When buying off-plan homes goes wrong
Residents say there is a stark contrast between the architectural designs they paid for and what was delivered. Photo / Unsplash.com.
What you need to know:
- Many buyers are unhappy with what is offered on paper and what is delivered at the end of the day. Some developers go out of business and designs fail to match the market hype.
Over the last 10 years, off-plan development projects have been the route to homeownership for low-income earners. But in recent times, it has turned into a bitter cocktail, with buyers sinking millions of shillings to buy houses that are a far cry from the dream units seen in photos.
Some home developers go out of business, and designs fail to match the market hype, while fittings and finishes may turn out to be cheap, leaving the home buyer staring at huge losses besides having to live in a house that does not fulfil their dreams.
Early occupants
At times, early occupants find themselves living on a building site with construction clutter, ruining the much-needed serene environment, besides health hazards of dust. A sneak preview of some of the off-plan developments in Nairobi by some developers, reveals the shock that most home-buyers who opt for the plan risk plunging into.
At exit-14 along the Thika superhighway, near Juja, a 10-kilometre drive along Kenyatta Road leads to Kimuyu and Cornerstone houses. Residential units by a local real estate firm are a pale shadow of what was promised to home-buyers and lack of electricity for almost a month has added to the woes of the families. On getting closer, a rumbling generator; the sole source of power and lighting at the development, disturbs the otherwise dead and dull estate.
“We are living here in darkness and the management does not even have the courtesy to remedy the situation,” said one resident who was among the first inhabitants, but did not wish to be named. “Some of us have even bought our own generators because as you can see, we are on our own,” another disgruntled owner told us.
Cracked walls
“These are not homes. We have houses that have cracked walls and falling ceilings,” said the resident.
“The developers only gave us fake stories and dumped us here,” the seething owner adds.
Calls to the developers in efforts to see the projects as potential buyers were not successful. The firm told us that all they could offer are photos and that all their completed houses are fully occupied.
A detailed check around the residence, however, shows that the sewerage line is yet to be completed with some houses with flushing units not working, posing health hazards to the families.
“You cannot believe it, but we have been here for more than a year, but the developer does not care. All we receive are empty promises,” a young couple that also sought anonymity said. The residents, who are on their own, after sinking millions into the project, are now using a make-shift bio-digester.
Home owners
Home-owners bought the units for about KSh3.5m but what they are grappling with are small houses, cramped together; a far cry from the dream houses they were promised.
A spot check of the project tells a totally different story with works barely half-way done and the 15 houses are all abandoned.
The houses were retailing at around KSh3.95m, but site visits show how investors were duped into a raw deal to sink millions of shillings. A closer look at the architectural designs reveals a stark contrast to layout and the size of the houses. We checked through seven houses and all of them had different interiors, pointing to poor quality of the houses that forced investors to fit interiors afresh.
What is off-plan property investment?
Off-plan property investment is when an investor buys a property while still in the planning or construction stages. There are many benefits of buying off-plan property as an investment, such as below-market value prices and a better choice of units.
There are some main differences between buying off-plan property and buying a traditional completed property. The most obvious difference is that completed properties are already ready to be viewed in person and lived in before purchasing, while off-plan properties are not.
Another difference when it comes to purchasing a completed property and an off-plan one is that each property is paid for differently. With the typical purchase of a completed property, buyers or investors will generally put a deposit down and pay for the remaining amount in mortgage repayments or a one-off cash payment covering the total property price.
With off-plan properties, it will often be possible to split your payment into separate instalments, with a reservation deposit at the beginning and the final cost paid when the finished property is ready.
Source: nation.africa
