Buying Off-The-Plan?

Looking to buy a property off-the-plan?  If you are, Deposit Bonds can save you money when securing off-the-plan purchases. 

Buying off-the-plan is a popular move for those wanting to purchase a property in Australia, especially first timers. But what many purchasers don’t realise is that using a deposit bond to secure your off-the-plan purchase, rather than borrowing money or using your hard-earned cash from your offset account, has potentially big money-saving benefits.

Typically, the developer will ask for a 10% deposit to secure your off-the-plan property. This is usually held in a legislated trust account and invested until settlement. Then, you pay the balance on completion of the property. Depending on where you buy, this could be anywhere up to five years.

By using a deposit bond in place of a cash deposit, you can make the most of your savings and relieve financial pressure elsewhere.

You could be:

✓ A first homebuyer, looking to purchase an owner-occupied home
✓ A retiree selling to downsize and intend to buy a smaller off-the-plan apartment
✓ A property investor looking to purchase an off-the-plan unit leveraging the equity in your existing home.

If this sounds like you, a deposit bond could be what you need to secure your new property.

Below is an illustrative example how deposit bonds can be used for an off-the-plan purchase:

Ready to apply for a deposit bond for your off-the-plan purchase?

Apply online yourself:

You can proceed to fill out our online application yourself. 

For off-the-plan purchases, you can apply using our using our standard application.

Refund policy for off-the-plan:

Under Deposit Assure’s new policy, buyers will be eligible for a pro rata refund of their premium, where your purchase settles more than 6 months before the expiry date of the deposit bond, up to a maximum value of 18 months. To claim the refund, we must receive (a) written proof of the actual settlement; (b) the ‘original’ Deposit Bond; and (c) notice of your intent to apply for a refund within 45 days of the Settlement Date.

Do you have approval from the vendor or developer? (Important)

Firstly before you apply for your deposit bond, we strongly recommend that you seek approval from the real estate agent, vendor or developer before you lodge and apply for a deposit bond.  This is just to ensure that you are transparent with them about wanting to use a deposit bond instead of a cash deposit to secure your property.  Important: Many developers for off-the-plan purchases only accept deposit bonds backed by QBE insurance, Deposit Assure bonds are underwritten and backed by QBE. Because QBE is an ‘A+ Stable’ credit rated company, Deposit Assure can provide certainty to developers, vendors, purchasers, legal representatives and real estate agents, that our bonds will be honoured.

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