outlined at the time of an off the plan sale. To compound the issue, future special levies for maintenance or issues arising out of poor quality builds can quickly eat into your available funds. 9. Lost opportunity costs in waiting years for an asset to be finished, that you could have invested in the meantime in an asset with superior capital growth prospects. 10. And of course, our 'gold nuggets'