How to Check a Property Developer Before Buying Off Plan

To check a property developer, identify the exact legal entity, confirm its registration, inspect completed projects, compare promised and actual delivery dates, review its finances and how your payments will be held, and talk to previous buyers. Spend real time on it: the developer is the single largest risk in an off plan purchase.

Start with the legal entity

Brochures carry brand names; contracts carry company names. Many projects are built by a single-purpose company set up for that development. Find the full name and registration number of the entity in your contract, then check it against the official company register and any property-sector regulator in the relevant country. Your lawyer should confirm which register applies.

Ask who owns the land and whether the project has planning permission. If the land belongs to someone else, understand the arrangement. A brand partner, such as a hotel or fashion name, may only license its name, so the company that owes you a finished home may be a different business.

Review the track record

Off Plan Properties’ developer due diligence guide covers track records, licence checks, financial health and red flags. Its companion risk assessment gives a rule of thumb: prefer developers with at least ten completed projects and seven to ten years of trading. That is advice, not a legal standard, but it gives you a baseline.

Build a simple table for each past project.

Past project	Promised completion	Actual completion	Quality notes	Buyer feedback
Example A
Example B

The gap between promised and actual dates tells you more than any slogan. A developer who delivers on time is far less likely to put you in the delay situation described in off plan property risks. Look at finished buildings in person if you can, and speak to residents about defects, service charges and how the developer handled problems.

Check financial strength

You cannot audit a developer, but you can look for signals. The risk guide lists warning signs that include many concurrent projects, little pre-selling, no bank financing, late payments to contractors and a recently formed company. Ask the developer how the project is financed and how much has been pre-sold. Evasive answers are informative.

Look for press reports of disputes, court cases or unpaid contractors, and ask your lawyer to search litigation records where available. A developer that is stretched across many sites may be using new buyers’ deposits to finish old projects.

Key takeaway: a developer’s marketing shows what it wants you to believe. Its past deliveries, finances and payment structure show what it can actually do.

Understand how your money is protected

Strong developers tolerate scrutiny of the payment mechanism. Ask which account receives your instalments, who controls withdrawals and what evidence of progress is needed before funds are released. Our guide to off plan escrow accounts explains what to verify. If a developer insists on payment into its general account and will not explain why, treat that as a serious warning.

Questions to put to the developer in writing

1. What is the full legal name and registration number of the contracting company?
2. Which projects has it completed, and when were they delivered against the original date?
3. Is the project financed by a bank, and how much has been sold?
4. Where will my payments be held, and who releases them?
5. What warranty applies after handover and who stands behind it?
6. What are the delay and cancellation terms? See off plan contract clauses.

Written answers create a record. A refusal to answer in writing is itself an answer.

Red flags that justify walking away

• No completed projects and no experienced principals
• Repeated, unexplained delays on past sites
• Payment requests to personal or offshore accounts
• Pressure to sign immediately
• Refusal to allow independent legal review
• Guaranteed returns or “risk-free” language
• Inconsistent information across brochures, website and contract

Estimating how long this takes

The buying guide suggests ten to twenty hours of developer research. That sounds like a lot until you set it against the size of the commitment. Treat it as the cheapest insurance in the process. The sequence sits at stage one of how to buy off plan property, and it repays itself if it stops you committing to the wrong project.

When to ask for professional help

If the project is overseas, hire a local lawyer to verify registrations, land title and licences, and consider an independent surveyor for progress reports. For wider context, our article on foreigners buying off plan abroad covers extra checks for non-residents. The publisher’s investment guides provide further reading, though you should confirm each point with official registers rather than relying on any publisher, including us.

Visiting a completed project

A visit to a finished building by the same developer tells you things no brochure does. Go on a weekday and speak with residents or the concierge if you can. Look at the common areas, the lifts, the finish of the corridors and the state of the landscaping. Ask about defects and about how long fixes took. Ask whether service charges rose after handover and whether the amenities promised in the brochure exist.

Compare what you see with the marketing for the original project. Were the pool, gym or garden delivered as drawn? Is the building the height and unit mix promised? Gaps between brochure and reality show how the developer treats the specification in your contract.

Reading the numbers a developer gives you

Developers often quote how much of a project is sold. A high percentage can be a good sign, but ask how it was counted: units reserved with a small fee, units under signed contracts, or units with funds in the controlled account. The publisher’s risk guide suggests pre-sales as one indicator of financial strength, and a rule of thumb of aiming for a substantial share pre-sold before construction. Sold units that have not paid anything are less reassuring than units paid up.

Ask also how the project is financed. A developer relying largely on buyer payments with no bank facility has little cushion if sales slow. A bank involved in the project will have done its own checks, which can be a reassuring sign but is not a guarantee.

What to do with the findings

Score the developer on delivery history, finances, transparency and payment protection. If one area is weak, ask whether the contract compensates for it, for example by strong escrow terms. If two areas are weak, look elsewhere. Then carry your findings into contract review; see off plan contract clauses for what to ask for.